Culix's Preliminary Review The Way: Episode VI

Story: The plot maintained the excellence Lun has given us throughout all the other episodes of the Way. It was really, really good. I regret that I wasn't able to ejoy it fully. You see, for quite a few months before laying the game, I posted semi-frequently on the Crestfallen Studios messageboards and read the theories and such contained within. After a certain point, several theories rose as the most likely to occur, so it was almost a given that some of those would be correct. By learning those bits of information, playing the game felt like reading a really great book with a lot of twists and turns after reading parts of the cliff's notes for it: I couldn't be wowed by it as much as I once could have been, because I already knew a lot of what was going to happen. That I was still able to enjoy it as much as I did really says something for it, though.

Getting off of that topic, though, while the plot is great, the way the game played out wasn't at all what I was expecting. I won't say what exactly happens, but the enormous damn, fine explanation you might have expected doesn't come quite so soon in the episode. Further, I know that a lot of you people who've been waiting for it will be pretty annoyed when the episode ends. Think about your feelings when you reached the end of Episode V and realized you wouldn't be playing the next one for a very long time (several months) and then magnify them by a certain degree, and you'll have some idea of what I'm talking about. I'm not going to say what exactly that means, though I'd imagine you can guess at it. I'll just add that, when I got there, I was staring at my computer and shouting, "... What the hell do you mean that's all?"

With Episode VI, Lun has officially made The Way, in terms of complexity, the most CRAZILY puzzle-like thing I have ever seen in any format, book, game, word/visualization problem, or advanced equation of multi-variable calculus with integrated components of quantum mechanics, somehow cross-indexed with poetry and literature throughout the ages in a manner quite like The Da Vinci Code's! Well, maybe not that last one, but still. It's also kinda frustrating that, like Episode V before it, it doesn't give you all the answers. You'd think, based on V's ending, that it'd explain a hell of a lot, and, well, it does, but I was really expecting to learn more from it. Instead, it leaves you with a lot of scenarios that don't actually tell you any facts, but from which you can make some good guesses with a great deal of thought. For instance, there are two semi-minor characters; I didn't think much about them until somebody mentioned a theory in the Forerunners (beta-testers) forum. My reaction to hearing it and thinking about how much sense it made was, "... Lun is far too kind to spend time making this when he could be using his incredible intellect to write best-selling novels." And it doesn't stop there! There are a number of tidbits of information in poems, books, random NPCs, and others about things on the Way that had never really been discussed before. Lun even put notes on random events in RM2K! It's mind-boggling!

Getting back to the plot itself... Fwacho (Lun's brother) mentioned this on the boards some time ago so I feel it's safe to say it now. In Episode VI, Alan gets really, really funny. And I seriously mean that. Throughout the rest of the series, the fop is a running joke that probably provokes a chuckle or two. But in this episode, almost all of the scenes that involve him are hilarious. If he annoyed you before, he'll redeem himself in this episode.

As for the other characters... Well, you'll learn quite a bit about some of the Way's more obscure inhabitants, but there are others that you'll wish received far more coverage. With no effort at all, I can think of three characters I would have loved to hear more about. It's still enjoyable, and you'll walk away kinda satisfied with what you learn, but I just wish I'd learned more about some of my favorite characters... On the bright side, there's a scene (it's very difficult to reach it, however) that provides a veeery interesting look into the minds of some of those favorite characters, along with some of The Way's best dialogue.

Gameplay: The game's layout is... uhh... different. While most of the series has been totally linear, Episode VI is open-ended almost all of the time. I mean, the main plot is still like a straight line, but there's an almost absurd number of side-quests that you can get involved in. Lun clearly put an insane amount of time into putting all of this together. I know that I didn't find them all. Secret passages, TONS of notch items, and much more await those willing to search everywhere! It's both awesome and awe-inspiring! And when I say you'll find TONS of notch items, I'm not exaggerating; by the end, all the basic notch items (Pocite, Wicite, Stricite, and ESPECIALLY Heart Stones) had been stuck at 10+ quantity for quite a few hours.

As for difficulty... Well, I don't know about the final version, but my beta version was quite a bit harder than most of the rest of the series. I'm pretty happy about it, actually; most of the other episodes seemed a tad on the easy side to me. I can think of one spot in particular where I was dying quite a lot, though. That was the only spot where the difficulty was set a tad too high, I think. I mean, there are several bosses that were really tough, but, since they're optional... Take that as you will.

Now to talk about the Plunge. In the early episodes, picking your Blade Arts strategically was essential for victory, so the Plunge was kinda fun. However, as the series progressed, they really didn't matter that much; if your stats were high enough (as they should have been), you were guaranteed to win most bouts no matter what. Only a few, like the Strata fights, required any serious planning. However, I'm very pleased to say that Episode VI has made the Plunges good again. It's the only system I've ever seen that's kinda fun in the beginning, lame in the middle, and kickass at the end. You see, your Link %s are high enough (70's and 80's) that using a Link Attack is actually likely to do something! The fact that the Plunges seem to have gotten harder with the rest of the game also helps; you actually have to think in order to win. Add to this a number of Plungers with very distinct strategies (like one with an 85-95% chance of recovering a lot of HP every round) and taking the Plunge ceases to be a chore.

Finally, you'll have two party members throughout most of the game that are highly customizable in battle. These party members, as a first for the series, will level up as you go. This was probably a good thing, since the game, even if you skip all of the side-quests, (which you'd be a fool to do, by the way) is probably longer than Episode V. That's to say nothing of the other party members. In this episode, Rhue's group will see quite a few faces, all familiar and some quite unexpected.

Graphics/Music: I don't really have a lot to say here. Episode VI maintains the high level of quality that's been around since the series began. Many of the graphics are custom-made and the entire game looks about as good as an RM2K game can look. I've never heard a fair portion of the music before and it all blends in really well with the game on the whole. So... Yeah. Lun keeps doing what he's always been doing in this area.

Bugs: As I said, there really wasn't much in the way of bugs when I played. I was able to walk through walls on a few occasions and I noticed a few spelling/grammar errors, but nothing that would ruin your game. So, I can only imagine that all the big, problematic ones have been dealt with thoroughly. Thus, I remain fairly confident that the entire thing will be out in a month or two.

In closing, I'd say that, though it wasn't what I expected, the sixth installment of The Way has definitely been worth the wait. So, just be patient, everyone. The final version should be available for download before too much longer. I hope you found my little beta-test review worth your time.