Dauntless Windbound ARK

Three games on lost lands.

ARK Survival Evolved

In this multiplayer game players must first find or create a server to play on which can either be PvE or PvP. Once you create some degree of horrible looking character you spawn on an island teeming with decent looking dinosaurs who you can later click bash to hunt (good luck). As a survival game you will be focused primarily on gathering, hunting and crafting. Unfortunately there interface is terrible and there's no real tutorial that even tells you that you need to punch trees to get wood to make an axe (to again, get wood). And somehow pterodactyl things like stealing your pants. What? It definitely lost my interest at that point.

Dinos are pretty big.

Windbound

This survival game is far better in the crafting and collecting side than Ark. In it, you play as a woman stuck in a strange ocean dotted with islands that you need to explore to unlock the gateway to the next set of islands. Building is very intuitive and easy as components are labelled appropriately. Want a gorehorn crest? Kill a gorehorn. Combat is still a bit clunky but it's better than ARK, and building and sailing a boat is great. Now is a good time to mention that this is single player only though, and if you don't like sailing or the idea of having to tack against the wind it's best to avoid this.

Dauntless

This PvE focused MMO takes place in a broken world where everyone lives on flying islands which gives the nice excuse of making everything instanced. Because some big monster once threatened a village everyone now goes and hunts them as the national past time using a variety of traditional hunting weapons including swords, chained sickles, and brass knuckles - then once you harvest your kill you use its guts to make better gear to hunt bigger monsters and so on.

This is the first game I've played that has no gender selection in the character creator which was new and it also has an interesting take on quest grinding using its bounty system. While there are some NPCs that do give you quests most of your progress will be from these bounties that you yourself design from simple multiple choice. Be rewarded for killing 3 things with an axe? Or killing 6 things with anything? You can customize three of these to be active at any one time.

The best part of the game is its naturally cooperative especially on harder islands where beasties (or events with beasties) really need hunt teams and in an example of excellent design - you don't need to bring one yourself. In my experience somehow people just naturally show up where they are needed as rewards are mostly shared. Definitely my favorite of this bunch, because of the cooperative aspect AND because it's not a survival game (no food meter). It is severely lacking in story though, but that doesn't stop people from just going out and killing things.

Enderal: Explosive Finale

[Part of the Cursed story line]

After explaining the situation to Calia we decide to hedge our bets on the best way to save the world. Two of the less damaged Arps, who aren't goblins at all but puppets, are re-awoken using the soul gems of Pahtira (who has been listening to everything from my pack the whole time) and Goliath, both happy to be mobile again.

I tell them that they will be the ones using the escape pods to fly up to Starcity as that is where their knowledge of machines will be best served. Meanwhile Calia will take a shortcut to the Myrad towers to fly across the sea to warn the other countries and give them all the knowledge we gained.

As for me, I would need to destroy the Beacon. After a tearful farewell with Calia, I returned to the Sun Temple with the two Arps following behind. Taranor's forces had broken in, but he along with everyone else who wasn't already dead lay twitching and burning from inside. The Arps get to the escape pods and fly off while I walk up to the Beacon, finding Tealor lying on top of it, still believing he did something good.

There is only one thing to do now...

I wait as long as I can to give Calia time to flee before using the Blind Miner's axe to destroy the Beacon's power source and causing a continent sized explosion. Hah. Dying to save the entire world. If only the matron mother at Ust Natha could see me n... *KABOOM!*

Insight: What a cool game! I've obviously skipped a bunch of stuff and changed a few things to condense the story so I highly recommend experiencing Enderal for yourself! Maybe you'll make different choices than I did? I also didn't even touch a number of their custom skill trees nor did I visit every location on the map.

Enderal: History Repeating

[Part of the Cursed story line]

I don't know how far I've fallen when I come to, but it's nothing a healing potion or two can't fix. Following a single tunnel I come across a massive chamber housing a huge, unfinished and immobile "Goliath" robot. Like that incident with Pahtira, This one is also inhabited by a person - one who has survived countless Cycles in the machine body as the Cleansing (last part) skips non-flesh organisms.

