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Shades of Gray is the third scenario by Ephesos.
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Shades of Gray 7.88 (8.8/7.0)
MultiQuote#2 Thralni
Posted 10 March 2008 - 07:16 AM
I opened up the scenario, and read the introduction. When I read the name Barton, my stomach sort of contracted, and I'm very curious if Ephesos go that name from my second scenario, yet at the moment incomplete scenario, TNS, where the starter town is called "Upper Barton."
Anyway, not going to start judging the scenario for town names.
It was pretty, but I thought other scenarios by Ephesos might have been prettier. To be honest, I liked the view over the roofs at the upper floors of the cathedral, but I wasn't really stunned. Maybe I'm getting spoiled...
Combat was, well, hardish. I had a problem with defeating all the ghosts when trying to climb up the south spire to place the crystal, but after two or three reloads I beat them fairly easily (god bless invulnerability potions). The items these ghosts give are very nice, and I wonder if they are not slightly overpowered: a level 23-ish party with boots, shields and god knows what that almost all of them reduce melee damage? I'm not complaining, just wondering.
The plot was actually, to summarize, we have a plague, do something about it. It was better than the Avernum 3 plagues, but it's the same principal.
There were some very nice ideas, like the way Ephesos made the stairs in the cathedral. I was a bit disappointed about the garden, though. From the outdoors it looked a lot nicer than in the town itself. And I didn't understand the end. I got arrested, but I don't know for what... Eph could have just let me walk out of the scenario, and I wouldn't have had this weird felling of "did I miss something?" Also, the mage ghost at the fight I mentioned earlier, mutters some syllables before he finally fades away, but I have no clue about what they were for. All in all, nice touches, but some loose ends too.
7.5
Anyway, not going to start judging the scenario for town names.
It was pretty, but I thought other scenarios by Ephesos might have been prettier. To be honest, I liked the view over the roofs at the upper floors of the cathedral, but I wasn't really stunned. Maybe I'm getting spoiled...
Combat was, well, hardish. I had a problem with defeating all the ghosts when trying to climb up the south spire to place the crystal, but after two or three reloads I beat them fairly easily (god bless invulnerability potions). The items these ghosts give are very nice, and I wonder if they are not slightly overpowered: a level 23-ish party with boots, shields and god knows what that almost all of them reduce melee damage? I'm not complaining, just wondering.
The plot was actually, to summarize, we have a plague, do something about it. It was better than the Avernum 3 plagues, but it's the same principal.
There were some very nice ideas, like the way Ephesos made the stairs in the cathedral. I was a bit disappointed about the garden, though. From the outdoors it looked a lot nicer than in the town itself. And I didn't understand the end. I got arrested, but I don't know for what... Eph could have just let me walk out of the scenario, and I wouldn't have had this weird felling of "did I miss something?" Also, the mage ghost at the fight I mentioned earlier, mutters some syllables before he finally fades away, but I have no clue about what they were for. All in all, nice touches, but some loose ends too.
7.5
#3 Micawber
Posted 10 March 2008 - 07:17 AM
The balance of plot and combat is just right for a short scenario (although you do need to go in with a high level party or the ice fields will kill you) and the whole thing takes about an hour to run through. Most of which I spent gawping at the pretty cathedral and its grounds. In fact it's not just pretty, the cathedral is really beautiful.
Regarding the plot, personally I liked the Avernum 2 tie-in, although it might not be to everyone's taste. Just 2 minor observations. (i) I decided not to free the ghosts. After I repaired the machine, it wasn't 100% clear that the scenario was over. Maybe you could add a dialogue option for Father Richardson, like "do you need me to do anything else?" "go home, your work here is done". (ii) The Dervish doesn't give any reason for arresting you, I only found out why by reading the scripts. Perhaps you could add a tiny bit more explanation to this ending? I would have been more satisfied if there had been a little text like "The indictment is a trumped up charge, clearly a cover for your real, unspoken offence. The Dervish must have objected to your actions for reasons which he's not prepared to reveal..." Just my opinion.
Overall I'd say 8.0
Regarding the plot, personally I liked the Avernum 2 tie-in, although it might not be to everyone's taste. Just 2 minor observations. (i) I decided not to free the ghosts. After I repaired the machine, it wasn't 100% clear that the scenario was over. Maybe you could add a dialogue option for Father Richardson, like "do you need me to do anything else?" "go home, your work here is done". (ii) The Dervish doesn't give any reason for arresting you, I only found out why by reading the scripts. Perhaps you could add a tiny bit more explanation to this ending? I would have been more satisfied if there had been a little text like "The indictment is a trumped up charge, clearly a cover for your real, unspoken offence. The Dervish must have objected to your actions for reasons which he's not prepared to reveal..." Just my opinion.
Overall I'd say 8.0
#4 S M Adventurer
Posted 10 March 2008 - 07:18 AM
Ah, another new BOA scenario. This one is pretty interesting. Once again Ephesos shows his amazing skill at making and applying customized graphics. The cathedral was very pretty to look at. It was designed very well. The Catacombs were also well designed. The atmosphere of the scenario is amazing.
