The Chronicles Of Myrtana - Review Y8 game

In the summer, the flow of game hits almost dries up - it's time to launch what you and we, for one reason or another, missed in vain. And at the same time, fall into childhood, indulge in nostalgia - as, for example, in the case of the game "Chronicles of Myrtana: Arholos", which was released last December and became not just the best mod for Gothic II, but, in principle, one of the best fan works of all time. history of fashion.  

The reasons for success lie on the surface. Firstly, the authors implemented a new huge region - the island of Arholos. In the original series, he was only mentioned, so the developers, as follows from their  interviews , did a great job in order to correctly fit Arholos into the "gothic" setting. Both this task and, in principle, work on the project required a lot of time and effort - they made the Chronicles of Myrtana for four years, and at the final stage they were already working on about 200 people (the backbone of the team was, of course, less).

So, this huge new wonderful world, perfectly inscribed in the no less beautiful old one, is thoroughly worked out in detail. Even the first village is not two and a half houses, but an almost full-fledged city. Not to mention the titular Archolos - this is a whole metropolis, the largest settlement that I have seen in all Y8 games of the Gothic series (and at the same time in  Risen and  ELEX). Couriers have even been introduced here to help get to a particular area or a specific place.  

Many locals will willingly share with you the history of the island, tell you about the troubles that surround it, about the current political situation and intrigues in power circles (far from everything is calm there). However, the main character, a guy named Marvin, sailed here not to save, but to save himself. He is not a chosen one, but an ordinary person, so there are a lot of personal motives and drama in the plot - and this is the second reason for the success of the mod.

Together with his brother Jorn and other inhabitants of the continental part of the kingdom of Myrtana, Marvin fled to the island from the war, but found that they were not welcomed with open arms here either. Many locals are dissatisfied with the influx of refugees, they are aggressive, they just accuse them of all mortal sins and are in no hurry to help. In addition, there is a confrontation in power, the interests of groups clash, not everyone likes the laws that King Rhobar II adopts.

In many ways, all this resembles not only the Gothic itself, but also the Witcher series, the influence of which is also noticeable in the construction of tasks. 

It must be said here that, on the one hand, the scriptwriters rely heavily on scripted scenes and quests, which, for example, show us how Marvin and his brother are sent to drink, eat and indulge in memories of home, family, their past - this looks really strong, soulful and very personal. But when we come to Arholos in search of Jorn, who is in trouble and who, according to the plot, needs to be found as soon as possible, the authors, on the contrary, allow us to do whatever we want. And given the quantity and quality of quests, there is a very high risk of doing anything, but not looking for a brother.

After some time, the narrative returns to the active phase, and the personal story develops into something more (while remaining personal), but the plot sags in this way, its pace slows down. On the other hand, this is partly due to the conventions of the genre and the traditions of the series itself - after all, we value freedom and do not want Gothic to turn into an exclusively story-driven drama.

That same freedom in  The Chronicles of Myrtana, it seems, has become even greater. Breakthrough tasks. In addition to the story ones, there are manually made side ones, including those from the bulletin board, where we are promised a reward for killing certain monsters or bandits. There were also random, sometimes very interesting, meetings. So, I met a sad native of Nordmar, who is too hot in Achroholos - he asked me to find him a place cooler.

In addition, we are faced with a dishonest "realtor"; experiencing an attack by homeless people; participate in fisticuffs; we work as a sales representative, concluding contracts for the supply of beer; trying to reconcile the lovers. And we often conduct investigations - for example, we find out who broke the mechanism in the port, and choose whether to resolve everything fairly or substitute one of the workers, as the employer asks.

Yes, in addition to the inevitable classics of the genre about "Find, kill, bring" in  the "Chronicles of Myrtana" there are less trivial tasks. One day, for example, a local shepherd will ask to put sheep poop in the bed of the one whom he considers guilty of the death of his beloved sheep. You can do as he wants; you can find out what really happened to the poor animal, or, conversely, get along with the "culprit" and substitute the shepherd himself - with the help of all the same poop.

In general, there are a lot of options. Starting with the classics of the genre: how to get into the city? Earn the trust of the headman of the village and obtain official permission; work for smugglers, selling drugs to farmers, and go through the caves; try to give a bribe or appropriate official papers, which, according to another quest, we had to return to one of the merchants. In the city itself, we are looking for a way to get the status of a citizen and decide which of the two factions to join - the guards or the guild of mercenaries and merchants (but you cannot join the mages and paladins). Then a third force appears - resistance.

As a result, adventures can stretch for 80-100 hours, and we will get one of the five endings, which are influenced by a combination of decisions and consequences - far from always obvious, that is, having a delayed effect.

I want to do this for dozens of hours, not only because everything is coolly thought out, worked out and written, but also because here, in order to survive, you need to pump and receive rewards. And this is just part of the signature "gothic" atmosphere.

There is almost always a lack of money, so you quickly remember all the reflexes and instincts of 20 years ago: you start cleaning farm gardens, picking carrots, cabbages, grass roots, mushrooms, berries, some sticks, coins, vases, arrows, apples - in in general, you turn into a homeless person who drags everything that is badly lying into a dimensionless pocket, so that later it can be profitably used or sold. And you also turn into a burglar thief - a special buzz to manage to open a chest in someone else's house, until they notice it and give it to the neck.

Of course, you are happy to take on any job and try to try all the options in order to get the maximum benefit. And when you run on a mission, you always look around with a trained eye, looking for caves, broken carts with corpses and chests, around which wolves, goblins or rats are prowling - and still you stop and get distracted in the hope of getting hold of experience, meat, skins and trophies (if you have learned the appropriate skill from the hunter). Fortunately, everywhere is full of huts, farms, huts, ruins, gangster camps, lonely wanderers, caravans - everything that promises both adventure and benefit.

True, at first you need to clearly understand that you are poor, weak, poorly dressed - and not to meddle where your neck will quickly turn. Therefore, you remember the good old tricks and tricks - for example, to lure strong monsters into guards.

But when you level up, you will increase the strength, dexterity or magic from the teachers, the skills of using one-handed, two-handed weapons, a bow or a crossbow (yes, the role-playing system is almost the same, with a number of additives), you will buy a more or less decent sword or an ax there, as well as armor, then what pleasure and gloating do you experience, dismantling for trophies those whom you used to be afraid of and bypassed.

But at the same time, you never become a killing machine - there are always new challenges. That is, the authors of the mod kept the balance of complexity. And this is much more important for reproducing the "Gothic" atmosphere than just transferring and repeating all the branded features - residents, like monsters, go about their business, you can sleep, eat, drink to improve your health, you can cook and watch how the hero too chopping something or working in a forge. Although thanks for the fact that all these chips are in place, thanks too - coupled with landscapes and a chic soundtrack, this immediately teleports the player 20 years ago.

In fact, at first it was almost physically difficult for me to play Chronicles of Myrtana: Arholos, so our editor Andrey Makoveev had to resort to blackmail and repression. Still, many years have passed, I'm already used to a more comfortable gameplay. And here even a map of the area or settlement will appear only after you buy it, and quest givers and quest objectives are not displayed on it - you need to carefully read the descriptions in the most cumbersome magazine. Plus branded, to put it mildly, uncomfortable controls both in combat and when moving; plus a furious camera that clings to any active point. But remembering and getting used to it, I disappeared into this wonderful (and, moreover, free) Y8 game that gives dozens of hours of real adventures - which I advise you to do. 

Pros: a new, big and exciting Y8 game in the Gothic universe  - completely free.

Cons: this is a Y8 game on an old engine, with rather inconvenient controls and other ensuing consequences that you need to get used to.