| Lamentations | |
| by Ian Klinkhamer (alcritas@att.net) | |
| Big Words’ Review | |
You know, I couldn’t wait to sit down with this one. I was really angry that AOL was so messed up that I couldn’t download it, but in the end I got it. I sat down with a cup of coffee and a bagel and worked myself up for an Alcritas Experience.
In situations like these, I love to say that by the time I was done, the coffee was stone cold and the half-eaten, stale bagel was left forgotten as I sat immersed in the scenario. However, as I finished the scenario in just under fifteen minutes, that was somewhat hard to accomplish. Don’t let it sound like I penalize the scenario for this — I don’t; I was just making an observation.
As scenarios go I really can’t complain too much about this one. Alcritas delivers just about par for the course, but I can’t help thinking that maybe the workers changed the sign in front of the tee. A bad analogy, but you get the drift. This scenario delivers all that it was promised to be. It was not hyped or glorified. In fact, Alcritas himself expressed the opinion that it was not as good as his previous works, and it’s not. However, on a comparative scale, this scenario was relatively decent.
I liked several of the elements in the scenario, one being the plot, which, although fair at best, does exactly what it promises to do: advance the storyline. The other thing that I liked were some of the concepts involved. The bridge, the murder of Renalda, the Shades of Anger, and especially the custom spell were all pretty good, but when an exceptional designer like Alcritas does a scenario, you expect more...fire, more fleshing out. In fact, once I finished this scenario, I was left with a big empty feeling, which I hope will be alleviated by the final scenario in the series. Many things could have been done to improve the quality of this scenario. Every time I walked across the bridge I expected some sort of attack. Every time I walked through the forest, I expected a fierce battle with Jayhawks. But there were none.
Normally, the good designers either get a lot of breathing room in average scenarios, or they get beaten and hounded mercilessly for their less-than-par scenarios. In this case, I’ll have to take the latter option, because I found myself desperately searching for some strong redeeming quality in this scenario. But it remained empty. After I was done, I finished my coffee and wondered if I had done everything possible in the scenario.
Now, as I sit and write this review, I
realize that there has to be something more to do, I indeed must be missing
something. In fact, I’m going to go replay Lamentations right now. Perhaps if
I find something else, this scenario won’t be deserving of my score — 6.5.
One point for every minute that wasn’t wasted on this scenario. No
offense, Al.
Already waiting anxiously for the conclusion,
Big Words