United Lore is but an archive now. With at least around 2 years of AE updates before this blog was ultimately deserted and soon replaced by other AE-based blogs, deleting it would be a disrespect on my part. None of our bloggers any longer have the devotion and time needed to review a weekly release. I can’t speak for others, but I’ll definitely be starting a new blog on general gaming soon, which I might edit a link to in this post later. I’m also relatively active on a few forums, but none of them are AE related. However, I will remember United Lore and AE games as what made me believe there can be real intelligence in online communities. I must now humbly step aside and ask and players reading this who believe they’re up to it to make their own AE blog, start their own AE community. It’s what made AE games for me while I played them.

However, the inactivity is not completely unexplainable. The Peanut Master, whether or not any of us realized it before he left, was the one who kept us organized and sharp on staying interested and active on this blog. As he left, he took half of UL with him. And that half was them motivation and determination to make a difference that fueled this blog. I will miss and always remember Peanut as long as I’m active anywhere on the net.

This is a full hearted farewell from our expected position on the AE blogging scene. We garnered well over 100k views and had some ideas that influenced AE themselves. Let UL be an example of what anybody can do if they try to help make a difference, be it on an online video game or anywhere, really. We’ve had a great run and I just wanted to give an official farewell to all of you.

~Chickencowlord

‘Roid Rage! (Dr. Jackel And Mr. Snide)

About

This quest opens with an old but not-seen-very-often friend. Jackel Sano is standing in the Ethereal Realm with Warlic, and he needs your help.  You see, he’s using his FarSight ability to assist the WarpForce in mapping out the farthest reaches of the universe, and it requires the power of the Ethereal Realm to work. However, using his ability, he’s noticed his brother Jackel Valen, or Dr. Valen Jackel as he prefers to be called. Jackel admits that Valen was never one for the family’s traditional naming practices.

Apparently, Valen once wished to learn all that he could of science, and chose to spurn magic. In the man’s quest, he visited the Drakel, whose magiscience wasn’t pure enough for the man. Then, he studied the works of an old Technomancer/dentizt… Dr. Voltabolt. Ultimately though, it was the discovery of an old laboratory to the west that gave Valen what he wanted. This laboratory belonged to someone who spurned all magic and alchemy, and though that science beat magic any day. Hmm.. Who..?

But anyway, Valen sought to create an elixir for health that relies not on magic or alchemy, but simply science, one that could be made by anyone, anywhere. In his search though, he spent much time alone, and felt secluded from the world. One day, venturing back into the world, he fell in love with a beautiful woman in Granemor. He has now decided to create a potion which can change his very personality. It’s up to you to stop him, as Jackel admits that there’s no telling what such a potion could do to his brother.

After a rather easy trek to such a ‘secret’ lab, you enter and begin looking for Valen. Hmm.. That pink electric orb.. And all those machine parts.. They look so familiar..

It’s not too long before you meet Valen, who questions you on why you’re here. He quickly deduces (In an elementary way) that his brother sent you, and then scoffs at you. His brother very seldom even had his mind on planetside matters, let alone family ones. You quickly change the subject, praising the excellent lab he has. He thanks you, not claiming the credit for himself, but rather the former owner, a man named.. Lim.

After a wasted attempt to convince Valen not to use the formula (Not potion, he says), he leaves. Well, time for Plan B. Jackel told you about three ingredients which could be combined to counteract the effects of Valen’s formula, should he use it: PU-235, Ester of Aerinide, and Jabronium Sulfate.

Lim’s lab is still quite active, full of creatures who were attracted to his still-functioning power sources. Soon though, all of the ingredients are gathered, and you set off for Granemor.

Upon entering the town, you see Mulb, the ever charismatic Dwelf, sprawled on the ground, quite beaten.

It’s been a long while since he left us; however, we can all hope that he checks up on here every now and then.

Let us leave our best wishes for him as he continues through life. Happy Birthday, TPM.

~Zeke~

What do you call a mix of a Dragon, Vampire, and A Werewolf!? (The 5th Beast of Chaos!!)

About:After fighting our way thoguh Darkovia, we at last are nearing WolfWing himself. However, we have one final task ahead of us; A Dracowerepyre, a mix of Dragon, bitten by WolfWing, giving it Vampire and Werewolf DNA, making it insanely strong! You will need to fight your way though WolfWing’s army before you even get there, and then you need the password! After you at last reach the Beast, you will need friends  to defeat this 30,000 HP monster!

Pros:The art for this area is very well done, and the Dracowerepyre is a great challange for players. The drops from the creature were well worth fighting it, and we got a cutscene! Cutscene=Awesome. I honestly can’t wait to fight WolfWing himself…

Cons:I found the constant backtracking between quests tedious. Also, I think it would of been appropriate for WolfWings minions to be able to fight you on sight, since it was his base! I mean come on!

Grade of Release:7.5: An average release, I think it could have been a bit better, since it was a Chaos Beast Fight. Next Week; Wolfwing!

