Approved
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2022
- Messages
- 47
Played on hard, the difficulty was fine, except maybe the chapter 3 - fighting furbolgs and highbornes at the same time can be really hard if done unprepared, and it is very likely to be done unprepared, considering how the quest is acquired. The music is very good. The terrain is pleasant, especially in the first 2 chapters.
Unfortunately, the weakest aspect of the campaign is story. Well, originally I thought I'd wait for a full release and then play it, but I grew impatient and played it now, in version 1.4b. Since good path isn't available here, I haven't played it and have no idea whether some story related things are revealed there, so I guess some of my ranting might be unjustified.
Now, don't get me wrong, the campaign is very good, I enjoyed playing it and I totally recommend it to everyone else. But it's not as good as I hoped it to be. Maybe it's just a "me" problem, as I had my expectations too high. But overall, I feel like it didn't reach the quality level of the Adventures of Rowan the Wise. Well, yet at least. After all, it's still not finished and there are all the chances it will improve. And I certainly look forward to play a complete version.
Anyway, here's a list of some major, mostly story related issues.
The most important question - what are these fountains, what's the secret of their power, what is their origin, why did Malfurion turn evil from absorbing them, why did they appear only now? So many questions and not a single answer.
Their origin is clearly not demonic, as demons themselves know nothing about it, and Illidan said "I have seen demonic magics before, but this... this is different. The water's energies are unlike anything I have ever consumed before", also confirming non-demonic origin. It's not related to Well of Eternity, otherwise elves would recognise it, especially Illidan. There's nothing strange about the magic itself, since non of the highborne and Illidan said anything about it. And it's not some inherently evil energies, since only Malfurion turned evil after drinking it.
I was waiting for explanation, got excited to finally get it from Magtheridon, and then... He just said he doesn't know anything himself. Gee, thanks for nothing. Virtually the most important element of the story, the very catalyst for all the things that happened, and there's not a single bit of explanation.
Second important and pivotal thing - Malfurion's Inner Voice. Once again, no explanation why is it even a thing, why does it so persistently try to bend him to evil?
And why does Malfurion talk with his own inner voice like it's some other person, and not just his own self? Actually, this phrase - "Now, we will become one" - makes me believe it's not an inner voice at all. But alas, not a single answer again.
What's with demons' demographics? Like, how is Magtheridon the last of his kind? I know only 3 were shown in Warcraft 3, but there were more in WoW, and even more implied by lore. And I know it's alternate story, and Burning Legion here differs much from the one in original Warcraft, but still seems weird how pitlords here are basically a nearly extinct species. And same thing with dreadlords - why are there so few of them? 3 dreadlords from Resurrection of the Scourge, a few dreadlords as a vanguard to enter the portal, and boom! - the portal explodes and they're all extinct. The whole Legion only had a dozen dreadlords in its ranks or what?
And portal's destruction only makes it more questionable. I mean, it killed HALF of the Legion, yet not even entire Ashenvale affected, and not even to such high degree, considering how quickly elves managed to restore nature around Hyjal. And Malfurion not only survived, but didn't even suffer any considerable or long lasting damage, despite being at the epicenter of explosion. And yet the mighty Legion lost half of its warriors. You know, it really begets a question if Legion ever was as powerful as it is believed to be. The first cinematic and Malfurion's dream display Legion similar to what it is in Warcraft - countless hordes of powerful demons, an almost unstopable machine of destruction. But after that, demons just seem weak and low numbered. Even their path to Well of Eternity (unlike brutal direct approach in original Warcraft story) was a result of deceit - let others fight with each other and think they stomped Legion by destroying an unimportant base, while Kil'Jaeden simply sneaks in through the caves. Overall, I'm rather disappointed with how weak the Legion looks here. Reminds me the Wild Hunt from Witcher series - they were also hyped as some exteremely powerful and dangerous force for 2 games, and then turned out to be a complete joke in Witcher 3.
Actually, what is even the deal with the portal? I mean, Shahraz and Magtheridon had absolutely no problem coming to Azeroth, even brought their whole armies. And then Kil'Jaeden himself came as well with his army. And no sophisticated rituals for portals were needed, apparently. So why did they need that particular portal to begin with? The only "logical" explanation I see is that Kil'Jaeden's dialog with Malfurion inchapter 10 was true - Kil'Jaeden actually intended to lessen the Legion's population. Although that doesn't explain why the other demons just went along with this stupid portal idea.
Medivh was also disappointing. Both in gameplay and in story. Guardian of Tirisfal, virtually the most powerful mage? Bah, what a joke. And I know he's supposedly weakened, but I simply don't see how entering the emerald dream to alert the Aspects and coming back is enough to weaken him so much. Now, from the few dialogs here and epilogue in Resurrection of the Scourge, I get the impression that Eredon did something to Ysera and Medivh had to stop him. But Eredon isn't much of a fighter, so I still don't get why Medivh is so weak.
Speaking about Aspects, Alexstraza and Nozdormu just flew away and that's it. They literally had one job - to protect the World Tree - and they just abandoned it. Nozdormu, with all his time control power and ability to see different outcomes and forsee the future, didn't know that Malfurion would overpower everyone one by one? Instead of fighting together they just decided to spread out like some dumb cliche horror movie characters. And Nozdormu's dialog implies that Alexstraza died off screen, like some no name NPC.
