Act 1 – Holy sh*t that was good
See title.
Act 2 – No I mean, it was really good
When I started playing the Turnro’s campains, I was almost immediately sucked into it for a very reason : Warcraft III is the game of my childhood, and these custom campains succeed in the challenge to make me feel like discovering the game once again, as an adult, with my child emotions.
From Rowan the Wise to Resurrection of the Scourge, I had good times, laughs and disappointments, just as you can still read in my previous commentary on this topic. So I can tell you, I was expecting Malfurion’s Quest ending with and uncontrollable hype, and it turned out that it was my favorite storyline that came out first !! Fabulous indeed !
Well… It’s not really like the Highborne is my “favorite” storyline, it’s more like it’s the one that always intrigued me in the most deep way. Yes… How could one of my favorite characters in the Warcraft franchise could become the dark lord of this storyline ? And where is he going ? What will happen ? And what about the rest of the world ?
Just like I said previously, I knew this was the “bad ending” choice that would lead to world’s doom. But well, f*ck it. If the world must end, let’s do it with all our heart ! And it pleases me to play it now, so I can play the Sentinel later, and discover a much lighter ending !
… I hope so…
Needless to say, the final version of Malfurion’s Quest did NOT disappoint me. I read all sorts of comments above mine that complains about the dark ending, and… no, that’s not my case. Oh, it would be lying if I said that I didn’t expected it all along, but nevertheless, that was quite the ride and I’m glad you went through this way until the end.
The finished highborne storyline suffers from undeniable flaws, but they are quite marginal compared to the freaking blow in my face it threw me. Yes, for sure, it just felt like 10-years-old-me was playing again after all these years, and this is one of the best feeling I ever felt ! It was totally worth the wait !
That was my general impressions about the campaign. Now, let’s talk in more in-depth.
Act 3 – Return of the review
Shall we proceed just like I did last time, fellows ?
A – Concerning maps
For f*cks sake, you did not falter in time, Turnro. This is simply amazing. No it’s not, it’s far from that. It’s motherf*cking stupefying.
You excel in the art of making perfect level design that serves the story that you have to tell. This is Warcraft III. I’m playing Warcraft III, not some crazy fanwork delusions. This is quite the thing you have the most talent for, and I’m nothing but grateful that you still share it with us for the sole aim to have fun and making the dreams of fans like me true.
God dammit, and that’s free.
You truly are a god with the World Map editor, I can tell. This sense of adventure, these feelings of discovering something new by the Fog of War ! It’s all thanks to you !
I have not much else to say. That’s a total victory for you on this.
B – General difficulty
Unfortunatly, that’s one of the point I just cannot praise as well.
For sure, difficulty was pretty well managed for almost all maps… until chapter 9. That’s where the fun starts to switch for frustration and bitterness.
There’s a serious issue in the gestion of difficulty in both chapter 9 and 10. Let me tell about it.
Chapter 9 is not that bad, in fact. Just like other people complained before me, the mission was quite hard at the beginning due to the fact that we are assaulted by… almost everyone and everything that lives on this f*cking planet ?
Look, I know it’s almost the last mission of the campaign, but… there are settings that allows us to choose if we are to get f*cked in all possible ways, or if we’d like a more gentle way of playing this through, no ?
I don’t have any problem with the disappearance of insane difficulty since I’m not a RTS player, like, at all. And nevertheless, I have to say that Malfurion’s Quest forced me to train myself to master all the subtleties of this game ! For sure, it was far, far more difficult that the original Reign of Chaos or Frozen Throne campaigns ! And while mini-me was forced to use cheat codes in order to advance after the Culling (plz dn’t judge me), I still was able to beat them all in normal difficulty as an adult ! And not even by abusing all tiny mechanics of the game !
Playing Malfurion’s Quest truly was a challenge for me, which kept me improving all along, and it was really satisfying. Until chapter 9, where the challenge just become unfair.
It was quite hard to establish the first base and grow sufficient forces in order to resist the continuous assaults from the elves, the naga and the legion (3 f*cking factions against us !!), but nothing impossible. With patience, I finally succeeded in destroying the first elf base, then establishing a second base with their gold mine… and that’s where my nightmare began.
Maybe it was a mistake. But I just felt trapped here. I could be attacked from almost any frontline, east, west, north, south, and the enemies forces were tremendous. Even if repeling their attacks wasn’t that hard if my army (my heroes, at least) were at base, they still managed to destroy some of my buildings, forcing me to spend my gold endlessly while trying to grow a decent army. And then… When the f*ck can I attack ? If I send all my forces to attack the base of Medivh (oooow, that base…) and leave mine undefended, I’m ASSURED that the first attack coming to it will burn it to ashes before I can get back to it. The defense towers are F*CKING USELESS.
