I really wanted to love this, but there are just so many choices made in this book that run counter to what I feel makes a good game.
And that has disappointed me to no end.
I backed it on kickstarter and waited patiently for the follow-up to the first RPG I ever really played. I had hoped for a lighter, more table-friendly game, with a good flow and rules that were more focused on the bigger picture than the details.
What works for me: The setting is cool as all heck. Anything that touches the world of creation is awesome. There are little hints and rumors that aren't immediatly explainable, which function great as inspiration for stories and adventure. If anything, the setting part of this book is too short, and more pages should have been assigned to this.
What doesn't work for me: The artwork, most of it is dull and uninspired, there is no "freedom" to the art styles, most of it locked by tracing after 3-d models. Some are great, the cover in particular is very cool.
The system, There are too many subsystems. Rules are overly specific instead of being broad.
The charms, there roughly 200 pages of charms, that do not have an easy overview. I completely understand that adding extra pages to this monster, in order to add charm-trees or something must have seemed like madness.
The length: This book is almost vulgar in size, which isn't a problem as such in pdf, but with the print product it is pretty bad. it is pretty neat having a Big Book (tm), but it is nigh-unusable as whenever I open it I fear that the book will tear itself to pieces.
In summary:
Great setting - really one of the best out there.
Too long, and filled mostly with bad art and overly complex rules.
I guess that it would be pretty great for some, but working full-time and having children this game has become a hard pass.
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