<Username> on 4/10/2025 at 20:38
Another superb mission! A grand adventure into a surreal underworld. It is more focused on exploration and puzzles than the previous missions in the campaign.
Stats:
* Normal difficulty
* 2 hours and 15 minutes
* 1075 of 3259 total loot
* 0 hints needed
Elements I liked:
* The silent forest at the beginning is atmospheric. I approached the abandoned Blackeryn camp very slowly. I was highly immersed in the environment at that point.
* Suddenly hearing the footsteps of someone else in the pitch black depths was scary.
* I saw a large spider slowly descend from the ceiling. That was unexpected and kept me on my toes.
* Lots of new enemy types. I especially liked the giant spider and the statue-spider thing.
* Proximity lights don't emit a sound when they activate. This feels more pleasant to me. I hadn't realized how much the noisy ones from The Lost City had bugged me.
* Light-emitting vases that can be closed and re-opened as needed.
* Loved the sequence in which you pick up four pieces of an elemental talisman to open Teidir's tomb.
* The part with the distorted figures where you recover Abubtiyar's Tablets was disturbing. Really good sound design on those enemies.
* I was hoping there would be one last surprise by the end. Night having shifted to daytime in the now peaceful forest was a perfect way to end the mission.
Could be improved:
* The mission felt overwhelming at times because it is huge and there are so many directions to explore.
Other observations:
* Parts of the mission felt like homages to The Lost City and The Mage Towers.
* There are few enemies. The mission is more about exploration and the experience of being in this vast and surreal underground world.
