Forgotten Sanctum is pretty darn good [Heavy Spoilers]

[anameforobsidian]

Forgotten Sanctum is by far my favorite DLC.  While less innovative than either Beast of Winter or Seeker/Slayer/Survivor it's far more polished, and really adds where the game needs it.  The dungeon it adds feels less linear than BoW, with multiple side rooms and a few good choices with meaningful consequences on the way through.  There were lots of different ways to solve different problems, but some neat fights too.

 

The writing was much more consistent in this one too.  Beast of Winter felt too short, and Seeker / Slayer / Survivor was not really writing-focused.  Focusing on three main npcs provides some much better options for characterization.  Tayn really steals the show.  He's a wonderful mix as both profoundly unreliable, but possibly benevolent and surprisingly competent.  I really hope Tayn is a party member in the next game.  They also expanded two of the most interesting sidekicks.  Fassima is a bit weak mechanically, but narratively she's pretty interesting.

 

The best part of the writing was the expansion of the lore and many, many hooks for the next game.  There's the potential stirrings of apocalypse (not feeling great about reforging the Crown of Woedica).  There's the Yezhua.  The dlc introduced potential of creator gods (which seems doubtful).  Wilder histories we don't know about (Orlans were considered wilder in that).  The potential for Apotheosis, given that Skaen used to be human.  And best of all, it seems like there's one missing titan body.  Three weren't there.  We've seen Abydon's and Wael's.  The fact that Eothas had to possess Waiden makes him unlikely.  I think the obvious candidate is Magran, but who knows?

 

Finally, it presents you with a clear, meaningful choice at the end.

 

 

The only complaints I have were the bosses.  The laserbeam fight sucked in a game with disengagement.  All of the bosses felt a bit hp bloated - watching your empowered missile storm only chip away a fraction of health is disheartening.  Also, I really wish they would stop adding mobs in the beginning of a boss fight.  It removes tactical decisions in a way; why do anything but rush the boss if there's an infinite swarm jumping in behind him?

 

All in all, I was pretty happy with the expansion and look forward to seeing more work of this quality from Obsidian in the future.

Edited January 26, 2019 by anameforobsidian

[uuuhhii]

archive can consume hours for player who have read some of the books before

only problem in this dlc is that player have to steal too many staff the experience all the content

[msyoung]

I like the fights in this DLC. My guys are level 20 and for 95% of the fights in this game I just let them go and do their own thing, but in this DLC I usually have to lend a hand. Since all five of them can call in Drakes and Wurms I do that first and then help some more as needed, usually healing.

[house2fly]

I loved that book which implied there was a person who became either Skaen or who Skaen was based on. It does seem to create room in the lore for an individual to undergo apotheosis- I can see a story hook in a possible third game revolving around the creation of a new god, with the possibility of the player ascending at the end to create a new god based on your choices. Whether or not this actually happens, it's really cool that they made that space for it.

 

The incorporation of Yezuha as an ancient powerful empire on the level of Engwith and Ukaizo is neat too. Kind of suggests that Yezuha was separated from the rest of the world on purpose. I wonder why...

 

I haven't finished it but my favourite bit so far is the rooms in the library which have stacks of books you can knock over, distracting the librarians so you can rummage through the shelves and steal all the books :D

[uuuhhii]

I loved that book which implied there was a person who became either Skaen or who Skaen was based on. It does seem to create room in the lore for an individual to undergo apotheosis- I can see a story hook in a possible third game revolving around the creation of a new god, with the possibility of the player ascending at the end to create a new god based on your choices. Whether or not this actually happens, it's really cool that they made that space for it.

 

The incorporation of Yezuha as an ancient powerful empire on the level of Engwith and Ukaizo is neat too. Kind of suggests that Yezuha was separated from the rest of the world on purpose. I wonder why...

 

I haven't finished it but my favourite bit so far is the rooms in the library which have stacks of books you can knock over, distracting the librarians so you can rummage through the shelves and steal all the books :D

favorite one in the archive are the different version of godhammer

mushroom first gain conscious one was great too

[Wormerine]

Yeah, it’s a great dungeon. I pretty much loved it except the conclusion.

 

 

I was fully expecting some big twist at the end. That it is not Wael’s body at all, but something new. Finding out that the adventure was precisely what it seemed to be was a wee bit disappointing to me.