So, there were extra paths to Well of Eternity... Really? I mean, really? That just makes no sense. Night elves spent literally thousands of years guarding the Well, not letting any outsider near it, and then suddenly there are hidden ways to the Well that not even the very NEs knew about? Or did they know and simply did nothing about it? And I can understand that Azshara knew about such hidden path, after all, she is the Azshara, who else if not her. But Kil'Jaeden? Even Malfurion didn't know about the caves, and Kil'Jaeden has never even been to Azeroth before. How did he, of all people, know about those caves? Overall, Nordrassil's defenses remind me of a gate without fence.
What were the orcs doing all this time? All the effort they have gone through to prevent the Legion's invasion, and then they just chill out when the real deal is happening? Medivh didn't bother to ask them for help? And even the explosion that shattered the whole Ashenvale didn't pique their interest?
Malfurion claims druids (and druidism) and ancients are weak, especially pointing out how weak they turned out to be, getting so easily corrupted after the Explosion. Even the very reason to kill those corrupted ancients was Malfurion's disgust towards their weakness. Yet absorbing Ysera's Heart, making him stronger than ever before, resulted in... Being able to turn into ancient. Uhhhh, right... Anyway, not even a comment from himself or anyone around him about it?
Overall, it seems lame, like Ysera's Heart had to have some cool effect, but due to lack of ideas it does just that. It's so underwhelming that Malfurion doesn't even use it any cutscenes or epilogue. Well, expect the one cutscene with Ysera, but that is simply to show Heart's power, and he turns back into druid right after anyway. IMO it would be better to just upgrade Malfurion's stats and skills and add Meteor Strike, transformation ability just feels unnecessary.
Also, Immolation even deals 5 less damage than Fire Shield.
And there's a list of not so major issues.
Unfortunately, the weakest aspect of the campaign is story. Well, originally I thought I'd wait for a full release and then play it, but I grew impatient and played it now, in version 1.4b. Since good path isn't available here, I haven't played it and have no idea whether some story related things are revealed there, so I guess some of my ranting might be unjustified.
Now, don't get me wrong, the campaign is very good, I enjoyed playing it and I totally recommend it to everyone else. But it's not as good as I hoped it to be. Maybe it's just a "me" problem, as I had my expectations too high. But overall, I feel like it didn't reach the quality level of the Adventures of Rowan the Wise. Well, yet at least. After all, it's still not finished and there are all the chances it will improve. And I certainly look forward to play a complete version.
Anyway, here's a list of some major, mostly story related issues.
The most important question - what are these fountains, what's the secret of their power, what is their origin, why did Malfurion turn evil from absorbing them, why did they appear only now? So many questions and not a single answer.
Their origin is clearly not demonic, as demons themselves know nothing about it, and Illidan said "I have seen demonic magics before, but this... this is different. The water's energies are unlike anything I have ever consumed before", also confirming non-demonic origin. It's not related to Well of Eternity, otherwise elves would recognise it, especially Illidan. There's nothing strange about the magic itself, since non of the highborne and Illidan said anything about it. And it's not some inherently evil energies, since only Malfurion turned evil after drinking it.
I was waiting for explanation, got excited to finally get it from Magtheridon, and then... He just said he doesn't know anything himself. Gee, thanks for nothing. Virtually the most important element of the story, the very catalyst for all the things that happened, and there's not a single bit of explanation.
Second important and pivotal thing - Malfurion's Inner Voice. Once again, no explanation why is it even a thing, why does it so persistently try to bend him to evil?
And why does Malfurion talk with his own inner voice like it's some other person, and not just his own self? Actually, this phrase - "Now, we will become one" - makes me believe it's not an inner voice at all. But alas, not a single answer again.
What's with demons' demographics? Like, how is Magtheridon the last of his kind? I know only 3 were shown in Warcraft 3, but there were more in WoW, and even more implied by lore. And I know it's alternate story, and Burning Legion here differs much from the one in original Warcraft, but still seems weird how pitlords here are basically a nearly extinct species. And same thing with dreadlords - why are there so few of them? 3 dreadlords from Resurrection of the Scourge, a few dreadlords as a vanguard to enter the portal, and boom! - the portal explodes and they're all extinct. The whole Legion only had a dozen dreadlords in its ranks or what?
And portal's destruction only makes it more questionable. I mean, it killed HALF of the Legion, yet not even entire Ashenvale affected, and not even to such high degree, considering how quickly elves managed to restore nature around Hyjal. And Malfurion not only survived, but didn't even suffer any considerable or long lasting damage, despite being at the epicenter of explosion. And yet the mighty Legion lost half of its warriors. You know, it really begets a question if Legion ever was as powerful as it is believed to be. The first cinematic and Malfurion's dream display Legion similar to what it is in Warcraft - countless hordes of powerful demons, an almost unstopable machine of destruction. But after that, demons just seem weak and low numbered. Even their path to Well of Eternity (unlike brutal direct approach in original Warcraft story) was a result of deceit - let others fight with each other and think they stomped Legion by destroying an unimportant base, while Kil'Jaeden simply sneaks in through the caves. Overall, I'm rather disappointed with how weak the Legion looks here. Reminds me the Wild Hunt from Witcher series - they were also hyped as some exteremely powerful and dangerous force for 2 games, and then turned out to be a complete joke in Witcher 3.
