Maybe it felt too generic?
And it was at an unexpected time- typically the Structure of the Exceptional Stories is: A few actions start the story, then we travel all around London gathering information, and then travel to a new location to end the story.
Here we had the start, and then the Flash Lay almost right away, and then everything else was in Merchant Captain’s mansion.
So the Flash Lay comes across as out of place because it’s in a place we didn’t expect it to be.
But, I mean, it didn’t feel like padding to me- there was a lot of stuff to do in the Merchant Captain’s mansion, so even without the Flash Lay it would’ve been a decently long story.
Maybe it felt too generic?[/quote]
You could be right, Anne; it did feel sort of generic, to me.
Wow. This story was huge. I can see that it’s possible to finish it very quickly and then feel dissatisfied with the length but that’s only if you approach it linearly. Exploring all the nooks and crannies too me quite a significant amount of time!
Anyone have an echo for what happens if you (at the very end) let Vesparian finish his book?
Maybe it felt too generic?[/quote]
I think that’s it.
I am at the end of the story that I started this weekend, and I almost forgot there was a flash lay at the beginning! That’s not a good sign.
On the other side, I enjoyed quite a lot the part inside the house, the atmosphere of tension and manacing weirdness was conveyed very well.
I agree that the flash lay was largely forgettable, but oh man I just wanted to say that I loved loved loved the mansion, with the time passing and various events happening at various times. It called back to some of my favorite old text adventure games. Overall this was a great story.
I also find it worth noting that the mansion seemed to be unusually lucrative- I typically expect to average 0.5 EPA on the Exceptional Stories, not counting the final rewards, but here it seemed closer to 1.5 EPA.
Just a quick note of response – I just finished the story and absolutely loved it. None of my frustrations with the April story were there.
In the end I poisoned him. I did think about letting them alone, but Trodgmey is a real stickler about souls.
Is the storylet "Speak To Mr Inch About The Monkey Visitor" supposed to have playable options?
edited by dragonridingsorceress on 5/5/2016
Yes it should. Definitely one for support@failbettergames.com
I wonder why this specific story has been more bug prone than the previous ones… Personally, I’ve not had any bug issues and content-wise this is possibly my favourite ES since Flint but I can imagine it would be a less positive experience for the player hit by all these bugs…
edited by genesis on 5/5/2016
I find I’m having the same problem as dragonridingsorceress. I have no dialogue with Mr. Inch. Hopefully it’s just a bug for tonight and can be resolved tomorrow?
Mr Inch had some options ? Oh. It didn’t appear for me. If anyone have the texts, I’m interested ! :)
Very much liked this story. I agree the flash lay seemed a bit generic-likely because it somewhat was- but I still liked it quite a bit. Maybe if y’all had woven some story-specific cards into the deck while it was going on to set it apart from the regular flash lay.
Aside from that, excellent story. Very unsettling and compelling.
I’m sure there was a dining room the first time I played through the Merchant captain’s house, where you could meet the Delightful Adventuress or something. Playing through with my other character this seems to be gone. Has anyone else had this happen or am I just misremembering?
Took Vespesian’s souls, took the souls of the other Pentecost Apes, sold them to devils. We’re not unsympathetic to their predicament, but we’re not fond of being drugged, assaulted, locked up, poisoned, threatened and preached at. And, frankly, an alliance with the Pentecost Apes would not serve us as well as, say, our arrangement with a certain large ‘rodent.’ No practical reason to leave them alone, and plenty of moral and practical reasons to remove them.
Aw geez, I waited too long AGAIN, and now I don’t remember most of what I wanted to say. Oh well.
There is at least one thing I have to add that may interest some people. For those who were wondering, or for those who ‘just got lucky’ when choosing which wine to poison, there is a way that you can tell which one to poison for that ending.
Here’s how you can deduce which one to poison:
OK, so there are three options, three choices of wine, and naturally you can only poison one of the three. We’re trying to figure out which wine Vespesian prefers, right? Which one is his favorite, and therefore, which one he would likely request for a special occasion. Well, if you do the action that searches the wine cellar or whatever, you are rewarded with two different types of wine, which are also two of the three options. Why wouldn’t we also be rewarded with the third option when searching the cellar? Because there isn’t as much, or there is barely any left of that type of wine in the cellar- most of it has been consumed already. See where I’m going with this? The third wine, that is, the wine that we don’t get from searching, probably because most of it is gone, is the wine that is Vespesian’s favorite, which is why he has consumed most of it! Vespesian probably doesn’t let the other apes take whatever they want from the cellar either.
I can’t remember which one it was specifically, but that’s how I figured out which one to poison.
There’s also the fact that you can spy on the child bringing Vespasian wine, and notice what kind he’s taking.
Found the Dining Room.
[spoiler] Met the Delightful Adventuress. Her text was not all that interesting, to me. I think this is it though it isn’t labeled "Dining Room" in my Journal. Apologies if I’ve got the wrong bit.
"[i]The Delightful Adventuress crawls out from under a table, soaked in the splatter of thrown food and drink. ‘The b___dy monkeys!’ she screeches, almost as high-pitched as their most painful screeches. 'That is it! I will make it my life’s work to see that cursed place burned to the ground! Then the ground salted!’
She begins tugging at one of the heavy metal bars holding the windows shut, swearing under her breath as it refuses to give way. "[/i][/spoiler]
edited by cathyr19355 on 5/8/2016