The islands dotting the deep, abysmal ocean conceal both unimaginable evils and incredible wealth. Step on board the evil, cursed ship and sail into the unknown in search of your wealth… or doom.
• Either as a standalone rogue-like mode or as a part of the main campaign, explore the huge archipelago full of riches and perils.
• Experiment with various builds and party configurations, making use of the Pathfinder role-playing system’s tremendous variety, including the mythic paths.
• Demise is but a setback! Even if a group dies, its progress can still be useful to you in further plays.
• Face off against both familiar and new foes while using new magic weapons, potions, and scrolls.
• Learn the truth about the ultimate prize you’re looking for as well as the mystery of the ship that carries you on your adventures.
Thoughts
So far, it appears to be mostly what I had hoped it would be. Ironman mode is quite forced, which I don’t particularly like; it’s more like ironman-lite mode. There are usually three save points for ironman mode per floor, plus a free save when you enter a new floor or return to the ship, so if you die, you can select “return to the main menu” and continue your save from that point. Therefore, in practice, it only serves to annoy you more by preventing you from saving before a difficult battle and reloading until you get through it.
If you speak to everyone before leaving town, you will begin the run with 2 characters and (as far as I could tell) you will be rewarded with the third character for completing the first floor. Perhaps I’m just lucky, but it doesn’t seem particularly difficult to find new characters. You can hire extra characters for gold after you get back to town (more on that later), which can counteract bad luck with regard to recruitment possibilities.
Contrary to what other reviews claim, there is a merchant in town. However, he is poorly marked, goes by the name “Chaplain,” and resembles the other dozen or so NPCs who stand around and only offer you one-liners.
He has four distinct shops where you can purchase magical goods, everyday apparel, scrolls, potions, and other things. It would be advantageous to position him behind a shop counter or to have him yell your name the first time you pass by.
This DLC offers an extra stand-alone mode, which is VERY convenient because it saves you from having to play through 30 hours of the main plot each time you want to try out a new build or play around with creative character concepts. It is also incorporated into the main story, in contrast to other reviews.
Chapter 3 gives you access to it, and chapters 4 and 5 continue the plot (Assuming the patch notes are accurate).
My personal issue is that once you embark on an “island” (boss fight), you are committed to it whether you succeed or fail. You are only permitted to go back to town to buy/sell gear and party members every fifth “level,” unlike in the Kingmaker DLC. This indicates that you must make sure all of your bases are covered before leaving, but you lack the funds to do so. You could simply return to the dragon, and trade your floor 3 loot for a scroll of community delay poison if Floor 4 in Kingmaker was the poison spider hell death floor. If floor 4 of WOTR is the poison spider hell death floor, then you had better hope that you spent all of your limited starting money on a scroll of communal delay poison because otherwise, you’ll be fighting the first boss with a -8 to every ability score.
REVIEW : New Tales from the Borderlands Deluxe Edition (PC)