Actually, what is even the deal with the portal? I mean, Shahraz and Magtheridon had absolutely no problem coming to Azeroth, even brought their whole armies. And then Kil'Jaeden himself came as well with his army. And no sophisticated rituals for portals were needed, apparently. So why did they need that particular portal to begin with? The only "logical" explanation I see is that Kil'Jaeden's dialog with Malfurion inchapter 10 was true - Kil'Jaeden actually intended to lessen the Legion's population. Although that doesn't explain why the other demons just went along with this stupid portal idea.
Medivh was also disappointing. Both in gameplay and in story. Guardian of Tirisfal, virtually the most powerful mage? Bah, what a joke. And I know he's supposedly weakened, but I simply don't see how entering the emerald dream to alert the Aspects and coming back is enough to weaken him so much. Now, from the few dialogs here and epilogue in Resurrection of the Scourge, I get the impression that Eredon did something to Ysera and Medivh had to stop him. But Eredon isn't much of a fighter, so I still don't get why Medivh is so weak.
Speaking about Aspects, Alexstraza and Nozdormu just flew away and that's it. They literally had one job - to protect the World Tree - and they just abandoned it. Nozdormu, with all his time control power and ability to see different outcomes and forsee the future, didn't know that Malfurion would overpower everyone one by one? Instead of fighting together they just decided to spread out like some dumb cliche horror movie characters. And Nozdormu's dialog implies that Alexstraza died off screen, like some no name NPC.
So, there were extra paths to Well of Eternity... Really? I mean, really? That just makes no sense. Night elves spent literally thousands of years guarding the Well, not letting any outsider near it, and then suddenly there are hidden ways to the Well that not even the very NEs knew about? Or did they know and simply did nothing about it? And I can understand that Azshara knew about such hidden path, after all, she is the Azshara, who else if not her. But Kil'Jaeden? Even Malfurion didn't know about the caves, and Kil'Jaeden has never even been to Azeroth before. How did he, of all people, know about those caves? Overall, Nordrassil's defenses remind me of a gate without fence.
What were the orcs doing all this time? All the effort they have gone through to prevent the Legion's invasion, and then they just chill out when the real deal is happening? Medivh didn't bother to ask them for help? And even the explosion that shattered the whole Ashenvale didn't pique their interest?
Malfurion claims druids (and druidism) and ancients are weak, especially pointing out how weak they turned out to be, getting so easily corrupted after the Explosion. Even the very reason to kill those corrupted ancients was Malfurion's disgust towards their weakness. Yet absorbing Ysera's Heart, making him stronger than ever before, resulted in... Being able to turn into ancient. Uhhhh, right... Anyway, not even a comment from himself or anyone around him about it?
Overall, it seems lame, like Ysera's Heart had to have some cool effect, but due to lack of ideas it does just that. It's so underwhelming that Malfurion doesn't even use it any cutscenes or epilogue. Well, expect the one cutscene with Ysera, but that is simply to show Heart's power, and he turns back into druid right after anyway. IMO it would be better to just upgrade Malfurion's stats and skills and add Meteor Strike, transformation ability just feels unnecessary.
Also, Immolation even deals 5 less damage than Fire Shield.
And there's a list of not so major issues.
1) Why is there no global experience gain? I mean, it's not really a problem, since usually heroes are close enough to killed enemies anyway. But it's just feels like a strange choice.
2) Was it really necessary to change the icon of scroll of regeneration and orb of slow, even though the effect is unchanged? I mean, it makes sense to do so for some items to match the visual aesthetics, like it is with Amethyst Necklace, but orb and scroll were fine with their original icons.
3) I noticed some drops here are randomised (like Troll Overlord in Chapter 3), and I don't think it's a good idea to make randomised drops in campaigns, unless it's consumables.
Especially when dropable items aren't balanced between each other, as is the case with Tyrus Blackhorn in chapter 4.1 - he drops either bone chimes or doom-horn, and doom-horn is way better than bone chimes for this campaign.
4) There's an abundance of artefacts. Not that it's inherently bad, but to me it felt off. On one hand, it adds variety and stimulates to choose what's better instead of just mindlessly grabing whatever possible. On the other hand, some items made me question why are they even here - they become obsolete too quickly, some of them not even worth picking up at all.
And the abundance is particularly "problematic" for items with orb effects. Since Warcraft allows for only 1 orb effect to be active at a time, that practically limits to only 1 item with orb effect per hero. And there are only up to 3 heroes present at the same time. And even then, Velinde has her own orb effect, so it's basically just 2 heroes eligible for such items. And there are 6 orb effects: orbs of fire, corruption, slow, Darkmoon Staff (orb of lightning basically), Wand of Feedback, Demon Sword (vampirism).
