I just reached the 4th zone of DT and the MSQ portion here is, somewhat amazingly, a good example of a low stakes story done right.
Maybe it is partially because entering Shaaloani you just finished the horrible '1st half' of the story with Wuk Lamat and are rid of her (praying this stays this way . . .); but entering this Wild West inspired area with just Erenville felt good.
Then the story kicks in and it's incredibly low stakes. There's clearly a corrupt law enforcing dude and his thugs stole an important bracelet. Time to get back said bracelet.
What ensues is . . . actually gameplay? Sure it's basic quests but I'm doing things which lead to actions being taken which leads to some combat which leads to a somewhat satisfying conclusion.
It's very 'paint by the numbers' questing and story telling but it works. It works because I'm the driving factor here and while the stakes are low to us the stakes are high for the people of this town.
This is low stakes done right. You can understand that, yes, our character is in no imminent danger and yes the universe isn't ending . . . but these people have their own lives and their own issues; and here we are to help them through it.
This is the format that should have been used for ALL of DT's main story elements.
We should have been brought, zone by zone, and solve problems for people that are big to them but is 'just another day' for us and that would have worked great. It lets you learn about each area and its people naturally and, heck, maybe even form a connection to them.
Then when the time comes and they want to kick the story up a notch to involve the whole region, it'd have more impact.
So while it is short . . . so far I like this little MSQ 'side story' of a zone and whether by accident or not the story team actually managed to make a portion of the story that was low stakes, made sense in the context of the world and felt decent to play through.
I assume now that I got past this point I'll be mostly disappointed by the rest of the story again and Wuk Lamat will be forced back on me again (I hope I'm wrong).
Continue reading...
Maybe it is partially because entering Shaaloani you just finished the horrible '1st half' of the story with Wuk Lamat and are rid of her (praying this stays this way . . .); but entering this Wild West inspired area with just Erenville felt good.
Then the story kicks in and it's incredibly low stakes. There's clearly a corrupt law enforcing dude and his thugs stole an important bracelet. Time to get back said bracelet.
What ensues is . . . actually gameplay? Sure it's basic quests but I'm doing things which lead to actions being taken which leads to some combat which leads to a somewhat satisfying conclusion.
It's very 'paint by the numbers' questing and story telling but it works. It works because I'm the driving factor here and while the stakes are low to us the stakes are high for the people of this town.
This is low stakes done right. You can understand that, yes, our character is in no imminent danger and yes the universe isn't ending . . . but these people have their own lives and their own issues; and here we are to help them through it.
This is the format that should have been used for ALL of DT's main story elements.
We should have been brought, zone by zone, and solve problems for people that are big to them but is 'just another day' for us and that would have worked great. It lets you learn about each area and its people naturally and, heck, maybe even form a connection to them.
Then when the time comes and they want to kick the story up a notch to involve the whole region, it'd have more impact.
So while it is short . . . so far I like this little MSQ 'side story' of a zone and whether by accident or not the story team actually managed to make a portion of the story that was low stakes, made sense in the context of the world and felt decent to play through.
I assume now that I got past this point I'll be mostly disappointed by the rest of the story again and Wuk Lamat will be forced back on me again (I hope I'm wrong).
Continue reading...