Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 (edited) A Good Beginning Mac/Windows Author: Nikki Rating: Difficulty: Version: [composite=eyJ0aXRsZSI6IkEgR29vZCBCZWdpbm5pbmciLCJ0aWQiOiIxNTY2MiIsInRhZ3MiOltdLCJiZ2FzcCI6eyI1IjowLCI0IjozLCIzIjo3LCIyIjoyLCIxIjowfX0=] Composite Score: 3.1/5.0 Best: 0.00% (0/12) Good: 25.00% (3/12) Average: 58.33% (7/12) Substandard: 16.67% (2/12) Poor: 0.00% (0/12) [encouragenecro] [/composite] Keywords: Edited August 5, 2014 by SylaeBot Automated Sybot edit; worker IPB::csrThread/vanadium Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall BainIhrno Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Very small, illogical plot points, and not that much to do, but still works okay. [rating]Substandard[/rating] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 From TM on the CSR: I haven't played the post-beta version, but there weren't too many errors left in the pre-release version. If Nikki feels the review is unfair, I'm all for redoing it, but anyway: Solid, and incredibly short. Maybe not as short as Xerch'de, but shorter than RoR. It's worth playing, albeit mostly because you won't be wasting that much time. (Admittedly, sometimes the rewards are a bit hefty for what little you actually DO in the scenario, but it's all livable.) Everything's in order, and it makes for a quick but pleasant excursion. [rating]AVERAGE[/rating] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 From The Lurker on the CSR: What TM said, though I'm giving it a higher score. This scenario is really short. It has three small 'towns', one of them being 'optional', and one very small outdoor section. Everything in this scenario is fairly good, but I didn't find anything to be really outstanding either, except perhaps for those Portal graphics. AGB is also really easy - there aren't really any puzzles, and the combat, while being harder than in previous beta-versions, is rather easy. The story is interesting too, and there are two endings, with two different 'rewards'. Overall : A bug-free (at least I think it's bug-free) and fairly enjoyable scenario, albeit too short for my tastes. [rating]GOOD[/rating] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 From S M Adventurer on the CSR: This scenario was a pretty solid adventure, even though it was pretty short, having only 3 towns. I really liked the Crystal and the Portal graphics, and the cutscenes are good too. I played it twice, both ways, killing the shade and not killing the shade. But obviously, you don't feel the sastification of a job well done unless you kill the shade. The shade was extremely easy, but for some reason, he didn't start out at full health, is that intentional, or a bug? Overall, it's pretty good. [rating]GOOD[/rating] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 From Lazarus on the CSR: A short scenario, three towns and one outdoor section. The towns are nice, but I think the outdoors could have used some more detail. I didn't encounter any bugs that really detracted from the game experience (always a good sign). The plot is conceivable and presented well; there is even a choice to make that effects what reward you get. It's short, and the combat isn't much of a challenge. But the writing is good, and I found it enjoyable. I think it's about as good as RoR or Babysitting, but it's better than Xerch'de and other scenarios in the next tier down. [rating]AVERAGE[/rating] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 From Ephesos on the CSR: After testing it, I'm pleased to see that the kinks have been worked out. As others have said, it's short but solid. Town design is rather good, the outdoors are... well, empty, and dialogue is decent. Plot, well, it works. It's definitely not the worst one we've seen yet. And actually having a choice for the ending is a bonus. So, yeah, it tops Xerch'de and Babysitting by a substantial margin, and definitely a good first scenario. I look forward to future work from Nikki, and I feel that this one has earned a rating of [rating]AVERAGE[/rating]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 From Thralni on the CSR: What struck me most was how short it was. When I had finished it, I kept thinking for some time: did it already end? That I asked myself this question can be seen as something good, and also as something bad. Why good? Because of this: - I liked the simpleness of the plot. You go and investigate a murder. You catch the murderer, done. It can't be much more simple, in my opinion. - The general town design was nice, though I didn't like Fort bluebird that much. - I liked that huge portal, it was quite stunning to look at. - The cutscenens (espacially the spirit running around in the cave) were good. Why bad? Because of this: - I couldn't really feel the scenario, make myself part of it. In longer scenarios I tend to become a character in the party, fight alongside them. You get this connection between the player and the party. I didn't have it here. - It was simply to short. But that may be just me: i don't like very short scenarios all that much. In general, a [rating]AVERAGE[/rating] for this scenario. That is because it had nice touches, but