Some items are just the "upgrades" stats-wise when they really shouldn't be. For example, Staff of the Oracle has "Artifact" quality, with orange letters. Naturally, that looks like it's a powerful item. And then in chapter 7 there's Wand of Mastery, which does the same but better, despite being of ordinary quality. And Tablet of Pronouncement is "Artifact" quality, yet it's almost 2x better than Gem of Power which is "Legendary" quality.
Speaking about legendaries, I know balance is important and it would be bad to give too powerful items too early, but Gem of Power and Wand of Feedback don't even feel like legendaries. Gem of Power could be replaced with just Sobi Mask and Wand of Feedback is basically just a Claws of Attack. Both are useful, sure, but still ordinary items, not legendary. Wand of Feedback's tooltip doesn't even mention that it has reduced effect on heroes.
5) Malfurion's actions and words sometimes make no sense for someone titled Arch Sage. For example, his conflict with furbolgs in chapter 3 - I understand his disdain, but his actions seem rather irrational, considering the situation. I mean, he doesn't need to accept furbolgs as full fledged allies to get some use of them. He could just quickly help them and then use them as disposable cannon fodder to ease the destruction of Illidan's base, and then finish off those who would survive - it would be way more reasonable that way. He acts rather narrow minded for an Arch Sage.
6) The text on loading screen of Chapter 3 says "2 days later" and that doesn't seem right to me. It's supposed to be enough time for Illidan to travel to the ruins, do his business there and then travel back, at the time when Malfurion demolishes his base at the end of chapter. So assuming Illidan traveled to the Broken Isles, according to the loading screen of ch2 of elven campaign in TFT, it's 1 day away from Nendis. So it's at least 2 days to sail there and back. And according to the loading screen picture, Ch3 takes place somewhere around Winterspring, that is to the west of Nendis. So it's also some time to travel from the base to the continent's coastline, from where it is 1 day to Broken Isles. So I'd say it's more like 3 days minimum for traveling there and back, and then also some time for Illidan to do his archeology homework. So IMO the loading screen text should say "Four days later" or "Five days later".
7) Chapter 3 - Hint about golems being lumber harvesters should appear earlier. I figured it out on my own before the hint even appeared.
8) Would be better to have Kath'ranis with 1 ability point unassigned, if someone would like to skill something else other than Crystallization.
9) Kath'ranis' Arcane Blast could use a better tooltip, mentioning how many blasts it does. Same issue with Malfurion's Meteor Strike.
10) Chapter 4.1 - New Allegiances secondary quest feels inconsistent and questionable. Malfurion came in Astranaar completely alone, Shindrell said the whole Astranaar talks about Malfurion and his change of usual attire, and Shindrell sensed magic in Malfurion, and he even responded "If a puny warrior can sense my powers, then my new identity is at risk". And then he casually walks up to random warriors, tells them to follow him and... They simply do so. Not a single question asked, even though everyone is so curious about him and can sense his magic? And no one wonders why only some random warriors are asked to go with Malfurion, not even elaborating why he needs them? No ones questions why didn't Tyrande (as she is the one in charge of Astranaar's defense) just command a bunch of warriors to gather and assist Malfurion with his task? And then at the end of chapter, when highbornes teleport, all these NEs just roll with it, accepting to become highborne? Even druids?
And what's with Malfurion's final phrase during his dialog with Shindrell? "They will either serve me, or be dealt with accordingly". His confidence, when he says "they will serve me", is pretty ironic and borderline arrogant. I mean, serve him like those NEs that he had to kill, while trying to catch Faradrella, because they outright refused to follow his orders due to his corruption? And it sounds even more more arrogant when he says "dealt with accordingly". Like how exactly? Murder them in the middle of Astranaar, for everyone to witness his corruption? After all the effort put into tricking NEs to allow him passage to Hyjal? Yet another instance that made me question whether he's worthy of a title of the Arch Sage.
Now, what if Shindrell said that she's not the only one missing the old days and arcane powers, that there are other NEs around Astranaar that might be willing to come with Malfurion and join the ranks of the highborne? And Malfurion, instead of his 2 cringy last phrases could say that these NEs might be useful helping him reach the temple, so he shall look for them. And suddenly the whole quest and the end cutscene make sense! The whole deal with scouring around Astranaar, looking for specific units, and how they accepted to become highborne without second thoughts, now has logical explanation.
11) Speaking of changing sides, how did these NEs even become highborne? I mean, Kath'ranis' highbornes got their magic from fountains, and Malfurion consumed them all, stating that the only other magic source is Well of Eternity. I highly doubt that Malfurion, considering his attitude, would share his own magic with a bunch of puny weaklings.
12) Some characters - Shindrell Swiftfire and Kerlonian Evershade (and maybe someone else I didn't notice yet) - have unique names only during cutscenes. Actual units could use unique names as well, doesn't even matter if their stats are the same as those of normal units, although it would be nice to have unique units with boosted stats.
13) Chapter 4.2 - perhaps it would be better to make mooncrystals non-item pickups (kind of like runes), so they don't take inventory slot. I mean, it's not really required to hold them in the inventory all the time anyway - picking up the next mooncrystal automaticaly combines it with previous one even if it has been droped somewhere on the ground.
