Yet Another MA Review Thread?

Reviewing:: Whack a Mole (2711, @Bubbawheat)

Playing as L40 Dark/Regen Scrapper

~*~

Apparently, I'm off to the County Fair to play a quick (very quick, from the briefing) round of Whack a Mole. 5 minutes? Ouch.

~*~

That was... remarkably more (and less) complex than I expected. I won't go into too much detail (since I don't know how much of it was supposed to be spelled out in the debriefing and how much I was supposed to infer), but... very interesting trick.

The points "clue" was amusing, too. Nice trick, pairing the points with the chaining.

~*~

Another round? Another 5 minute round? Wow, this arc was made for speed play.

~*~

A boss, who's protecting a LT, who's protecting a neon pink plushie that's already torn? Who's running this carnival and who can I talk to to get a real carnival in town?

~*~

Oh. Well, I guess that sorts that out, doesn't it?

~*~

Storyline:: { }

Better known as "Plot? What plot?"... granted, it's designed to be a PWP arc, and as such, I'm probably not the best reviewer for this one.

Design:: * * * *

It's interesting, but it's nothing more than a quick bit of fluff. The chaining/kills trick is quite interesting... I would've loved a bonus round, in between the existing missions, full of points-worthy kills. (Dunno how that would work in the end, though... probably not as well as the existing setup.)

This also probably would work better if, when you fail either mission, you can kick the player off the arc. Since, y'know, most carnivals won't let you fail in a "qualifying round" and then go for the prize anyways. (Although, on the second playthrough, I saw what you did there. Not too shabby, that.)

Gameplay:: * * * *

For what it was, it was very fun. Not my cup of tea, by any means -- 10 minutes divided between 2 missions, even on tiny maps like that, make me a little antsy -- but fun.

Detail:: * * *

I had to play this a second time, just to see the detail... that probably should be an auto deduction right there. :/

None of the moles have much description or detail to them... they use one of two descriptions, depending on whether or not they're worth any points. (I noticed, in the second play, that the worthless ones also don't attack. This is fairly useful.)

Also, the (in my case) boss had a bit of amusing text, which strongly reminded me of the opening credits to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Which, I assume, was at least partly the point, being randomly Python-esque. The snowman's descrip was amusing, but now I find myself waiting on the last minute to tick down, so I can see the second fail text. Just to say I've seen everything.

Not much to that, either.

Overall:: * *

Honestly, there's some interesting innovation (especially for this arc's age) to be found therein, and probably cannibalized by other authors. (I foresee this happening, if it hasn't happened yet.) However, whereas I'm more interested in the underlying story, the conflict and tears and eventual triumph... this simply wasn't an arc for me, and I'm afraid my scoring of it shows that.

I'm sorry you were looking for more story in Whack-a-Mole. It is what it is, and an interesting storyline just isn't made for this kind of arc.

Thanks for reviewing the second arc in my "Galactic Protectorate" series, Mychyl! I'm glad to see you were more satisfied with this installment

Thanks for pointing out the typo in the first mission, I'm actually surprised that both myself and the other reviewers who have played my arcs missed that. However, I'm a bit surprised to hear that the Base Commander used "Build Up", since I didn't assign that power to that particular character. I'll have to double-check his powers when I get the chance

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that the story's keeping you interested. I look forward to your review of "The Galactic Protectorate - 03"!

Reviewing:: Suppression (374481, @Gypsy Rose)

Playing as L15 Fire/Fire Scrapper

~*~

Am I in Oz? No, Dorothy just brought her house to Paragon City for the next edition of her alternate-reality tour.

Hope she dropped it on a Carnie Mistress. Not that I'll get those shoes.

Anyways, her three allies this time are superheroes, and they're now in trouble. So time to save the first one.

~*~

This arc, so far, is made of 90% Wizard of Oz references by weight. The hero's clue is a direct rip from the Scarecrow's song (which is ironic, since she was the brainiac hero before her powers were sealed off or stolen or whatever happened), the Munchk... erm, sorry, Minikins... make a couple different references to the movie...

Anywhom, I save the hero and find a Minigirl who says that the "Wicked One" (three guesses, and all three say Elphaba) is somehow destroying superpowers.

