All or Nothing Hands-on Preview
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/images/heroes/features/13328.jpg
Nearly four seasons on from the first signposts that popped up in core Tyria and the Living World has moved on substantially. We’ve battled mechanical nightmares, forged new alliances, rescued the helpless, seen off Scarlet, survived Gods, and uncovered some inconvenient truths. Guild Wars 2 finally sits at the precipice of a massive moment. Kralkatorrik, the Dragon that broke Destiny’s Edge, lies before us. Think of the team here at MMORPG as your reconnaissance scouts, as we step towards the penultimate episode of Living World season 4, All or Nothing.
Scion and Champion
After holding out in core Tyria for its first couple of years, Guild Wars 2 eventually branched out and continues to return to many of the same places fans remember from their time in the original Guild Wars. All or Nothing visits a number of these iconic areas, beginning with a return to Glint’s Lair. The teased trip back to the Priory, and a meeting with Ogden Stonehealer, finds players chasing down Aurene. Players jump into the mists and follow Glint’s scion to a pocket of Glint’s lair, neatly folded into the mists. Glint’s lair remains one of my favorite places in and around Tyria. The entire construct feels alien to the outside world and it seems more like a fortress of solitude now than it ever did. Crystal pillars arch up into the sky and the majesty of earlier visits, during Living World season 2, is appropriately subdued by a subtle change in palette and the wreckage of earlier battles.
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/features/13328/images/GW2 Jan7 1_t.jpg
The trials contained within this opening are not particularly testing. These seem to act more as a way to re-enforce how important Aurene is to oncoming battles. A series of tasks throw a range of opponents at players that require a little attention to Aurene’s actions and a lot of dps. Coordinating your actions with Aurene, players are asked to dodge, weave, and blast away a range of branded corruption and crystal entities. This is not particularly challenging and if you avoid any telegraphed attacks then progress through Glint’s trials is swift. These are quite obviously engineered to be completed solo, and it is no real detriment to the experience, as much of this opening sets the scene for the remainder of events. Glint’s trials culminate in a brand new Dragonsblood spear and a glimpse of Glint’s final gift. Created using Kralkatorik’s own blood, players obliterated the first spear during the Path of Fire story and t is the first hint that this episode is moving the final pieces into place. Glint’s lair only briefly appears in this episode, but any return to this location is a welcome reminder of just how strange and overwhelming the task before us is.
Dragonsblood Forge
Moving on from this opening, All or Nothing turns towards a new front in the fight against the crystal dragon. Situated in the boundary of the game’s latest open world environment, the Dragonsblood Forge is a weapons forge, staging area, encampment, and fortress. The gargantuan underground area is constructed on an intimidating scale. It is dwarfed by areas like Draconis Mons, but still continues to evoke a sense of grandeur none the less. Amber archways and pillars surround a central smelting core, all housed under a huge domed ceiling. The engine of this operation is surrounded by rivers of molten magma that run around the core and fuse together the magic and mechanics several Tyrian races. Dragonsblood Forge seems set on reminding us about the sheer scale of the battle that lies in front of players. Alongside the visual impact of this huge hideout, the musical accompaniment that echoes through the outer corridors of the forge is a statement of intent for the rest of the episode. The choral composition that follows players as they reach the outer corridors of the forge creates a sense of scale that seems to echo around the caves that burrow beneath Thunderhead Peaks. It also adequately matches the scope of this fight. The use of a real choir, rather than synthesized samples makes an appreciable difference to my own emotional reaction at this moment. It gives the Dragonsblood Forge an ethereal, almost magic, quality that contrasts markedly with the desolate open world that sits just outside the forge.
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/features/13328/images/GW2 Jan7 2_t.jpg
We managed to take a few moments of Maclaine Diemer’s time to ask about the reason behind this and how the music in this particular episode helps build the world.
MMORPG: As players enter the Forge in this episode we hear a choral piece. It really makes a statement about the place and its importance. Was that the intention?
Maclaine Diemer, Composer: Absolutely. The choir is central to the entire episode, and we wanted to establish its importance early. It’s rare that the music gets the opportunity to be such a fundamental part of the game narrative rather than something designed to enhance the mood or emotion of the content.
MMORPG: Why use a real choir rather than just synthesize or sample something which could be less time consuming?