Day of the Eternal Eggs! (Easter 2010)

About: Just like last Year, It’s Easter again! This Easter features the return of the Egg Hunter quest, The Bunny Berzerker Armor, and Grenwog, One of the most deadly enemies in the game! I’ll go over it in detail; The Easter hunt quest consists of searching for eggs, hidden all over Battleon. The Bunny Berzerker is four pieces of armor, all hidden withen certain enemies in the game; and GrenWog, reachable by typing /join grenwog, who has a huge HP counter of 30,000!

Pros:Easter has always been a fun time of year at AQW, and this, despite being the same as last year, was still great. Players could try and get the armor, while others could keep thier old 2009 designs. The easter hunt was really fun, and who doesn’t like fighting Grenwog!?

Cons:The only real con I can find with this is the fact no new content was released, but who cares, Easter is a great time of year for everyone!

Grade of Release:8.0:A pretty average release, but It could have been much better, since it WAS a Chaos Beast fight, but oh well. The Easter event was as fun as ever though.

War Releases: Psycho Rainbow Vortex
Theme and Storyline
So, it appears that AE has decided to take this holiday a bit further than last year’s Mod releases. Well, a lot further actually. However, I still fail to see what the Shadowscythe could possibly have to do with bloated leprechauns, whether they’ve been spray-painted a sickly-looking green or no.
Design/Artwork and Relevance to Theme
The backgrounds are almost entirely made up of rainbows, the appearance of which vary considerably in quality. The Soluna City graphics update has a very nice-looking rainbow vortex, as does the main War screen and the introductory screens to each mission. Unfortunately, the quest backgrounds are a good deal worse. They are simply normal rainbows with a very slight blur added to simulate distance. In short, it doesn’t work. Instead, they look exactly like what they are; normal rainbows with an attempt at perspective tacked-on. They would have looked better without.
Motivation
Clovers are a carbon copy of Valor Badges. The main difference is that, according to Warlic, who in turn heard it from Korin, we’ll be able to trash them after we’ve opened the shops. (Personally, I didn’t attempt it, so I can’t write anything very specific. One too many memories of info-saving bugs from past AE releases.)
A reduction in the amount of Clovers required to open the first set of Rewards shops has been announced, and went into effect shortly after. Unfortunately, this happened so late into the war as to be of almost no use as an incentive, since the majority of the work had already been completed. Of course, it was wonderful news for the folks who’d already acquired the 150-or-so Clovers which had previously been needed to access both shops.

:Quest Releases
::SC Mission
Major Steele’s miniature essay at the beginning of the quest was an …interesting… quirk, and not exactly one which was entirely in character.
Enemy Pool and Relevance (to Theme)
So, this quest used to only feature ‘Lucky Warriors’ *ahem* Leprechauns *ahem* … Until about the middle of the war, when spray-painted Shadowscythe began appearing. If enemy color were the only factor, I’m sure that they would be very relevant indeed. As it stands, I must confess that I still have no idea what on Lore the ShS are doing in a rainbow vortex.
Plot Design and Contribution (to overall War Storyline)
Attacking a mess of puny leprechauns isn’t going to make them any more interesting. Let’s face it, the release as it currently stands has hardly any
plot, and what it does have is less than plausible. That said, there is a sort of ragged continuity to it.
::Attack
For once, the NSC quest was a deal more interesting than the SC. That makes for a nice change, it does.
Quest Layout and Design
Choosing one possible fork out of three wasn’t much to brag about, but at least it had something in this category; which is more than I could say for the SC mission.
It appears that there is one chance out of the three forks to battle a Lucky Warrior, and two chances to battle a semi-random enemy chosen from the larger pool. Which is probably what Major Steele meant when he said that the odds were against our even finding a leprechaun to defeat.
::Boss Battle
Rehash of the main war enemy. One new attack. Couple of new specials, maybe.
Design and Artwork
The new attack is not visually interesting, though solidly animated. Main enemy artwork is different from the grunts’, though not by much; an extra frill here, a torn overcoat there.
Enemy AI and Balance
There were a few new power-boosting specials added to the war boss, which were just barely enough to make it feel as though one was fighting a different enemy than the normal warriors one had faced until now.
Common Sense Factor (Personal Opinions)
I think these quests are an excellent example of what it means for a release to be ‘merely good’. I will grant you that it was a minor holiday release, which are typically less involved than a release of permanent content, and that the team needed a break after Necryptos, so I won’t say that the release was horrible. It wasn’t. However, it still left something to be desired in some areas.

