ScenarioReview

BOB THE IMPALER Average Nothing amazing, but it had little bits which I found enjoyable. Take out the irritating wandering monsters and damage for the sake of damage parts, and I'd have given it at least 8.

ALCRITAS So-So Not great, but not awful by any stretch either. Illlogical puzzles & little plot, but an inventive and interesting dungeon. Average

TERROR'S MARTYR Blech. Poor graphics, poor nodes, especially poor combat, near-poor dungeon work (get the special item elsewhere that helps you get here by this puzzle etc.), horrible plot (for however much I played it), etc... Not worth the download. Substandard

THE CREATOR Never finished it, so I won't rate it. However, I consider it a poor piece of work. Hack'n'slash for the sake of hack'n'slash is a good way to sum it up, at least those parts I played.

DRAKEFYRE I always get this scenario confused with the Fog. It was solid, and set a good mood, but it lacked that certain feeling. Average

MILU K Too much password fetching and difficult combat, but otherwise enjoyable. Short and nicely written. Average

JEWELS Quite enjoyable. Nice puzzles, good dialogue. Not extraordinary but in a sea full of stinkers, this is a ten-pound Alaskan cod. Average

MAGOICOCHEA Average

(???) Substandard

ORGGG This was a nice, fun, short scenario. While it did not aspire to lofty heights, it didn't trip over its own feet either. There was a fair amount of good writing, and one of the dungeons had a very nice background and history. (The wine cellar, redeveloped two different times.) There was also a sense that there was a lot more just around the corner, which there was. The combat was interesting, the balance was quite good, the plot moved cleanly, it was bug-free, and there were places to sight-see and explore along the way. Its only real weaknesses were a rather derivative and simple plot, and its short length. Solid. Average

ROSYCAT As I received my copy of Blades in April 2003, I can't really compare quality in '97 with quality in '03. I can say, however, that I didn't find this to be such a bad scenario, and I can say tht it was almost exactly like something Jeff Vogel wold have made, only without that one original dungeon Jeff usually adds. Still, it held me long enough to finish it, and where it lacks in originality, it compensates in being 'solid' and relatively bug-free. Substandard

DRIZZT I wouldn't rate it today as high as I did in my review (it was my first), but I still think it is a mostly-decent scenario. Nothing ground-breaking perhaps, but still worth a look. ------------ A Review of The Magnificent Six by Leon Lin (leonlin AT ix.netcom.com) Magnificent Six is the well-done first work by Mr. Lin, who went on to design the excellent scenario Rubacus. When the two scenarios are compared, the “first attempt at scenario design” feel is evident, but this is credit to the author’s skill. His first scenario is still better than most out there. Mag 6 offers a fairly standard plot: the town of Greenvale is under attack by some mysterious bandits and it’s up to you to help them. Your journeys will take you in and diversion. under the small valley and eventually lead you to the bandit’s headquarters. The scenario is very straightforward in that there are no side quests to distract you from your mission, although a rather clever witch’s hut offers a small diversion. There are plenty of NPC’s to talk to and a well-developed outdoors. Puzzles are appropriate without being too difficult. Everything seems well balanced and thought out. The only bug I found was that a “relocate outdoors” specials needed when (later in the game) you can travel between two towns using a long underground tunnel. When I left the second town, I ended up in the mountainside beside the first. A common mistake, but an important one to correct. Overall, this is a very good scenario. It kept my interest through the Entire game, and I’m still meaning to play it again sometime to kill those darn cats in the last level that gave my party a beat down the first time I played. There are other scenarios, like Rubacus, that have a more polished feel than Magnificent Six, but not many. My score: Average

MORGAN Hmm.....I enjoyed Magnificant Six at the time. It may be something to do with it being the fist scenario I played, excluding the first three. Average

STAREYE I actually liked Magnificent Six when I played it so long ago. If I played it again, I'm sure I would have different opinions. At one point, Mag Six was one of the best out there. It is one of the few scenarios where I actually remember specific points and the author used some nice allusions. However, in no way does it compare to the best. My score: Average

BRETT BIXLER I'm not for "holding against" a scenario created several years ago by today's expectations. At the time of its creation, the Mag 6 was a decent scenario, with good use of nodes and little bugs. The story was not that great, but it didn't stink either. I'd give it Average

TERROR'S MARTYR I found Mag6 to be a scenario that used canned plots, canned sequences, and poor dungeon design. The gameplay might have been good a long time ago, but I severely doubt it. In 1997, when Blades was released, this could be called decent nodework, gameplay, etc. And yet, today is not five years ago. Therefore, I give Mag6 the rating of Substandard

DRAKEFYRE I have to agree with Alcritas. A lack of plot originality and focus left me disappointed by this scenario. A reflection of the time it was released, it doesn't belong on the Solid Adventure scenario table anymore. Substandard

ALCRITAS I found The Magnificient Six to be a significant let down. Unlike Leon Lin's other scenario, Rubacus, Mag 6 never engaged me. The constant, unrelenting combat is infuriating. And with the exception of the Witch's hut, there's nothing even all that clever in the scenario. Average