14) So Kath'ranis said that Tyrande's forces were too formidable to block them at the entrance of the Temple, yet then Malfurion ordered him to block Tyrande's forces so she would fight Malfurion alone, and Kath'ranis' obliged without questions? Tyrande's forces not looking "too formidable" anymore? Or did he just fear Tyrande in particular that much?
Besides, learning about crystals unlocking the door to the key was more important. So IMO it would make more sense if Kath'ranis' said that he left his post because spying on Tyrande seemed like a better idea, instead of talking about "too formidable forces".
15) I guess it shouldn't be possible to destroy that crystal from here, as it kind of makes the "platforming" pointless.
16) There are no Sentinels beyond chapter 4.2. Why were Sentinels destroyed so easly? I find it hard to believe they actually failed to defeat puny satyrs and mere wild animals. And what about other villages and cities? I mean, Astranaar couldn't really be the only Sentinels' town\village\outpost.
17) Chapter 5 - at the starting cutscene the guards just run away, leaving the gate opened - did they trust Malfurion so much they didn't bother to close it? What's funny though, is that the gate is closed after the cutscene - apparently, their trust wasn't misplaced, as Malfurion was kind enough to close the gate himself. Speaking about guards' competence, did none of them notice that highbornes don't even look like night elves? Actually, that's yet another dumb action Malfurion - what did he even expect to happen, coming to Hyjal with his highbornes out in the open? Did he really think no one would notice they're not night elves? And not even Kath'ranis said anything about this approach being outright stupid? And it's especially inconsistent, considering how secretive Malfurion tried to be in Astranaar, even though Astranaar is way less defended than Hyjal. This cutscene is just a mess.
Anyway, the gate should get closed after the guards run away to inform Velinde. Also would be better if the guards' dialog reflected their suspicions, and that would also tie in with the gate being closed even before Arch Druid. As for the highbornes, I think Malfurion should tell them to stay hidden while he talks with the guards, and then talk with the guards alone. Guards might even mention to Velinde how odd it is that Malfurion came completely alone. Part with killing orcs is unchanged. Highbornes just hide again after killing orcs and Malfurion talks with Velinde alone. And then Kath'ranis with his highbornes would teleport for the fight, after Velinde says she sees through Malfurion's charades.
18) The desecration of Guardians' fountain is... questionable. Apparently Malfurion's blood is so potent there's even a change that it will disrupt guardians' link to the Hyjal, killing them. But at the same time the effect is so subtle that guardians won't even notice that there's something wrong with fountain's waters; and nevermind that Malfurion (and thus his blood, since its effect is magical in its nature) reeks of magic so much that even ordinary NEs can feel it. These 2 facts sound rather inconsistent and contradicting to me.
Also, how come guardians die from drinking Malfurion's blood and highbornes are mind contolled and empowered?
19) "Denying Reinforcements" secondary quest isn't exactly working as it's implied to be. NEs are too occupied with orcs attacking them, and don't really have time and forces to reach the Horn.
Actually, why do they even want to sound the Horn and alert the Cenarian Circle, if Cenarius already sees everything throgh Eternal Realm? He knew about Faradrella and Astranaar even before Malfurion reached Hyjal's guardias - the Cenarian Circle should've already been informed about everything and dispatched to deal with Malfurion.
20) Chapter 6 - new heroes should be assigned subsequent hotkeys - so Malfurion stays F1, Velinde should be assigned to F2, Kath'ranis to F3.
21) Not sure how I feel about Velinde's ability kit. I mean, she's strong enough and offers both good offensive and defensive tools, and there isn't really anything wrong with her. But somehow something still didn't feel right. Like, I don't know, too basic maybe? Also, I kind of expected some star-themed spells from someone called Starstrike.
Oh, and either Enchanted Arrows should have smaller explosion VFX (which IMO looks unfitting btw) - right now it looks bigger than the damage radius.
22) Chapter 7 - Shindrell says "the fountains we encountered in Winterspring", so who are those "we"? She wasn't there, she wasn't even a highborne back then. She really should say "the fountains you encountered in Winterspring". Also, she says she didn't go to drink from the fountain because she wasn't injured, but the fountains are supposed to heal and renourish their magic needs. Considering this, it kind of sounds off that she didn't feel like sating her magical hunger.
23) Chapter 8 - uh, so Ysera's Heart is extremely powerful, but no good hero tried to use against Malfurion? Even as a last resort option, when it was virtually obvious Malfurion will have it for himself if he's not stoped? And Cenarius didn't even bother to personally guard something so much valuable and powerful, instead opting to fight Malfurion after he got powerful enough to squash Cenarius?
24) Also, it was never mentioned how Illidan became half-demon. He was still just an elf back when he escaped from prison, when Maiev left. And Malfurion didn't even say anything about that either, as if it's nothing special.
2) Was it really necessary to change the icon of scroll of regeneration and orb of slow, even though the effect is unchanged? I mean, it makes sense to do so for some items to match the visual aesthetics, like it is with Amethyst Necklace, but orb and scroll were fine with their original icons.
3) I noticed some drops here are randomised (like Troll Overlord in Chapter 3), and I don't think it's a good idea to make randomised drops in campaigns, unless it's consumables.