:Enemy Releases: Lucky Warrior
Ugh, that artwork looks horrible.
Design and Artwork
Terrible. Horrible. Hate.
Now that I’ve made my feelings quite clear, here’s why I dislike it so much. The artwork is very monochromatic, with almost no color variation within the  shading, and quite unbalanced. (Note that in this instance, I mean “unbalanced” from a design perspective, not in the GBD sense.) Not only that, I find it to be quite poorly drawn, with choppy shading technique and too-obvious lines. There is almost no contrast, and what little there is does not complement the overall image one bit.
The best part of this enemy’s art sequence might be…the death animation. Not only is it rather funny, in a macabre way, but the downscaled leprechaun has everything the full enemy doesn’t; some contrast, a decent and easily-recognizable color scheme, and a tiny bit of personality, in shaking its fist at you after defeat (and probably inadvertently bringing its own gold down on its head). Even if that is the cardboard-cutout “grouchy leprechaun” personality. Not to mention that the actual artwork looks much better throughout the sequence; it’s of a higher quality and more in keeping with the standard MQ art style.
Relevance and Theme
“Very relevant to the [war] theme. Unfortunately.”
Enemy AI and Balance
This enemy did feature one intriguing special; it actually stole credits from you. Granted, this is not a few idea; it’s been used on Gark in different ways before. Heck, I even own the Treasure Mugger, which mechanics are exactly the same as Clover-person’s special. So why did I opt to mention this, instead of degenerating into a discussion of “MQ enemy AI really has more potential than the team is giving it credit for, and it’s a real shame to just let it lie and focus on “MOAR ITEMS PL0X, WE NEED ITEMZ NAO” -aimed releases”?
Because the credits aren’t exactly stolen. If you win the battle, they are added back into the rewards. I may be giving the MQ team a little too much credit for being devious, but it was quite a smart move, from a motivational standpoint. The special can activate repeatedly, which can add up to over 100 Gold losses per battle, especially if you’re playing a higher-level character. Who want to lose money walking away from a fight? Not me! For characters with plenty of credits to spare, this might have resulted in little to no added incentive, but for casual players who don’t have money to burn (Come to think of it, gold doesn’t burn (except perhaps at unreasonably high temperatures), does it? It melts.) it may have helped keep them going. At the end of the battle, it looks like the war rewards have been boosted by a certain percentage, as sometimes happens in wars and special events; but, in fact, all the player has done is gain back their supposedly-stolen money.
(Of course, practically everyone caught on to this little trick shortly after the release, so its value as a motivational gimmick was short-lived, if indeed it was ever intended to be one–which, despite my exposition in the previous paragraph, I find unlikely. In general, the MQ team’s biggest flaw is that they are too nice.)
Common Sense Factor (Personal Opinions)
I despise leprechauns, as I once wrote in a St. Patrick’s essay/rant for middle-school English class. (No, I am not going to repost it here or anywhere else. Don’t ask. I doubt that I even kept it.) So it’s been harder than usual to give this release a fair overview. Leprechauns, rainbows, clover, pots of gold, lucky charms… I find the whole shebang faintly ridiculous.
But, since AE wanted a luck-themed holiday, a luck-themed holiday is what they released, and have continued the trend in practically every game they develop. And a luck-themed holiday is what I’ve ended up reviewing.
The idea might be ridiculous, but it still deserves a fair chance. No more Braddock Steele anecdotes, Korin. No more Lucky Warriors, Thyton (and whoever helps him and Jemini/Korin with the MQ artwork these days. Lyris’ main work seems to be limited to uniforms… Which is a real shame, as I know that someone with her talent could help MQ out a lot if given the chance). No more random ShS insertions in the middle of a war with no discernible reason.

War Rewards (Coming Soon!) (Where soon doesn’t refer to the longstanding AE joke; but, in fact, means just what it says. This section’ll be up soon, i.e. within the next few days. Why it’s empty in the first place is a bit more complicated.)

I must also apologize for this post’s brevity–I’ve begun using the Dvorak keyboard layout in my quest to learn touch-typing. Well, I can now touch-type with some proficiency, but at a rate of about 17 WPM. Ah well, speed will come with practice, and at any rate, it’s an improvement over the first evening’s 3. What does this have to do with the DF review, you ask? Well, my drastically-reduced typing speed (not that it was much to begin with) means that I’ll spend more time over less material, and I don’t exactly care to spend 7+ hours over this stuff.  Therefore, the obvious solution is to write less so that I won’t have to sit at the computer for such ridiculous amounts of time. Better for me, but worse for you.

