I finished the story earlier this week after binging it over the pre-release and have been thinking on it. While it definitely did not reach the peaks of ShB or EW, I still think it was an excellent story overall. For me, I would put it just below EW in ordering of the stories, and I'm excited to see how the patch MSQ is handled.
As for why I enjoyed it so much, I think it comes down to that feeling of being an adventurer. We got to go to Tural, meet new cultures, and learn new history that also ties into the overall story of our world. Something I really appreciated that felt missing in EW was how the first 4 (especially the first 3) areas all felt like one cohesive nation that we were visiting. It was all some form of jungle, but in different ways that made them feel unique but also like they could all be near each other. The last two zones were different, but in a good way. That stark difference from the forest and plains we had explored throughout the expansion was great, and really sold on that feeling of a different world being implanted here.
On the topic of Wuk Lamat, because I know she has become a divisive figure, I really enjoyed her. Maybe her trait of being sea sick was overplayed, but I think her strengths outweighed her problems. I appreciated how we acted as her mentor, and had the opportunity to say she wasn't ready. Another fun thing with the dialogue options were the instances where we could tell her the answer directly, or we could instead guide her to the answer by asking a question. I think that all fed into that feeling of being a guide and helping her become a good ruler by realizing her shortcomings, and grow.
I also appreciated the lessened appearance of all the scions, but I wish they went through with it more. I wish the twins weren't with us at all, or were barely involved. It felt like they were included just so we could fill out the solo duty teams. They could fix this by having a new local that we work with, or maybe find some way to bring G'raha along. I know that he is a scion as well, but he at least has only been with us for an expansion and a half, so it would feel a little more fresh. It could also make it feel more like we are on a trip with the Students of Baldesion. I think the way Estinien was handled, how he would just show up while being on his own adventure, was great and I wanted more of that sort of thing. Let the scions show up, but give them a break. We've been with them for 10 years, we can have a little less of them for now as we meet new characters.
(cont below)
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As for why I enjoyed it so much, I think it comes down to that feeling of being an adventurer. We got to go to Tural, meet new cultures, and learn new history that also ties into the overall story of our world. Something I really appreciated that felt missing in EW was how the first 4 (especially the first 3) areas all felt like one cohesive nation that we were visiting. It was all some form of jungle, but in different ways that made them feel unique but also like they could all be near each other. The last two zones were different, but in a good way. That stark difference from the forest and plains we had explored throughout the expansion was great, and really sold on that feeling of a different world being implanted here.
On the topic of Wuk Lamat, because I know she has become a divisive figure, I really enjoyed her. Maybe her trait of being sea sick was overplayed, but I think her strengths outweighed her problems. I appreciated how we acted as her mentor, and had the opportunity to say she wasn't ready. Another fun thing with the dialogue options were the instances where we could tell her the answer directly, or we could instead guide her to the answer by asking a question. I think that all fed into that feeling of being a guide and helping her become a good ruler by realizing her shortcomings, and grow.
I also appreciated the lessened appearance of all the scions, but I wish they went through with it more. I wish the twins weren't with us at all, or were barely involved. It felt like they were included just so we could fill out the solo duty teams. They could fix this by having a new local that we work with, or maybe find some way to bring G'raha along. I know that he is a scion as well, but he at least has only been with us for an expansion and a half, so it would feel a little more fresh. It could also make it feel more like we are on a trip with the Students of Baldesion. I think the way Estinien was handled, how he would just show up while being on his own adventure, was great and I wanted more of that sort of thing. Let the scions show up, but give them a break. We've been with them for 10 years, we can have a little less of them for now as we meet new characters.
(cont below)
Continue reading...