Episode 4 - pumped with TLD DNA (major spoilers)

[manolitode]

Spoilers

.

.

.

Finished episode 4 just a minute ago, I feel blessed right now. It seems clear that Hinterland endeavoured to give us as much TLD DNA as they could possibly put in one episode. It's like a "best of" track and this TLD nerd is thrilled. 

The map +++++

How about a little bit of Hushed River Valley, a piece of Ash Canyon, another Mountaineer's hut with a moose as neighbor and another power plant? How about a huge semi-maze-like prison structure at the center of the map, making Mystery Lake Dam the little brother of main bases? This survival map will be something extra, I hope they make plenty of entrances to the prison from different directions in sandbox and somewhat close connections to adjacent regions. Fast forward December please. 

The antagonist/story ++++

You can always trust a good old psychopath antagonist to deliver can't you? I really don't think so. With Mathis however, the dialogue and the voice acting was high quality in my opinion. And it was perfectly clear what was at stake. The impending threat of Donner getting out,. "Mister" Mackenzie getting the case back. The conflict between Jace and the inmates. All very well balanced. While I found some of the dialogues in chapter 1 a bit long and repetitive, that improved within the next chapters. Episode 4 was also well connected to the other episodes. I'm really glad Mathis will stick around to unleash holy hell on us in episode 5. 

The songs ++++

The reverbed guitar versions of old theme songs was what really lowered me down into the nostalgia tank. There can never be enough Wintermute theme. Can we have more please?

And also...

... the steam pipe puzzle was surprisingly intriguing, way to go. 

... the fact that you didn't always have to take the same route back to the prison was a major plus.

... that bear in chapter 3 really mauled me by surprise.

... I thought Jace was Molly the whole time, was it just me? 

 

What were your impressions? 

[MrWolf]

5 hours ago, manolitode said:

that bear in chapter 3 really mauled me by surprise.

Same here, does that happen to everyone?  I thought I just wasn't paying attention and stumbled upon a bear, but maybe it's scripted.  I thought it was odd that when I first noticed the bear, he was downhill a little bit and slid right up to me, no leg movement.

 

5 hours ago, manolitode said:

How about a little bit of Hushed River Valley, a piece of Ash Canyon, another Mountaineer's hut with a moose as neighbor and another power plant?

I like the new map so far.  Now that I'm finished with the episode, I'm going to go back to one of the saves and explore the whole map.  I can't wait for it to come to survival and see how it connects to other regions.

 

5 hours ago, manolitode said:

With Mathis however, the dialogue and the voice acting was high quality in my opinion

I agree, Mathis was outstanding!  I can't wait to see more of him in ep 5.

Edited October 8, 2021 by MrWolf

[yoli]

So, you finished EP4 in 2 days? Lol, I just wonder how the developers who have spent months to make this episode handle this. I can tell you that for me, it is going to take weeks, and that's for the best.

Edited October 8, 2021 by yoli

[manolitode]

@MrWolf Yeah I figured the bear was scripted. Not sure I would have had enough reaction time to throw a noisemaker on him even if I had it equipped in my hand. Someone should walk up there aiming a flare gun. 

@yoli It's a 6-10 hour long episode if I'm not wrong. Anyway I hope they will be proud that so many players found their new creation so exciting they wouldn't stop playing til the finish line. 

[SladeyGaming]

First thoughts:

Love the new map! You are right its such a mash up of different maps its really nice. I hope it connects to all of these regions too tbh. The story was good and the characters were interesting and engaging as well. 

Things I really liked were: 

• The map: All the areas to explore, the tunnels to get from one side of the map to the other. The mine and the different routes to take there and back. Moose lake and the bricklayers hut. Splendidly done. I hope we get more of the interal prison on survival mode and can't wait to see how it connects up. 
• The characters and voice acting. I like how McKenzie was true to his character and didn't start killing off the prisoners by shooting them. I like how Matthis is still alive at the end and how we met Jace. Continuity with the forest talkers being around as well.
• How we went from Mckenzie not knowing what he's doing in the first episodes to being confident out in the wild which brings me to the next point...
• The wolves. Like everyone is complaining at how hard they are, but honestly? These wolves have been eating the dead prison guards. Essentially fed by the prisoners and have a taste for human flesh. Ofc theyre gonna be on your ass. Not only that but the hardened prisoners who are murderers and rapists (probably) are scared shitless of them. So yes. The wolves were exactly what I expected them to be. 
• Noise makers. I love how there is now another way to scare them off. It balances out the timberwolves. And I think this episode basically forced you to make them which is good because its something I'll be considering in survival from now on.
• I like the puzzles. Mixes it up from the walking simulator of the first couple of episodes. Nothing too complex but something to mix things up. 
• The realistic confiscation. (caveat below)
• The side quests were good and I liked the lore building of the island.
• Suffocation is now a thing at it was great. Realistic of deep mines and fire.