Maclaine Diemer: There are pretty significant creative limitations when using sampled choir. You’re pretty much limited to “ooh” and “ahh” and occasionally some gibberish syllables that kind of sound like words but aren’t. As I was thinking about the music, I realized I wanted the choir to be singing something meaningful and not just be a background element of some epic orchestral piece. The only way to achieve that is with real human beings in a room all singing together. There’s something so powerful about that that no sampled choir could ever replicate.
MMORPG: It’s quite the contrast to the lonely hollow sound that scrapes across the ice flows. How did you go about creating that contrast?
Maclaine Diemer: The audio and music content is always dictated by the design of the game. Luckily for us, the designers and narrative folks created this inherently complementary contrast of the coldness of the environment and the warmth of a choir. All we really had to do was fill in the blanks!
MMORPG: What does it add to the story, do you feel?
Maclaine Diemer: It adds everything! It’s at the core of the final battle and the design of the encounter simply wouldn’t be the same without it. My hope is that it will connect players even more with Aurene and her journey as a character. When Cameron Rich first approached the audio team with his ideas about incorporating a choir into his boss fight, I was immediately excited by the possibilities. It’s so nice to have people outside of the audio department trying to incorporate music into their own disciplines, and I’m very thankful that ArenaNet as a studio treats music as one of the pillars of its games.
MMORPG: How much new music did you produce for this episode compared to previous episodes in the season?
Maclaine Diemer: I’d say the total amount of new music is roughly in the same neighborhood as previous episodes, about 10-15 minutes or so. Since the choir elements were done live, however, it took much more time and effort to prepare it. I had never written anything for a real choir before, so I was extremely nervous about any potential mistakes. I’m sure I over-thought it, but I was constantly changing the key of the pieces, reworking the melodies and harmonies, and second guessing myself for weeks on end. Fortunately, we worked with some wonderful singers and it all came out better than I had hoped.
An Army Of Misfits
Beyond the central forge and the Dragonsblood weapons, this is where the last, best hope for victory gather. A Star to Guide Us focused heavily on bringing together the forces that could stand against the waves of branded that swept across the land and, eventually, sowed the seeds for the upcoming fight Now the Dragonsblood Forge houses a mismatched army of misfits, monsters, and questionable alliances all ready to take on Kralkatorrik. Sunspears, Free Risen, Olmakhan, and even Exalted join the Pact and fill the outer regions of the forge. Still housed safely within the natural cave of the Peaks, the last, best hope for victory gather and as if ArenaNet is desperate to re-enforce just how desperate things are, the diverse group of scrappers isn’t exactly a well-oiled machine. Rytlock and Cannach can be found drilling volunteers and pulling together this alliance, the Dredge are an acceptable ally, The Flame Legion skirt around the camps, and Skritt are even conscripted into the ranks. Take your time exploring this post before heading outside, it’s full of marvelous little personal moments that happen when such a diverse set of characters are forced together.
Beyond the relative safety of the Forge lies the Thunderhead Peaks, a twisting mountain range continually assaulted by bitter winter winds. As if the weather’s onslaught isn’t enough of an inconvenience for the local Dredge, a branded storm bombards the landscape. Glowing purple scars crop out of the mountainside, threatening to overcome what little life still remains and this desolate combination of environmental effects that makes the defense of any safe area utterly vital. The peaks are a mix of underground burrows and massive verticality that gives Griffon’s somewhere to really shine. It is a nice change of pace to see this much verticality, without the feeling that this is a hangover from Heart of Thorns. It even synergizes nicely with the latest movement bonus.
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/features/13328/images/GW2 Jan7 3_t.jpg
Following on from the recent movement masteries, like Bond of Life and Bond of Vigor, the latest mount mastery enhances the use of mounts for players. Bond of Faith provides a fun acrobatic exit to any mount barrel rolling players into the air. It is a lot of fun but not the quite as universally useful as extra health. However, time your dismount from speeding beetle or a floating griffon and you’ll find extra reach for all that vertical exploration.
Despite the unforgiving nature of this environment, there is plenty to do here in All or Nothing’s open world addition. The Dredge populates the largest single open world area that this episode houses. Their shacks and mining constructs are dotted across the ice and it’s an interesting change to see a race like the Dredge or Skritt in a new light. The Priory can be found trying to scratch out many of the fossils littered around Deldrimor Ruins, while the Branded continue to tear through rifts and threaten to overrun the allied strongholds on the map. The usual mix of map metas and seasonal currency can be found with a bunch of new rewards, including some fun minis. Events even manage to spill over into the Dwarven Catacombs which run deep into the mountainside. I am hesitant to say much more about these areas and burrow too far into the story, but I can assure you that the return to Thunderhead Keep and it’s surrounding region is well worth exploring for long-term fans of the Guild Wars franchise.
