Wanted to offer my overall thoughts on T4 now that I've had a chance to play through it quite a bit. For context, I've completed the MSQ 6 times (I did not KT) and have pushed my main to 1680. I had pretty mediocre luck on cards, with two characters not getting any legendary packs from the MSQ. Roster & cards below:
From a scoring standpoint, it's certainly different based upon whether you're a veteran player or a relatively new/returning player. For veteran players, this is easily an A+ grading and the best release from an MMO standpoint in a very, very long time. For a relatively new/returning player, the Ignite servers and T4 experience is going to be a very mediocre C+. I won't talk much about the new/returning player experience as it's a perspective that I can't speak on firsthand thus the rest is aimed at those that have been playing Lost Ark at least on a casual basis.
Story:
I really enjoyed the T4 story and did not skip a single cutscene, nor did I shift-G through my first playthrough. It struck a very decisive 'feels good' balance for me, in that it's clearly not a game based upon story like Final Fantasy is however I feel like the entertainment medium has been riddled with absolutely atrocious storytelling that insults the audience. The two comparisons I kept drawing on as they felt relevant was the most recent WoW expansion, which was
better but then it's been in some time however was still riddled with terrible girl boss characters & absurd shit like wheelchair Khadgar as well as Amazon's LOTR adaptation, which anyone with a brain cell feels offended to watch.
Some of the highlights for me were:
1) Zinnervale's sacrifice felt like it had the right combination of telegraph'd but still felt satisfying. He died protecting the old man that he clearly cared for just as his potential was being unlocked. I was however curious why he didn't show up at the end (or was he the Empyrean?).
2) Nineveh arriving with the Lazenith's -- this was a really cool moment. Obviously the thought process is Lauriel saw all of the potential scenarios that would lead to defeat and chose the only one that had us potentially winning in. It was nice to see them get involved.
3) They didn't forget a single character to join into the fight here as they have in the past and the payoff at the end with the ghosts was a great (and unexpected moment). Shout out to Seria smiling here.
4) Kharmine remains the best character. To me, it's clear that he's a split part of Zosma in a similar manner that we learned about Kazeros splitting his soul/body, which is why he is referred to as the incomplete one.
From an overall story telling element however and what tied all of this together is that they never forced a character into a leadership role in order to push some political agenda. Shandi was clearly in charge from the get go because he had the most experience from the previous war and Azena takes over for the same reasons. They didn't shove any diversity in our faces albeit the characters that do represent that were nevertheless present. This is clearly a standard Joseph Campbell's
Hero Journey with a return from the unknown element tossed in (Luterra!) and while the script can feel predictable overall, it's not trying to be anything but satisfying.
T4 Systems:
Kenuart Fortress fucking sucks and whoever designed that shit should be taken out back with the transcendence guy and murdered. Duplicate armor pieces and running that an RNG amount of time's is retarded and I don't care that it only takes <20-45 minutes per character. It should have just been a select chest for all pieces or introduced something relevant to make re-doing it worthwhile, like making the drops have a quality grade so that we can farm quality upgrades and be done with another dog shit system that plagues the new player experience.
Chaos Dungeon is a home run. I am never going back to two a day. No multiple loading screens or annoying bosses, just straight-up loot pinata.
Kazeros War Map
is an interesting concept for me and I quite enjoy it. It provides some (albeit often minor) increases the more we progress across the tier resulting in content becoming easier.
Hyper Awakening & T skills this falls under the category of the recent W's that Amazon has been farming. They provide such a cool and useful power spike that makes the gap of not having Ark Passives unlocked at the beginning less glaring.
Ark Passives: N/A
New PVP mode: N/A - haven't tried it.
Just Guard: I'm not a fan albeit I won't comment further until I get more exposure. While I certainly like the idea and would favor seeing what they can do with it in the future, I just find it gimmicky on the field boss.
New Field Boss end game is lame; there is far too much RNG (rune/enlightenment points/ancient accessories) tied to it, albeit that will be mostly gone within two weeks.
Future viability & Game's health:
According to Steam Chart's the population is increasing a bit, which is a great sign. It's also making quite a bit of money (top 20 for Steam sales with the platinum pack also being top 25). For context because the packs are considered DLC the revenue they generate are separated. People have been doing the math and, even for those that love to meme that the game is dying/not doing well, it's very clearly making a lot of money and remains with very slight increases in players. Before anyone jumps in here relating to bots, don't. You're thinking about an old Lost Ark, that shit does not happen anymore and talking about it highlights that you're out of touch.
I've always said that the game has more than enough people to play as lobby's are always up regardless of the time I play at (and I log in at all type's of hours). Here is what the population looked like at the 11 AM field boss on a Friday (it stretched down quite a bit more) to highlight this:
I'll be taking a break today as the wife is forcing me to socialize but will be on for those interested in giving the ignite server a shot this weekend. We had some new blood join Discord, so that's the best place to come ask questions. If someone needs the link, just toss me a message.