~*~

And now to save heart. I'm off to rescue the Tin M... erm, Valentina... from whatever she's wandered into. (Author's Note: Originally I was going to write some pun about Mati from Captain Planet, but I clearly had a change of heart. And yes, that pun WAS, in fact, intended. :P)

~*~

I fought through the snowmen (I guess they were chosen because she's coldhearted now?), rescued Valentina, and found a clue about reversing the effect by finding Elph... erm, the suppressor.

~*~

Next, courage?

Yup. Right on schedule. Time to rescue the Cowardly Captain.

~*~

A pamphlet about Master Marvel... I'm assuming he is the Wizard in this case. Which means he might well be the problem.

And I save the Lion... now, back to Dorothy.

~*~

Off to see the Wizard. Of course. How could I not have guessed? Just follow the Yellow Brick Road. *facepalm*

~*~

A bookshelf full of books by L. Frank Baum. Oh, I get it. This guy has a serious Oz fetish. No wonder this plays like a 99% ripoff-by-volume.

I beat his doll's face in, and he agreed to talk to Dorothy.

Which means, next mission, I'm off to face down the Witch, I guarantee it.

~*~

It's almost ironic that the busy text is "No good deed goes unpunished", my favorite song from the musical that shows the Wizard is evil and Elphaba was the injured party all along.

But yes. Off to beat up Elphaba.

~*~

Pretty straightforward, all in all. The witch's brew was the first unique element in the entire arc, sad to say.

~*~

In the end, I'll have to grade this as an homage, because there's nothing unique to grade on. So, let's see what we've got.

Storyline:: * * * *

Even as an homage, I still would've liked to see something original, something that was purely you. That being said, the story was fairly true to the original (down to the order in which the heroes were saved).

Design:: * * * *

You did well on the character appearances for the Witch and Dorothy... if they had shoulder dog -- or purse with a dog sticking out of it -- adding one to represent Toto would've been perfect for Dorothy, but with what you had, it was good.

Gameplay:: * * *

Honestly, I wasn't coming into this expecting an homage, and that's what I got. That stole a lot of fun out of it, because I enjoy seeing new stories unfold before me, not stories I've known all my life. That aside, it was fun enough for what it was, although the sheer randomness of the Witch's minions was confusing. I would've thought, perhaps make a custom group with monkey-like creatures, for her winged monkeys? Not sure how complex that would've been, but it would've added to the overall feel and to the fun factor.

Detail:: * * * *

You hit most of the salient points of the original story, and the clues fleshed out the several of the musical numbers that wouldn't have translated well as simple text bubbles. Using the various awards the heroes received from the city in-game, as a parallel to the awards passed out by the Wizard in the story, worked well. Again though, I would've liked to see more uniqueness (and possibly twists) compared to the source...

Overall:: * * * *

Were I rating this as I normally would, this would've likely gotten a lower score. However, since I decided to rate this as a homage rather than a unique story, 4 stars it shall be.

Add to it. Evolve it into a story that's truly yours. I've been quoted, many MANY times, as saying that there's only so many great ideas in the world, and they've all been used. However, if you take great elements, and combine them in new and interesting ways, it's still possible to make a great story that's all your own.

Reviewing:: Arena (390921, @FredrikSvanberg)

Playing as L33 Bane SoA

~Level sync to 40 per arc

~*~

Since these are supposed to be VEAT arcs, figured I'd bring my highest level VEAT to the party. Let's go check in.

Apparently, I'm running security detail for some gladiator event.

Interesting use of the contact, using Amanda Vines as a commentator instead of my actual go-to person.

OK, let's head in and see what's what.

~*~

Interesting, the Freakshow and... Family? The Freaks are raiding at Pohsyb's request (apparently), but is Castle using the Family as guards? That's... odd.

Take them out and everything simmers down, especially after I get the Arbiter to unbunch his panties.

~*~

Now, I'm supposed to... I'm not sure. I guess, since I mention a security code, I'm going inside the match? Could be exciting.