While there are plenty of historical reference points in this area, All or Nothing has plenty of new content to keep players busy between episodes. It seems somewhat fitting that while the fabric of the mists is being torn asunder by recent events, that a new fractal should reach us. Depositing us in Siren’s Reef, this fractal faces off against an army of ghost pirates. Unfortunately, I’ll be experiencing that with everyone when All or Nothing launches, such are the perils of solo previews. I did However get tooled up with the latest additions to the legendary weapon collection.
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/features/13328/images/GW2 Jan7 4_t.jpg
The Right Tools For The Job
Pharus is a brand new legendary longbow that wraps the wielder in an aura of light. The shimmering white radiance of this weapon tacks on all the particle effects you might expect. Glittering footfalls and a dazzling pulse of blinding light follow as players release Pharos and deliver its wrath upon their enemies. This new longbow is an elegant design. It does not deliver the same fun extras as Xiuquatl but is a solid alternative to Kudzu. For far too long players wielding a longbow legendary have had a top-tier weapon that only really seems to coordinate with a few Slyvari skinjobs and Pharus feels like it has been too long coming.
However classic this weapon feels it does not have quite the same historical significance of the brand new Dragonsblood weapons set. The Dragonsblood weapon set is a new range of upgradeable weapons that channel the aesthetic of the Dragonsblood spear. 16 exotic weapons are available to collect with their requisite ascended variants coming in tow. While these take definite aesthetic inspiration from the Dragonsblood spear, they mostly work best when upgraded to ascended forms, taking on the full purple glow or the Dragonsblood, merging blood and metal to make some striking pieces. If you feel that Pharus is a great deal of time, then these aren’t just shiny pieces of plastic. The Dragonsblood weapons are deeply thematic and work on multiple levels.
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/features/13328/images/GW2 Jan7 5_t.jpg
Story Time
While it comes with plenty of new content and some weapons that I will be working on for months, the core of any Living World episode, to me, is the story. The writing team at ArenaNet do a great job as things All or Nothing starts to gather pace, but the episode suffers from its own big bad. Moving the last few pieces into place and preparing to face any major foe makes for a relatively mundane opening. This isn’t a problem that is unique to Guild Wars 2 and it is something I’ve mentioned regarding the Dragons on more than one occasion. Where it does shine, is during character moments, where the writers, and other teams, can delve off and introduce characters we’ve not seen for some time or push together unusual bedfellows. You can rest assured that, as we creep closer to our final target, things don't stay quite so stoic. While I won’t spoil the story, it certainly reaches some new heights and you’ll need to soar if you’re going to reach an Elder Dragon after all.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/adjv4h/guild_wars_2_all_or_nothing_handson_preview/
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/images/heroes/features/13328.jpg
Nearly four seasons on from the first signposts that popped up in core Tyria and the Living World has moved on substantially. We’ve battled mechanical nightmares, forged new alliances, rescued the helpless, seen off Scarlet, survived Gods, and uncovered some inconvenient truths. Guild Wars 2 finally sits at the precipice of a massive moment. Kralkatorrik, the Dragon that broke Destiny’s Edge, lies before us. Think of the team here at MMORPG as your reconnaissance scouts, as we step towards the penultimate episode of Living World season 4, All or Nothing.
Scion and Champion
After holding out in core Tyria for its first couple of years, Guild Wars 2 eventually branched out and continues to return to many of the same places fans remember from their time in the original Guild Wars. All or Nothing visits a number of these iconic areas, beginning with a return to Glint’s Lair. The teased trip back to the Priory, and a meeting with Ogden Stonehealer, finds players chasing down Aurene. Players jump into the mists and follow Glint’s scion to a pocket of Glint’s lair, neatly folded into the mists. Glint’s lair remains one of my favorite places in and around Tyria. The entire construct feels alien to the outside world and it seems more like a fortress of solitude now than it ever did. Crystal pillars arch up into the sky and the majesty of earlier visits, during Living World season 2, is appropriately subdued by a subtle change in palette and the wreckage of earlier battles.