 

 

I found the lore interesting especially as it goes into the future, but it’s already all wrong. Ha! Can’t trust any of it.

[uuuhhii]

Yeah, it’s a great dungeon. I pretty much loved it except the conclusion.

 

 

I was fully expecting some big twist at the end. That it is not Wael’s body at all, but something new. Finding out that the adventure was precisely what it seemed to be was a wee bit disappointing to me.

 

 

I found the lore interesting especially as it goes into the future, but it’s already all wrong. Ha! Can’t trust any of it.

was expecting giant tentacle monster to be wael's children or a failed experiment between Cignath Mór and gods actual body

[BrokenMask]

Isn't the twist that even Wael had no idea his body was still alive?

 

(that said, I don't think ending of the DLC needs a twist, I mean you can give the body to the mushrooms or Concehlaut :D That itself is surprising enough)

[anameforobsidian]

I really would have liked it if they had given me the option to save after beating the final DLC boss.

[house2fly]

It's kind of funny that what you see is what you get with this DLC, considering Wael's portfolio. Reminds me of the first game, where the priestess tasks you with retrieving a stolen book, and when you find it Wael speaks to you directly with no attempt to be enigmatic or mysterious and says "ok now go hide it"

[OEI_Alex]

Yeah, it’s a great dungeon. I pretty much loved it except the conclusion.

 

 

I was fully expecting some big twist at the end. That it is not Wael’s body at all, but something new. Finding out that the adventure was precisely what it seemed to be was a wee bit disappointing to me.

 

 

I found the lore interesting especially as it goes into the future, but it’s already all wrong. Ha! Can’t trust any of it.

 

 

Isn't the twist that even Wael had no idea his body was still alive?

 

(that said, I don't think ending of the DLC needs a twist, I mean you can give the body to the mushrooms or Concehlaut :D That itself is surprising enough)

 

We felt that given how many little twists there are throughout the DLC, the overall situation and its stakes should be clear from the get-go. 

 

And yeah, there's a tremendous amount of misinformation in the Halls. Lore books in our games almost always have bias, their narrators being of varying levels of dependability. But there are a fair number of lore books in the Halls that are straight up lies.

 

My favorites involve Godhammer Bridge and the relationship between Waidwen and Eothas.

   

 

 

It's kind of funny that what you see is what you get with this DLC, considering Wael's portfolio. Reminds me of the first game, where the priestess tasks you with retrieving a stolen book, and when you find it Wael speaks to you directly with no attempt to be enigmatic or mysterious and says "ok now go hide it"

 

The player has the option to call Wael out on that interaction in FS, and they have opinions about how you resolved it.

[DozingDragon]

"A Very Good Farmer" indeed.  Some things are better off forgotten.  

[Wormerine]

We felt that given how many little twists there are throughout the DLC, the overall situation and its stakes should be clear from the get-go. 

Fair enough. Remids me of the time when I watched "The Usual Suspects" and was disappointed that Kevin Spacey was the bad guy. "Because of course he is. That was the twist?"

[BrokenMask]

 

Yeah, it’s a great dungeon. I pretty much loved it except the conclusion.

 

 

I was fully expecting some big twist at the end. That it is not Wael’s body at all, but something new. Finding out that the adventure was precisely what it seemed to be was a wee bit disappointing to me.

 

 

I found the lore interesting especially as it goes into the future, but it’s already all wrong. Ha! Can’t trust any of it.

 

 

Isn't the twist that even Wael had no idea his body was still alive?

 

(that said, I don't think ending of the DLC needs a twist, I mean you can give the body to the mushrooms or Concehlaut :D That itself is surprising enough)

 

We felt that given how many little twists there are throughout the DLC, the overall situation and its stakes should be clear from the get-go. 

 

And yeah, there's a tremendous amount of misinformation in the Halls. Lore books in our games almost always have bias, their narrators being of varying levels of dependability. But there are a fair number of lore books in the Halls that are straight up lies.

 

My favorites involve Godhammer Bridge and the relationship between Waidwen and Eothas.