~*~

Castle's using Rikti drones for his pawns. That seems weird to me... somehow, I would've thought him to use Longbow or Legacy "automatons", but I go with it. (Besides, what VEAT wouldn't be tired of fighting Longbow and Legacy by L40? XD)

The easy part is getting the Sands lookalike to show up. The hard part is fighting him... I guess I'm spoiled by soloing EBs/AVs as a scrapper, but I ended up eating half my inspirations to take him down. (That drone-summoning Sands gets made the fight even nastier... especially since, at my comparative level, I don't have anything to match that yet.)

Anyways, he's dealt with. He'll play ball now. Let's get back and see what's next.

~*~

Cute little rhyme game that Pohsyb forced into the Arbiter's mind. But the match was annulled, and now I'm supposed to meet up at the meeting and... I guess provide security? I don't get it, but OK.

~*~

All in all, this is getting to be interesting and complex. I've apparently convinced Castle to... defect? Really? That seemed way too easy. Did I slip him some nanites too?

~*~

And now to break into the Zig (erm, help the breakin in progress) to get some political type out... I missed how this helps the overall arc, but eh, it's for the glory of Arachnos -- I think -- so enough questions, let's do this.

~*~

I apparently rescued Ms. Vines's mother (I think it said Vimes in one of the first mentions of her, so possible typo) from Paragon City's gentle company, and delivered her into Arachnos custody, as well as knocking Castle down so it looks like we actually kidnapped him. Part of the deal, which I somehow missed. Ah well.

Found the typo, btw, it's in the clue briefing for mission 3, calls her Natascha Vimes, and then again Mrs. Vimes. Somehow I doubt that was deliberate, even with the repetition.

OK, it shows up in the clue briefing for mission 5 as well. Perhaps it's deliberate, perhaps not. I'll let you decide. If it is deliberate, I don't understand why.

Enough of that for now. Now, I'm supposed to go meet with Castle, while he thanks me for handing him the championship on a silver platter.

~*~

Apparently everyone's angry with me for rigging the fight. So I gotta take 'em all out. Figures, whenever I do something for the good of Arachnos, I end up cleaning up the mess from people who didn't like my invasion.

I skipped the Arbiter -- don't want Recluse *too* angry at me for beating on Arbiters, after all -- but I cleaned house and headed back.

~*~

Storyline:: * * * *

This arc had a very interesting point of view, and the story flowed very well. It had a number of blind corners, which kept me on my toes -- but not too painfully so. The fact that Recluse's whole point here was to get the info from Natascha Vines (Vimes?), it fit well into the canon.

One thing that confused me was, at multiple points, the Rogue Isles were referred to like a separate country; I was pretty sure that the Rogue Isles, while definitely not accepting the laws of the US, were still titularly part of the US; part of RI, much as Paragon City, to be specific. I could be wrong on this... there might be something in the canon I've missed about that.

Design:: * * * * *

Every piece of the story meshed well together, and as mentioned above, the uniqueness (or novelty, but I've never seen that convention) of Amanda Vines acting as spectator/commentator, rather than using the contact to tell you where to go and what to do, was quite interesting. The only mark I have against design is Mrs. Vimes/Ms. Vines. If this was unintentional, it shows up a LOT of places (the souvenir also included this) -- if it was intentional, perhaps a very brief explanation of why she's referred to so often as Vimes.

Gameplay:: * * * * *

I'm actually fairly glad I did this on my VEAT, because with a regular scrapper (or brute if I'd had one high enough -- which I don't yet), the EBs would've been too easy. As it were, soloing them as a Bane SoA made them tough. Doable, but certainly tough.

Detail:: * * * *

Again, everything meshed well. The final map seemed a bit large, but it was nice in that it gave me a chance to skip someone I didn't really want to play with (ie. the Arbiter again). My only complaint, again, is the Vines/Vimes. I'd advise in favor of clearing it up, whichever direction you were aiming for.

Overall:: * * * * *

Far better than the canon VEAT arcs that I've played -- although, as we can tell by this being my highest VEAT, there's probably more I haven't touched yet. Well written, well told, and while there were moments of silliness, they didn't interfere overmuch with the arc, so I didn't have the heart to score against them. (They were more or less harmless anyways, song/poetry quotes.)

Thanks for your review. Man, you're fast.

It's not intentionally "Vimes", it's just that I always think that's her name and so I ended up writing it like that at first and then I realized I had made a mistake and it ended up a mess, like you pointed out. I'll go through it right now and try to catch them all.