Things I think could do with a bit more work:

• The confiscation should maybe not include all your clothes, but maybe the top layers. Like a coat and things. To make a point that the prisoners are nasty but also not leave you completely naked that broke the immersion a little
• The forest talker puzzle could have been executed differently. My game bugged and wouldn't let me do it. 
• Immersion was broken by not having a timer or anything on how long you are outside in the game. I think it could have been good that if you were back in three days or something that they would kill the prison guard you were with or something to put pressure onto you. For example I managed to craft a wolfskin coat in the meantime. So I think something to keep you hurrying along would be good.

Things Im dissapointed with:

• How the episode ended. We should have been able to at least make Jace a fire or give her a coat or something. 
• Wanted to play a little as astrid. Even if it only involved walking through the dead whales to find a canoe before going out into the open ocean. Like why the hell did she take that risk? Thats what I wanna know. 
• No methusela. Like dude cmon. Where was he? I wanted him to be there. He's like PART of the long dark universe now. It would have added to the mystery if he was there after the mine collapsed. 

Anyway, really really enjoyed it. I do wish they'd sort out some of the bugs though. But honestly, theres a lot to like and I look forward to the next episode. 

[RossBondReturns]

The only bear I saw was from much safety high on a log bridge.

Maybe in my current run I'll have a more up close and personal encounter.

Also in the frisk they only ever take your outer clothing layer so just go there wearing or carrinyg one.

Go to your dump zone and unload.

May favorite episode so far.

[Celvin]

To be honest, I don't understand why people are so stoked about this. I was pretty disappointed with episode 4. I mean, there is loads of positive things to say about it:

• The characters are great! Mathis is hands down the best npc in the game, a really well designed villain. In general it is obvious that Hinterland levelled up on craftsmanship and artistry here. Voice acting, animation/mocap work, writing was all very good!
• The set-pieces and their accompanying sequences (Prison-escape, steam-puzzle, mine-traversal) were also great. The prison-complex is really cool, dark and menacing and I do look forward to visiting it in survival.
• I love the noisemakers, hope they will be available in survival. It will be cool to have an alternate use for gunpowder and empty cans.
• As always, the soundtrack was perfect.

So why am I disappointed? Simple, the story doesn't make sense. It is super short, doesn't advance the plot at all and parts just feels like I've done it before (fetch the medicine, go to the hydroplant!). All the urgency of reaching Perseverance Mills and finding Astrid is gone, he doesn't mention it at all. Instead he meets a random person and immediately decides he needs to meet her boss. In the powerplant-mission I had a small hope that, since the mission dealt with power, it would reveal something about what is happening with the Aurora, but no. Just an empty building, so we just go back to Mathis and tell him it didn't work.

The second problem for me was the map. It is just so linear. Go this way to the objective, this way back. No choice. Just load up on revolver-ammo and walk the wolf-pack gauntlet. Too much impassable terrain and canyons to walk through. I really hope the map plays differently in survival.

And  in the end Astrid just shows up in Perseverance Mills in a self-driving canoe (Who is the Canadian Elon Musk?). To me this just feels like somewhat of a wasted opportunity. With the obvious skill-level and creativity of the creators of this game I am actually really stoked to see what they come up with next, but I don't understand episode 4.

[manolitode]

22 hours ago, Celvin said:

• As always, the soundtrack was perfect.

So why am I disappointed? Simple, the story doesn't make sense. It is super short, doesn't advance the plot at all and parts just feels like I've done it before (fetch the medicine, go to the hydroplant!). All the urgency of reaching Perseverance Mills and finding Astrid is gone, he doesn't mention it at all. Instead he meets a random person and immediately decides he needs to meet her boss. In the powerplant-mission I had a small hope that, since the mission dealt with power, it would reveal something about what is happening with the Aurora, but no. Just an empty building, so we just go back to Mathis and tell him it didn't work.

I think you have a fair point about the lost urgency of reaching PM, episode 4 is a little enclosed in its own narrative. But perhaps that was necessary so that we could finally get a good villain with a human face. You gotta spend time with the devil in order to 1) really feel what's a stake 2) develop negative emotions towards him to drive you forward. Could they have reminded us of the main goal and Astrid more? Sure, they probably should've. But the suitcase certainly reminded me, getting my head bashed in every now and then.  

Loved the soundtrack too

Edited October 13, 2021 by manolitode

[twyn1]

Agree with so many points here and there.  I did enjoy this part of the story, and I thought most of the characters were excellent. Some parts were tough for me, but I am pretty much a Pilgrim player so I don't deal with constantly freezing and getting by piles of wolves in my survival games. 

