Listing of characters available for play-thru (w/max settings)
Incarnates (Advanced)
Ice/Axe Tanker (+0/x8)
Ice/Energy Blaster (+0/x1) <--single target build
Ill/Emp Controller (+0/x8)
Merc/TA Mastermind (+0/x8)
Mind/Kin Controller (+0/x8)
Dark/Dark Defender (+0/x6)
Elec/Psy Dominator (+0/x8)
FF/Elec Defender (+0/x8)
DP/Traps Defender (+0/x8)
Spines/Nin Stalker (+0/x8)
Ice/Earth Dominator (+0/x8)
Plant/Storm Controller (+0/x8)
Incarnates (Basic)
Thugs/Pain Mastermind (+0/x6)
Crab Spider (+0/x8)
Night Widow (+0/x1)
Kat/DA Scrapper (+0/x4)
Claws/SR Scrapper (+0/x1)
SS/Invuln Tanker (+0/x1)
Rad/Rad Corruptor (-1/x1)
Peacebringer (+0/x3)
Warshade (+0/x3)
Mace/Shield Brute (+0/x4)
Energy/Elec Brute (+0/x3)
50s
AR/Devices Blaster (+0/x1)
Pre-50s (+0/x1 max)
Fire/Sonic Corruptor
DB/Energy Stalker
BR/Poison Corruptor
Elec/Fire Scrapper
Stone/Ice Tanker
Fire/Therm Controller
Grav/Time Controller
Earth/Thorn Dominator
*reserved for listing of top recommended arcs overall and per category*
Arc
"A Warrior's Journey - The Flower Knight Task Force"
Author: @PW
(Heroic 45-54)
Missions: 5
Stats
Settings: +0/x8 on "All-Dark" Action Force
Running Time: 70 minutes
Team
Level 50 (+1) Dark Miasma/Dark Blast Defender
Level 50 Fire Blast/Dark Miasma Corruptor
Level 32 Dark Melee/Energy Aura Brute
Level 16 Dark Blast/Darkness Manipulation Blaster
Solo Review - 12/21/11
Overall: 4.40 / Rated: 5
Story: 4.66
Logic: 5.00
Solid basis, no inconsistencies found.
Details: 4.75
Very little re-reading needed, as everything is pretty straight-forward.
Dialogue: 4.25
I came across two in-mission NPC dialogues I felt were a little odd, but otherwise very well done.
Action: 4.25
Immersion: 3.75
Mission 4 to me was lacking. Copycat patrols based on dialogue and aside from objectives, felt kinda bland.
Flow: 4.25
There was a bit of searching required on the two outdoor maps, slowing down the action... but that's somewhat expected on outdoor maps.
Cast: 4.75
Customs were very well done, but on reuse of stock characters in alternate dimension I felt a custom critter would've been more personalized. Specifically on mission 3 and half of 5.
Technical: 4.66
Presentation: 4.50
Very little to complain about here, just my personal preference in some areas.
Maps: 4.50
While all missions had a good map category to set the atmosphere, I'm not so sure the size of the third map goes with a team setting. I may be being too critical on this aspect.
Balance: 5.00
All combat encounters were in line with official encounters.
Rewards: 4.00
Rated in accordance with "recommended for teams", the only real elements keeping the rating down were amount of encounters on map 1 and size of map 3.
Arc
"Cat: It's What's For Dinner"
Author: @Interface
Villainous (1/41/45-54)
Missions: 4
Solo
Level 50(+1) Spines/Ninjitsu Stalker
Settings: +0/x1/Bosses Off/AVs Off
Overall: 3.58 / Rated: 5
Story: 4.16
Logic: 4.50
This is a comedy arc, so I can't put too much stock into logic here but felt the "good guys" group shoulda been renamed or customized to match the different dimension?
Details: 3.75
Some parts felt a bit rushed. No bio at all for Contact.
Dialogue: 4.25
Some worked really well for me, some didn't.
Action: 3.66
Immersion: 2.50
For the map sizes, felt there were way too many system encounters and/or default animations.
Flow: 3.75
Offset by some searching and back-peddling, but not so bad when maps are small.
Cast: 4.75
Lots of fun and well-done customs. Only the minor presence of the "standard good guys" mentioned above brought this down some.
Technical: 4.00
Presentation: 3.00
Personal preference here... but biggest offset for me is that I'm not a fan of the limited system colors, especially when multiple NPC interaction is present.
Maps: 4.50
Balance: 4.50
2 Bosses in mission 3 with status protection not much fun for me.
Rewards: 2.50
For me, the strength of this arc lies in the slap-stick comedy present and the custom critters. There was also an optional ending, which was somewhat clever how it was pulled off. At this time it still feels a little unpolished to me, but feel free to judge for yourself.
Arc
"To Dream of Nothing"
Author: @Zaphir
Heroic (20-29)
Missions: 4
Solo
Level 50(+1) Illusion/Empathy Controller
Settings: +0/x6/Bosses Off/AVs Off
Overall: 3.75 / Rated: 5
Story: 3.83
Logic: 4.75
Solid basis, no inconsistencies found.