Especially when dropable items aren't balanced between each other, as is the case with Tyrus Blackhorn in chapter 4.1 - he drops either bone chimes or doom-horn, and doom-horn is way better than bone chimes for this campaign.
4) There's an abundance of artefacts. Not that it's inherently bad, but to me it felt off. On one hand, it adds variety and stimulates to choose what's better instead of just mindlessly grabing whatever possible. On the other hand, some items made me question why are they even here - they become obsolete too quickly, some of them not even worth picking up at all.
And the abundance is particularly "problematic" for items with orb effects. Since Warcraft allows for only 1 orb effect to be active at a time, that practically limits to only 1 item with orb effect per hero. And there are only up to 3 heroes present at the same time. And even then, Velinde has her own orb effect, so it's basically just 2 heroes eligible for such items. And there are 6 orb effects: orbs of fire, corruption, slow, Darkmoon Staff (orb of lightning basically), Wand of Feedback, Demon Sword (vampirism).
Some items are just the "upgrades" stats-wise when they really shouldn't be. For example, Staff of the Oracle has "Artifact" quality, with orange letters. Naturally, that looks like it's a powerful item. And then in chapter 7 there's Wand of Mastery, which does the same but better, despite being of ordinary quality. And Tablet of Pronouncement is "Artifact" quality, yet it's almost 2x better than Gem of Power which is "Legendary" quality.
Speaking about legendaries, I know balance is important and it would be bad to give too powerful items too early, but Gem of Power and Wand of Feedback don't even feel like legendaries. Gem of Power could be replaced with just Sobi Mask and Wand of Feedback is basically just a Claws of Attack. Both are useful, sure, but still ordinary items, not legendary. Wand of Feedback's tooltip doesn't even mention that it has reduced effect on heroes.
5) Malfurion's actions and words sometimes make no sense for someone titled Arch Sage. For example, his conflict with furbolgs in chapter 3 - I understand his disdain, but his actions seem rather irrational, considering the situation. I mean, he doesn't need to accept furbolgs as full fledged allies to get some use of them. He could just quickly help them and then use them as disposable cannon fodder to ease the destruction of Illidan's base, and then finish off those who would survive - it would be way more reasonable that way. He acts rather narrow minded for an Arch Sage.
6) The text on loading screen of Chapter 3 says "2 days later" and that doesn't seem right to me. It's supposed to be enough time for Illidan to travel to the ruins, do his business there and then travel back, at the time when Malfurion demolishes his base at the end of chapter. So assuming Illidan traveled to the Broken Isles, according to the loading screen of ch2 of elven campaign in TFT, it's 1 day away from Nendis. So it's at least 2 days to sail there and back. And according to the loading screen picture, Ch3 takes place somewhere around Winterspring, that is to the west of Nendis. So it's also some time to travel from the base to the continent's coastline, from where it is 1 day to Broken Isles. So I'd say it's more like 3 days minimum for traveling there and back, and then also some time for Illidan to do his archeology homework. So IMO the loading screen text should say "Four days later" or "Five days later".
7) Chapter 3 - Hint about golems being lumber harvesters should appear earlier. I figured it out on my own before the hint even appeared.
8) Would be better to have Kath'ranis with 1 ability point unassigned, if someone would like to skill something else other than Crystallization.
9) Kath'ranis' Arcane Blast could use a better tooltip, mentioning how many blasts it does. Same issue with Malfurion's Meteor Strike.
10) Chapter 4.1 - New Allegiances secondary quest feels inconsistent and questionable. Malfurion came in Astranaar completely alone, Shindrell said the whole Astranaar talks about Malfurion and his change of usual attire, and Shindrell sensed magic in Malfurion, and he even responded "If a puny warrior can sense my powers, then my new identity is at risk". And then he casually walks up to random warriors, tells them to follow him and... They simply do so. Not a single question asked, even though everyone is so curious about him and can sense his magic? And no one wonders why only some random warriors are asked to go with Malfurion, not even elaborating why he needs them? No ones questions why didn't Tyrande (as she is the one in charge of Astranaar's defense) just command a bunch of warriors to gather and assist Malfurion with his task? And then at the end of chapter, when highbornes teleport, all these NEs just roll with it, accepting to become highborne? Even druids?
And what's with Malfurion's final phrase during his dialog with Shindrell? "They will either serve me, or be dealt with accordingly". His confidence, when he says "they will serve me", is pretty ironic and borderline arrogant. I mean, serve him like those NEs that he had to kill, while trying to catch Faradrella, because they outright refused to follow his orders due to his corruption? And it sounds even more more arrogant when he says "dealt with accordingly". Like how exactly? Murder them in the middle of Astranaar, for everyone to witness his corruption? After all the effort put into tricking NEs to allow him passage to Hyjal? Yet another instance that made me question whether he's worthy of a title of the Arch Sage.
Now, what if Shindrell said that she's not the only one missing the old days and arcane powers, that there are other NEs around Astranaar that might be willing to come with Malfurion and join the ranks of the highborne? And Malfurion, instead of his 2 cringy last phrases could say that these NEs might be useful helping him reach the temple, so he shall look for them. And suddenly the whole quest and the end cutscene make sense! The whole deal with scouring around Astranaar, looking for specific units, and how they accepted to become highborne without second thoughts, now has logical explanation.
