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Path of Truth Feedback: Blood River to Jaanaford [SPOILERS]

Discussion in 'Release 42 Feedback Forum' started by Vyrin, Jun 14, 2017.

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  1. Vyrin

    Vyrin Avatar

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    Main points:

    - It is good to see the letters and diary entries around Blood River, they help give the scene life.
    - Should we get a loose end like the "Free Man" without some sort of resolution?
    - Kiakis' strange ability to follow you unannounced causes all sorts of problems with that he tells you.
    - The steps to Jaanaford and Kiln seem like a hat quest, and in the end can easily be bypassed if you've got some knowledge of Novia already.
    - Bugs/clean-up needs to continue.

    It is not hard to find the start of the quest in Blood River. But it doesn't ring true....

    Aerie Guard: Praise the Oracle! Magistrate Villines needs to speak to you with haste!
    Aerie Guard: Yes, yes! Good to meet you! Magistrate Villines needs to speak to you with haste.


    How do the guards know who you are, and why do they expect your arrival? Why wouldn't they be suspicious of a human showing up in this battle scene? Shouldn't guards be defensive if they haven't met you? It would be more fun to try to convince them that you should speak to the magistrate.

    The conversation with the magistrate is much better. You do get some good back story. However, there is one part of the story that is a "loose end":

    Robert Villines: As a magistrate I serve as an officer of the law. I frequently must determine the truth of what has happened. I have been investigating the case of the Free Man for some weeks now, and my investigation led me here to Blood River.

    You can't ask about the Free Man... and the newsletter you can find doesn't shed any light on him. Is this just a dead end? Can anyone tell you about Free Man? Seems like it should be a keyword for more description from the Magistrate.

    Someone needs to do a polish pass for broken keywords, typos, spelling, grammar. Take the dialogue with Kyle Berhand.

    Vyrin: can't find (underlined keyword)
    Kyle Behrand: I don't know where that is.
    Vyrin: don't know where (underlined keyword)
    Kyle Behrand: I don't know where that is.

    Vyrin: elves
    Kyle Behrand: elves are just beings who want to live out their days like the rest of us. I think there are too many people in Aerie who are content to fear and hate what they find different. That's not been the way I was raised.


    "Elves" needs to be capitalized. "That's not been" indicates Kyle is still being "raised". A passive present perfect construction needs to be a simple past: "That was not". Assuming that Kyle is indeed a grown man no longer being raised!

    In the handoff of the book from Kiakis, there is some problem with the inclusion of runic in the dialogue:

    You received an item (?Homily of Perri the Unchained?) from Kiakis


    Should it be "a runic book" meaning that we should translate it. Or should you just find a way to remove the parentheses and question marks?

    A story problem: At this point, Kiakis says nothing about following you to Xenos. Yet he appears there nonetheless. The dialogue seems to indicate that he is turning the whole thing over to you.

    Also, the appearance of Kiakis in so many regular and story scenes becomes problematic after a while. Solace Bridge, Vertas, Xenos - all instances of him at different times and different parts of story progression. I realize the design limitations, but maybe there is a way to handle this more artfully?

    And since Kiakis has no problem traveling to Xenos and finding Notus, why does he direct you to Jaanaford first? Why does he pretend ignorance of Notus?

    In Jaanaford, I get a tiny bit of direction:

    Vyrin: bonesteel
    I wrote of this in my journal.
    Jenna Karttunen: Hrm, that is an odd dagger you carry. It appears to be the work of the old titan Boreas, the Emperor of Artifice. Strange to see it in this day and age, much less cast as a weapon. I image it must have been brought by a satyr from Etceter. Perhaps you should ask around Kiln, a village along the way. Satyrs and fauns often stop there.

    Having played the game, one would already be familiar with the lottery for Artifice in Xenos. The step to Kiln can be bypassed, as too this one. They seem designed, like the hat quest, just to get you to visit certain places.

    Overall, this part of the story is coherent, but there is no skill to it. Nor the rest of the quest.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2017
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