Welcome to another review of Artyoan’s three-part campaign series for Solasta: Crown of the Magister. This time we talk about Morrows Deep, and much like its predecessor it’s a campaign with a heavy focus on combat. However, the writing is much better than in Forsaken Isle, and overall, the story has an improved flow comparably. Locations also make much more of a logical sense in the world – like enemy placements and the environments in general.
Morrows Deep is a 1-15 level campaign, and while the four-man version is the standard way of playing the campaign, I went for the six-man version this time around. In Forsaken Isle, I felt a lack of companions and interesting combat combinations that come with that. So, I thought why not give the six-man version a go? I can’t say I regret my decision. The added party members change the dynamic of the group and make for a much more enjoyable experience. It also allows for experimentation with different classes since you can afford to go outside your personal preference, something the four-man version lacks. You don’t have to worry about balance issues, as Artyoan has designed this version specifically for an increased party. Essentially, engagements have a ton more enemy units trying to claw your eyes out (and probably eat them).
The only issue that comes with using this version, is that you need to download a mod to make it work. It isn’t hard to set up, but I know some people are allergic to modifying anything – so a warning. You can find all the information needed in this post here on Reddit. Now, let’s talk a little about the story.
Soft sequel
Morrows Deep is a sequel of sorts to Forsaken Isle, but I wouldn’t say it’s necessary to have played it. Yet it does enhance the experience if you have since it takes place in the same world, and you even get to meet a few characters from the past. You don’t get to important any of your heroes though, as this campaign is a fresh adventure. I don’t mind this considering low-level DnD is more fun as high-level combat can become a bit of a mess with all the spells and resistances to keep track of.
In this adventure, you start as a group of hired guards to make sure a caravan reaches the trade city of Morrows Deep safely. When the caravan arrives at the gates of the city you are however denied entry since something unknown troubles the city. The militia guarding the gates are clearly on edge and are very cagey about what the problem is. With that, you are asked by your masters to investigate why and to make your way inside the city somehow to pass on a letter to a certain someone within. From here on out the adventure begins in earnest with you at the reins.
The start of the journey lulls you in calmly with a couple of easy fights around the outskirts of the city. But it doesn’t take long before the challenges increase and ask you to pay a bit more attention – at least on “authentic” which is my skill ceiling to my family’s great shame (don’t worry, I’m preparing seppuku to restore family honor at this current moment). This time around the locations make much more sense, and most areas are logically connected to each other. I especially liked the sewers that span over the whole city, with different entry points and hidden bosses – like the overgrown lizard in the form of an acid-puking dragon. Don’t flush down your pets, kids! That specific area felt very Dark Souls, filled with secrets, loot, and shortcuts to unlock. It’s also an area you will come back to many times, both out of plot-relative reasons and just to explore and to take on harder bosses.
I enjoyed this free-form take on adventuring, but unfortunately, it’s the only one of its kind. Not that the rest is bad in any way, as the city by itself is interesting, and changes appearance during the campaign. It’s just that the rest of the campaign is structured more conventionally with areas you visit once or twice. However, with that said, I can’t be entirely sure of this, because I skipped out on one dungeon in the northern parts that showed me no mercy when I tried to brave it with my dinky weapons. There is a possibility it’s designed in the same way, but everything else in the campaign follows a pretty linear structure when it comes to the main quest.
NPCs & combat
A few differences from Forsaken Isle is that characters do have things to say beyond being directly connected to a quest. This makes it worth it to go back to NPCs that might be related to the quests and events at hand. A few times I was actually rewarded for doing so, giving me loot or small narrative tidbits. Much more attention went into the details of this adventure, which of course is appreciated as a player. The campaign also comes with a couple of sidequests, but as I see it, these are more or less required to do to stand a chance in the later parts of the campaign. You are not forced to, as I didn’t do everything and almost made it through intact. However, I think I might have paid for it during the ending sequence (more on that later).
There isn’t much “roleplaying” per se since you will not make many choices except for a few persuasion and insight rolls, yet, it doesn’t matter much since it’s clear Morrows Deep just like Forsaken Isle is more Icewind Dale than Baldur’s Gate. It’s strictly a good guy adventure with fighting at its focus, and fighting you will do a lot! Let me tell you.
The combat is fun, but after a while, it does start to take a toll on you. This is because of its turn-based nature and if you ever lose a battle, you will have to go through the whole endeavor again – which takes time. Lots of time. Some of the fights can last for very long stretches. The enemy will throw a relentless amount of monsters your way, especially in the six-man version. Many times they will come in waves too since Artyoan loves his ambushes to spice things up. I’m not saying this to be negative because the added challenge can be fun, and is for the most part. However, the final battle was a little too much for me once again, and I think maybe Artyoan went a little nuts on this particular encounter. The game will throw everything at you at this point, kitchen sink included, and they all come in multiple waves too. It was pure suffering for me. Like it was some kind of religious punishment for my sins, made to be as slow as possible to make you really feel the torment. Joking aside, there are only so many times I’m willing to restart an experience like this.
I can’t lay the blame solely on Artyoan, as I skipped out on that sidequest dungeon I mentioned earlier, and I’m not just not that good at the game. My party only reached level 14 out of 15, and that was after the last boss was finally killed (by lowering the difficulty). Maybe those two levels would have made all the difference, who knows? I just want to add that those who like being challenged through really tough combat will absolutely love this encounter.
Besides that, I found the campaign very entertaining, and the encounters generally felt much better designed than in Forsaken Isle. For example, groups of enemies never intersected, and there were many periods of calm too – letting you run around in peace looking for treasure and secrets. Even the battles against several creatures with legendary turns felt fine and balanced if you used the environment to your advantage. Blocking them off in doorways and tight corridors while using every kind of spell under the sun to blast them into dust is a DnD classic.
Loot for the loot god
Loot-wise the campaign surely provided. Not too much, and not too little. It felt like most of the loot drops were of value to the group, which made my dopamine centers activate when rummaging through the corpses. Many items also came with interesting effects, which made the hard-to-kill bosses worth the struggle. I especially liked the mace that put enemies to sleep. It upgraded my cleric from hitting something once in a blue moon to being part of the frontline fighters. Very useful and the effect felt unique! I also made extensive use of the crafting system since crafting supplies were plentiful. The city also provides in this aspect as every kind of store can be found in the merchant district. So you better collect those gold coins like a goblin during your adventure, because you will need them!
In conclusion
All in all, I had a really good time, and the campaign is pretty long too. It took a few days of active playing to finish. I highly recommend taking breaks between the fights, because it’s pretty easy to become fatigued from all the combat you will be doing. Trust me on that one. Or well, just load up on enough coffee to take you through the longer fights. I also highly recommend going for the six-man version since the added companions expand the general gameplay. More skills, more fun, and more characters to play doll with. What’s to lose here? Four-man dungeon runs just feel too little, and it’s a shame modern RPGs seem to make this the standard, like Solasta and Baldur’s Gate 3. The more, the merrier, I say. Now just to wait for the third and final (from what I know) campaign by Artyoan. Hopefully, it will be out soon!
Thanks for reading.
/Thomas
Tom's Gaming Blog 