The arc is a bit silly, I confess. It's for a reason. It's all just one big reference/easter egg, which is explained in the Souvenir. You might say that I "adapted" the original story to City of Villains.

And no, the Rogue Isles isn't a part of the U.S., it's a sovereign nation, or at least the U.N. seems to think so. The U.S. does not acknowledge or approve of this, however. Or something like that. The politics surrounding this is quite a mess.

Edit: I've given it another pass and I think I've caught all the "Vimes's" now. I gotta stop using that NPC, she always makes me confused.

Apologies for the delay in reply; RL stuff distracted me.

Thanks for the review of "Two Households Alike", and the top rating. I've put my reply in the arc's thread so as not to derail this one.

You can call one of them "Safe" and the rest "Safe " with a space after the word. That's different enough for the MA but won't look different in the mission. You can add as many spaces as you want to create more groups.

Reviewing:: The Galactic Protectorate - 03 (174352, @Unknown Hero)

Playing as L40 Dark/Regen scrapper

~*~

When we last left this arc, we'd just saved altPsyche from a fate worse than death. (Said fate being death by plot.) And we managed to defeat the first of 12 generals. Let's see what's next on the hit list for us. (Again, by my prediction at the end of 02, we will next be ordered around by altPsyche.)

Prediction hit. And apparently the invading forces have captured some of our doctors and are forcing them to work for them. So, off I go.

~*~

Interesting... the doctors don't really want to be rescued. Suddenly, I'm reminded -- back in the first installation -- where I said I was getting a Praetorian arc.

As with the previous arcs, I love the look of the new division and the power combinations I've seen so far.

OK, I took out the base. I feel kinda guilty for doing so, but I did it. Time to see what altPsyche has to say.

~*~

She seems shocked that the doctors are willingly supporting the Protectorate.

But she got word where the 11th Division general is, or might be. So... I may have reservations, but let's see where this leads.

~*~

Apparently, me taking out General 12 has set off General 11's ire. Which means, whether it's right or not, now I have no choice but to take out General 11.

His (her?) colonels keep talking about their casualities. I'm of two minds... part of me is wondering what's really going on behind the scenes.

~*~

General 11 was found, and now it's time for me to head in and neutralize (him? her?). Gonna be another epic fight, I have a feeling.

~*~

I rescued altPsyche (and altLiberty, which means she'll be my next contact) and defeated General 11. I'm really starting to wonder, with everything the Protectorate are saying, who's really in the wrong here.

But, peaceful or not, if they're still really invaders, they're the ones in the wrong ultimately, and as such, they need to be stopped.

~*~

Storyline:: * * * *

The story is getting progressively more twisted, but while there's hints in one direction or another, I don't know what's really going on behind the scenes. If the alternate Phalanx and Vindicators are right, the Protectorates really are brutal and vicious and will as soon wipe us off the face of this world -- and possibly destroy the world in the process. If the Protectorate are telling the truth, they've come in peace and I'm just helping make things worse. I really wish I had more of a clue what was really going on.

Design:: * * * * *

As usual, the custom characters are well-designed and fit together cohesively. This group might've been a bit MM-heavy, but it wasn't unreasonable by any means.

Gameplay:: * * * *

This story is starting to get pretty confusing, and it's starting to impact gameplay. I don't know what's going on anymore... I don't know whether to be pleased or displeased with my efforts now, I don't know if I want to keep playing or if I want to abandon the $name Freedom Fighters. I'm starting to spend more time worrying about that than actually enjoying the missions.

Detail:: * * * * *

The storyline's details continue to be a very real driving force, and even when I'm sitting here, confused and trying to organize my overall thoughts, the detail still impresses me. The maps, missions, and overall storyline still work well together, though as I said, I'm still not entirely sure where the story will lead. I'm assuming it will be one of two directions: either it will end up a pseudo-Praetorian existence, in which case I'll end up switching sides and helping the Protectorate, or the Protectorate will be shown as the frauds they (might be?) and I'll end up taking them all down, one by one.

Overall:: * * * *

This storyline has been going up and down for me, but it's always strong, and it's always enjoyable to at least some degree. I'm still looking forward to seeing the continuation of the arc, if only to find out what's really going on.