Details: 4.25
There's pleny of details throughout and at times I found myself needing to re-read.
Dialogue: 2.50
While the dialogue wasn't bad at all, the sheer amount during a few encounters requires a seperate NPC Chat tab to make sure you don't miss anything.
Action: 3.75
Immersion: 3.00
Aside from the required bosses and allies, there was little going on NPC-wise in the missions.
Flow: 3.75
Due to the white optional objectives mixing with white required and some chained objectives, found myself stopping a bit to figure out what to do next.
Cast: 4.50
The customs were pretty well done. Male ally most memorable.
Technical: 4.16
Presentation: 3.00
While I felt there was good use of paragraph breaks and italicizing(?), there was a bit too much white for me everywhere.
Maps: 4.50
Balance: 5.00
Can't go too wrong when using Standard critters for the majority of missions. Customs were in-line.
Rewards: 3.25
A very text-heavy and detailed arc that will require high dedication to reading to follow the story. Kinda felt in-mission NPC text could've been spread out some to unique encounters to lessen the burden on key encounters.
Arc
"Cracking Skulls"
Author: @Flame Kitten
Heroic (1-14)
Missions: 3
Solo
Level 50(+1) Ice/Energy Blaster
+0/x3/Bosses Off/AVs Off
Overall: 4.38 / Rated: 5
Story: 4.83
Logic: 5.00
Details: 4.75
Dialogue: 4.75
Action: 4.75
Immersion: 4.75
A good mix of unique encounters to keep me interested.
Flow: 4.50
Cast: 5.00
Technical: 4.41
Presentation: 4.00
While most formats were great, not sold that Nav was used to best of its ability.
Maps: 4.25
Not sold on mission 1s map being the best for that mission.
Balance: 5.00
Can't go too wrong when using Standard critters for the majority of missions. Customs were in-line and blended in with the standards so well, I had to do a double take.
Rewards: 3.50
Overall, a very solid arc for low level characters and new players.
Arc
"Crime is Art and Art is Crime"
Author: @Twoflower
Heroic (35-54)
Missions: 3
Solo
Level 50(+1) Spines/Ninjitsu Stalker
+0/x2/Bosses Off/AVs Off
Overall: 4.12 / Rated: 5
Story: 4.83
Logic: 5.00
Details: 4.75
Dialogue: 4.75
Action: 4.83
Immersion: 4.75
Flow: 4.75
Cast: 5.00
Technical: 3.83
Presentation: 4.00
Lots of white tends to make everything blend together for me.
Maps: 5.00
Balance: 2.50
Felt some of the customs in missions 2 & 3 were a bit overpowered for their rewards.
Rewards: 3.00
Overall, a pretty solid, fun and interesting arc.
Arc
"Terra Mystica: The Nexus"
Author: @Lord of Storms
Heroic (40-54)
Missions: 4
Solo
Level 50(+1) Spines/Ninjitsu Stalker
+0/x8/Bosses Off/AVs Off
Overall: 4.51 / Rated: 5
Story: 4.83
Logic: 5.00
Details: 4.75
Dialogue: 4.75
Action: 4.91
Immersion: 5.00
Flow: 4.75
Cast: 5.00
Technical: 4.83
Presentation: 4.75
Found everything extemely easy to read and reference, tho some navigation seemed a bit confusing in some areas.
Maps: 5.00
Balance: 4.75
Rewards: 3.50
What can I say, I highly recommend this arc and the author is a pretty cool cat to boot.
Arc
"Rularularian"
Author: @Ankylosaur
(Heroic 41-54)
Missions: 5
Solo
Level 50(+1) Thugs/Pain Domination Mastermind
+0/x8/Bosses Off/AVs Off
Overall: 4.20 / Rated: 5
Story: 4.75
Logic: 5.00
Details: 4.50
Dialogue: 4.75
Action: 4.58
Immersion: 5.00
Lots going on, made me feel I was in on something big.
Flow: 4.25
I think anytime any of us use an outdoor map, we can expect to lose some flow needing to search around for objectives.
Cast: 4.50
The supporting cast of characters were great. I didn't find the main custom enemy group extremely memorable, though they looked very nice for the most part.
Technical: 4.50
Presentation: 4.75
Multi-contact interaction was handled extremely well.
Maps: 5.00
Balance: 3.75
Feel some customs could use some tweeking. There's far too many to pin-point exactly which ones seemed over 100% rewards.
Rewards: 3.00
As of first run, the effort put into some fights don't pay off all that well.
Reviewed after freshly published, and hopefully my comments + some others will help shape up this arc. It's pretty solid, though.
Arc
"Whack A Mole: Lambda Sector"
Author: @Bubbawheat
Neutral (50-54)
Missions: 1
Solo
Level 50(+1) Thugs/Pain Domination Mastermind
Settings: +0/x3/Bosses Off/AVs Off
Overall: 3.25 / Rated: 5
Story: 3.00
Logic: 5.00
When you're dealing with an arcade-style parody of the trial, not much logic needed... and no problem comprehending what was going on.