Ravenloss
Quest Releases: Market District
…Whatever happened to Riadne…? You can’t just ignore the main romantic interest, y’know.
Plot and Story Design
This quest contained quite a bit of development, both character- and plot- wise. Not only did we find the Ember Key, we learned more about Tomix’s past, even seeing how he became so… odd-looking. Plus, there’s even a new and intriguing NPC! What’s not to like?
(Well, there’s the fact that we got yet another infodump, which is… not normally considered good storytelling technique. This is one of the rare cases where it could actually work; I’m just worried that we may come out of Ravenloss knowing too much.)
Art and Graphic Design
As with most quests, superb. Not only did the overlying schema fit together perfectly, there were plenty of the small details that make AE’s art so distinctive. The flies buzzing about untended wares, the unfriendly eyes peering around run-down tent-flaps, the flowers lying scattered on Vaal’s statue; all contributed to the atmosphere of realism. With the simple addition of a few minor in-quest NPCs, the ChaosWeavers begin to gain a new dimension as a people in their own right, not just another enemy to be defeated.
That said, the combat backgrounds are meh. Not because they were badly-drawn… but because I should have said combat background. (The inclusion of a single Stairway doesn’t really count, considering that it only appeared once during a quest which had multiple stairs.)
Quest Layout and Walkaround
Interesting, though not quite exceptional. The two branches proved a nice touch, along with the multiple stairs and the progression from waste-dump to open marketplace.
::Item Drops: Spectral Belts
They are belts. They do not have art for me to critique. However, I can and will comment on their stats.
Stats are mainly Defense-oriented, with a bit of Crit thrown in for good measure. The Elemental Resistances are very good, especially for Fire and Light. I’m not sure what Fire and Light belts are doing in a dark undercity but that’s beside the point.
They do seem to favor the higher levels, but then again, Ravenloss seems geared towards mid-higher levels. And we can always use more belts; though I must say, some necklaces would not be considered a waste of server space, either.
Common Sense Factor (Personal Opinions)
This quest originally had a scaling bug attached where the enemies’ HP/MP values scaled to the player’s. I think it was a side effect of the new guest-scaling feature. The sad thing is that when I first played the (bugged) release, I only found it somewhat difficult, even testing my level 51 on the high-level-punishing quest. I guess that says something about DF’s player power curve.

NPC Releases: Aspar
He looks suspiciously like Greed. It’s a good thing that as the embodiment of Kindness, Aspar is above suspicion. (He is above suspicion… right?)
Design and Artwork
As I mentioned in the summary, it’s very like Greed’s. However, I rather strongly suspect that it’s a common trend among the Elemental Spirits, and doesn’t point to any special link between the two. Indeed, Greed’s apparent desire to avoid detection when Aspar appeared points to an ongoing conflict… Which does make sense, as greed and kindness, while not precisely opposites, are intrinsically opposing forces.
History and Relevance
Seeing more of Tomix’s past as written by Alac is always interesting. These new developments opened up the storyline a great deal, besides holding one’s visual interest with a compelling storytelling format. They also raised some intriguing questions about the dynamics between Aspar and Greed (incidentally, why does the spirit of kindness have a personal name, while we still refer to the spirit of greed by an attribute? Psst! Biased, AE, biased!), while explaining Tomix’s, ehm, interesting appearance quite nicely.
Common Sense Factor (Personal Opinions)
I find myself wishing that just once, another character would betray the player character. Aspar’s slip in using “was” points to his potential in that respect, but somehow, I doubt it will happen.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––

The Locker
Quest Releases: Undead Pirate Attack
Half interesting and half not so much. It reminds me of the half-living pirate bug.
Plot and Story Design
The first half of the quest does not deserve a “plot” section. The second half of the quest might deserve a small “plot” section.
…Very well. I might have exaggerated a bit. After all, we did come to see what we’re expected to do in this area; namely, to rescue Aquella and obtain Captain Davey’s locker for him, besides the obvious goal of wresting the Water Orb from whoever the final Undead Pirate Villain happens to be.
Art and Graphic Design
Yes, necrotized pirates do count as newly rereleased art.
Quest Layout and Walkaround
Perhaps this quest’s strongest feature, the layout was simple, yet contained an intriguing twist; after finding and defeating the enemy(ies) attacking a randomly specified location, one must return to the Crossroads in order to face the boss and unlock the cutscene. Solid, secure, …quick! What’s a sufficiently positive word I could use to describe it?
Bugs and Balance Issues
Several bugs used to infest this section. Apparently they have all been placed in the collection labeled “Fixed”.
Common Sense Factor (Personal Opinions)
In case you didn’t notice, I do not hold a very great opinion of the Water Orb chain so far. The initial release was stellar, showing a great deal of promise. The releases after that… not so much. The plot rambles along, appearing never to go anywhere or do anything, with the main attraction being smooth gameplay. It’s still far too early in the chain to tell for sure, of course, and certainly the DNs seem to imply that the next releases will step the pace up, but the Water Orb saga as it currently stands just doesn’t have enough content to satisfy me. (I blame an overly critical inner editor.)

OMG! A MOGLIN WEARING A HAT! (Shamrock Fair)

About:You guessed it!  It’s Good Luck Day! Before you go pich your freinds for not wearing Green, head down to the wonderful Sahmrock Fair!

Inside, you will find five minigames, all of which are fun and slightly addicting! After playing each game, you will recieve a set amount of points (in the form of temp quest items), and then you can trade them in for items,  (A total of 12 of them) costing 200,500,1000, or 2000 points! The items range from three leaf clover swords, to moglins wearing lucky green!

Pros:Wow. I expected the AQW team to bring out a minigame today…BUT FIVE!? I take off my green hat to them. They were all very well done, and the items were addicting to get. *hugs Green Moglin* The Weapons are all really good, after Alabmapitty motivated me to get the most expensive…

Cons:I think the 2000 point prizes might have been just a tiny bit to expensive, but compared to the rest of the area, it didn’t matter. They ARE worth it.