MISTBORN This scenario annoyed me. I had this great idea, worked on it for several weeks (still working on it, in fact), and now someone else has already done it, and way better! That said, this scenario is just about my favorite type, big huge outdoors to explore, all manner of little encounters and side-quests, what more could you need? I must admit, I have a tendency to ignore the main storyline for several 'days' and just explore the world. Most scenarios that doesn't work too well with, but this one it worked fine. Great, in fact. I hadn't had as much fun as with a scenario since I played Bandits 2 a few months ago. I do have some complaints, though. The main quest makes sense. The thing with opening trade by clearing a tower is fine. But WHY do I need to gather crystals for some goddess in order to win the game? I finished the other quests, but with this one I finally just gave up and character-edited myself out of the scenario. Also, I didn't like accidentally selling my house with all my stored items. Very fun, overall. I'd give it Good

CALIGULA The Wreck of the Slug by Tony Wilsdon and Sue Harris (the_blex_page AT hotmail DOT com / this is their new e-mail address that Tony gave me recently; I don’t know if it works correctly) The Wreck of the Slug was probably the second big epic BoE scenario to be released, right after Riddle of the Spheres (Part I of the Spheres trilogy). It was rather well-received and Tony Wilsdon was one of the 12 winners of Spiderweb’s Blades scenario contest. I must say I totally agree with this reward. This is a huge scenario. About the plot, let me only say that you are, at the beginning, in a small coast-town, and your province has a lot of various problems; now, guess who’ll have to fix them all? Yes, you’re right! And there’s other bad news: you’re going to spend dozens of hours until your total triumph I had some problems at the scenario’s beginning, and you could too; I will explain it shortly: the main weakness I found is the plot is really really loose. You have many quests to resolve, and they aren’t related together; more, you won’t find you really have to do this quest before you’re near the end of the scenario. Though, being good people, you’ll understand which town is an evil dungeon and which one is a friendly city. This loose plot can be disturbing, as you won’t know what to do at the beginning, and which dungeon to explore. On the other hand, once I got a boat and could travel through the entire province, I realized how big the scenario was, and how much fun I would have to explore it all. That’s why I find it very like Exile I and some areas of Valorim in Exile III: you haven’t a main goal during most of the play, and you explore dungeons, towns and areas one after another; some dungeons really have nothing to do with either the plot or any tiny piece of the scenario. I wrote this was a weak point at the beginning, but this was really entertaining and great once I could travel through all the outdoors. Very different dungeons, all well-made, are spaced through the seas. And this is another feature! I liked in the scenario: many islands, and a lot of navigation. Speaking of great and fun features, I must absolutely mention the fact that all the town and area names are historical references to antic cities or regions (Ardea, Borsippa, Imbros, Patna, ...). Now I’ve began with the nice parts of TWOTS, I should tell you of the extensive use of special outdoor encounters: I doubt more than 2 outdoors don’t include the 4 outdoor encounters you can put in. This add to the non-linear and loose side of the scenario, but I liked it. In a so hostile world, you won’t have only one enemy, located in one spot, one dungeon. Many mean creatures wander, varying from island to island. Considering this, TWOTS seems to me to be the exact opposite of Truffle Days. You haven’t a strong plot, and the scenario is huge in a vast world. I like them both, at the same high level, as each featured one side of the great Exile series’ concept. So, if you like travel, unknown, tough nasties, cool fights, some good hack and-slash balanced by some good puzzles, play The Wreck Of The Slug. If you want to know every second where you are, where you go, what you’re going to do and why, pass your way and pick another scenario. Many players find Exile I is rather weak compared to Exile II; if you think it is a good game, though, you should try this scenario. TWOTS is rated high-level, so the monsters won’t double their HPs before you have a really tough party; but you can begin with a level-1 party. Be only sure to save often and be careful where you go at the beginning, as you won’t survive long if you go far from the starting town with so a weak party. TWOTS is rated G. My score: If I want to be objective, I will rate it 8.5,due to the loose plot, and the fact Tony felt obliged to put there every Exile important piece (even Demonslayer, that won’t be very useful). If I want to follow my inclination, I will rate TWOTS 9.0, as I like it as much as Islands of the Wheel and Truffle Days. Most players should follow my first judgment, though. GOOD

MAGOICOCHEA Substandard

XENOGEARS Good

ORGGG This is a scenario with only a minimalist overall plot involving wiping out a bunch of unrelated monster problems. The shorter plots are nothing original, but are executed competently. This also gives a nice illusion of non-linearity. Much of the fun lies in the discovery of various hidden specials, and conquering/exploring each of the sets of dungeons, most of which consist of a series of deeping/expanding levels. The scope is worth noting, with it only becoming a little more tedious as the game progresses. Nodes/programming are very low-tech, but are used very effectively to give a good sense of place with called monster encounters and just text messages. One annoying special is randomly-distributed effects tials, like diseasing or cursing the entire party that can get triggered many times during combat. Also, dungeons have low total creature limits, which reduces the tedium of wandering monsters but could cause problems. The treasure is over-plentiful, but not as bad as many scenarios. My first level party hit the High rating bump about four-fifths of the way through, doubling all the monster hit points. Still, a fun if messy romp. Works well despite its primitive constraints. Average

BRETT BIXLER A Mixed Bag Story line/plot was not so good, but this is a good example of a "traditional" RPG - lots of territory, lots of puzzles, etc. A mixed bag for me. Average

KHOTH I enjoyed it. Good