The plot is interesting, ghosts have invaded the cathedral and you are to put an end to it. I had fun exploring the many levels of the cathedral along the way. The way the ghosts came up from the dead was a pretty cool scripting techinque, considering you could actually see them rise off the ground.
Overall, I believe SoG was a good scenario. Very pretty, and so well designed.
My Rating: 8.0
The plot is interesting, ghosts have invaded the cathedral and you are to put an end to it. I had fun exploring the many levels of the cathedral along the way. The way the ghosts came up from the dead was a pretty cool scripting techinque, considering you could actually see them rise off the ground.
Overall, I believe SoG was a good scenario. Very pretty, and so well designed.
My Rating: 8.0
#5 Terrors Martyr
Posted 10 March 2008 - 07:19 AM
It's impeccably beautiful. And so if the plot is nothing special and gameplay isn't outrageously good, it's all forgivable: It's impeccably beautiful.
Don't get me wrong-- the ghosts put up a decent fight, and there's some decently scripted stuff. But Jesus F. Christ; it's Ephesos doing graphics at his finest in a condensed scenario whose raison d'etre is strutting his stuff.
Anyway, just play it. 7.7
Don't get me wrong-- the ghosts put up a decent fight, and there's some decently scripted stuff. But Jesus F. Christ; it's Ephesos doing graphics at his finest in a condensed scenario whose raison d'etre is strutting his stuff.
Anyway, just play it. 7.7
#6 Lazarus
Posted 10 March 2008 - 07:20 AM
Another good looking scenario by Ephesos-- it seems each scenario is better than the last.
But we already knew it was going to look great. Indeed, just about everything you'd expect from an Eph scenario is here; string manipulation, packed with details, looks great, and...... undead? Anyway, undead aside this felt like any other of Eph's scenarios (EoR especially) which isn't a bad thing. One distinguishing feature is that this time Eph broke out the custom creature scripts to put a bit more emphasis on combat, and I really liked the result.
Kept me interested all the way through. Good puzzle-combat that avoided the monotonous hack-n-slash, a unique plot, and even alternate endings. It's Eph's best scenario thusfar, but in the end I have a hard time saying it's significantly superior to EoR. It's better, but they're both so short and in such a similar style that it's hard to say SoG was a lot better. Soooooo......
8.2 (EoR + .1)
But we already knew it was going to look great. Indeed, just about everything you'd expect from an Eph scenario is here; string manipulation, packed with details, looks great, and...... undead? Anyway, undead aside this felt like any other of Eph's scenarios (EoR especially) which isn't a bad thing. One distinguishing feature is that this time Eph broke out the custom creature scripts to put a bit more emphasis on combat, and I really liked the result.
Kept me interested all the way through. Good puzzle-combat that avoided the monotonous hack-n-slash, a unique plot, and even alternate endings. It's Eph's best scenario thusfar, but in the end I have a hard time saying it's significantly superior to EoR. It's better, but they're both so short and in such a similar style that it's hard to say SoG was a lot better. Soooooo......
8.2 (EoR + .1)
#7 Nioca
Posted 10 March 2008 - 07:21 AM
It seemed like an excellent scenario, but... well, I liked the combat, and it looked good as usual. However, undead done right? I'm not so sure. It's just a bunch of ghosts in a cathedral, not an actual undead infestation like most people would think of it. Also, the snipers were a little overpowered, in my opinion. Without the Zenbu No Yorri from Mad Ambition, I wouldn't have stood a chance against their ice arrows. However, I definitely carried and either used or sold most of their ghostly equipment, which was nice. I mean, who doesn't like heavy-duty armor and weaponry that weighs nothing and adds nothing to encumbrance?
Oddly enough, though I entered with a singleton who was two levels below the minimum recommendation, he only gained one level from the scenario.
Good work, as per usual.
Final Score 8.1
Oddly enough, though I entered with a singleton who was two levels below the minimum recommendation, he only gained one level from the scenario.
Good work, as per usual.
Final Score 8.1
#8 Smoo
Posted 10 March 2008 - 07:21 AM
For the record, from this scenario on I will no longer comment the visual style of Ephesos' scenarios unless he manages to design something butt-ugly. But as for Shades of Gray: yes it is pretty. Now on to other things...
SoG takes place mostly inside a cathedral. The starter town was pretty pointless overall, but enjoyable. All in all the atmosphere wasn't as spooky as it could've been, but then again I'm not a big fan of ghost stories to begin with. However, the SoG is competently designed so it doesn't really matter if you hate undead or not. I'll give bonus points for the nifty rising ghosts cut scene and for the dialog with it's little unnecessary tricks. Like when you talked to an NPC then you could ask another NPC about the same things and it was never plot critical.