And I just CAN’T get back to base when attacking another. It’s pointless. This base of Medivh is a living nightmare.
It’s the equivalent of two bases in one, with the same amount of military forces. And they are respawning endlessly, and with a pace so high that I could swear they had the “warpten” cheat with them. F*ck, this, sh*t. Seriously.
I drove 100/100 fooded-armies endless times against them, always for the same result : the dragons obliterating my forces, the Moon priestess tsunami-ing my army in a matter of seconds, the Keeper of the Groove annihiling my efforts in depleting their troops, my heroes dying while spamming their capacities for nothing… all this, while some NAGA OR LEGION MOTHERF*CKERS ATTACKING MY BASE AJSDMLFJQSDMFL
… Sorry, I had to throw this out.
This is the moment in your campaign when I almost felt you looked at me and said “No, filthy casual, you won’t see the rest of the game. Git gud.”
I simply went to bed and tried again the following day (which is today lol). I then tried again, reloading my 17th save of this haunting chapter.
To this point, my main strategy was to send Furion on the frontline, alongside with maidens with the mission to absorb damages with their shileds, while leading Magtheridon and his demonesses to deal the most damages, and finally keeping Velinde at the back with her archers to deal damages to the drakes, and healing when it was necessary. Also some Clerics in order to resurrect some of the troops or mass heal.
Maybe cool on the paper, totally useless when dragon-swarmed. It still wasn’t good, like, at all. I was trapped. So I told myself…
“Think Luke, think. You’re not using every aspect of the highborne. Maybe there’s something that can be done with some of the unit’s spells.”
They I recalled the Highmistresses. I sent some of my forces to get slain, in order to gain some food slots, and trained some of these. Some of my previous attempts to break through the enemy line were successful, even if insufficient to destroy the base. I could see there was dragons nests here, so… what if I could make some of my troops invisible to destroy them at once ? Pretty cool idea, but impossible nevertheless, or too difficult to exploit. But… the invisibility wasn’t the only power I could use…
And that’s how… I ended with 6 clones of Malfurion’s ultimate form.
Actually, that’s maybe not the main reason for my success, from here. Sure, having the equivalent of 4 Malfurion’s ultimate form damages helped, but I think that using the options of the game to make it “slow” instead of “fast” granted me the real thing. With this, I finally achieved to cast the healing wave of Velinde at the right time, to drive my armies at the right time when the priestess launched her ultimate, and deal with the dragon swarm without suffering too much losses. For the first time, I broke into the base with almost full force, and destroyed half the dragon nests and much more buildings before being forced to retreat, due to the destruction of my base by… f*cking fishes…
But from here, things started to get sorted out. I backtracked in order to destroy the small naga and legion enemy bases, and claiming their resources. I literally exploited every single gold mine of the map till exhaustion, in order to rebuild another army, while repeling another load of countless attacks from everything that lives on this planet (is this Skyrim ?). That’s also where I realized that my heroes alone where enough to deal with these kind of assaults, but well… hard nevertheless…
Finally, when I realized by sending scouts that the base that I destroyed wasn’t rebuilding itself, especially the dragon nests, I knew I got this. I sent my demoness-higmistresses-clerics-heroes army on the Medivh base, and FINALLY, got rid of every single thing living here.
The rest of the mission was quite simple and I could handle it without any problem.
… Phew, quite the long recital, huh ? It was just so you could realize how hard it is. To be honest, I almost thought I misclicked on “hard” at the beginning, seeing how impossible it seemed to break through.
It was still enjoyable, don’t worry, I’ll talk more about this chapter later on. Let’s finish about the difficulty by talking about chapter 10.
Well, that’s quite simple, here. “Whosyourdaddy”.
I don’t know what to do. That’s a shame. The chapter was all good, with a nice setting and all, until Ysera’s fight. Man. I couldn’t even get passed her first phase.
Come on, man. I know it is Ysera “the Dreamer”, but, seriously ? How the f*ck am I supposed to destroy her portals before they load SH*T TONS of dragons on me, while I’m continuously put to sleep or stunned ?! And it’s not like killing the drakes is easy or fast, they’re actually strong and hit hard !!
I tried many things, from slowing down the game to casting minions with my spells or items, but I couldn’t bring myself to even put her under a 70% health bar before being strucked down by these f*cking dragons. They are spawning WAY TO FAST, and the portals let them spawn too soon as well. And I’m stunned half the time. And the other half, I’m fast asleep.
What. Am. I. Supposed. To do ?
This is normal difficulty ? This ? NORMAL DIFFICULTY ?
