Maelor.2370

Hi,

I [previously](https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/122554/a-review-of-season-4-episodes-1-2) reviewed episodes 1-2 and liked the exercise, so here I go with episodes 3 and 4 of LWS4. As previously, I will be structuring my review along the following 3 criteria:

1. Story (how interesting, what excited me most, etc.)

2. Map(s) (the metas, how well I liked the look, structural setup, etc.)

3. Comparison to previous content (expansions and seasons)

**Season 4 Episode 3: Long Live the Lich**

1. This started well, with Gorrik's trial and "Lord" Faren's shenanigans. Then Joko appeared, again a bit out of nowhere, and we were sent to invade Gandara. We also get sent to the Tomb of Primeval Kings for "advice", but basically we just get the adherence of a ghost army. So we teleport to Domain of Kourna and have to secure the "landing zone": I think this was a great narrative idea, but gameplay-wise, the stealth golem arm got old mostly because it was over-used when going beyond the starting town. I would've preferred getting the town secured, and then going on a skirmish to get the outer parts. Anyway, eventually we push into Gandara, get through Joko's contraptions and confront him. Going through the palace and the lasers was fun, and the fight with Joko was also fun and not over-done. Appreciated meeting the Beastmarshall one last time before that. No spoilers, but while funny and enjoyable, the ending of the Joko saga was as abrupt as its beginning. One really nice touch was being able to view a prophecy of the final cutscene while flying in Kourna.

2. Domain of Kourna itself was somewhat underwhelming. Cool to get the roller-beetle collection, but isn't it a bit... excessive? I want to keep going through the story, but doing the collection would slow me down immensely, so that's just not going to happen. At release though, I understand it would give you something to do. Still, it feels excessive even in those circumstances. A few places on the map are locked unless you get the mount as well, which was disappointing. The feel of the map was also somewhat bizarre, and I honestly didn't even do the meta once, I simply didn't care for it and even was repulsed. One heart I enjoyed doing was Arjok Farmlands, figuring out the Joko statues inside the houses was nice, because the big statues throw you off as to the objectives (until you do the story). Appearance-wise, it didn't click with me. Maybe I missed some things, and was rushing, I don't know.

On this point, I also want to mention the Deepstone Fractal that was released with this Episode: I think it's a very good fractal, solid stand-alone story and good mechanics all around. I would love to learn more of the dwarves, and I like thinking this is a foreshadowing to Thunderhead Keep, which I understand also goes a bit more into that.

3. Compared to the last two episodes, this one was a pretty big letdown. Except for some good moments in the instanced story towards the end, I honestly feel this was filler content except for wrapping up the Joko saga, the Fractal, and introducing the new mount, so I imagine a lot of time went into those. In that case, however, and considering the map quantity bloating this game is gradually getting, just do those things on previous maps where a lot of thought went into the design rather than throwing a map together.

**Season 4 Episode 4: A Star to Guide Us**

1. I liked this, quite a bit. From the conference of the four powers of Elona and its shenanigans, to the investigation of the "twilight zones" of the Mists on the map, and ending with a pretty dope sequence of finding and reigniting the fire within Sun's Refuge, not to mention the lore-rich collections you got there (which I didn't do but would've been exactly what I would be looking for in a LW release when it comes to story), it was all topped off by huge character developments (Taimi and Blish, Aurene after her visions, etc.). The part about Balthazar's sword felt a bit like filler, but this does not take away from the fact that in this episode, the overt and subtle story-telling was some of the best I've seen in the game. Also, how dope was it to navigate the sniper boss?!?!?!?!

2. I don't really have much to say here. I realize now, writing this review, that except for its place in the story, I didn't spend any time playing the map as its own thing, meta and all. I will probably revisit it because I think it's navigationally interesting and I've heard good things about its meta, but it does indicate to me that compared to all other LW episodes, this is the episode where the notion of a map meta as a feature was pushed away by the very strong, and diverse story-telling. I also didn't yet play the raid wing that released with this episode (Mythwright Gambit): what do you guys think about it as a raid wing?

3. This is probably my favourite episode yet, of S4 and all other seasons. I loved Sun's Refuge in terms of gameplay AND story, character development was off the charts and filler content was minimal. Of course, this is subjective: I'm not playing the game where this is the latest release, but rather in a context where I just want to do the episodes to finally be up-to-date. In this sense, this is my favourite GW2 episode and, honestly, my favorite part of storytelling from the whole game, except (maybe) for the Tybalt storyline.

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That's it for this post. What do you guys think about the metas from these two releases? Have any insights about the raid wings or hidden story points? Did you hate the story, instead, if so why? Cheers!

Hey,

I started this game back in 2017 and only seriously started getting into it this year. Obviously I know this is "old" content and probably not useful for a lot of people to read, but I had the urge to write a review for these two episodes, and here I go.

First, a note: it's likely that my urge to review these two episodes are due to the fact that, compared to Season 2-3 and the expansions, I felt like these very better, and I kind of want to work through that to see why. In any case, you can expect this to be an overall positive review.