Details: 2.50
There's only a small amount of details present. Could there be more? Sure. Should there be more? Dunno. But wanted to reflect it is simplistic.
Dialogue: 4.50
Best line for me was that I was holding up queue.
Action: 3.00
Immersion: 2.00
Aside from the required collections and named boss, there was nothing going on NPC-wise.
Flow: 3.00
Cast: 3.50
Ideal use of NPC for contact. Lack of representation for some enemies.
Technical: 3.75
Presentation: 4.00
While I did enjoy the parody for the most part, I was unsure exactly what to do after crates when the objective to "score" came up.
Maps: 4.75
Balance: 2.50
While this mission may be cakewalk for ATs with status protection, it's not very kind to those without.
Rewards: 3.25
I think the biggest letdown for me was lack of diversity in enemies which kinda plays a factor in balance. A stun here and there ain't so bad, but when I dare not push past x3 on an Incarnate (regardless of AT)... Houston, we have a problem. Knowing the author a little, I feel bad not being able to give higher ratings in some categories... but I gotta be honest.
Special Ratings/Review of in-game arc for comparrison
Arc
"Twisted Reflections"
Contact: Field Agent Keith Nance
Heroic (20-29)
Missions: 4
Solo
Level 27 Electric Melee/Fiery Aura Scrapper
Settings: +0/x1/Bosses Off/AVs Off
Overall: 3.52
Story: 3.83
Logic: 4.00
Really seems to me a special "radio" contact would have set this all up better, to make it feel more like there's a sense of being an outcast.
Details: 4.50
Dialogue: 3.00
Didn't seem like the NPCs made a big enough deal of me possibly being on the wrong side of the law. Could have been more urgent. Way too much chatter at once inside first mission.
Action: 3.50
Immersion: 2.50
Aside from the requirements, there was nothing special going on NPC-wise.
Flow: 4.50
Cast: 3.50
Bonus points for doppleganger technology, but no one else in the arc was interesting. Therefore, I stole the show? o.O
Technical: 3.75
Presentation: 2.50
And so we are introduced to a new dialogue box. Very cool. Not a fan of it locked into a fixed location and falling behind my personalized set-up.
Maps: 3.75
Balance: 5.00
Rewards: 3.00
And so I've decided now it's time to continue my A/E missteps here in a ratings & reviews thread because:
- I can
- I have an "annoyance" standard to uphold
- Threads, like arcs and plagues, are easily avoided if you don't go near those possessing them
If you're "whacked in the head" enough to actually like or want my feedback, simply do one of the following:- Play one of my creations and rate/comment - being nice helps
- Submit a creation to "AEction Force" - pending its survival
- Join the Arc Club (by Bubbawheat) - as long as I am welcome there
Play Requests? It's the same as door-sitting to me and I'm don't drive down one-way streets. Get active and do one of the 3 above!Character / Settings Request? If you'd like a specific character of mine to run your creation, see my list below and lemme know.
Genres? Any, whether story-focused or rewards-focused... so don't sweat that.
Replays? Upon further edit welcome, but please don't expect it immediately.
That being said, this is the format I'll be using and I'll avoid giving away any spoilers:
Overall: This rating is the average of the Story, Action, Technical & Rewards categories below.
Story: This rating is the average of the Logic, Details & Dialogue categories below.
Logic: Reflects how well I felt the story stayed believable and consistent.
Details: Reflects how easy I felt the details were to comprehend and read.
Dialogue: Reflects how I felt Contact & NPC dialogue was used for the genre.
Action: This rating is the average of Immersion, Flow & Cast below.
Immersion: Reflects how I felt details were used to capture the setting. There enough unique encounters to be more than a radio/paper mission?
Flow: Reflects how I felt the action flowed. Was there too much down-time searching and back-tracking to meet requirements?
Cast: Reflects how memorable I felt the NPCs and enemies were. If custom critters present, were they as good as standard?
Technical: This rating is the average of Presentation, Maps & Balance below.
Presentation: Reflects how well I felt use of paragraphs, colors, clues, pop-ups and other elements were.
Maps: Reflects how well I felt the choice of maps were based on level range, recommended team-size and amount of objectives.
Balance: Reflects how balanced I felt the encounters were for the level range and recommended team-size. Was I needing to constantly use Inspirations to keep up?
Rewards: A single rating sum reflecting my assessment of the level of in-game rewards.
My Policy on in-game Ratings:
Who am I to discourage authors who put forth effort with a less than 5 star rating and possibly push them down the list? It may discourage them or those who like their style from finding their creation and trying it out. Is it a flawed approach and misleading to those who go off ratings? Yup, but I feel when you're dealing with a flawed ratings system there's no need to be a flawyer (my word). I'm just 1 audience member in this game and I'd rather see this community grow than fade into oblivion. Therefore, until things change, I only award 5 stars. If the author is curious what they can do to appease this 1 audience member, I hope my ratings per category reflect what I felt needs improving to get me to "spread the word" about their creation.