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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Dec 13, 2021 22:55:28 GMT
The new Lone Wolf covers may be nice, but the changes to the text in the reissues make FF's track record with edits look good. Oh, there is the occasional improvement, but way, way more often, it gives the impression that the person responsible thought, "The people who read these books aren't very clever. I'd better spell things out more clearly to make sure that they understand." I'd prefer not to have anything 'kiddified', but I'll take a more child-friendly cover over dumbed-down writing any day. I have not got any of the reissues but am in two minds about getting Flight From the Dark. What changes are they making? The Zakhan Kimah and the Chaos Master fights need adjustments I'd say. I heard something about them altering what happens if you give Rhygar the magic spear in LW2, but that isn't what I think you are getting at in the quote above about assuming the readership being very clever. Do they try to make a change and end up making things worse somehow? And 100% agree with the last sentence. |
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Post by a moderator on Dec 14, 2021 0:40:11 GMT
The fights you mention have been made less tough, which is fair enough. A significant change has been made regarding Rhygar and the magic spear. You can now only encounter the Noodnics if you give the spear to Rhygar, so there is no way of surviving the Tarnalin Tunnel without acquiring the spear. The 'dumbed-down writing' consists of repeated instances of spelling things out in unnecessary detail. For example, were you baffled as to how, in The Chasm of Doom, Lone Wolf was able to calculate how far he was from Ruanon just after finding a signpost? Well, someone thought you might have been, as the reissue specifies that the signpost mentions the distance to Ruanon. And there are tons of similarly condescending elaborations scattered throughout the range. Several of the books also make it easier to cheat on the mathematical puzzles, by specifying 'This is the correct section for solving the puzzle at x' at the start of the section corresponding to the right answer. Quite spectacularly on one occasion. The revised Chasm attempts to fix a bug in the original text: on one route through the book, the last three of the rangers accompanying you vanish without explanation. And yes, that is a flaw that needed addressing. But in the reissue, there are now two routes through the book on which, after dying, the last three rangers are somehow resurrected just in time to become separated from you by a collapsing bridge. I would not call that an improvement. As for the expanded Flight from the Dark, I'm not a big fan. Apart from ditching the 'zero to hero' aspect of the story, it throws in an unavoidable and gratuitous trivia quiz, forces the reader to take one of the more hazardous routes through Holmgard towards the end, and rejects the original book's subversion of the vile 'scars are an indication of evil' cliché. |
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Jan 3, 2022 10:43:14 GMT
A significant change has been made regarding Rhygar and the magic spear. You can now only encounter the Noodnics if you give the spear to Rhygar, so there is no way of surviving the Tarnalin Tunnel without acquiring the spear. I see. That's not an improvement - LW books are linear enough without narrowing them down even further. Do you think it would be best to meet the noodnics either way? That's what I would probably go for. And as you said, the bug in LW4 needed fixing but they created another bug in the process. As for the expanded Flight from the Dark, I'm not a big fan. Apart from ditching the 'zero to hero' aspect of the story, it throws in an unavoidable and gratuitous trivia quiz, forces the reader to take one of the more hazardous routes through Holmgard towards the end, and rejects the original book's subversion of the vile 'scars are an indication of evil' cliché. I looked up some stuff on Project Aon and it looks like among other things, the fight at the monastery is significantly expanded with LW playing a significant role. I quite like the original version - it fits its title flight [ie fleeing] from the dark quite nicely - you have to run, not fight, and inform the King what is happening. |
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Post by a moderator on Jan 3, 2022 11:22:57 GMT
Not having the Noodnic encounter depend on whether or not you gave Rhygar the Spear would be preferable. ]I looked up some stuff on Project Aon and it looks like among other things, the fight at the monastery is significantly expanded with LW playing a significant role. I quite like the original version - it fits its title flight [ie fleeing] from the dark quite nicely - you have to run, not fight, and inform the King what is happening. Indeed. There's more about the additional material at the monastery in the playthrough on my blog. It makes the book fatter, but not better. |
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