I gave the tasks my own sense of urgency, and did not take a lot of time to explore. I felt that McKenzie was doing these "chores" to 1st help the warden & somehow get the case so he could get to Astrid, which is what he has been focused on the whole time.

(After I finished, I went back and explored more of the map, and practiced with the noisemakers/wolves/bear - it is a very interesting map)

Celvin -- Jace's boss is Atwood ... that's the person that Jeremiah (the trapper) mentions when the radio breaks in his part of the episodes. He tells McKenzie to give a message (Wintermute) to Atwood. That's why he wants to meet her.

[Admin]

Thanks for the feedback, folks. And thank you for playing. Keep it coming! 

[straffin]

On 10/8/2021 at 7:25 AM, MrWolf said:

I thought I just wasn't paying attention and stumbled upon a bear, but maybe it's scripted.

Where was this bear? I killed two...shot one early on from on high and found it dead later on, heard the other one around a corner and climbed a rock to get a better view, shooting it a few times. Maybe your bear was the first one and I killed it before the surprise?

[MrWolf]

8 hours ago, straffin said:

Where was this bear? I killed two...shot one early on from on high and found it dead later on, heard the other one around a corner and climbed a rock to get a better view, shooting it a few times. Maybe your bear was the first one and I killed it before the surprise?

Not far from the mine, just before crossing the bridge on my way to the mine.  It seems I was just strolling along not paying attention!

Edited October 14, 2021 by MrWolf

[manolitode]

On 10/12/2021 at 5:17 PM, SladeyGaming said:

• The map: All the areas to explore, the tunnels to get from one side of the map to the other. 

Nice! I only used one tunnel (skipped the side quests) so I'm looking forward to find out about the others when they release Blackrock for survival

On 10/12/2021 at 5:17 PM, SladeyGaming said:

• Noise makers. I love how there is now another way to scare them off. It balances out the timberwolves. And I think this episode basically forced you to make them which is good because its something I'll be considering in survival from now on.

Same here, I look forward to using them but I also really, really hope they don't introduce them in interloper. Today the lopers have 12 lifelines (flare shells) that will scare off the wolf, bear and moose. With noise makers they'd go from 12 lifelines to I don't know, 100? Or however many you could make from the avabilable gunpowder. Could very well destroy the balance in interloper if introduced, in my opinion.  

On 10/12/2021 at 5:17 PM, SladeyGaming said:

• Wanted to play a little as astrid. Even if it only involved walking through the dead whales to find a canoe before going out into the open ocean. Like why the hell did she take that risk? Thats what I wanna know. 

Yeah it would been great to play at least a little as Astrid. I thought they would let us play her through Coastal Highway and give us an improved CH. However I'm glad we got to play a whole new map instead, and like you and others said before, can't wait to play this beautiful map in sandbox!

[Skelegutplays]

On 10/12/2021 at 9:50 PM, Celvin said:

he doesn't mention it at all. Instead he meets a random person and immediately decides he needs to meet her boss.

Didnt Jace say that Atwood was her boss? In episode 2 Jeremiah asked for will to deliver the message "wintermute" to someone named Atwood so thats why Will asks for Atwood from Jace.

[Sherri]

On 10/12/2021 at 11:17 AM, SladeyGaming said:

 

• How we went from Mckenzie not knowing what he's doing in the first episodes to being confident out in the wild which brings me to the next point...

This 100%. I love that it matches how we as players have gained experience & confidence.

[Sherri]

On 10/12/2021 at 11:17 AM, SladeyGaming said:

 

• The confiscation should maybe not include all your clothes, but maybe the top layers. Like a coat and things. To make a point that the prisoners are nasty but also not leave you completely naked that broke the immersion a little

I was able to keep both my sweaters on the left & everything on the right including ear wraps.

[Sherri]

On 10/12/2021 at 2:50 PM, Celvin said:

 Instead he meets a random person and immediately decides he needs to meet her boss. 

Jace's boss is Atwood - the name that the bearded Trapper (Jeremiah) told Mackenzie to find & tell them the key word "Wintermute".

This episode literally connects the story's title, previous chapters, the case, Astrid & Perseverance Mills ... all together & makes things line up & answers several key questions:

- What's in the case? Why should we care about it?

- What's wrong with Perseverance Mills & why does Astrid want to go there so badly?

- Who is Atwood? Where are they?

- Where are all these convicts coming from who've been causing trouble across the island?

- Is anyone looking into the aurora & trying to figure out what is happening?

All answered. I can't believe people still aren't happy. 🤦‍♀️

Edited October 17, 2021 by Sherri