tone_lord on 13/3/2024 at 22:35
I am about to start the mission "The Long Shadow Falls."
So far, this campaign is as impressive a piece of work as I have ever seen.
Every mission thus far is on a professional level rarely equaled. The level designs, the details, the carefully thought out plotting, everything--all shows exquisite care and craftsmanship.
I am particularly taken with the new things that some of the NPCs and monsters do. There was one wonderful sequence during the finale of "Kept Away From View." I won't spoil it for anyone. I'll just say: statues.
Anyway, I just had to gush.
twhalen2600 on 16/3/2024 at 22:16
I finished playing through this campaign last night. I started it last December, but intentionally took my time with it, playing each mission (save one) on Expert, trying to explore every nook and cranny, trying to find all the loot, and only playing it on weekends. I didn't want it to end - this campaign was a gift that kept on giving. Wow.
In the future I want to do a Let's Play of it and/or a longer review writeup, but for now I wanted to offer some thoughts:
(I'll use “Thief 1” to refer to Thief: TDP / Gold, for ease.)
-The authors kept a perfect balance between capturing Thief 1 but making a game experience that stands on it own. I loved how each mission was a mix of several elements of Thief 1, rather than only hearkening to one or two elements. ‘Where Old Faces Fade' is the best example, which captured elements of Bafford, Ramirez, The Sword, the opera, and Thieves' Guild all at once, while also being a great mission in its own right. The Black Parade stuck close to Thief 1 without ploddingly regurgitating it.
I say it kept a “perfect” balance because I can't imagine how it could have been better done: being a true spiritual successor to Thief 1 but not confined by its exact composition. If I wrote a full review I'd list other examples - for now I'll leave it at this. Awesome job.
-This felt like a mission pack I'd go to the store and pick up, taking me back to the days of yore when I'd get the Quake or Unreal mission packs. This was especially the case with the new monsters and NPCs, and new animations for them. I could almost see myself reading the little booklet that lists all the new enemies to watch out for, like the sweels and the ‘two-headed monster' (can't find the concept art for this online anymore, appears The Circle is down).
This new content was doubly great because we see content cut from the original Thief finally come to life. My favorite new enemy is probably the ‘snakeboy' (serpent-like aquatic beast in “Jaws of Darkness”) and my favorite new animation is probably the guard strumming on the guitar in the basement of DeWall's manor.
-I loved how huge each mission was. As I referenced above for the whole game, I also saw each mission as a gift that kept on giving. I never wanted them to end. The attention to detail and consistency of quality throughout the whole campaign is unmatched.
-Top-notch voice work in this, and my favorite were the ‘Benny and his counterpart' guards. They sounded so close to the real ones it was uncanny!
I also had a couple questions for the authors:
Concerning Mission 5:
What are all the sources of the Hawtrey Manor's ‘haunted-ness'? I picked up on a few: one, and most obviously, the catastrophe that affected all of what is the sealed section, and from what I remember reading the Hawtreys didn't make it out in time; two, also obvious, the Necromancers using the place and what their experiments cause; but three, I also detected there may have been something else going on with the Hawtreys, like they committed mass suicide (e.g., the one room with a corpse hanging from the ceiling) or they were doing arcane rituals themselves. But I'm not clear on all the details or the sequence here.
Was the Hawtrey manor just a ‘regular' haunted place in the sealed section until the Necromancers showed up? Or, did the Hawtreys kill themselves, or mess around with arcane experiments, that made the manor more haunted than other parts of the sealed section, before the Necromancers arrived? Did the Hawtreys obtain the strange statue, or did the Necromancers bring it to the manor? I only played through this once so perhaps when I replay I'll have a better idea. I remember some readables about someone studying arcane knowledge, but wasn't sure if it was one of the Hawtreys' journals or one of the Necromancers'.
One specific question following from this: what caused their family portraits to ‘decay' into portraits of skeletons? Was this an affect of the Necromancers' work, or something else to do with the Hawtreys?
There were other scenes, as well - like a bathtub full of what looked like brains - that I wasn't sure was something the Necromancers or the Hawtreys had done.
In short, I of course know the catastrophe made the Hawtrey manor haunted, but beyond that I wasn't fully clear on how much of the places' haunted-ness came from the Necromancers vs. other stuff that the Hawtreys had done. I enjoy the mystery of it, though - but am curious as I was fascinated by this mission. A fantastic one! I intend to replay it. Perhaps I missed something!
On the ending:
Obviously Hume dies (or at least this is heavily implied), but is the brand lifted? Viktoria referenced a curse - did the curse, at this point with Azaran foiled, only kill Hume or was he still branded? In which case, poor Hume.
Svperstar on 24/3/2024 at 19:34
I got an OLED monitor and a new PC, HDR works great with The Black Parade. It looks excellent.
RTX HDR or Windows 11 AutoHDR can be used in a pinch, but the best method IMO is Ilium DXVK/Ilium ReShade HDR shaders/AdvancedAutoHDR:
(
https://github.com/EndlesslyFlowering/dxvk/releases)
Walking through the city playing The Black Parade I said wow outloud, did it again playing with HDR
Handlolo on 31/3/2024 at 18:49
I just finished mission 7 now, in my opinion the worst of all by far.
The second mission is my favorite because of how surreal that mansion is and how well designed it is.
The sixth mission is so masterful, I won't make spoilers, but great design and great technique
The 4 and 5 are also outstanding because they are brilliant in immersion and atmosphere.
1 and 3 are not outstanding but they are notable.
Mission 8 has started very promisingly
klatremus on 1/4/2024 at 19:25
Quote Posted by Handlolo
I just finished mission 7 now, in my opinion the worst of all by far.
You and I have very different tastes, my friend.
Handlolo on 1/4/2024 at 20:24
Quote Posted by klatremus
You and I have very different tastes, my friend.
It's normal, there are no books written about preferences.
I just finished mission 8, it left me completely impressed, it is now the best of all in my opinion, I am not going to give spoilers, but it is like literally going down to hell and back again. It is similar to going down to the underworld in missions 4 and 6, only here there are impressive enemies and the level gives a lot of atmosphere.
The person who designed level 8 is a true genius.
Discendo Vox on 15/4/2024 at 03:29
I've begun translating the runic code inscribed around the map in the final mission. I'm not sure what I was hoping to find, but this surpassed all expectations.
Komag on 16/4/2024 at 21:28
I'm looking to host this at the Keep and want to make sure I have the latest version. Is the original post up to date? Has the campaign been updated since late 2023?
Thanks for any info.
skacky on 17/4/2024 at 18:10
The campaign hasn't been updated (yet), so the initial release is indeed the current version.