Second, it should probably be useful to establish a few criteria to judge these and maybe future episodes by, if my urge continues :) . I was thinking something along these lines:

1. Story (how interesting, what excited me most, etc.)

2. Map(s) (the metas, how well I liked the look, structural setup, etc.)

3. Comparison to previous content (expansions and seasons)

**Season 4 Episode 1: Daybreak**

1. I was intrigued and pulled by the story during all instances. From the playful beginning of a dolyak ranch to the feeling of dread you get during your prison break, and even in the revelation of the Inquest presence at the end+boss fight were good developments with big stakes. I appreciate the Astralarium and its hidden library, but I do wish that this part and Fahranur were better fleshed out in their history and significance. I still don't have a good understanding of the role of the Sunspears in Elonian history and how significant or important it might be that I get to be in contact with what comes across to me like "another" "Resistance" movement to the rule of Joko. I kind of wish the writers would've stuck to the striking idea that people might actually like living under Joko for various reasons, with the Sunspears despite their history coming to serve Joko and the difficulties that would narratively arise from your interest being to destroy that which these people actually support. Good parts but nothing that felt like going "wow".

2. Except for the Mordant Crescent Hall (especially during the prison break sneaking) and the Astralarium (one of the most interesting hearts to complete), the map did not elicit any strong response on my part. I liked doing the Palawadan/Great Hall meta once, then never came back. Visually, I did appreciate the look for the Joko Wall next to the Astralarium and I liked the meteor area next to the Mordant Crescent Hall: for this last element, it felt like something else was happening except our adventures and it made the world a more lived-in place. As for the items and currencies, I honestly did not pay much attention, this element I only started watching out for, and even then superficially, in Episode 2. Side content: I was not there for when the content launched, but I think Twilight Oasis is one of the best Fractals out there; and I have not yet done the Hall of Chains raid.

3. In comparison to previous content, I think the story was much stronger than Path of Fire, which I was seriously disappointed with: they killed Vlast before even developing him (those optional "insights" you could hear were not enough), I don't think the Commander had to die in order to make contact with Joko, and Balthazar did not work for me as a villain. I much prefer, as you may have noticed, the political and personal relations of the Commander with those of his world, rather than big goodies and godly baddies, which I find to be overkill. From a gameplay perspective, I think the map and metas were average: some Season 3 maps like Bitterfrost, Lake Doric and Draconis Mons were better but others were worse.

**Season 4 Episode 2: A Bug in the System**

1. Story-wise, this was on par if not better than Ep. 1. It was very entertaining to infiltrate the base hidden behind the waterfall in the Golem while Rox and Braham were "processed", the Olmakhan were intriguing, the three labs to be infiltrated were all different puzzles and the final assault mission was meaty, long but never boring (I loved saving Subject S!!!!). Two things did throw me off though. First, the Olmakhan, while intriguing, offered little actual development: why did they split from the charr precisely when there was a rebellion against the Flame Legion, considering they themselves are shamanistic, magic-praying? Were they allies of the Flame Legion or enemies? How does their philosophy, for example of families instead of fahrars, justify itself compared to the "technologistic" and "Spartan" ways of the Black Citadel charr? Naming the character Bottica is not enough in transmitting the way of life of this splinter group of charr and even suggests (since Bouddica fought against the Roman empire) that the Olmakhan were indeed allied with the Flame Legion. Second, there were some really jarring moments that just kind of happened with no justification, deus ex machina-like: how where we supposed to know that was the Claw of Jormag when we were teleported, and how did Joko escape from the realm of the dead or whatever it's called? This remains a good story for this episode, because these elements are counteracted by the sweet reactions and relations of Taimi and her fellow asura, for example.

2. I liked the Sandswept Isles better than Domain of Istan, as a map. More verticality, the imposing presence of Rata Primus, the division between the Olmakhan side of the map and the Inquest side, I think these were gameplay elements that really matched and made sense, narratively. I also think the bandolier and its related currency and achievements are a big draw for a lot of players, and offer real utility in the number of bag slots. I also liked doing the metas, more than once, though I only did the storm one multiple times, the vault laser defense got old quite fast because of the timer on the defense objective. What's with the wallpaper of this episode though? I like to put wallpapers of episodes where I'm at in the story, and this was really ugly.

3. While the story was maybe not as strong as Episode 1 and I wish some elements were fleshed out, it never dragged on and I wasn't fundamentally bothered by anything; on this, I very much enjoyed the return of Saida the Sly and I hope that future episodes continue to build upon past stories and characters. From a gameplay perspective, the map was cool to navigate by griffon and skimmer and its metas were a bit above average compared to the rest. Visually, Desert Highlands remains the map that strikes me the most (from catacombs to snowy peaks and everything in between) and, from a creative perspective, Verdant Brink is still the map to beat.

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That's my review for these two episodes. Hope this was entertaining for some of you, I liked this exercise as a way to sum-up and put down my thoughts and feelings on the matter. I would very much enjoy to know what you guys think about these two episodes and/or about the arguments and conclusions of my review.