There clearly is a problem in the management of the difficulty in chapter 10. I know it’s the final mission and it’s got to be challenging, but challenging is NOT impossible or frustrating. There’s no fun in that ! Come on, am I supposed to be the most powerfull and evil mage in the universe or not ?! I know I’m fighting a dragon aspect, but that’s what I trained for ! Gooby please !
And so I succumbed to the temptation of using “whosyourdaddy”. Welp. At least I’m glad I could resist it in chapter 9, that I still won legit. But f*ck me, please, why did it had to be so difficult…
I didn’t bother to unable the cheat for the second phase of Ysera, but attempted to beat Kil Jaeden legit anyway. It once again turned out I couldn’t beat him without cheating, though… maybe, if I tried a little harder, I could ? It didn’t seem as desperate as Ysera so I don’t know. I just went fed up to some point and decided I just wanted to see how all of this ended. I cheated again, and didn’t even bother to unable it after, so I one-hit Illidan after this. Shame for me.
I’m pretty disappointed about it. I didn’t really beat your game, this way. And I cut-off some of the drama by doing so. At least, that was only for the last chapter…
And that’s a real shame, because the management of the difficulty had been flawless until then ! The boss fights always had been entertaining, challenging and interesting ! It always was a pleasure to fight Kath’ranis, Illidan, Cenarius, Tyrande, Velinde… all these bossfights were marvelous ! They all had their distinctive features, thus avoiding to become boring !
But that’s it : Ysera and Kil’Jaeden seem way too difficult for a casual gamer such as me. Sh*t, I beat Dark Souls and Dark Souls II without any problem, so why my childhood RTS causes me such an humiliation ?! I cannot imagine how hard it is on hard mode… Gosh…
Sorry that was kinda long and I have been complaining all along. I may be grumpy about it (I am “un putain de Français” after all), but remember that remains quite a marginal flaw in the overall campaign. I’m just relating my experience here… in hope it will guide you for further updates. Well…
Where were we now ?
C – New content
Aww, yes. This is the Highborne storyline, so, you had to create new units and new buildings to achieve it.
Well ! That’s pretty good, to say the least ! I still was surprised at the inclusion of demonic units as the last build of the tree, but that’s going with the story, should I say. And in a sense, that foreshadowed the ending…
Demoness are quite good units, with decent damages. I used them a lot. The overall design were simple but good, though it’s mostly recycled from pre existing data.
However, I was quite excited about the item. There’s a lot of them, with cool designs and effects ! I loved the ones that allowed us to cast more spells, such as the healing one. Yeah, that’s really cool, and it’s perfect for the sense of adventure I was seeking all along.
I was just kinda… sad, to say “goodbye” to my good arcanic explosion for this transformation. Sure, it was quite the spell, with all these buffs and new spells, but I got the feeling that Furion without his arcanic explosion lacks something. Something like a huge power explosion. Yeah…
Anyway, everything you made anew for the last missions continued to carry the duty of your campaign : allowing me to play Warcraft III and discovering things just like when I was a child.
Success !
D – Heavy metal and epic symphonies
What the gosh, dingle dong, IS THIS ???!!
OMG THE MUSIC OH MY GOD OH MY GOD THIS IS SO FREAKING I DON’T EVEN–
I’m sorry ! That’s just… so good ! SO GOOD !!
I don’t know if I said it already, but for me, the music and soundtracks of the game are a critical point. Did you know that I sometimes buy games just because I found their OST on youtube cool ? That’s how I discovered Assassin’s Creed II, in fact. Still one of my favorite games after all this time ! (shame that the rest of the series is sh*t)
My good sire, if Malfurion’s Quest was a Standalone game with music like that, I’D BUY IT !! INSTANTLY !!!!
Look, I know you didn’t compose anything in this, but WHO CARES ? The choices you made to orchestrate your chapters and interludes are amazing !!
Man, you cannot understand the BLOW I took when I started chapter 9 !! Epic orchestrated remixes of warcraft III music ? This is too much. I cannot withstand it. You are a genius.
Even the track for the epilogue is well chose ! Two steps from hell to the rescue !
Seriously man, you have a taste for good soundtracks. I love you so much. There’s no better way to make me feel emotions of invested in a game, and you mastered the art of choosing the right musics at the right moments to make it as alive as possible ! This is a truly marvelous and part of what makes this campaign a true Warcraft III masterpiece. I’m so glad about it !
E – Get the cameraman over here
I have nothing much more to say than in my previous comment about the staging and dramatization of the cutscenes and interludes. This is just like a standalone Warcraft III game. You achieved to make it look like exactly as if the original developers of the game made it.
What could I say more ? That’s just perfect. Or, maybe some of the dialogues were a little too long ? I don’t know, that wasn’t much of a bother anyway. This is still an amazing way of telling your story.