   

 

 

 

On sidenote, some of book reveals were one of my favourite parts of the DLC :D(along with the said small twists) So I kinda hope it doesn't turn out that 1) Yezuha/Ukaizo/Engwithan being the equal level big empires 2) that there was orlan empire and several wilder empires/kingdoms 3) "Man that would be Skaen" book don't turn out to be one of those lies

 

(I seriously loved the mention that ogres, Vithracks and xaurips used to be bigger deal before Engwithans wiped them out. Mostly because it makes engwithans being even huger imperialistic jerks along with them erasing the rather benign orlan empire)

 

(But yeah, on sidenote, my favourite ending slide is what happens if Maura lives :D Secret fungus island!)

 

(I do have to find out what happens if fungus infests the body or Concelhaut gets it, latter sounds really hilarious)

[PatrioticChief]

Does it affect ending slides?  I finished it and all the achievements but haven't done Ukaizo post the game. 

[cuttlefish]

Yeah there's at least one slide about Wael's body, one about the Vithracks and one about the Godseed that I remember.

But there were a lot of choices so who knows how many variations there are, I'm actually waiting for the hotfix to play through it again

[house2fly]

Each DLC gets some slides added to the ending. If you've done all the DLC but never did the end of the game again then you've got a bit of a show waiting for you!

Edited December 17, 2018 by house2fly

[Wormerine]

Yeah there's at least one slide about Wael's body, one about the Vithracks and one about the Godseed that I remember.

But there were a lot of choices so who knows how many variations there are, I'm actually waiting for the hotfix to play through it again

Ha! Llengrath just walked away before I could give her the Godseed. I guess I have my new "orlan baby" for PoE3 reactivity. 

Edited December 18, 2018 by Wormerine

[Grimo88]

Using the Wael Titan actually affects the ending of the game a little!

[cuttlefish]

 

Yeah there's at least one slide about Wael's body, one about the Vithracks and one about the Godseed that I remember.

But there were a lot of choices so who knows how many variations there are, I'm actually waiting for the hotfix to play through it again

Ha! Llengrath just walked away before I could give her the Godseed. I guess I have my new "orlan baby" for PoE3 reactivity. 

 

 

Yeah in my game as well, a dev replied in another topic saying it's a bug and it'll be hotfixed

[Hawke64]

Is slaughtering all librarians supposed to affect the ending? After going through the Collections it seemed like a good idea, so I expected it to be mentioned somewhere.

 

The opportunity to save Bekarna and assist her with the spell feels quite significant. My thanks.

Reading about Saint's War after meeting Eothas and Waidwen gives some perspective. In PoEI/Dyrwood one side of the story was much more prominent (excluding the White March DLC).

[OEI_Alex]

Each DLC gets some slides added to the ending. If you've done all the DLC but never did the end of the game again then you've got a bit of a show waiting for you!

 

I tried to keep these down to 4 per DLC at the outside (though there are a few strange things that can bump it to 5 in some cases). There were already a TON of slides, and I didn't want to shove in thirty more if 12 to 15 could do the job.

 

 

 

 

Yeah there's at least one slide about Wael's body, one about the Vithracks and one about the Godseed that I remember.

But there were a lot of choices so who knows how many variations there are, I'm actually waiting for the hotfix to play through it again

Ha! Llengrath just walked away before I could give her the Godseed. I guess I have my new "orlan baby" for PoE3 reactivity. 

 

 

Yeah in my game as well, a dev replied in another topic saying it's a bug and it'll be hotfixed

 

 

Yup! The fix is marked for inclusion in 4.0.1, so it should be good to go on Thursday.

 

Is slaughtering all librarians supposed to affect the ending? After going through the Collections it seemed like a good idea, so I expected it to be mentioned somewhere.

 

The opportunity to save Bekarna and assist her with the spell feels quite significant. My thanks.

Reading about Saint's War after meeting Eothas and Waidwen gives some perspective. In PoEI/Dyrwood one side of the story was much more prominent (excluding the White March DLC).

 

I don't think there's a slide for it, but there's certainly reactivity early on if you kill a bunch of Librarians.

[house2fly]

The more ending slides the better, I say. I like to shave right before it starts and feel stubble by the end!

[Tagaziel]

<Full Wael>

Thanks man, now I'm going to go gray trying to piece together a coherent narrative. I feel Fassina's frustration when the Chief Librarian mentionds drafts and edits.

[BrokenMask]

I'm bit confused about how to start said Godseed quest in first place, I didn't even know it existed before I read about it on forums and I did all other quests <_<