Grade of Release:9.0: A fantastic area with five, count ‘em, five minigames, and awesome prizes *hugs Moglin again*

Return of the Rainbow! (Rainbow Zone)

About:After the major holiday addition of the Shamrock Fair, we also had a return of last years St Patricks Day zone: Rainbow! The Story is the same; Colour-hating Dwakel blowing up a rainbow, You need to fix it. Also, it contains The Leprachaun Armor!

Pros:It’s always nice to see a classic area returning, if only for a week. This always had a place in my gaming heart (Heart V2) (Being Part Irish),  and I like the fantastic art on the area. It also gives players another chance to get the Leprachaun Armor!

Cons:There was no change from last year. Also, The Leprachaun’s skills are almost identical to the Rouge, and it is considered to be in the bottem tier in usefulness.

Grade of Release:7.0: A good return from last year, but they could have changed it, just a little bit…

Overall Grade of Release: 8.5:Well, we had a fantastic zone with 5 minigames, and a so-so zone with no changes. A great release.

*Stelarinna has entirely neglected to turn off the voice recorder.

“How’d I do?”
“Stel…I don’t even know what SRT is.”
“That? Oh. It’s short for Standard Reviews Template. The ‘UL Blog’ aspect is implied.”

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

“So. Think the opening’s weird enough to draw some readers in?”
“Well, it’s certainly… Different. I can’t say whether or not it will draw the readers in.”

On February 26th, 2010, Korin and the MQ team released the Necryptos finale; or, at least, what has been announced as the finale. Speculations have been heard that the next releases contain the real Necryptos ending.
“Who cares, it was horrible enough to ruin any chance they might have had at a decent ending.”
“Biased.”
Regardless of whether or not this release is the actual finale, it has been announced as such. Therefore, I will treat it exactly as if it were, and shall make no more mention of the matter.

“Ow. Did you ever see anyone uglier?”
“Sure. Akana.”
“But that cutscene–”
“It shows exactly what I was expecting it to show.”
“You mean you were expecting Mina to turn into a mech after promising to kill everyone who accidentally helped her?”
“That Mina would end up becoming Miracyrina? …Weren’t we all?”
“I was hoping for something a bit more creative.”

The quest(s)’s opening cutscene shows Mina being transformed into Miracyrina and subsequently: a.) again transforming, this time into ESP Energy Ghost or whatever Mira’s * mech form is called, b.) burying Han Velsing underneath the Lyceum town statue (though not to worry, as his somewhat-less-snippy twin brother Shawn immediately pops up to take Han’s place), and c.) vanishing into the first of various areas where we attempt to battle her.

There are several problems with this cutscene, disregarding Mira’s art and design for the moment. First, I cannot see how Miracyrina could’ve infected or possessed anyone while her soul was locked away in the Bloodstones (“Because she couldn’t.”)–which, by the by, sound suspiciously like the Bloodstones Safiria had us merge. Is it just me, or am I finding it hard to believe that she only did it to help us out? For all we know, merging the Bloodstones might’ve been the very act which finally released Miracyrina.).

“No seriously, think about it. The Sekali tomes said that her spirit was trapped in a crystal, which was then divided among her remaining siblings. If we merged the shards back together, wouldn’t that just piece her soul back together too?”
“Stel, its AE, remember? AE doesn’t care about little things like whether it makes sense.”
“…I thought I said something about not bashing AE over this.”
“I don’t remember it. “
“If Stel says she said it, she probably did. I wouldn’t push the topic any further.”

It’s not known whether or not she actually infected Mina to begin with, so it’s possible that her soul simply took over the most susceptible person around; however, the little problem of the Darkspyre bloodline certainly does throw a monkey wrench into the works. There are a few possible explanations for this not-so-unexpected quote–”plot twist”–unquote. Most are faintly ridiculous, some are rather more plausible, but I believe the actual reason is:

“It was the only quick way to end Necryptos without leaving a massive amount of loose ends behind.”
“Still, it’s strange–the staff feeling this sudden need to get Necryptos over with, I mean. They speeded the schedule up only recently.”
“Yes… Hurry and sweep the horror under the rug.”
“Biased.”

For some reason, Korin and the rest seem to have tired of Necryptos. I can’t say as I can blame them per se, as the combination of story and implementation premises didn’t exactly leave room for a ton of interesting material. In fact, I would say that blues had the most fun, designing the many unique specials (and in my humble opinion, Necryptos showcases some of his best work so far) that made the planet fascinating enough to warrant a play-though.
“So… What about the idea of being essentially forced to use a specific mech just to get through some of the harder missions?”
“Touchy. Myself, I kinda like the thought, but it seems to me that AE just didn’t think of the non-SC inventory limit at the time. Not to mention that it killed customization.”
“To a certain extent, yes. There are entire shops devoted to the VH and there’s the possibility of equipping outside weapons, so it isn’t as bad as it could have otherwise been.”
“My problem is that I can’t be hard on AE for such a decision and still keep labeling my opinions here as ‘Common Sense’. Within context, it actually makes some sense to have to use a Hunter– though I’ll confess that I think extending vampiric characteristics to their mechs was probably going a little overboard.”
“Heh. Wait until you get a little deeper into the mecha anime genre.”
However, I cannot exactly say that I believe the storywriters had much fun writing such a simple item-collection plot; while it was probably enjoyable for the artists to be able to work in such varied settings, the vampire siblings seemed flat and two-dimensional, both character- and art-wise; and there was some interesting new functionality implemented, especially in the Rune Minigame, but most of it was a rehash of older work. I think that the most obvious and logical answer is that the team tired of vampires and Gothic flamboyance, and decided to wrap things up quickly with some typical Korin-humor.