In my previous comment, I said that the dialogues disappointed me. For Malfurion’s quest, I have to say that they were quite improved. That’s still not as perfect as the original franchise, but that’s still very good nevertheless and I’m grateful for the hard work FallenStar did with the script. Good job !
Finally, there is the character development of Furion that I should talk about, but… This is going to be too long, somehow, so I think I’d just talk about it while talking about the story of the campaign in the next act, as it is the very point of this storyline.
Act 4 – The story unravels
Well, let’s talk about each chapter one after another, shall we ? I have some things to say about each map… Some more than others, of course.
Prologue - The Oracle's Prophecy
Nothing has changed since the previous release, so… I have nothing much to say.
This is clearly one as the greatest intros ever made with WCIII engine. This could almost stand as one of the great cinematics Blizzard made in the original game. It tells the original story of the night elves with great accuracy and cool staging, and gives all the basics we need to understand the stakes of what’s going on in this campaign. It does its job marvelously good, and doesn’t need to be changed whatsoever.
A nice and perfect introduction to the masterpiece that lies ahead.
Chapter 1 - A Destiny Unravels
I remember one thing when I played this, is :
“HOLY SH*T HE DID IT !!! HE F*CKING DID IT !!! I’M SO F*CKING HAPPY !!!!!”
Oh boy. OH BOY.
I don’t know if it’s FallenStar work or if you actually listen to the dumb sh*t I posted here some years ago, but I can’t believe you actually did that.
You changed “Malfurion’s Dark Voice” for “Malfurion’s Inner Voice”. When I saw that, I almost fall from my chair. It’s just as if my comment really served this campaign somehow ! It’s like it left something inside it ! Oh my god oh my god oh my god…
Chapter 2 - Trail of the Betrayer
And it doesn’t stop there !!
You TOTALLY took everything I said about that freaking voice into account ! Now, this “dark voice” doesn’t simply insults Furion to lead him into an obvious trap, but it really sounds like something convincing and believable !
No more “you are weak and stupid” sh*t !
More like “You need more power and you know it” !
God ! Look, we still know that drinking the fountains water is a bad idea, but at least we walk into it in a believable way ! That’s so much more awesome and cool ! And this makes all the difference ! I’m so happy that you took what I said into account and sort out this thing better ! It IS much better now !
Interlude - Council of the Legion
Quite the long interlude. I didn’t really see the point here when I first watch it but well, it’s for plot purposes, I guess.
Taking a step back after completing the story, it still is necessary to watch this to make the treachery of Magtheridon understandable and credible. It also shows what the Legion looks like when looking inside, and it still is much better than the election of their leader by universal suffrage. Lol. I still can’t believe it.
Chapter 3 - An Arch Druid Reborn
The mission where we discover Malfurion’s powers, and where his descent to the darkside begins.
It is quite well designed for the discovery of such new powers. The storytelling remains quite good as well.
About the character development, Malfurion’s descent to the darkside is well done in here. The reject by the ancients, leading to the chase of Faradrella, allow a quite logical slope in his personality. The Furbolg mayhem seems a little extreme though, for the evil that is yet to come. Well… At least the discovery of the Highborne faction is really cool and satisfying here, and I was glad to have become the leader of such new gameplay.
Interlude - The Yearn for Magic
I…
… I’m sorry… I don’t remember what this interlude is about anymore… hem…
That’s… awkward.
Chapter 4 Part 1 - Assault on Astranaar
And the descent to the darkside goes on, with Furion’s turning against his old allies.
The first part of the mission is simple and allow us to see the whole new personality of our fallen hero. We then encounter Tyrande, and though I regret the total lack of any emotion Furion seems to have for them meeting again at long last, it’s not that bad. It is still fun to play, and I loved Astranaar level design. So pure, so beautiful…
Chapter 4 Part 2 - Tragic Farewell
… Just like the temple of the moon ! Truly, you have a sense of level design. It was fun to venture through it, with all the mysteries, puzzles and stuff !
And then, well… There it is, this infamous scene…
So Furion still kills Tyrande without any kind of remorse. That still saddens me but… well… I guess you have a good reason for such a behavior of him.
Personally, I just think that this is the magic that he consumed that changed his personality, though the change still seems too abrupt. Come on, you consumed this just two chapters ago, and you’re already killing your beloved like it’s nothing ?
I know your aim is to show Furion as a reckless monster, Turnro, but I’m still disappointed by the way you do it. There is… no point in showing him becoming this instantly. Sure, the change in “Malfurion’s Inner Voice” was good and necessary for a good story telling, but… I don’t think it’s enough to make a decent character development. In fact, there is no character development, with Furion.
