It's everything that the Crystarium isn't: compact, interesting to look at, relaxing (and yes, I find this to be a BIG factor), and conducive to socializing (there are a lot of chairs, neat venues to sit in, vistas to overlook, etc). Eulmore reminds me a great deal of a Las Vegas casino (when you get away from the slots) - showy, done up, completely fake, but really a cool place to stay for a while and just chill. (Special shout out on the palm trees, drapes, and eastern Mediterranean/Arabian vibe. Whoever planned the interior deco. for the place: you did well).
By contrast, the Crystarium is needlessly enormous, difficult (bordering on frustrating, with the pointless multi-level design and jump-blocks that prevent easy traversing of the landscape) to move around in, tastelessly decorated (it looks like some horrifying collision of The Crystal Palace and an airport terminal), and so empty in most places that you might as well be playing by yourself. I dread going there - it's far, far worse than any capital introduced previously (I think Kugane suffers from similar issues, but is at least somewhat pleasant to look at). It's a soulless, forbidding, cold place with a drab color palette.
In the very least, Eulmore should have been given an inn so that players could utilize it as an alternate capital. I realize the chances of this happening at this point in the expansion's life are close to zero, but lessons could be learned here moving forward. Square's designers struck gold with this little gem, but they struck out in equally profound fashion with the Crystarium. Next time, please get it right.
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By contrast, the Crystarium is needlessly enormous, difficult (bordering on frustrating, with the pointless multi-level design and jump-blocks that prevent easy traversing of the landscape) to move around in, tastelessly decorated (it looks like some horrifying collision of The Crystal Palace and an airport terminal), and so empty in most places that you might as well be playing by yourself. I dread going there - it's far, far worse than any capital introduced previously (I think Kugane suffers from similar issues, but is at least somewhat pleasant to look at). It's a soulless, forbidding, cold place with a drab color palette.
In the very least, Eulmore should have been given an inn so that players could utilize it as an alternate capital. I realize the chances of this happening at this point in the expansion's life are close to zero, but lessons could be learned here moving forward. Square's designers struck gold with this little gem, but they struck out in equally profound fashion with the Crystarium. Next time, please get it right.
Continue reading...