” “Item collection’ and ‘plot” “varied settings’ and ‘flat and two-dimensional” “interesting new functionality’ and ‘rehash of older work”? Some of those words don’t belong….”
“Quiet, you. You’re taking me out of context again.”

Mira’s art follows the trend created by her siblings’, with bold outlines and simple, direct shading. It isn’t a bad style, but compared to the rest of MQ, it looks awkward. Also, I find the clothing a bit… odd. I had expected it to be closer to what Mina was wearing at the time. Vampirism is a change in one’s physical body; possession normally only affects the victim’s mind; clothing does not fall under either of those categories. They are outside objects, not part of one’s physical being; they might have taken quite a beating during Mina’s transformation, but they would have remained the same. Unless, of course, one wishes to invoke that timeworn excuse, “MAGIC!”

“Why point it out specially? There are enough problems in that cutscene that they make the design look unobtrusive and common-sense.”
“Because I like to think that I have enough artistic sense so I won’t entirely embarrass myself when talking about it?”
“Because you have enough artistic sense that it bothers you.”

Also, her scaling is even worse than Castle Darkspyre’s. In the opening cutscene, Miracyrina was obviously about the same size as Mina, even a bit taller. Then, in the next phase… well, I think this is one of those cases where a picture is worth, perhaps not a thousand, but certainly several hundred words.

Yeah. That really makes a lot of sense.

“Sure, claim all the credit for something that wasn’t your idea….”
Unfortunately not by Stel.

Shawn Velsing is a re-introduced Han Velsing, with no art changes, no service changes, no shop changes. The only difference is that he seems to have a very slightly different personality; not as sardonically witty as Han, not as diametrically opposed to vampires. (Then again, the next week’s release put that in question. If you look at it in hindsight, he doesn’t even have the benefit of a different personality.)

“Shawn is pathetic.”
“You just said not to bash AE and now you’re calling the ‘new’ NPC pathetic? Hehe…”
“No, I’m stating a fact. Shawn is pathetic.”
“Isn’t that an opinion? Heh.”
“I hate to say it, Stel, but that is an opinion. Grounded in fact, yet…”
“Not the best wording on my part. Could I excuse the mistake by saying it’s a Devil’s Proof?”
“Eh, I wouldn’t attempt it.”

“Shawn” quite literally popped up right after Mira killed his, ahem, brother. That is, indeed, a very original plot twist, and I highly commend AE for thinking of such an unobvious idea.
All right, I’ll lay off on the sarcasm; I think you get the point. Quite simply, convenience trumps plausibility in this release, and nowhere is it more apparent than the Necryptos ending cutscene.

Why did Han just wait passively while the girl standing across from him transformed into a vampire? (He’s committed his entire existence to fighting them, remember?) Why did he never mention his twin brother, who also just so happens to be a vampire hunter like himself?
I could continue, but it would become repetitive and unnecessarily negative after so long. However, my point remains the same. There’s a place for humor, but a planetary finale is not it.

“Typical Korin…so typical. Don’t worry Stel, it’s no different from the other endings since Warlic promoted Bag-Head.”
“You really don’t understand the meaning of neutrality, do you?”
“Being forced to understand something isn’t going to make me like it any better. “

The concept of traveling to different areas in search of Miracyrina is interesting, but not especially innovative or sensible. For one thing, wouldn’t it make more sense to search in an ever-broadening area beyond Lyceum? Mira might be able to move quickly and inconspicuously, but I don’t believe it has been confirmed that any of the MQ vampires seen so far can teleport. Also, why is it that she could only be found at any of the temples? If she truly did absorb the essences of her other siblings, her ability to summon them probably wouldn’t be linked to any specific site.
“And the logic is that “Once she has been defeated in all four temples, the only place she has left to go is Lyceum”. Because THAT makes sense.”
“I said it wasn’t very sensible. That’s as far as I’m willing to go in the official review, I’m afraid.”
“I thought this was part of the official review?”
“It’s part of the review, but not the official review.”
“You said our conversation would be part of the official review… Not just the review.”
“Contradiction. “
“Part of the official UL review, not part of the UL official review.”
“All I see is your changing the word order to make it look like you have a plan. “
“So I did, and so I do.”

