Ambrosia Software Web Board: Cythera Quibbles (SPOILERS) - Ambrosia Software Web Board

So, I figure I'm almost at end-game time now. I've purified the Crolna and pissed off Omen (even though he still pops up to give me advice from time to time...weird), and I'm ready to use the Crolna on Alaric. I don't *know* that the game is almost finished, but that's what I figure...your main objective is to cure Alaric, and I'm just about to do that. But.

The question I'm asking is why are there all these artifacts to collect and other dungeons to explore? Why bother exploring them when you can finish the game without going to any of them? It makes no sense to include all this stuff in the game that you don't need.

Am I missing something? It seems to me as if there is a lot I haven't done, and although I want to explore all of these areas, I also don't want to waste my time on non-essential stuff.

There is very little in this game that MUST be done. Cythera just has a lot more side quests than other RPGs. As a result, Cythera has much more replay value. I've been playing the game for months, and I'm still learning new things. Have fun exploring the world of Cythera.

------------------
Slayer's guide to Cythera:
[url="http://"http://www.sweepies.com/cythera/cythera.htm"]http://www.sweepies....era/cythera.htm[/url]

That's what a roleplaying game is. You're supposed to have a bit of choice. You can explore the world and do everything there is to do, or you can skip stuff and just concentrate on finishing the game. The side quests are usually good for a really useful treasure and so forth. Which is why you usually want to complete them.

---Zelda

The point I was trying to make, I guess, was that "beating" Cythera, curing Alaric, doesn't involve some huge climactic battle where all of these artifacts and items would be useful. The only thing you'd need them for is recovering the 10 Sapphire Books, and you don't need to do that either, so...

I'm making a comparison in my head between Exile 3 and Cythera, because in Exile 3 there are all of these extra quests and dungeons that help you level up or whatever, in order to fight the more powerful baddies at the end, whereas in Cythera, you won't fight anything worse than a hydra if you don't want to. It seems a little too easy, once you've caught on. I do agree that side quests are nice, but they should mean something in the broader context of the game.

------------------

I gotta say..I've played the Exile series as well, Exile III has artifacts that don't help you win the game, but they're nice to have. In fact, there's soooo many sidequests in Exile that you don't have to complete. You don't even have to do all the missions for the towns to win the game.

I think what you may be saying is "why have a sword of heroes if all you fight are hydras?" Actually...I found the liches a great deal more tough than the hydras but that really doesn't have anything to do with what you said. You think there should have been more battles. Truthfully...I could have used a few more myself...and I'm also used to having a huge game winning battle at the end. But I also think it's sort of interesting that Cythera chose to have a rather light battle focus. There are times you have to fight, and many other fights can be avoided if you wish, but for the most part, the quests simply involved a great deal of puzzle solving. I think it was an interesting way of trying it. Is it my favorite? Probably not..I would have liked a few more battles...but I appreciated it's originality.

---Zelda

In his interview with Ambrosia, Glenn Andreas said that he was more for the puzzle bit of games. I like to go back and look at all of those side-tracks, because some of them explain the whole game. Each peice of the puzzle helps explain and depict the whole of the game : D

------------------
Happiness is finding your mother-in-law's picture on the back of a milk carton...

I tend to like the more puzzle oriented RPG's too but also enjoy a good brawl now and then. I think this game has a pretty good balance, but I have to admit, this is the first RPG that I actually need help with, which, of course, is why I got involved with this web board. I honestly don't think I would have made it through without the help of all of your clever brains out there. I probably would have given up by now. As far as the side quests go, I think if they weren't there I would have thought this game was a rip off. Although, I'm not too crazy about all of the red herrings. (The fishing pole, deep water etc.) The game starts to get pretty boring when you're beating your head against a wall and accomplishing nothing. But that's just me. I like for everything in a game to all make sense in the end.

------------------

yeah, even though I really like the puzzle solving aspect of this (I never actually played a game like this before in my life so I can't compare it to any of the others you're talking about, but I've a feeling I prefer the puzzles to the battles) I couldn't help but to feel a bit cheated by the big build up to some things which didn't really turn out to be worth much. Like getting the sapphire books for instance - you spend all this time getting them, thinking there MUST be something in these secret rooms that tells you what's going on, and if you're playing a non-magic user, you get up to the 8th degree hall and wonder why you bothered because there's nothing in any of them that you couldn't read elsewhere. Plus I really liked all the hints of political intriguing but they never really got carried through to a logical conclusion, though maybe that's too much to ask of a game

But these are all minor whinges - it's hellish addictive


------------------

That's why it sells. You spend money. You get the full game. Ambrosia gets food on their tables. Glenn Andreas can save up for when he wants to get a life again, instead of drowning in all of his Delver code.

------------------
I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person I preach to.

Consider this: how challenging would a maze be if it were merely a hallway with no doors, except at the exit?

RPGs are mazes. There is only one correct path, but a million others that will take you into deeper waters.

------------------
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room!"
-Dr. Strangelove
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Will Oram

AMEN!

------------------
Whenever choosing between two evils, I like to choose the one I've never tried before