Thanks for reviewing the third arc in my "Galactic Protectorate" series, Mychyl! I'm glad to see your still enjoying the story, even if you're starting to find it a little confusing

One the main goals I had when designing the Galactic Protectorate arcs was to create a story that wasn't "black or white" like many of the storylines in the main game. I labeled the arcs "Neutral" for good reason, as the apparent moral ambiguity of both the Resistance and the Galactic Protectorate will be brought up a lot throughout the course of the arcs.

Hopefully some of the confusion you felt in this arc will be cleared as you continue to play the arcs, and more of the plot is revealed. I'm glad you're enjoying the amount of detail I put into the arc; hopefully, the clues in the coming arcs will answer some of the questions you have about what's going on "behind the scenes"

Anyway, I look forward to your review of "The Galactic Protectorate - 04"!

Reviewing:: Ctrl + Alt + Reset! (137561, @Bubbawheat)

Playing as L30 Claws/SR scrapper

~*~

Foreshadow's got a lead on some temporal disturbance, and wants me to go in and deal with it. Well, when it comes to time, I think he's as close to an expert as you can find, outside of a Mender, so we'll see what he's worried about, shall we?

~*~

I go in and wipe out the Wyvern protecting the artifact, who started out convinced that the artifact was totally safe -- and then, as I beat up the boss, he mentions that maybe it is better that I have it.

Got what I came for... back to Foreshadow.

~*~

Um... Foreshadow? Bit of amnesia? I just DID that, and... oh.

Well, I guess I didn't. Let's go do it again.

~*~

This time there's a second computer, a password, and another, even bigger artifact. Or is it supposed to be the same one, just larger now?

~*~

OK, Foreshadow, this dance is getting old. You want me to go back in again? You need to discover some originality, sir.

~*~

This time there's about a million glowies to click.

I just got rickroll'd. >.>

Aha, road of good intentions. It looks like these artifacts were made to help doctors, but... well, the results clearly vary.

I do admit to being a little curious as to why the shifter keeps growing in size and... evolving.

Let's see if I can get any of this to Foreshadow before time loops again.

~*~

He still doesn't know what's going on. Good thing I still remember all this.

Now, apparently, I have to look for someone else, who has the second artifact.

~*~

Got the artifact, time to end this.

Something... something's weird. The Wyvern are turning into some sort of monsters, and the shifter is now my enemy, and more than just a plotline concept.

And again.

And again?

OK, I... I think that did it? I guess? Let's ask Foreshadow if he remembers anything now.

~*~

Heh, he remembers something... so it obviously worked.

(Minor note: typo in the clue text.)

~*~

Storyline:: * * * *

A strong story, if a bit cliche (thinking Groundhog Day, especially when I ripped out the computer, knowing it would be there the next time). At first, I thought it was going to be endless, slightly varying iterations of the first mission, but I'm glad you varied it up. Probably one of the best stories I've seen on a Dev's Choice arc... normally, I find that I and the devs responsible for selecting arcs are at odds on what's good.

Design:: * * * *

Fairly basic, but good use of clues... especially with the millions of artifacts. It was obvious from the clues that you were trying to take a light-hearted approach with the arc, something that didn't become apparent until that point, but that held through the remainder of the arc.

Gameplay:: * * * *

It was overall a very fun arc, but the chained objectives got a bit annoying in a couple of places. The first was mission 2, where you had to check one computer, go all the way to the back to defeat the boss, then make your way all the way back up to check the second computer (which was sitting there the whole time, of course).

The other was with the Time Shifters in the final mission... they spawned randomly throughout, and while the third iteration spawned on top of the second, the first was further along the map, which meant I ended up cleaning out the back part of the warehouse before realizing I'd have to double back.

Detail:: * * * *

As I mentioned before, the design of the arc was fairly spartan. The clues were nice, especially the artifacts, but overall, it felt fairly plain. What was there worked very well together, however... though I'm not sure about the use of slags and hydra-spawn as the Bio-Devices.

Overall:: * * * *

Overall, it was a fun arc that wasn't worried about taking itself too seriously, and as I said, quite possibly one of the best DC arcs I've played. (Of which there have now been 3.) A few minor things which distracted from the overall enjoyability, but not fatally so.