The idea of searching different areas is more interesting than simply having our character track Mira down, then battle her, without any more fuss. That would have been very anti-climactic.  However, the fact remains that the quest design was stagnant, hardly varying at all, with a simple dialogue-screen from Shawn to tell us if we’d found Miracyrina yet or had stumbled upon another of her (for I suppose they were hers, for a time) minions, a fact which was patently obvious simply by looking at the screen. (Not to mention that the dialogue upon defeat seems to assume that we had been versing Mira, even if that wasn’t the case.)
“Are you sure about that sentence? It might not have been obvious to some people.”
“None of which should be in your intended audience.”
“B-but, half the time, I can’t even tell who’s reading!”
“Oh you know we do Stel. “
“Out of how many…?”

The quest backgrounds, when I played it, seem to have indicated the next area one should search to find Miracyrina’s next incarnation. However, this does not make any sense in a larger context–the context of area-specific imagery.
“You haven’t given up on your “keep your weapons where they belong” soapbox yet?”
This problem also crops up in the larger enemy pool, which is drawn from if one enters the wrong area. At the very least, AE might have limited area-specific enemies to their areas. Vladic Knights don’t belong in Fangor, nor do Mech-Skeedo’s in Bloodrock. If that’s quite impossible, one can always stick to generic enemies like the Purple Minion. (On a related note, Mira does have a definite appearance order, but, paradoxically, it seems to vary somewhat between different accounts. However, there are some consistent aspects; it seems to reflect the reverse order in which the previous areas opened.)

“No, I have not. Art should stay in its own area, not get shuffled around the neighborhood on account of time-crunched graphics people.”
The Revived Vampires are an, ehm, interesting touch, but there are a few problems, both with the idea and execution. It was never explained how Mira was able to absorb not only their powers, but also their essences, and how the latter could be returned to their respective original forms while still remaining under Miracyrina’s command. It’s not impossible, just a stretch. Also… Why were they originally not classified as vampires? (I’ll be fair, it was a bug.)

“I have to say it was impressive for a last minute idea, though.”
“Assuming it was last-minute?”
“Even if they had decided it on Monday…we know coding didn’t start until Friday.”
“…Really?”
“That’s the conclusion I drew from Warlic’s Twitter.”

I’m still not sure why Mira’s mech form *had* to turn up in Lyceum once we finally got to battle her. The attack variety was a bit limited, without any truly outstanding animations, and only a few specials. However, the few specials which had been implemented were pretty good; a real-time healing special being the most notable. There are still the problems with scaling, though they aren’t as noticeable here as they were in the opening cutscene.

Speaking of cutscenes, my biggest problem with the Miracyrina bossfight is not actually inherent to the battle itself. It’s the fact that there is no ending cutscene afterwards. Yup, that’s right. If you want to see Mira destroyed, you’ll have to watch the death animation. There was no tying up of loose ends whatsoever. There’s still the open-ended question of what happened to Mina, though it’s implied that we weren’t able to save her.

Why Necryptos Had the Best Ending Ever
These days, stories always have predictable endings. Especially in AE games. It’s always a battle between light and dark, where the light gains an incredible amount of power in order to defeat the darkness. In Necryptos, this power was the Necryptos Bloodshard. And with it we went to defeat Miracyrina. However, we couldn’t save Mina..or Han.

The characters that came into play during the ending weren’t that important. But it certainly was what you would expect from AE while still being creative. We fought Miracyrina multiple times in challenging fights where she ‘revived’ her dead siblings. And eventually we faced her in Lyceum and defeated her. And then with a seemingly random bolt of light, she was destroyed. And Necryptos was saved and Safiria came to thank us.

This ending was pure genius. It came full circle. The adventure started in Lyceum on a seemingly random adventure to help a young girl named Mina, and then ended in Lyceum with a seemingly random finishing blow. The best part about Necryptos…was its ending. This entire plot here is very small in the scope of MQ’s story and leaves endless possibilities open. From here…we can go anywhere with anyone and everyone involved in the Necryptos story.

And that is why it is one of the best endings to a planet we have seen yet.

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And that is that.

Stille nacht, heilige nacht, alles schlaft, einsam wacht….

(That was random.)
(I blame my choice of background music. Bach reminds me of the holidays.)

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* I absolutely refuse to type out that ridiculously awkward name any more than I have to. Yes, “Stelarinna” is the same length as “Miracyrina”. Length is not the problem, keyboard layout is. Standard QWERTY keyboard has your fingers darting back-and-forth between keys in very similar locations. One gets used to it after a while, but for as many times as I’d have to write the name before that happened, I think I would just waste a lot of time going back and fixing typos, which could have been better spent writing the rest of the review.

About:Well, after battling our way through maggots, Dire Wolves, and A lich, we at last arrive at our destination; The Vampire Castle. Apon entering inside, Safiria will allow an audience with her if you defeat the various creatures inside her castle;knocking out bats, destroying maggots, pushing back (Chaos?) Werewolves, and destroying a Werewolf General. No Sweat!