The premise is to go to a cathedral and deal with a pest problem. What pest problem? A bunch of dead Empire soldiers from the Avernum-Empire war. Gee willickers, how did they die? In a very kewl (<- Yes, I am an idiot.) way. Must they all die (again)? No, but it is an option. The only option that I've tried actually. Nonetheless, I like it when there are alternative endings. So bonus points here.
I entered Shades of Gray with a party that the HLPM had deemed to be level 17. I had no troubles fighting the undead of the cathedral but the archers were dangerous enough so I didn't get too cocky. Basically the combat was pretty fun, most of the fun coming from finding and killing the ghosts in the cathedral.
The ending went a bit over my head. Mainly because I didn't see any reason for my arresting and when the end dialog rolls in and I'm supposedly cleared from all charges, no-one bothers to tell me what the charges were in the first place. Maybe the other ending is more clear or maybe that's just the Empire justice system for you.
7.5
SoG takes place mostly inside a cathedral. The starter town was pretty pointless overall, but enjoyable. All in all the atmosphere wasn't as spooky as it could've been, but then again I'm not a big fan of ghost stories to begin with. However, the SoG is competently designed so it doesn't really matter if you hate undead or not. I'll give bonus points for the nifty rising ghosts cut scene and for the dialog with it's little unnecessary tricks. Like when you talked to an NPC then you could ask another NPC about the same things and it was never plot critical.
The premise is to go to a cathedral and deal with a pest problem. What pest problem? A bunch of dead Empire soldiers from the Avernum-Empire war. Gee willickers, how did they die? In a very kewl (<- Yes, I am an idiot.) way. Must they all die (again)? No, but it is an option. The only option that I've tried actually. Nonetheless, I like it when there are alternative endings. So bonus points here.
I entered Shades of Gray with a party that the HLPM had deemed to be level 17. I had no troubles fighting the undead of the cathedral but the archers were dangerous enough so I didn't get too cocky. Basically the combat was pretty fun, most of the fun coming from finding and killing the ghosts in the cathedral.
The ending went a bit over my head. Mainly because I didn't see any reason for my arresting and when the end dialog rolls in and I'm supposedly cleared from all charges, no-one bothers to tell me what the charges were in the first place. Maybe the other ending is more clear or maybe that's just the Empire justice system for you.
7.5
#9
Samson 
- Gone Bunburrying
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Posted 11 March 2008 - 01:43 PM
Get a bunch of undead with an actual backstory (what a novel idea!), stick them in a jaw-droppingly gorgeous cathedral, and give them some cool creature scripts (I loved the soldier throwing his sword at you). Add multiple endings, good dialogue (heck good writing throughout) and what do you get?
8.0
8.0
#10
Excalibur
- Filth Finder
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- Location:Winnemucca, NV
Posted 15 March 2008 - 02:09 PM
Shades of Grey
Note: I had a dire problem with the graphics, and neither me and Ephesos know why. So the following is with that taken out of consideration.
Combat - 9 - It was very cool. The creatures were balanced and their ammunition was awesome.
Visual design - 9 - Again, I had a bug with the graphics, but I've seen snapshots. It looked very pretty.
Technical design - 9 - Come on, who doesn't like the ghosts and their story?
Writing - 9 - Excellent
Story/Plot - 8 - I actually think it could have been a bit better
Enjoyability - 9 - A very good chance of replay.
Overall - 8.8 - This scenario is up there with WtRM and ASR.
Note: I had a dire problem with the graphics, and neither me and Ephesos know why. So the following is with that taken out of consideration.
Combat - 9 - It was very cool. The creatures were balanced and their ammunition was awesome.
Visual design - 9 - Again, I had a bug with the graphics, but I've seen snapshots. It looked very pretty.
Technical design - 9 - Come on, who doesn't like the ghosts and their story?
Writing - 9 - Excellent
Story/Plot - 8 - I actually think it could have been a bit better
Enjoyability - 9 - A very good chance of replay.
Overall - 8.8 - This scenario is up there with WtRM and ASR.
#11
BainIhrno
- BoEnthusiast
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Posted 16 March 2008 - 10:00 AM
The scenario is pretty, as Ephesos' other scenarios. The plot, meh, ghosts in a cathedral. The fights and items were interesting. The dervish should have given reason for arresting you. Maybe choosing the other path might give more explanation, but you should learn the same amount no matter who you side with.
Overall, fun, pretty, but a step down from Ephesos' previous scenarios.
7
EDIT: I've played the other plot. Loved the ending.
Overall, fun, pretty, but a step down from Ephesos' previous scenarios.
7
EDIT: I've played the other plot. Loved the ending.
#12
Jewels
- Skribbane Smuggler
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Posted 17 April 2008 - 01:39 PM
Very enjoyable. I loved the special items and look of the scenario. There are a few holes in the plot, presumably leaving room for a sequel, but the end left me... uncomfortable.
7.9
7.9
Rubies are red,
Sapphires are blue,
But there's not a gem
That's as precious as you.
Sapphires are blue,
But there's not a gem
That's as precious as you.
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