Tag Archives: The Secret World

Four Digits

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This is the 1,000th post published on Superior Realities. Feels like a bit of a crazy number, but when you consider I’ve had this blog for the lion’s share of a decade now, it feels a bit more reasonable.

My character in Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem.I wanted to do something special for the 1,000th post, but I’m a bit too short on spoons at the moment to go too wild, so I’ve settled on a simple retrospective. I’m going to dig up links to some of my favourite or most memorable posts. I’m not being super thorough or scientific about this, so undoubtedly I’ll be forgetting some good ones, but off the top of my head these are some that feel worth revisiting.

The Trinity Trinity

No less than three posts deconstructing the trinity of traditional group roles in MMORPGs. Put a lot of work and thought into this one.

It’s really funny going back and reading all my hand-wringing about not being a professional game designer now that I am a professional game designer. Admittedly a novice one who is still far from an expert, but still.

Twenty Years

In which I outline the world and story I consider to be my life’s work.

TSW Homebrew

My first foray into tabletop RPG design. I’d really like to work more on this at some point, but it’s hard to justify it when I could be spending the time on paying projects.

Took a reboot of the game for me to earn my purple wings.At the very least I should go back and nerf Exquisite Corpse again. Gods I created a monster with that spell…

Take a Walk on Wyrd Street

Speaking of RPG design…

The Mustering of Azeroth

Not one post, but a massive series covering World of Warcraft: Legion and its myriad class and artifact quests. I still haven’t played WoW since, and it’s starting to feel more and more like this was my way of saying goodbye to the setting.

The Secret World’s Combat Is Fine

I will die on this hill.

World Spectrum: Living for the Future

Always really liked this story. Leha and Alistos are two of my favourite characters to write for.

Efflo, Mexico

Literally just me sharing a YouTube link, but this band is so good I’ll take any opportunity I can to plug them.

On Being Represented

Lana Beniko in Star Wars: The Old Republic.In which I discuss those rare characters in fiction I can see myself reflected in.

Fan Fiction: The Black in the Red

The story of my Templar character in The Secret World, written in the style of the in-game lore entries. I’m pleased with how well I managed to replicate the style. I actually did some lore entries for all my other characters. Maybe I’ll post them one day.

RPGs Versus Progression Games

Probably the piece of game design analysis that I’m most proud of from the history of this blog, maybe my whole career.

Review: Moons of Madness

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I may not be thrilled with Funcom’s handling of The Secret World and its less than stellar reboot, but I love this setting, and I want to keep it alive, so I’m more than happy to support any games using its IP. Let’s be real anyway: A franchise of single-player games is probably what TSW should have been all along.

Mars as depicted in The Secret World spin-off game Moons of MadnessEnter Moons of Madness, the second single-player spin-off of The Secret World. It is significantly bigger and more ambitious than its predecessor, The Park, but not quite as brilliantly executed.

Taking place in the not too distant future, Moons of Madness places you in the shoes of a mid-level Orochi employee on a research base on Mars. Just by saying “Orochi,” I’ve probably given you a pretty good idea of what ends up happening. Suffice it to say things don’t go well.

The strange thing is that Moons of Madness is much more overt in connecting to the story of TSW than The Park was — familiar concepts like the Filth and anima are front and centre — but it still feels less like a TSW game.

What I like about the TSW setting is that it’s not what I would consider to be “traditional” horror. It’s not a barrage of jump scares and gross-outs; it has those things, but it doesn’t use them as a crutch. It’s more subtle.

Moons of Madness is not subtle. There are jump scares waiting around every corner. If you’re a hardcore horror fan, you might enjoy it, but I found it exhausting, and it feels crude compared to what has come before in the TSW setting.

Maddened scrawlings in The Secret World spin-off game Moons of Madness.It does get better near the end. The final couple hours become more surreal and narrative-focused, as you would expect from a good Secret World story. I enjoyed the game a lot more by then.

I didn’t love the very ending, though. It feels like it trivializes the threat of the Dreamers a bit.

When it comes to gameplay, Moons of Madness is competent, if not groundbreaking. When you take away the trappings of horror, this is essentially a puzzle game. A bit like an extended investigation mission from TSW, though not quite so devilishly arcane and difficult. Some puzzles are obvious, like brewing a specific chemical concoction, while others are more environmental puzzles around evading various threats.

I’m not a huge puzzle guy, but I think they mostly did a good job on these. A few are a bit frustrating (usually due to unclear instructions or other quality of life hiccups), but mostly they manage to hit the sweet spot of being just challenging enough to be interesting, at least for me.

They do a good job of keeping it fresh, too. New mechanics are continually introduced throughout the game, so it never starts to feel stale.

A creature of the Filth in The Secret World spin-off game Moons of Madness.On the whole, it’s a solid game, but it doesn’t feel quite as special as previous Secret World games.

Overall rating: 7/10