This thing is massive.

It also reveals that what starts the Cleansing is always the same: activating the Beacon without the Numinos! Just as it has happened many times before - it was happening right now. The robot says there are only two choices left for me: to flee back to the Starcity via the escape pods we used prior, or to destroy the Beacon which would limit the destruction from being world wide to just being the continent of Enderal.

As a final request, it asks that I shut him down so that he finally "dies" but too late do I realize this is a trick, as his consciousness begins to swap bodies with my own! Luckily Calia arrives to save me just in time. This angers the Goliath who then uses his own creations: Arps, to try kill us. This does not go well for them or for him, as by the end - he is the one lying broken from an explosion.

Insight: The glowy suicide bomb Arps were killing me instantly if they got into melee, make sure you kill them at range!

Enderal: Numinos

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The wisps and specters in the vault tunnels are easily navigated to reach the Undercity which is in chaos. People infected by red madness, looters and a contingent of tough Nehrimise all have to be dealt with before we reach a collapsed tunnel that Yuslan reopens.

This leads deep down into the lost city we are looking for and it is full of stairs, corpses burned from within and lost ones, including a ghost dragon who collapses the ceiling and separating Calia from the group. Tealor, Yuslan and I push on and at an ancient Beacon, find the Numinos. Doesn't the fact that we found it here means it didn't work?

It's the perfect place for a knife in the back.

It doesn't matter because Yuslan gets to it first and reveals that he too is a traitor, and is the one that let the Nehrimise into the city the first time - all because Tealor killed his family long ago. He also admits to killing Lishari as she was too close to the truth before using himself as a human bomb to destroy the Numinos, a final act of revenge.

I take the brunt of the blaze as Tealor uses me as a human shield. With no way to stop the cycle now, the grand master is resolute in activating the Beacon as is - which is just going to be one huge explosion to take down the Nehrimise with everyone else. I try to grab his leg to stop him but he just stomps me down through the wooden floor.

Insight: The Nehrimise and the Lost Ones at the temple stairs are strong and in big numbers. Hanging back and sniping from the shadows works well provided you brought enough ammo with you.

Enderal: Loyalties

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Warping back to Ark, Calia and I report to Tealor and then share an enjoyable evening while we still can. The following day I am tasked with helping Yuslan to decode the map and finds that it points to the last place a Beacon was used, centuries ago. In the city deep beneath Ark itself!

This revelation is interrupted when a bunch of Keepers attempt to sabotage the current Beacon and while they are stopped, their other traitorous compatriots have let the Nehrimise army into Ark in exchange for a truce, one Taranor is unlikely to keep for long.

The end times are a bloody business.

With the temple being the final stronghold, Tealor assembles a squad composed of Calia, Yuslan and myself to use the tunnels of the old vault to descend into the Undercity and beyond to find the Numinos. Everyone else just has to hold position. As there is no beating the Nehrimise now, it is his hope we can still use the Beacon to end the Cycle before they can get through. All Calia and I can think of is finding a way to escape the madness while we are down there.

Insight: There's a handy "point of no return" message, so get everything you need done before accepting.

Enderal: Contingencies Activated

[Part of the Cursed story line]

It doesn't take long for Kurmai to wander off in the facility and by the time we find him he has lost his mind, blaming us for the absence of his people and activating the defenses of Starcity - all the machinations previously dormant power up, including a robot dragon that uses its laser beam to blast Kurmai into little bits.

Calia and I are the only ones to make it back indoors, fighting through robots and eventually stumble into an electricity trap. Luckily Jespar saves us by opening a nearby access panel that leads to the maintenance tunnels, stating that he's the only survivor from the outside team too as the dragon mech destroyed the airship!

Calia and Jespar, back to back.

Fortunately the tunnels lead to a library of sorts where we learn about a possible location of a Numinos as well as an old map pointing out it's location. We then use a spherical escape pod each (these Starlings thought of everything) which crash back down to the snowy region of Enderal. While Calia and I emerge unscathed, Jespar is not so lucky.