11) Speaking of changing sides, how did these NEs even become highborne? I mean, Kath'ranis' highbornes got their magic from fountains, and Malfurion consumed them all, stating that the only other magic source is Well of Eternity. I highly doubt that Malfurion, considering his attitude, would share his own magic with a bunch of puny weaklings.
12) Some characters - Shindrell Swiftfire and Kerlonian Evershade (and maybe someone else I didn't notice yet) - have unique names only during cutscenes. Actual units could use unique names as well, doesn't even matter if their stats are the same as those of normal units, although it would be nice to have unique units with boosted stats.
13) Chapter 4.2 - perhaps it would be better to make mooncrystals non-item pickups (kind of like runes), so they don't take inventory slot. I mean, it's not really required to hold them in the inventory all the time anyway - picking up the next mooncrystal automaticaly combines it with previous one even if it has been droped somewhere on the ground.
14) So Kath'ranis said that Tyrande's forces were too formidable to block them at the entrance of the Temple, yet then Malfurion ordered him to block Tyrande's forces so she would fight Malfurion alone, and Kath'ranis' obliged without questions? Tyrande's forces not looking "too formidable" anymore? Or did he just fear Tyrande in particular that much?
Besides, learning about crystals unlocking the door to the key was more important. So IMO it would make more sense if Kath'ranis' said that he left his post because spying on Tyrande seemed like a better idea, instead of talking about "too formidable forces".
15) I guess it shouldn't be possible to destroy that crystal from here, as it kind of makes the "platforming" pointless.
16) There are no Sentinels beyond chapter 4.2. Why were Sentinels destroyed so easly? I find it hard to believe they actually failed to defeat puny satyrs and mere wild animals. And what about other villages and cities? I mean, Astranaar couldn't really be the only Sentinels' town\village\outpost.
17) Chapter 5 - at the starting cutscene the guards just run away, leaving the gate opened - did they trust Malfurion so much they didn't bother to close it? What's funny though, is that the gate is closed after the cutscene - apparently, their trust wasn't misplaced, as Malfurion was kind enough to close the gate himself. Speaking about guards' competence, did none of them notice that highbornes don't even look like night elves? Actually, that's yet another dumb action Malfurion - what did he even expect to happen, coming to Hyjal with his highbornes out in the open? Did he really think no one would notice they're not night elves? And not even Kath'ranis said anything about this approach being outright stupid? And it's especially inconsistent, considering how secretive Malfurion tried to be in Astranaar, even though Astranaar is way less defended than Hyjal. This cutscene is just a mess.
Anyway, the gate should get closed after the guards run away to inform Velinde. Also would be better if the guards' dialog reflected their suspicions, and that would also tie in with the gate being closed even before Arch Druid. As for the highbornes, I think Malfurion should tell them to stay hidden while he talks with the guards, and then talk with the guards alone. Guards might even mention to Velinde how odd it is that Malfurion came completely alone. Part with killing orcs is unchanged. Highbornes just hide again after killing orcs and Malfurion talks with Velinde alone. And then Kath'ranis with his highbornes would teleport for the fight, after Velinde says she sees through Malfurion's charades.
18) The desecration of Guardians' fountain is... questionable. Apparently Malfurion's blood is so potent there's even a change that it will disrupt guardians' link to the Hyjal, killing them. But at the same time the effect is so subtle that guardians won't even notice that there's something wrong with fountain's waters; and nevermind that Malfurion (and thus his blood, since its effect is magical in its nature) reeks of magic so much that even ordinary NEs can feel it. These 2 facts sound rather inconsistent and contradicting to me.
Also, how come guardians die from drinking Malfurion's blood and highbornes are mind contolled and empowered?
19) "Denying Reinforcements" secondary quest isn't exactly working as it's implied to be. NEs are too occupied with orcs attacking them, and don't really have time and forces to reach the Horn.
Actually, why do they even want to sound the Horn and alert the Cenarian Circle, if Cenarius already sees everything throgh Eternal Realm? He knew about Faradrella and Astranaar even before Malfurion reached Hyjal's guardias - the Cenarian Circle should've already been informed about everything and dispatched to deal with Malfurion.
20) Chapter 6 - new heroes should be assigned subsequent hotkeys - so Malfurion stays F1, Velinde should be assigned to F2, Kath'ranis to F3.
21) Not sure how I feel about Velinde's ability kit. I mean, she's strong enough and offers both good offensive and defensive tools, and there isn't really anything wrong with her. But somehow something still didn't feel right. Like, I don't know, too basic maybe? Also, I kind of expected some star-themed spells from someone called Starstrike.
Oh, and either Enchanted Arrows should have smaller explosion VFX (which IMO looks unfitting btw) - right now it looks bigger than the damage radius.
22) Chapter 7 - Shindrell says "the fountains we encountered in Winterspring", so who are those "we"? She wasn't there, she wasn't even a highborne back then. She really should say "the fountains you encountered in Winterspring". Also, she says she didn't go to drink from the fountain because she wasn't injured, but the fountains are supposed to heal and renourish their magic needs. Considering this, it kind of sounds off that she didn't feel like sating her magical hunger.