was generally to short for me to really enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 From Smoo on the CSR: General: I'm not sure if A Good Beginning is shorter than Xerch'de. It does come pretty close though. Overall I liked the design of the few towns, especially since they had toilets which are often hidden in the modern Empire society. In addition to the toilets there are other small things I enjoyed: A soldier actually lies on bed and so forth. The outdoors on the other hand are empty and boring. It's only one section but it could've at least have something. I encountered a small bug in the caves. When the cut scene commenced there was an error message saying something like "Failed to load graphic sheet 517". I could not reproduce this bug, though. Plot/Characters: The dialogue and people in the starter town are alright. However, once you reach the research center the characters get a whole lot more interesting. Mainly because they forget things. Basically the plot is very straightforward and I was a bit disappointed once I found out who the bad guy was. However, I really liked the atmosphere of the school. I was enthralled to walk among demented wrecks. Combat: Apart from a couple of snakes and the optional boss fight, the combat is non-existent. You can also kill the crazy people of the research facility but I chose not to. Overall: Enthralling, competent and fun, but very, very, very small. [rating]GOOD[/rating] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 From Nioca on the CSR: A good beginning.... ...and sadly, that's about it. This scenario is so short, that if I wrote a nice, long review about it, the review would be longer then the scenario. Good combat, decent plot, just wish it was longer. [rating]SUBSTANDARD[/rating] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 From an unknown reviewer on the CSR: A Good Beginning, indeed. One of the shortest scenarios around, with no real flaws, but with no real strong points either. [rating]AVERAGE[/rating] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 From Excalibur on SV: Combat - Good - Just about the right level, though it really depended on how I made my party. Visual design - Good - I liked it, especially the cave. The fort was somewhat bland, however. Technical design - Good - I've seen better Writing - Good - Character dialog was done well, and it was okay overall Story/Plot - Average - The idea behind the scenario would be more suited to a much larger scenario in my opinion. Enjoyability - Average - I was disappointed by the size, and the ending Overall - [rating]AVERAGE[/rating] - It's a good beginning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Tyranicus Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 From Jewels on SV: Short, and not very interesting. The scripting is sound and it's pretty much bug free but... meh. [rating]AVERAGE[/rating] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody BJ Back From the Beyond Posted August 10, 2011 Share Posted August 10, 2011 Story: AGB's story is short. Very short, as I'm sure others have pointed out. Personally, I try not to hold a scenario's length against it, but that's rather hard to do in this case. There are a number of details about the plot and the setting that are scattered around the scenario, kind of like breadcrumbs leading to some deeper, more complex story. Unfortunately, we're never told what that story is. I actually find myself thinking that if some of the details were cut out it would make for a more complete story. Right now it is just a fragment. Having said that, I did like the actual writing. The dialog was fun to read, and I never felt like I was slogging through barrages of unnecessary text. Combat: There is very little combat in this scenario. To little for my tastes, and what is there is fairly straight forward and easy. There were only two times where I felt really challenged, and they were the snake pit and the final boss. The snakes were difficult for my newly made party, but are also an optional encounter. The final boss was able to drain all the HP in my party with a singe Ice Lances spell, which I felt was a little on the overpowered side, but since you have the option to opt out of that battle it really isn't a problem. Design: There are very few resources for the party to use in this scenario, but the length and relative lack of combat make that somehow feel appropriate. There are vendors who will sell you most any item you may need, and if you're using a new party that will be quite a few things. There is, however, very little gold in the scenario, so you'll need to be frugal. One of my biggest complaints is that there is almost nothing in the outdoors. I found one uninteresting encounter. The rest is just empty space that could have easily been turned into something far more interesting. Scripting: I found no bugs, and there were some nice encounters. Nothing really worthy of note here. The final score for A Good Beginning is AVERAGE. It's a fun little scenario that doesn't take much time to play, but you'll wish it had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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