Insight: The mech dragon is a plot enemy rather than a regular enemy, so just expect to be running a lot when it shows up.

Enderal: Mile High

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Kurmai's flying boat is short a few materials so Tealor's advisor Yuslan and I are sent to retrieve said components - myrading out to Duneville and making our way up to the ravaged lands of Thalgard to do so. Thalgard is home to particularly nasty enemies, having been exposed to a huge magical explosion from an experiment gone wrong ages ago.

Our mission is a success, and after a few more hours of installation a crew is assembled to go with Kurmai to the Starcity which includes both Jespar and Calia while Tealor and Yuslan see us off. During the long flight Calia finally gives into my charms and I let her experience all I learned from the lust chambers at Ust Natha. I knew those would come in handy!

The need to defy gravity is so strong in this place.

Refreshed, we arrive at the spectacular floating city but find it abandoned which rattles Kurmai a fair deal as he believed his people were waiting for him here. Jespar and some of the crew remain to guard the ship while a small away team including Calia and myself follow Kurmai to search for any mention of a Numinos.

Insight: Thalgard is the Chernobyl of Enderal and has some high radiation of arcane fever, especially if you go to the original blast site called the Sunfire. Bring potions of ambrosia.

Enderal: Ark Siege

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Once Calia is being tended to, I hand in the stones which start to power up the Beacon. Alas at that very moment the Nehrimise decide to attack the city so I go with Grandmaster Tealor himself to fight through the infiltrators and push back their regular infantry to retake the outer gate. During this, Tealor also executes the traitor Squad Leader Jorek, who helped the Nehrimise gain entry.

With the city re-secured, we quickly head back to the Beacon but learn that activating it now will just end up killing everyone. It needs one more part, a "Numinos" to work safetly and the lead to find it comes in a most surprising form: crazy Kurmai the egg collector!

During the siege he was caught trying to steal material from the Keeper's headquarters to complete his flying ship to reach the Star City, which according to the researchers would be the best repository of knowledge to find a Numinos. I would have said it was far fetched, had I not already been inside a crashed star ship previously. At his workshop we find that his air ship is almost complete!

All these people wanting to be birds is absurd.

Insight: Tealor is ubertough and can kill all the enemies by himself if you prefer to just afk in a corner somewhere. Also, massive plot hole in that you'd think the Nehrimese would just get a bunch of "teleport to Ark" scrolls and open the gates again. :P

Enderal: What they do in the Shadows

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Calia has a lead on the final stone so I journey with her up to a well fortified castle in the mountains that was once the home of a renowned healer. It's obvious from the scattered research notes and the amount of lost ones that at some point he stopped being a healer and became more of a mad scientist though, apparently using the black stone on his dead child to revive her.

While exploring the castle we get separated by a portcullis shut by some crafty mercenaries that were shadowing us to take the artifact for themselves. Calia is captured easily, and she becomes their plaything for a time while I continue the mission and collect the stone. Turns out resurrection by black stone has a side effect - it gives the person a "shadow form monster". It's pretty clear that this child was Calia herself.

She did not have a good time.

Upon returning to her, I find the portcullis blasted open and Calia stripped naked and unconscious. Pieces of the merc crew lie scattered everywhere in pools of blood and things that shouldn't be on fire somehow are. Guess they didn't know who they were fucking with, literally. I wrap Calia up in a blanket and take both her and the stone back to the safety of Ark.

Insight: It just occurs to me this game is kinda dark. I'd better stop recommending it to younger people. :P

Enderal: Wishbreaker

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Jespar and I return to Ark to meet up with Grandmaster Tealor who is facing many critics upon the coming war, most vocally from Squad Leader Jorek, but Tealor refuses to surrender the Beacon. Instead he tasks us with finding three black stones to power it. To help in this endeavor, Tealor commands the guards to lift the kill on sight command previously on me and after paying an exorbitant fee I'm free of the law men again. It also helps that Mael, the instigator of that command, has left the city, presumably to pursue Dijaam across the sea.

