Neverwinter Foundry Night! Wind and weather conspired to give me and Kasul enough uninterrupted power to meet in Neverwinter and do some foundries. Due to the lateness of the hour, we only got around to two of them.
First up: “Merlin the Story Teller 3”. I knew this was going to be trouble when I read the intro:
In the realm of Midguard lies the Sky Kingdom of Zeal, and is home to The Temple of Athena. Merlin was summon by the High Priestess Schala when the Spear Of Mars had shock the Land, but was cursed and repelled by The God Mars as he Invaded The Kingdom Of Zeal.
Kasul is a big fan of mashups, and this confused blend of Arthurian, Norse and Greek mythology as told by a grammar-challenged stoner had the potential for breaking the mold. Though the level design was somewhat innovative, the plot was threadbare, the use of mythology was inconsistent, and at the end, Merlin gets high with a bong shaped like an enormous telescope. I gave it one star. Kasul gave it three. I felt it honestly deserved two stars, but I took a star away for the stupid drug references.
Also, if you’re gonna have me battle the frickin’ GOD of WAR, try to keep him alive more than a second?
Next up was “A Kidnapping in Blacklake” by Winin, (AKA Todd Edwards). This classic foundry quest is being featured for the second time and would blend smoothly into the story of the Nasher rebels if it were part of the official quest chain.
You enter the world of the Nasher in search of a kidnapped girl, but there’s more going on beneath the surface, including a threat to both the Nasher rebels and the larger city of Neverwinter itself. A series of mazes await, with hidden accolades that let the author set aside the quest for a moment to lead the player on, for instance, a Super Mario-influenced jumping puzzle.
Though the adventure has great dialog, hidden objectives and different conversation paths (ultimately not changing the path, but appreciated nonetheless), the foundry’s age shows — the tension between the Neverwinter guards and the Nasher rebels is typically months in players’ pasts, and few authors today seek to extend the official plot as seamlessly as does this adventure.
I was surprised to come to the end of the adventure and to find from the review I’d left previously that I’d actually already played it. I had no memory of it whatsoever. I called it fun when I played it the first time, according to the review, and I had fun the second time.
Those two adventures had taken me past my bedtime, so I regretfully had to head to bed. Hoping next week we get to do the two we didn’t get to last night.
Add “Chrono Trigger” to the mashup list. That’s such an incredibly muddled rendering of mythology, video game references, and drugs for no good reason that it really WOULD be either brilliant or terrible. Shame about that.
Yeah, Chrono Trigger was in there but mostly as another random hallucination afterthought. It was terrible, but you have to take the leap for things like that.
Literally I mean. The map design featured waterfalls you leap off of repeatedly, falling for damage each time. If the impact of the initial view hadn’t been as great I would have been firmly at two stars as well.
I missed the Chrono Trigger bits. I haven’t played that game in twenty years…. barely remember it.