He hesitates before drinking the water. He drinks the water. He changes radically. Instantly. That’s not chara dev.
I know the magic powers are meant to twist his mind to a new philosophy but… Isn’t Furion supposed to be the Arch Druid, chosen by Cenarius, for his force of will and mind ? Couldn’t he be resisting it or just trying to do so for at least three or four chapters before succumbing totally ? Wouldn’t that be much more interesting ?
Look, I’m not saying that he shouldn’t have kill Tyrande. That’s a powerful event that makes us totally invested in what’s going on. Except the fact that Furion doesn’t gives a sh*t about it.
What I’m saying is that it could have been much, much more better. Like, just… imagine !
[Furion rushes in the key chamber and grab it, just before Tyrande arrives]
Tyrande “I can’t believe you are doing this. What have gotten into you, Furion ?”
Furion “You know this is what must be done, Tyrande. As long as you refuse to give me the key, I just had to take it myself. Can’t you see that only my power can stop the Legion and save our world ?”
Tyrande “You know what your new powers did to our people thousand years ago ! We fought against that destiny together, can’t you remember it ? Do you just want this to start all over again ?”
Furion “No ! This is not going to happen ! I’m in control here, and I will prevail ! We can use this to kick the Legion out of Azeroth, once and for all !”
Tyrande “I can’t believe what I’m hearing… to think you turned against everything you stood for…”
Furion “But this might be our only chance ! Please, Tyrande, just listen to me. If we join force together, we might be able to crush the enemy within our own palms !”
Tyrande “… I’m sorry. I can’t let you do this.”
Furion “Then so be it…”
[Boss fight]
Tyrande “… Ugh… to think you could hit so badly…”
Furion “Can’t you see what my new powers can achieve ? This as gone for long enough, Tyrande. Stop this meaningless fighting and join me while you still can.”
Tyrande “The druid I loved wouldn’t do or say such things… I’m sorry, my love. This is a path where I cannot follow you…”
Furion “Tyrande, don’t be such a bother. You know I cannot let anyone stand in my way. Either you follow me, either you stand aside.”
Tyrande “I will not… I can’t let you do this, neither to our kind, neither to yourself. Please, Furion. Stop this.”
Furion “I… don’t want to do this. This is your last chance, Tyrande. Don’t make me do the irreversible.”
Tyrande “If you are even considering this… must I understand that every feeling you had for me vanished to your new dark powers…?”
Furion “Maybe you may…”
Tyrande “Then I guess it is farewell…”
Furion “…”
[A few seconds elapse, then Furion kills her]
Man, the DRAMA it would have been.
Instead, she just get kills and poof, not a f*ck was given that day… That’s sad actually. But less sad that a scene with real emotions put into it.
For a chapter named “Tragic Farewell”, that’s kinda disappointing, I have to say.
Interlude - Lying in Deceit
… I’m glad that at least, Kath’ranis pointed at it. Shame that Furion still doesn’t give a f*ck. Just as I said, there is not a single ounce of character development in this.
I seriously don’t know what to think about it. Is a decent character development with a proper way to head down to the dark side so incompatible with the reason why Furion acts like this ? Is he really possessed by a malicious entity ? Was the “Inner Voice” really some of an unknown mastermind behind all of this ?
If that’s the case, that’ll explain the “not giving a sh*t” that Furion is showing from this point, but… that’s not showed in the ending, nor it is suspected at any point in the campaign. In fact, Cenarius (or Medivh ? I forgot) even told it was his inner fears that lead him like this. But…
But. I can understand that someone’s fears, mixed with the addiction to magic that grant more and more power as the time elapse, can lead to such extreme behavior.
But… not… instantly. Not like that. Not without internal conflict, not without hesitations. Not without fear of doing this the wrong way. Not with killing his lover without any regret. Just… not like a switch that on “good” then “evil”. This is pointless.
I truly want to care about Furion’s conflicts and contradictions. The fact is, he doesn’t have any. So… if despite all I have said, his behavior still makes perfect sense for you, Turnro and FallenStar… Then Furion is not Furion anymore after consuming the waters. And I’m not saying that because he changes : he is literally REPLACED by another being.
Actually, I still suspects it from the “now, we shall become one…” that his inner voice tells him before the last consumption of the wells of magic. But that’s my only clue… And to be perfectly fair, if this is the turnabout that reveals in the Sentinel Story, I’d be pretty disappointed. That would mean that Furion still doesn’t have any conflict at all : either he is all kind and caring, either he is just manipulated by some evil entity.