The first of the black stones actually belongs to Jespar's family, most likely with his estranged sister since he doesn't have it. Our search for her reveals that she is also the vigilante known as the Bone Judge. When we finally catch up to her, we find the stone is what gives her her power and since Jespar can't talk her into surrendering I end up killing her. Jespar hates me for this, and spirals into a dark place full of powdered drugs, alcohol and whores. 

Sorry kid, the greater good is always better than a single person's happiness.

I track the next stone to a village near Duneville where everyone seems pretty happy. The owner of this artifact is a little boy whose only hope is to find someone to play with and using the power to create a "reality" where people like him and refuse to leave. I have no choice but to take the stone from him by force and kill the deformed child. As a result the people in the town die too, since they haven't eaten anything real for years and were just being sustained through the boy's wish.

Insight: Not sure why I couldn't pay my fine earlier, I guess I needed to wait long enough for the NPCs to respawn without aggro?

Enderal: The Cycle

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Getting caught turns out to be the fastest way to meet the Nehrimise commander, Taranor, who finds and uses the magic plate to contact Tealor. Apparently there's significant evidence about of a cycle here in Enderal, one nearing its end in which all life simply vanishes.

The Keepers have been trying hard to stop it but the atheistic Nehrimise don't want that. They believe the cycle ends with evolving into something else, something greater. Hence they have come to wage war to stop the Keepers plans, unless Tealor agrees to stop constructing the device Lishari's team recovered from the dig site which they call "the Beacon".

Tealor flatly refuses, so the war is on. Being a good sport, Taranor decides against simply executing Jespar and I there and then - instead putting us on a raft  to let chance decide our fate. Fortune favors us as a passing fishing vessel picks us up after a few hours and takes us to Duneville.

They also didn't take any of our gear, that's convenient!

Here I find Esme once again, who lets all her feelings off her chest. With nothing left for her here, I urge her to find passage elsewhere before she gets caught up in the coming war. Or the end of the cycle. Whatever comes first.

Insight: This is unrelated to the current post but don't try attack any of the Rhalata in their main base (or do it off a save). The result is clever, humorous and fatal.

Enderal: Undertrain

[Part of the Cursed story line]

After defeating some crystal elementals Jespar and I finally reach the temple and find Firespark waiting with the front door open. Not far in a trio of pressure plates that need to be stepped on simultaneously splits up the party in this trap filled temple which likes to play mind games.

Let's split up! What could possibly go wrong?

By the time I meet up with Jespar and Firespark, the old mage has already gone mad - another victim of "Red Madness". I shoot an arrow into his mouth, killing him before he can cast any spells. Not long after Jespar and I find a corpse that looks exactly like me!? No, this temple sure knows how to play with people's minds. I am the true Solaufein!

We push on to the lower levels, defeating numerous lost ones and find the Undertrain and get the ancient vehicle working. It takes a few hours to reach our destination which is another station filled with lost ones, but once those are clear it's just a short hike before we are within sight of the main Nehrimise fort.

It is then that both Jespar and I get knocked out and captured. In hindsight, the Undertrain is not the stealthiest of approaches.

Insight: Did I mention I hate railroading? Because I hate railroading. Anyway, have a melee weapon ready once you reach the arrival station. The lost ones are literally swarming the door as you step out.

Enderal: Meeting Sneaking

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Being wanted really makes it challenging to attend the next meeting in the Keeper's base. It takes a bit of the time stop perk and a number of invisibility potions to reach it without being massacred by all the guards and soldiers on the way in.

Grandmaster Tealor himself is not impressed by my tardiness or by my current status which he refuses to override. Instead he assigns me a task suitable for my skill set, and my being expendable. The Nehrimise army has sailed across the sea in what is the start of an invasion and I am to plant magical plates in their base to spy on them.

Since Jespar is just a greedy merc, he too is sent with me and our first task is to meet up with Firespark at an ancient temple which has the transportation means to reach the Nehrimise camp undetected. To avoid the local guards we teleport out of there to the Frostcliff Tavern, but the patrons there are also on the look out for me just proving the reach of Mael's pockets!

Sort of like this, but with everyone after Jespar and I.