23) Chapter 8 - uh, so Ysera's Heart is extremely powerful, but no good hero tried to use against Malfurion? Even as a last resort option, when it was virtually obvious Malfurion will have it for himself if he's not stoped? And Cenarius didn't even bother to personally guard something so much valuable and powerful, instead opting to fight Malfurion after he got powerful enough to squash Cenarius?
24) Also, it was never mentioned how Illidan became half-demon. He was still just an elf back when he escaped from prison, when Maiev left. And Malfurion didn't even say anything about that either, as if it's nothing special.
1) Malfurion's clothes in chapters 4.1-5 look out of place, they don't match the aesthetics of the highborne, night elves or even Warcraft - they look like they don't belong here at all. And they simply look bad on their own. As if doing war crimes was not enough for Malfurion, so he decided to throw in some fashion crimes. And then after the portal's explosion Malfurion even somehow managed to change for a proper attire, while also being unconsious. I see no reason for him not to have a post-explosion model starting from chapter 4.1 and onward. Also, in chapter 7 there are statues of Malfurion with his fashion crime attire, even though he doesn't wear it anymore at this point.
2) Not a fan of how Violet Citadel looks - the excessive amount of crystals kind of ruins the image and looks gaudy. Violet Observatory has crystals on top of lower towers, and in Violet Citadel they are changed to torches for some reason - doesn't make sense to me, considering the excessive amount of crystals at the main tower. And why do Observatory and Citadel have a giant torch on top of the main tower (they look like an overly decorated beacon) instead of a crystal, like Sanctum has? In Violet Citadel crystals are attached to "handles", but in Sanctum and Observatory they just float in the air. Also, trees in Violet Sanctum looked nice, a shame they gone in both Citadel and Observatory. Overall, T2 and T3 look like downgrades compared to T1 fashion-wise.
3) Battle Maiden's "sword" looks like a comicaly large knife. Maybe she's just a fan of Dundee, haha. Anyway, I wish she had a real weapon, I just can't take her seriously like that.
2) Not a fan of how Violet Citadel looks - the excessive amount of crystals kind of ruins the image and looks gaudy. Violet Observatory has crystals on top of lower towers, and in Violet Citadel they are changed to torches for some reason - doesn't make sense to me, considering the excessive amount of crystals at the main tower. And why do Observatory and Citadel have a giant torch on top of the main tower (they look like an overly decorated beacon) instead of a crystal, like Sanctum has? In Violet Citadel crystals are attached to "handles", but in Sanctum and Observatory they just float in the air. Also, trees in Violet Sanctum looked nice, a shame they gone in both Citadel and Observatory. Overall, T2 and T3 look like downgrades compared to T1 fashion-wise.
3) Battle Maiden's "sword" looks like a comicaly large knife. Maybe she's just a fan of Dundee, haha. Anyway, I wish she had a real weapon, I just can't take her seriously like that.
1) Kath'ranis' Arcane Blast animation isn't synchronised with the actual ticks of damage. The damage is applied after the blast VFX disappears instead of being applied synchronously.
2) Arcane Wyrm - Devour Magic's tooltip says it "consumes all magical buffs from units in an area", implying it only consumes buffs, but it actually consumes debuffs as well. Also, Enchantress' Ani-Magic Shell doesn't get consumed for some reason.
3) Chapter 8 - Malfurion's hotkey during fight with Cenarius becomes F2, and his pouch is F1.
4) Camera angle bugs really annoyed me throughout the whole campaigns. I know it's a v1.31.1 related bug, and for majority of other campaigns it's possible to simply play them in proper WC version. But this campaign is initially done for 1.31, there's simply no way to play in another version.
5) Malfurion's Ancient form can bug out in chapter 9 and 10.
Chapter 9 - started the fight with Azshara in Ancient form with extra stats present and druid form spells, except ultimate being transformation into druid. Malfurion was in druid form before the fight.
Chapter 10 - level starts with Malfurion again in Ancient form, but now his ultimate is transformation into Ancient. And doing so gives massive boost to basic attack damage. Although turning into druid resets the damage and "unbugs" him. And the most interesting part - I tried restarting the level several times and the bug was there every single time.
Also can't spend a skill point while in Ancient form as there is no "Hero Abilities" button.
2) Arcane Wyrm - Devour Magic's tooltip says it "consumes all magical buffs from units in an area", implying it only consumes buffs, but it actually consumes debuffs as well. Also, Enchantress' Ani-Magic Shell doesn't get consumed for some reason.
3) Chapter 8 - Malfurion's hotkey during fight with Cenarius becomes F2, and his pouch is F1.
4) Camera angle bugs really annoyed me throughout the whole campaigns. I know it's a v1.31.1 related bug, and for majority of other campaigns it's possible to simply play them in proper WC version. But this campaign is initially done for 1.31, there's simply no way to play in another version.
5) Malfurion's Ancient form can bug out in chapter 9 and 10.
Chapter 9 - started the fight with Azshara in Ancient form with extra stats present and druid form spells, except ultimate being transformation into druid. Malfurion was in druid form before the fight.
Also can't spend a skill point while in Ancient form as there is no "Hero Abilities" button.
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