Manicheism. Again, and again, and again. I hate this. Why can’t we have just have characters that seems alive, and not just conducted by two simples lines of code ? Furion is the perfect setup to have a character with conflicts, regrets, emotions, to put it in a nutshell : to be human. So that we can feel what he’s feeling. Even if he has to become the greatest asshole in the Highborne Storyline… He can become this despite himself, hate himself for this, try to get out of this nightmare with all his might, succumb to the lust for power, have remorse for it, then succumb more and more… Becoming darker and darker, then throwing his regret and sadness out of frustration for being weak, and then, only then, become the dark lord we see in the epilogue.
This is character development. Not what I’m seeing in this first chapters !
Chapter 5 - War at Mount Hyjal
I’m really sorry for being so negative, although the campaign still was amazing. I’m just trying to say that it could have been even better… Maybe one of the greatest masterpieces I ever experiences, If Malfurion’s development was decent. It was… the main point of the campaign for me. I cannot say it completely failed, I still liked some of the things that were done with this character, but this is still very poor.
Well. I guess that’s my fault, for being such an asshole about the storytelling. I know this is not what every gamer seek when they play a game, and while this story could have been told in a much better way, the gameplay, musics, graphics and everything else was perfect enough to make the overall result extremely enjoyable. Even for me.
I was enchanted by how you changed the gameplay of chapter 5. Not only did it sound much more coherent for me (The night elves not deceived by the new powers of Furion for example…), but even in terms of gameplay, it was much more interesting.
Poisoning the source of the guardians was also a PERFECT set-up pay-off for Velinde abduction later on. In the previous version, it was kinda dumb. Now it seems much more believable… and logical.
The ending of this still is striking. To be fair, I still believed the whole planet was put to ruins, but well, that’s better if there is still something to save at the middle of the campaign…
Interlude - Battle for Tomorrow
Sh*t I don’t remember what it is about as well.
The second half is about Malfurion and Cenarius though, huh ?
I will not complain again about how this scene fails in developing Malfurion’s character… he is still stubborn as ever.
Well. Maybe he could at least be stubborn about how he succeeded in preventing a new invasion of the legion, and overlook at which cost.
Chapter 6 - Shattered Skies
… Until he sees it with his very eyes.
The land is completely desolated, the level design is perfectly made to show it. Malfurion has f*cked up everything. Why the heck is he the only one not realizing it ?
Couldn’t he at least say a little “What have I done…?” ? Would it really be too much of an emotion to put on his f*cking face ?
Couldn’t he have some regrets about what he did before going back on plans after all the sacrifices he made ? Some conflict in his mind ? Is this the right thing to do ?
“Of course it’s the right thing, I cannot stop now after all I did ! I must stay strong…”
Well… This map was really good in its design, to say the least. It perfectly serves its purpose, that is to show us the monstrosity we’ve accomplished by disrupting the portal.
That’s also here that we convert Velinde to the Highborne, or should I say, that Furion abduct her to his orders. That seems much more coherent given the poisoning of their power source in the previous mission. Even though that there is not much character development for her as well here, it is clearly shown later on that she wasn’t in possession of her senses when conducted by Furion. Due to his blood I guess… Which is also developed in chapter 7.
At last, we confront Illidan and encounter the Naga. The final (nope) battle with our brother. Quite the challenge ! An interesting boss fight to say the least. It was really entertaining.
I loved the was Kath’ranis walked to talk to him afterwards. Yes ! Finally ! After all this time ! After all the hardships ! He ! Has a pretty character development !
Kath is clearly THE character that benefits the best chara dev in the whole campaign. And even though I didn’t appreciate him like, at all, at the beginning, this simple fact made him my most favorite character of all.
I’m glad he’s here to save this storyline. Heheh. Good job about him ! He’s one of your greatest success ! Even in death.
Chapter 6 Bonus - Remnants of the Ancients
Nothing to say. It was quite an ingenious way to diversify the gameplay of this chapter and it was totally worth it. I had a lots of fun playing this, and it was totally coherent with the rest of the story as well.
Great job again !
Interlude - Pillars of Power
An interlude essential to prepare the end of all things. It reveals the survival of Illidan and the presence of Queen Azshara.
I don’t have much to say about this character, even though she was kinda introduced in the introduction scene. At least Illidan is back in the course and that’s a good new.
Illidan, just like Kath’ranis, is one of the best characters of the campaign since he have a great character development. Man… even greater than in the canon, I should say ! It is very well shown how Tyrande’s Death affected him, and how his lust for vengeance is what drives him for now ! Really cool ! It’s basic, but at least it exists ! Oh man, I would have love to see him escape all this madness with Tyrande, given that she survived Furion’s blast somehow…
Chapter 7 - Howling Treachery
One of my favorite missions. It is clearly shown of Furion totally gave up to the darkside, and even Kath’ranis cannot stand it anymore.