A mass brawl erupts in which we kill a few people before managing to break free and flee towards the mission objective.

Insight: There are a surprising number of NPCs that can't be killed in safe zones, so don't expect to win fights by being the last one standing there. You won't be.

Enderal: Top of the List

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The search for Tara leads past a pus beetle hive to an Arp filled ruin where it becomes evident that Tara and her cultist buddies all killed themselves - probably part of the same group that I previously found at their island resort. Esme is obviously unhappy with the find.

The desert knights don't like being disturbed.

As she wants to be left alone I warp back to Ark and find every single guard hostile to me as I am now Ark's most wanted! Fortunately they don't give chase into the Undercity where the few remaining Rhalata, now led by the First Seer, grant me protection for my previous service - even from "Crocco" the previous most wanted man in Ark who had come to take back his "crown". A single Rhalata literally obliterates him and his crew.

For this I decide to help them out by killing the Blind Miner. It turns out he is one of a handful of legendary creatures that have books written about them. The lore for him indicates that a particular totem weakens him so I craft one and find it is super effective. Without his invincibility, he's just another lost one. His one handed axe is a magnificent bonus as it is one of the best weapons I've seen.

Insight: As I found out in this session - it pays to read books!

Enderal: The Petrified

[Part of the Cursed story line]

We find Mael strung up on the theater stage but alive, and in front of him a priceless gem stolen from the Golden Sickle caravan long ago. Dijaam tries to grab it but is immobilized by a dart trap, leaving myself to deal with the puppet master - Pennypouches who is suffering from Red Madness!

One of the hardest fights in Enderal.

He sends his two hired Petrified goons (they really work for anyone) to deal with me in what becomes a really long battle! I end up using a lot of my potions and ammo to defeat the two fools before finally killing Pennypouches and administering the cure to Dijaam. Despite Mael's very vocal protests and threats, we promptly abscond with the gem to a secluded beach where Dijaam can properly reward me.

In the morning, she and the gem are gone having left a note that reads "I'm sorry". Knowing Mael is not one for empty threats I decide hideout in Duneville for awhile, and run into Esme en route - just in time to save her from some bandits, and to rejoin her search for Tara.

Insight: The battle against the two petrified is one of the toughest ones I've come across due to the mechanic. You need to knock both down at the same time and keep attacking while they are down to deplete their psychic shields / do any damage. Easier said than done for an archer.

Enderal: Pulling Our Strings

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Stealing the info from the the spooky manor is pretty straight forward, so Jespar and I return to Ark where a courier kid gives me a letter from Dijaam. Jespar goes ahead to report in while I visit the merchantess at an Undercity tavern and accept her request to assist in finding out who set her up to take the blame for the Golden Sickle ambush.

A speedy investigation has clues that quickly point to Mael, the Golden Sickle grandmaster, so Dijaam heads to the Sickle base in town to confront him but only find a shop full of workers. Things escalate quickly which results in their massacre! For this, Dijaam is quickly apprehended by the city guard and taken to prison.

Hang in there, pussy cat.

Fortunately I am a lot stealthier, and with no witnesses putting me at the scene of the crime I am free to head to the prison and break her out. Unfortunately the guards have had their way with her by then and I find her battered, beaten, and "thoroughly" searched, but she did learn from them that Mael is actually missing too. We conclude that whoever is pulling our strings is trying to put on a show and head to the old theater on a hunch.

Insight: Generic enemies respawn after a few days have passed, so don't assume things are clear if you haven't been there recently.

Enderal: Teammates

[Part of the Cursed story line]

With the bandits dead and Calia having disarmed the traps, Lishari's crew is able to descend to do their work. Since everything is under control here we head back to a myrad tower where I run into Esme, who is about to go do something stupid and/or dangerous. I volunteer to assist while Calia myrads back to Ark to report in.

We sneak into the Dark Valley, taking down the numerous Lost Ones and a random huge werewolf wandering within until we reach the haunted ruins of Castle Bleakstar that is inhabited by one stubborn phantom. Once it's dispelled we find proof that Tara may have fallen in with some nefarious cult with clues suggesting they moved to a location near Duneville. I hope it's not that suicide crew I found before.

