Arbiter Libera

First Report of the year didn't take long even if I do wish it was for a better game. Admittedly, I beat Blood Knights in 2020 and typing the multimedia review was the actual hold-up. Hope you celebrated end of the year famously and you'll stick with me in 2021 as well.

Sung in Blood ( Fantasy – 1992 – 200 pages ) + GOOD READS


Considering this is Glen Cook we're talking about here, man with experience writing both fantasy action and detective stories alike, I was surprised to see how half-baked both of these elements turned out in Sung in Blood. As I hope to explain below I think the problem may be his writing style not complimenting a fast-paced story like this one.

City of Shasesserre is protected by its, well, Legendary Protector Jehrke Victorious who is essentially this Gary Stu keeping tabs on the city in unofficial capacity simply because A) he's so badass that no one, not even kings, can really out-maneuver or overpower him, and B) he seems to be immortal considering he's been running the gig for centuries. Well, that changes in the opening as he fall victim to an elaborate murder scheme that gets him literally nailed to the very wall of his tower. In steps Rider and his posse of friends as it falls on them to gradually unravel the mystery of WHO got his old man, seeing as WHY isn't really a mystery considering he was ultimately a beloved stabilizing influence. There's also a matter of whether Rider now inherits the title of Legendary Protector or whatever else he actually wants to do.

Problem is that last part is kind of lie on my end.

Rider, a power house in his own right or else the magical protective Web Jehrke maintained would just go poof without someone to mend it, settles naturally into solving the mystery. Not overtly out of any love for his father because he is that stoic, distant and all-competent protagonist type, but more due to it needing to be done as these perfidious easterners involved are looking to take out even more key figures in the city to destabilize and take over. Now I've matched everything that Sung in Blood feels inclined to tell you about Rider himself. Same really applies to his companions who stick to Cook's reliable nicknames routine so you have the likes of Preacher, Soup, etc with standout being a shapeshifting Imp Su-Cha who definitely gets mileage in this story. Out of all of those I'd argue maybe only Su-Cha and barbarian Chaz get some further identities beyond one line summaries, those of comedic relief and straightforward northerner. That's not to say Sung in Blood is above having them do whatever story requires at the moment, but I'm left puzzled as to whether that speaks of depth or sheer convenience.

Reason why all of the above does not click for me is simply because you have a story that stops being a mystery about a quarter or so in only to turn into this prolonged parry and riposte scenario as the “real” antagonist is revealed. Secondly, due to Rider being the one who primarily does things while others seem to just get kidnapped or fail at their tasks with their feeble recoveries always somehow factoring into Ride-master's plans. What we have at hand is an extended case of dick measuring if I ever saw any, albeit one adapted into unexplained magical workings wielded by key figures.

At the end of the day you have a story with basic stereotypes for characters playing out at breakneck pace with signature author focus on keeping it flowing without being bogged down by details. Result is a very lean novel that could have honestly benefited from a higher page count if only to expand on a cliffhanger ending that never gets resolved as tale of Rider and Shai Khe is never re-visited. Airships are cool, though.

devonrv

released a generation too late.

I’m having trouble figuring out what you mean by this. I know you say it’s “not necessarily a BAD thing,” but you also don’t really explain what “it” is. If it helps, I’m of the opinion that nothing is “dated”; if it’s bad today, it was bad back then as well. For example, you don’t really see the “constantly spawn 1 or 2 of the same enemy type until the player leaves the room” outside of NES games not because people used to like it and changed their minds, but because devs were still experimenting back then and course-corrected from feedback.

So…what’s this game’s actual problem? Is it really just the progression system and story? How does that relate to it being more fitting for the previous console generation? Furthermore, how does the progression system alone make the game bad? There are plenty of games with no progression system or story that are well liked, so what’s different about this game? Does it have bland level design and/or low enemy variety? If so, I don’t see how a different progression system would fix that since you’d still be approaching and dealing with enemies the same way.

Arbiter Libera

I’m sorry for taking so long to respond.

In my opinion these two are very much tied to the same thing. Game being dated wasn’t really a negative point so much as how I wished it actually stayed true to that more honest action adventure formula. Realizing story and such may not matter to someone at all, what I played at the end of the day was a simple game where it was decided to graft utterly braindead loot/equipment systems and initially limiting skill progression simply because it was a thing to do to add more RPG bits. In fact, game should’ve committed wholesale to what it actually does at multiple points - it grants you abilities when it suits the narrative. What makes these these particular progression systems off-putting to me is them adding absolutely nothing to the game except fiddling for its own sake. Every new piece gear you find is better so you just go through the motion of replacing the old one, for example.

Game didn’t require any tacked on progression systems to begin with. It’s not something I need to keep playing if the game is engaging enough on its own.