It has intelligent gameplay, cool assets and nice turnabouts. I was sad that Kath’ranis died, but… either was that, or him forced to absorb Furion’s blood, thus making him just like Velinde and loosing all of his chara dev… So…
Finally, it’s pretty good that he died here. I prefer him like that, loyal to himself, than corrupted by Furion’s powers.
Not much to say about lady Sharaz. I honestly don’t give a damn about this character that I just found annoying. Her grieving about Jaraxxus seems to… come out of nowhere, and was never really developed before. How are we supposed to grieve for her since we never saw what she lost ?
That’s kinda contradictory. There is chara dev where it shouldn’t and there is not where it should.
We shouldn’t give a sh*t about Sharaz and her loss as she is a villain who will be crushed in one chapter and never to be spoken of after.
We should care about Tyrande’s death as it is part of the canon lore and should influence the behavior of Malfurion the whole’s campaign through.
This is clearly unbalanced and these choices are unwised.
Of course I’m not saying it should be changed, in fact, it is somehow refreshing to see a demon grieve for someone. It puts some emotions in this world of brutes. But… I simple can’t get over Malfurion’s lack of development. This is still a stain that soil a lot of things in this campaign… for the storytelling aspect, at least.
Interlude - Unexpected Measures
Now that’s the big twist.
I didn’t expected at all that Furion would accept to fight alongside Magtheridon, though I wasn’t duped. I mean, he clearly has exterminated everyone that stood in his way before, so why accept him now ?
I guess he could be of use to him somehow… Well…
At least, this is kinda chara dev. Even if it is just a manipulation, it show that Malfurion is able to make concessions in order to get what he wants.
Chapter 8 - Ysera's Heartbeat
It becomes to be difficult here, but nothing insurmountable. I was glad to play as Magtheridon and all his good capabilities. And the demonesses were fire ! Hehe. Very good chapter indeed.
Cenarius was much of a fight, too. All in all was well orchestrated, and this is the moment where Furion should have totally turned to the dark side.
In my opinion, killing Cenarius should have been the moment where he went full Hitler-mode. The very accomplishment of the rejection of everything he once where, and the embracement of what he will be from now on, with Ysera’s Heart at his disposal.
Unfortunatly, he was already everything of that a long time ago. So there’s nothing much acquired in his personality by killing Cenarius and Faradrella. At least it was fun to play and entertaining…
Chapter 9 - The Last Guardian
Oh man this chapter, OH MAN.
This is the last mission of Reign of Chaos. BUT REVERSED.
I said of lot of bad things about this chapter previously. But you know what ?
It’s my favorite mission.
It’s my most favorite mission of all. F*cking. AWESOME.
Though the difficulty can be quite absurd, I love pretty much everything in it. Yes, indeed we are against the whole world in this very instant, and this is visible in all possible aspect. We have ton climb up to Mount Hyjal just like Archimonde did in Reign of Chaos. We are the bad guys. AND I LOVE IT.
The music, gosh, the music !! My favorite musics orchestrated with passion ! I could feel all of the epicness of the situation !! I was gonna conquer this freaking mount with all my might, whatever the foes ! And that’s clearly what kept me on trying without using any cheatcode, althought the temptation was big !
And I’m so glad I succeeded ! After everything I did, I climbed up this haunting mount, destroyed every forces against me, and finally confronted Medivh and Azshara !
This was truly epic and one of my most tremendous experience in Warcraft III ever ! All thanks to you ! If it wasn’t for the difficulty of the normal mode, it would be the BEST, CHAPTER, EVER !!!
… Althought Magtheridon’s Death seems kinda lame. That sounds a lot like “shut up it’s magic”, this death about the blabla-blood and magical arrow nani the f*ck.
I guess it was necessary for Illidan to pass.
Chapter 10 - Darkness and Sorrow
To be perfectly honest when I first read this title in the Hive topics, I thought it was and “aftermath” mission where Furion achieved to get the World’s Tree power and destroying the whole land by doing so. Well, it doesn’t really matter…
The problem of this chapter is clearly its difficulty. Without it, it would be a perfect ending for that storyline. We encounter tremendous boss fights with mythical beings, Ysera and Kil’Jaeden being the very end of every battle we ever faced to this point.
But that’s not all. I LOVED the way you pictured Furion’s Nightmares.
And yet… yet… why… why, Turnro…
Finally… finally, we had some chara dev… some decent chara dev, with Furion’s remorse finally showing up… Tyrande, Cenarius, Kath’ranis… Was he really caring at some point, for them ?
Why… why now ? Why only at the final end ? Why does it look like… so fake, so unsuitable ?