Esme, you can't sneak with a lit torch...

Esme myrads ahead as I receive word of another urgent mission for the Keepers. This time I'm partnered up with Jespar to try retrieve knowledge from an eccentric artist at his distant, puppet-filled manor with specific instructions NOT to use violence at all. A small detour on the way to the manor rewards me with... a dragon fight!

Insight: Unlike Calia, Esme isn't a great fighter or tank. In fact, all she's good at is giving away your position to the enemy so expect to do some heavy lifting and prep health potions before hand.

Enderal: You're F-Hired!

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Returning from Duneville I manage to wrap up a number of lose ends at Ark - completing a relic collection for the SHOES guild, an egg collection for crazy Kurmai who wants to start an aviary in his floating "Star City", and the ingredients to reproduce the poison Mael was interested in - but not before first warning his rival Dijaam that she's under suspicion. Since she confronts Mael directly about it, I promptly get fired from the Golden Sickle.

Just as well as right after Calia and I get promoted into the Keeper guild, and Grandmaster Tealor puts us to work immediately - sending us to assist a nearby dig crew to retrieve an ancient artifact. Turns out this crew is led by Lishari, and her progress into the site is being held up by trap savvy bandits who have made a home of this place.

I happen to stumble into one - a giant pit but luckily land deep water. From there I can work my way back up, assassinating the entrenched bandits as I go. Only their leader gets the drop on me but Calia, who also fell into the pit but managed to hang onto something to find a different exit, shows up just in time to save me - using her menacing "shadow form"? She later explains that she has some other being in her that comes out to kill people from time to time.

More than just a pretty face.

Insight: Even without her shadow form, Calia is a decent tank and does good damage with her two handed sword so let her take point in combat. Comparatively Tharael does more damage with his twin swords but can't take many hits.

Enderal: A Sandy Vacation

[Part of the Cursed story line]

After the crazy events in the temple I need a change of scenery so I travel East into the Powder Desert, home of big cats, mini rhinos, and gorilla trolls - eventually reaching the little underground village of Duneville.

Here I help where I can - acting as cupid for a couple of villager, helping the watchdogs solve a murder, hunting bounties down including a wild myrad who is luckily a terrible shot, and exploring a distant isle that seems like some suicide cultist resort now over run by rats, bone rippers (death claws), and one scary spider.

Myrads are so cute! This one is a little shy...

I also do some artifact hunting and solve a ruin comprised entirely of puzzles which is easy thanks to the hints at the start. It's a good vacation, but with all the tasks in the area completed it's time to return to Ark. I have a graduation ceremony to attend after all.

Insight: While it's in the air, just strafe to avoid the myrad's breath attack. Once it lands it gets a lot more accurate so take cover!

Enderal: Kidnappers

[Part of the Cursed story line]

As the graduation ceremony will take time to prepare I head on back to Arkham and find card-shark Esme in the district, and give her the log book from the Morning Dew which indicates her girl, Tara, disembarked early to meet a noble in town. I help her snoop a bit in the absent noble's residence until she gets a new lead to follow.

Afterwards we part ways as Tharael makes contact and wants to take me to the Rhalata temple to meet the First Seer. Goes without saying they are a strange bunch, and the First Seer assigns me a test to kill a defector hiding among savages and return her heart.

This is pretty easy, and the defector herself asks for death as she suffers from prosopagnosia (can't see faces) so I oblige. This impresses the First Seer who says words of my deeds will reach The Father's ears. Just as planned. While that happens Tharael and I revisit his childhood orphanage deep in the Undercity which is now crawling with Lost Ones.

Prosopagnosia as depicted in Hannibal.

There he spills the beans on how the Father bought children, his friends, from the caretakers. Those children were never seen again.

Insight: Can't get by through archery alone anymore as the mob density just keeps going up. To this end I'm using a sword and shield when an enemy horde draws near. It also means I open by sniping the hardest hitters first - enemy mages and those carrying two handed weapons.