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/features/13328/images/GW2 Jan7 1_t.jpg
Dragonsblood Forge
Moving on from this opening, All or Nothing turns towards a new front in the fight against the crystal dragon. Situated in the boundary of the game’s latest open world environment, the Dragonsblood Forge is a weapons forge, staging area, encampment, and fortress. The gargantuan underground area is constructed on an intimidating scale. It is dwarfed by areas like Draconis Mons, but still continues to evoke a sense of grandeur none the less. Amber archways and pillars surround a central smelting core, all housed under a huge domed ceiling. The engine of this operation is surrounded by rivers of molten magma that run around the core and fuse together the magic and mechanics several Tyrian races. Dragonsblood Forge seems set on reminding us about the sheer scale of the battle that lies in front of players. Alongside the visual impact of this huge hideout, the musical accompaniment that echoes through the outer corridors of the forge is a statement of intent for the rest of the episode. The choral composition that follows players as they reach the outer corridors of the forge creates a sense of scale that seems to echo around the caves that burrow beneath Thunderhead Peaks. It also adequately matches the scope of this fight. The use of a real choir, rather than synthesized samples makes an appreciable difference to my own emotional reaction at this moment. It gives the Dragonsblood Forge an ethereal, almost magic, quality that contrasts markedly with the desolate open world that sits just outside the forge.
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/features/13328/images/GW2 Jan7 2_t.jpg
MMORPG: As players enter the Forge in this episode we hear a choral piece. It really makes a statement about the place and its importance. Was that the intention?
Maclaine Diemer, Composer: Absolutely. The choir is central to the entire episode, and we wanted to establish its importance early. It’s rare that the music gets the opportunity to be such a fundamental part of the game narrative rather than something designed to enhance the mood or emotion of the content.
MMORPG: Why use a real choir rather than just synthesize or sample something which could be less time consuming?
Maclaine Diemer: There are pretty significant creative limitations when using sampled choir. You’re pretty much limited to “ooh” and “ahh” and occasionally some gibberish syllables that kind of sound like words but aren’t. As I was thinking about the music, I realized I wanted the choir to be singing something meaningful and not just be a background element of some epic orchestral piece. The only way to achieve that is with real human beings in a room all singing together. There’s something so powerful about that that no sampled choir could ever replicate.
MMORPG: It’s quite the contrast to the lonely hollow sound that scrapes across the ice flows. How did you go about creating that contrast?
Maclaine Diemer: The audio and music content is always dictated by the design of the game. Luckily for us, the designers and narrative folks created this inherently complementary contrast of the coldness of the environment and the warmth of a choir. All we really had to do was fill in the blanks!
MMORPG: What does it add to the story, do you feel?
Maclaine Diemer: It adds everything! It’s at the core of the final battle and the design of the encounter simply wouldn’t be the same without it. My hope is that it will connect players even more with Aurene and her journey as a character. When Cameron Rich first approached the audio team with his ideas about incorporating a choir into his boss fight, I was immediately excited by the possibilities. It’s so nice to have people outside of the audio department trying to incorporate music into their own disciplines, and I’m very thankful that ArenaNet as a studio treats music as one of the pillars of its games.
MMORPG: How much new music did you produce for this episode compared to previous episodes in the season?
Maclaine Diemer: I’d say the total amount of new music is roughly in the same neighborhood as previous episodes, about 10-15 minutes or so. Since the choir elements were done live, however, it took much more time and effort to prepare it. I had never written anything for a real choir before, so I was extremely nervous about any potential mistakes. I’m sure I over-thought it, but I was constantly changing the key of the pieces, reworking the melodies and harmonies, and second guessing myself for weeks on end. Fortunately, we worked with some wonderful singers and it all came out better than I had hoped.
An Army Of Misfits
Beyond the central forge and the Dragonsblood weapons, this is where the last, best hope for victory gather. A Star to Guide Us focused heavily on bringing together the forces that could stand against the waves of branded that swept across the land and, eventually, sowed the seeds for the upcoming fight Now the Dragonsblood Forge houses a mismatched army of misfits, monsters, and questionable alliances all ready to take on Kralkatorrik. Sunspears, Free Risen, Olmakhan, and even Exalted join the Pact and fill the outer regions of the forge. Still housed safely within the natural cave of the Peaks, the last, best hope for victory gather and as if ArenaNet is desperate to re-enforce just how desperate things are, the diverse group of scrappers isn’t exactly a well-oiled machine. Rytlock and Cannach can be found drilling volunteers and pulling together this alliance, the Dredge are an acceptable ally, The Flame Legion skirt around the camps, and Skritt are even conscripted into the ranks. Take your time exploring this post before heading outside, it’s full of marvelous little personal moments that happen when such a diverse set of characters are forced together.