Truly, this scenes are clearly what saves the whole campaign. I love the fact that we experience again the same maps, the same set-ups in which we killed everyone we once loved, just in order to kill them once again… and giving them up, once and for all…
This scene would have been incredibly powerful if only Furion had shown remorse all the way through his terrible crusade. Since he doesn’t give a sh*t about anyone’s death all along, however, this “nightmares” don’t seem believable at all. Or they are, but… there lacks a little something. A little something called “emotion”.
He shows none as he kills them once again… if not for Tyrande.
Yes… I was glad when, killing Tyrande for the second time, he seems to hesitates by saying “You should have join me !”.
Imagine ! The impact, if their last encounter turned just like I pictured it previously !
And then ! Fighting Ysera ! Drowning into madness, and finally, once and for all, obliterating what’s left of the caring druid he once was to become the harbinger of destruction that he now is !
That would make sense ! That would be powerful ! And what’s more, is that Ysera herself would be responsible for this !!!
Ah… but he just destroys everything and kill her just like he always do… what a pity.
This moment of chara dev was still kinda refreshing, even though it could have been so much, so much better…
And then, the final battle.
The final round against Kil’Jaeden. Two mosnters facing each other.
That was clearly epic. This is what I longed for all along ! And I wasn’t disappointed ! If not for the difficulty, I could even have beat him ! Shame that I play like sh*t, haha…
But what’s more, you had one plot twist for us in your bag left, Turnro ! Illidan facing Furion for the final round ! And that… yes… The drama…
The drama… MY DRAMA !! IT’S HERE ! IT’S ALIVE !!!!
Illidan exposing how sad he is, how he didn’t kill Furion for Tyrande’s sake, how he feels empty, how he is here now to try and fix everything !!
I honestly would want an alternate ending where he wins agains Furion, drink the well of Eternity waters and the defeat Kil’Jaeden. Just so this hero can have the ending he deserves. Oh, and if Tyrande could have gotten out alive too, and get with him after all that… Man…
Man, I just want to write fanfictions about this. This is so good.
Even though he’s defeated at the end, this is still a powerful final battle. Two enemy brothers setting it once and for all… at the sides of the well of eternity… Yes. That’s a beautiful last image.
The way he keeps standing up as Furion burns him as the end was powerful too. I never loved Illidan’s character so much by seeing this. Finally, some right justice for him, even though he fails… He fails with honor and emotion, and that totally accomplish his character.
Man, I really do hope he get a right ending in the Sentinels storyline… I love him so much.
And then, Malfurion accomplish his dream, and absorb the Well’s waters.
To be honest, I was aware for long that his sole aim was to do so for his own power, not to stop the legion. I see that I was right.
I kills Kil’Jaeden nevertheless… and end everything with an eternal doom…
Epilogue
I knew that was a bad ending. I’m not disappointed, even if that’s not much of a surprise.
What surprises me, however, is that I thought that Malfurion will be struck by this ending as well. It seems not, as he becomes the new ruler of this wrecked world and the harbinger of its destruction.
Well, not that big of a twist… Even thought I would have love to see karma strike his face at full force. But there is no justice in this cruel world, I guess.
Seeing the Horde facing their doom as he walks on them is quite powerful too. At least, the orc will die in honor, which they always run after. Thrall is still loyal to himself, and Malfurion’s new form is terrifying. In his lust of power, he will destroy everything, having lost all common sense… Becoming like Sargeras himself… a titan which will take Azeroth down with him.
And that’s the end of Malfurion’s Quest, loosing everything he once had, by his own hands.
Act 5 – An Arch Sage last words
Here we are. My god, it’s even longer than last time…
I’m really sorry for all the negativity I shown about the lack of chara dev, and the difficulty. I still really enjoyed this campaign, and it made me dream just like the child I was dreamt while playing this fantastic game.
I think I’ll still be around this topic for quite some time, to discuss with the community about theories and other things that remains to be talked about in this campaign. We still have things to discover, especially Malfurion’s change in personality, and if he is possessed or not by some evil entity throughout the campaign.
To everyone that had the patience to read my sh*t : Thank you.
To Turnro, FallenStar and every testers and contributors of this fantastic campaign : Thank you.
To this whole community of wonderful people : Thank you.
I owe you so much to you all.
I’m glad that people like you exist, and that I’m able to talk with you.
Enough of the big sh*tloads I’m sending to comment, I’ll try to be a little more active here in order to insert myself in this community as much as I can.
And if by anyway, I can help you with the development of the Sentinels Storyline or the improvement of the Highborne one, let me know it. I already contributed to change some of the aspects of the storytelling, maybe I could do more ? Well, it’s just a proposal ! Anyway…
Thank you all. And until next time, have a nice day !
– Luke Hakurei