CHRONICLING AIDYN 3-25: SORT OF SEEN OFF

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halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
from Solitayre
This dialogue is a lot better than I remember. It's a shame this game's presentation was so...subpar.

Somebody who was making this game really cared, and it shows.

Hence a comic, wherein the presentation is slightly less subpar.

Real talk, this is why I'm so inspired by it. There's so much heart to be found in this awful game.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
1-15: Master of Guilt-Tripping

Alaron actually was going to look for Bowden. I guess his excuse was just so unbelievable that even he couldn't remember it.

I have no idea what a forest squib is.
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
Sure sounds like there was something Bowden was really worried that Oriana might have told Alaron! It's probably nothing important though.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
And it definitely won't come up again 500 pages later when you've forgotten all about it anyway.
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
As I mentioned before, I never finished this game myself; I was defeated by the unsolvable lighthouse which I guess is only about half way through the game. But I did read an LP of the game later since I was curious about what happened.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
from Solitayre
As I mentioned before, I never finished this game myself; I was defeated by the unsolvable lighthouse which I guess is only about half way through the game. But I did read an LP of the game later since I was curious about what happened.

See, now I wonder how much you remember. But there will still be some new content in this series regardless. I have to add my own personal touch, after all...

1-16: Long-Winded Lecturing

If you actually bother to read all the text in Bowden's rant panels, you're a real trooper. Those strange tangents are the game trying to shoehorn tutorials into dialogue. I decided to make a gag of it instead of tossing it out.

One thing of note on this page is that Bowden says there are no known cures for goblin poison. While the game doesn't spell this out exactly, here's my take on what that means: goblin poison has no conventional cures. Humans must fall ill for a while and get over it on their own, or the goblins probably would've killed everyone by now (and Alaron's affliction would be a much bigger deal). However, that Alaron's case is special relates to something else about him that's important later, so maybe tuck that little factoid in the back of your mind.
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
Bowden casts WALL OF TEXT! It's super effective! Alaron fainted!
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
It's his most powerful spell. His students can attest to this.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
Hey, I'm almost back on my update schedule! I only missed this one by about 12 hours!

1-17: Mirari Maiden Magician

And here's our 3rd semi-notable female Mirari character. She's had her name dropped a bunch of times, but she's actually not that important. She's seen even less than Gotzone and Zurene, and really doesn't impact things much. Though I guess her presence in Gwernia speaks to their alliance with Erromon somewhat. *shrug*
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
1-18: A Friendly Exchange

And here we have the last major player from Gwernia, and one of my favorite characters, Brenna. She and Alaron are childhood orphan buddies, and she's never afraid to take him down a peg. She only gets a short intro here, though.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
1-19: Mah Boi

And you thought Bowden could talk. Now there's more at stake on this journey than just Alaron's health! But Abrecan doesn't seem too happy about it...

Also, hey, remember Rheda? We saw her that one time. Yeah!
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
1-20: Knight Time

This is one of my favorite scenes with Abrecan. Sometimes he seems needlessly callous, but you can tell he takes the knighthood seriously and wants Alaron to understand the level of responsibility involved. You couldn't ask for a more devoted knight than Abrecan.
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
You forgot to update your link! (Don't worry I figured it out, I took 23 and ADDED ONE)

I like Abrecan because it's clear he's trying to do his job and obey his king but he has more important things to do than babysit this brat. But he's awesome in fights and it really helps show how far Alaron has to go.

It was a hard choice whether to keep him in the party, because he's both a great party member and a counterpoint to Alaron, but it's also clear he doesn't want to be with you and has more important stuff he'd rather be doing. I sent him home after Erromon.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
from Solitayre
You forgot to update your link! (Don't worry I figured it out, I took 23 and ADDED ONE)

I like Abrecan because it's clear he's trying to do his job and obey his king but he has more important things to do than babysit this brat. But he's awesome in fights and it really helps show how far Alaron has to go.
Oopsie, fixed the link!

Yeah, Abrecan is such a cool character. For all his frustration with Alaron, he does want the kid to succeed. He's so good for a beginning party, too. The road to Erromon is significantly harder without him, to the point I'd say it's a challenge run to leave him behind.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
1-J: Ch.1 Journal

Over the course of the game, Alaron's journal fills up with the important happenings so you don't forget what you're supposed to be doing. So, to round out the chapters of this comic, all his new entries will be presented this way, like a nice little recap.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
Chapter 2:
2-0: Party Up at Castle Gwernia


You might not think it'd take an entire chapter to pick a party and start this adventure, but...

...did I mention there's a LOT of talking at the castle? I'm certain I did.
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
I remember Rheda being weirdly hostile to joining Alaron the first time you talk to her but being suddenly really enthusiastic to let her join the second time. Did I make that up?

Kind of makes me think she actually wanted to join Alaron since she has her own agenda, but wanted to act too cool to have time for him, and Alaron was calling her bluff because Alaron is actually clever sometimes.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
from Solitayre
I remember Rheda being weirdly hostile to joining Alaron the first time you talk to her but being suddenly really enthusiastic to let her join the second time. Did I make that up?

You did not. There's a huge contrast in her tone between the first time you talk to her and the second. One could say this aggravation is due to the same reasons she was so pissed with him in the introduction, but she warms up real quick if you leave and re-enter the room.

I think the devs made the early conversations difficult to recruit from so the player could talk, but still have obvious outs while they weigh their choices. Brenna's is particularly hard to navigate through successfully. Meanwhile, the second visits are much more straight-forward. The only exception is Godric, whose second conversation can't seem to be triggered. It's always either his recruitment or the visit we already covered.

from Solitayre
Kind of makes me think she actually wanted to join Alaron since she has her own agenda, but wanted to act too cool to have time for him, and Alaron was calling her bluff because Alaron is actually clever sometimes.

I'd believe that, though. That's exactly the kind of characters they are. XD
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
It's kind of striking how much I remember about the characters from this weird game I played once almost twenty years ago. Maybe there really was something to this game, buried under all the cruft.
halibabica
RMN's Official Reviewmonger
16873
from Solitayre
Maybe there really was something to this game, buried under all the cruft.

It found that special place in my heart somehow. :3

2-1: Gabbin' with Gabrion