After defeating these pests, Safiria will speak to you. You explain that Drakath has most likely recruited WolfWing into the 13 Lords of Chaos, and has bestowed upon him.You also say that his forces are searching for somthing outside of Darkovia. Safiria reacts to this, and says she hasen’t the time to deal with WolfWing. She grows huge teeth, and insists you leave, allowing you passage to the Werewolf Lands.

The enemies also have about 7 NON-MEMBER drops. I still haven’t got these, so I not sure what they exactly are.

Pros:I seriously enjoyed this release. It gives us a good look at the 5th Lord of Chaos, and the art for the new enemies was very well done. Also, we may be returning here, because Safiria reacted to what the player said. Also, the art for the whole area is very well done, with the blood fountain…and Safira’s pet dog is in one room. Having such a large amount of non-member items was also great.

Cons:The area was quite large, so theres a small chance you could get lost in the castle. They could have gone a bit more into Wolfwing’s backround…

Grade of Release:8.5:A very solid area, with a fair share of art, new enemies, quests, and a great cutscene!

Working for the Vampire Family! (Vampire Reputation)

About: After saving Safira’s Castle from the Chaos(?) Wolf Army,You can go speak to Brysin at the entrance to help out the Vampire Family, thus earning you Vampire Reputation! The shop contains 8 items, unfortuntley, there was only 2 non-member items. The daily quests didn’t give much rep.

Pros:All the items look very good, and are well worth into any players inventory.

Cons:This part of the release, was really not great. The vampire rep items had only two non-member items. The quests gave up to 400 Reputation per quest. It’s almost as hard as Yokai Reputation.

Grade of Release: 5.5:Unless this reputation section gets a makeover, it is my least faveourite Reputation zone yet.

Overall Grade of Release: 7.0: This release storyline section was really great, but sadly the reputation falied to live up to the other Reputation zones.

2 Leagues Under The Sea
Just a nice, calm day fishing.

Plot and Story:

Not much to speak of. Your character gets munched by a giant fish, transported to a shipwreck on the ocean floor, fights a bunch of monsters, then finds the locker. The End.

Art and Enemies:

The backgrounds for the quest were good, alternating from the ocean floor, the deck of a crashed ship, and the haunted innards of said ship. Most were very detailed, with shorn masts, shredded sails, and undersea coral.

The enemies were mostly new here, with the only come-beck being the Galocerda. The new ones, the SeaMonkey, Unicoral and Captain Davey, are nicely drawn and unique. The SeaMonkey seems to go to the same hair stylist as Lim. The Unicoral is a combination of many sea-creatures, with gills, a curling tail, and a mane. Davey is the least impressive of the new enemies, being merely a regular pirate with a skull instead of a face.

Gear and Loot:

No drops, but there is a hidden shop in the quest, selling an all new trinket. Summon Reaver does exactly that. It takes a while for the skill to actually do damage, and darkness isn’t a very useful element, but it makes up for it with great damage and even better graphics.

The Locker
Huh, I wonder if this has anything to do with the water orb chain? Nah.

Background and NPC’s:

The Locker is, like most areas, beautiful. The background varies between an underwater junkyard, with torn masts and shattered sterns rising up over deep sea foilage, a dimly-lit inn with shady clientele, and a wrecked ship, complete with barrels, cannon balls, and captain’s study.

The only NPC that really stands out is Young Aquella. The staff did a good job taking AQ Aquella and turning her into the younger, DF Aquella. She looks very aquatic and fits the zone perfectly, the only thing I dislike is the coral on top of her head. It seems strange, like she has antlers or something.

I also must know, how did one so young get so much power? How could a child like her sweep away the countless wrecks that cover the ocean floor? Not to mention us, as well. She kind-of reminds me of Nythera, just less whiny and agressive.

There is nothing special about the other NPC’s, although some of them seem out of place. For instance, what are two Death Knights doing underwater? And what’s with the knight at the entrance? Is he the bouncer or something?

Atmosphere

The general atmosphere seemed to be kind of opressive. The first thing you see when you enter the town is a child accusing you of invading her home and threatening to remove you by force. The dim lighting and questionable occupants of the inn also aid the feeling of hostility. The people of the Locker don’t want your help.

Shop’s

To the right of Aquella we’ve got Two-Eyed-Jack’s weapon shop with a level 20 water Sword, Dagger and Staff. The weapons are strong, but they aren’t really needed at level 20. Some more varied levels would have been nice.

Past Jack lies Thatch, the local pet guy. You can nab Chompers the Piranha for levels 20, 40, and 53. Osprey Cove has pets for level 30 and 20, so these do fill in a bit of a gap.

East of Thatch is Edy and his shinies. Yeah, this is where you buy stuff at the Locker. We’ve got a level 52 belt, a level 5,8, and 40 rings, and levels, 15, 22, 35, 37, and 45. Oh, and two new trinkets on-top of the one in the quest. Wow. A level gap in accessories just got plugged. All of them are pretty good for their level, and cheap too. One of the trinkets gives the ever useful +4 to crit, but I think it is outshined by the Summon Reaver.

Conclusion:
So much for one fish. A great quest, new area, and a ton of items! What’s not to like?