Beyond the relative safety of the Forge lies the Thunderhead Peaks, a twisting mountain range continually assaulted by bitter winter winds. As if the weather’s onslaught isn’t enough of an inconvenience for the local Dredge, a branded storm bombards the landscape. Glowing purple scars crop out of the mountainside, threatening to overcome what little life still remains and this desolate combination of environmental effects that makes the defense of any safe area utterly vital. The peaks are a mix of underground burrows and massive verticality that gives Griffon’s somewhere to really shine. It is a nice change of pace to see this much verticality, without the feeling that this is a hangover from Heart of Thorns. It even synergizes nicely with the latest movement bonus.
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/features/13328/images/GW2 Jan7 3_t.jpg
Despite the unforgiving nature of this environment, there is plenty to do here in All or Nothing’s open world addition. The Dredge populates the largest single open world area that this episode houses. Their shacks and mining constructs are dotted across the ice and it’s an interesting change to see a race like the Dredge or Skritt in a new light. The Priory can be found trying to scratch out many of the fossils littered around Deldrimor Ruins, while the Branded continue to tear through rifts and threaten to overrun the allied strongholds on the map. The usual mix of map metas and seasonal currency can be found with a bunch of new rewards, including some fun minis. Events even manage to spill over into the Dwarven Catacombs which run deep into the mountainside. I am hesitant to say much more about these areas and burrow too far into the story, but I can assure you that the return to Thunderhead Keep and it’s surrounding region is well worth exploring for long-term fans of the Guild Wars franchise.
While there are plenty of historical reference points in this area, All or Nothing has plenty of new content to keep players busy between episodes. It seems somewhat fitting that while the fabric of the mists is being torn asunder by recent events, that a new fractal should reach us. Depositing us in Siren’s Reef, this fractal faces off against an army of ghost pirates. Unfortunately, I’ll be experiencing that with everyone when All or Nothing launches, such are the perils of solo previews. I did However get tooled up with the latest additions to the legendary weapon collection.
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/features/13328/images/GW2 Jan7 4_t.jpg
Pharus is a brand new legendary longbow that wraps the wielder in an aura of light. The shimmering white radiance of this weapon tacks on all the particle effects you might expect. Glittering footfalls and a dazzling pulse of blinding light follow as players release Pharos and deliver its wrath upon their enemies. This new longbow is an elegant design. It does not deliver the same fun extras as Xiuquatl but is a solid alternative to Kudzu. For far too long players wielding a longbow legendary have had a top-tier weapon that only really seems to coordinate with a few Slyvari skinjobs and Pharus feels like it has been too long coming.
However classic this weapon feels it does not have quite the same historical significance of the brand new Dragonsblood weapons set. The Dragonsblood weapon set is a new range of upgradeable weapons that channel the aesthetic of the Dragonsblood spear. 16 exotic weapons are available to collect with their requisite ascended variants coming in tow. While these take definite aesthetic inspiration from the Dragonsblood spear, they mostly work best when upgraded to ascended forms, taking on the full purple glow or the Dragonsblood, merging blood and metal to make some striking pieces. If you feel that Pharus is a great deal of time, then these aren’t just shiny pieces of plastic. The Dragonsblood weapons are deeply thematic and work on multiple levels.
image: https://images.mmorpg.com/features/13328/images/GW2 Jan7 5_t.jpg
While it comes with plenty of new content and some weapons that I will be working on for months, the core of any Living World episode, to me, is the story. The writing team at ArenaNet do a great job as things All or Nothing starts to gather pace, but the episode suffers from its own big bad. Moving the last few pieces into place and preparing to face any major foe makes for a relatively mundane opening. This isn’t a problem that is unique to Guild Wars 2 and it is something I’ve mentioned regarding the Dragons on more than one occasion. Where it does shine, is during character moments, where the writers, and other teams, can delve off and introduce characters we’ve not seen for some time or push together unusual bedfellows. You can rest assured that, as we creep closer to our final target, things don't stay quite so stoic. While I won’t spoil the story, it certainly reaches some new heights and you’ll need to soar if you’re going to reach an Elder Dragon after all.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/adjv4h/guild_wars_2_all_or_nothing_handson_preview/