Article by Rowland Gwynne

We sat down with Funcom’s Communications Manager Tor Egil Andersen and The Secret Word’s Lead Designer Romain “Tilty” Amiel for a tour of Issue 11: Reaping the Whirlwind. What we were shown was a wonderful combination of environmental storytelling and varied gameplay. The game’s much lauded story and atmosphere is front and centre in this issue, so it’s very hard to avoid spoilers. You have been warned!

 

The First Chapter comes to an End

So here we are, standing with trepidation in front of the giant metal entrance to the rail tunnel leading towards the imposing Orochi Tower. It’s been a long journey, and we’ve been waiting patiently for the gates to creak open and let us in. The final chapter of the Tokyo story arc is about to begin, just as soon as we receive the signal.

But first, let’s remember why we’re here at all. At the very start of the game, way back in the opening cutscene we learnt a bomb has ripped through Tokyo: a bomb so profoundly devastating that Gaia herself reacted in sheer terror and spawned a new wave of bee-infused anima warriors. That’s us, we swallowed a bee and instead of dying from anaphylactic shock, we got magic powers.

After saving the world from several Total Existence Failure level threats, we were finally allowed into Tokyo to investigate what really happened. We found a near-deserted city crawling with filth and a handful of staunch beleaguered survivors. After doing several favours for the locals, and killing countless monsters, we began to unravel the mystery of the bomb.

After a little more digging in Issue 10, we discovered that The Morninglight, the new age wellness cult, was directly involved in the attack, having groomed the bomber, John, for the task, through the brainwashing Fear Nothing Foundation. We weren’t the only person investigating the Morning Light however, and a trail of bodies lead us to the Rabbit Killer, an assassin who appeared to be tracking down everyone related to the bomb plot. The Rabbit was always one step ahead of us and we still don’t know if the Killer was hired for revenge, or if someone was mopping up their mistakes.

Talking about mistakes, we also learned the bomb was supposed to have been detonated within the Orochi Tower itself, but the bomber, John, panicked and set it off early. John has now fused with the Filth in some capacity and lives inside the city’s electronics. He has locked down the Tower, trying to trap within it the source of his terror: Lilith.

We first met Lilith herself, way back in Issue 7 when she used us to infiltrate an Orochi facility and then tried to cut off our legs. We’ve since learnt she had a falling out with her boss and business partner Samuel Chandra, CEO of the Orochi Corporation. We don’t know the extent of her involvement with the planned bombing of the Tower, but we’ll be damn sure to ask her when we run into her next. With Issue 11, we will finally have some answers.

 

Come on in Chuck

The new missions starts with the signal. I won’t spoil exactly what that is, but John sure knows how to get our attention. You literally can’t miss it (not least because it’s in a cutscene). Such an ostentatious display hasn’t gone unnoticed, and you’re not the first people to make their way into the tunnels. A small hoard of Jingu Clan, Korinto Kai, and House-In-Exile warriors are fighting a never ending stream of Orochi drones. After running past the starting area, we came under attack by a semi-operational Orochi tank. Don’t get hit by that, as it really hurts.

The tunnels are very well defended, but thankfully our allies manage to alert us to the various traps by setting most of them off for us. If you’re paying attention to what’s going on around you, and have a good memory for previous mission “gimmick mechanics” you shouldn’t have any trouble getting past all the deadly traps. This part can get a little tricky if you’re doing it in a group, but luckily only one of you needs to get through and save the rest of you from dying a very dishonorable death. It’s still a long slog, and if you’re able to get through the gauntlet in less than six minutes, you’ll earn an achievement. Word of warning – this Issue is an achievement bonanza. Do take a moment before you proceed to check the achievement tab for this Issue or you might be faced with “Achievement Failed” words on the screen.

There are no good demons, not even dead demons

While the three Kaidan factions fought their way into the Tower together, whatever temporary truce they had falls apart when the immediate Orochi threat is over, with Gozen and Inbeda about to tear each other apart. It’s up to Daimon “Voice of Reason” Kyota to calm everyone’s nerves and reminds us we’ve bigger fish to fry. He really is the kitten’s ankles. With the bloodshed avoided, the NPCs will guard the ground floor and prevent anyone else from getting into the tower. With our backs protected, we’re free to fight our way to the top of the Tower, one floor at a time.

 

We see limitations as a challenge, and the impossible as a dare. We will change the world

We want to find our way to the Penthouse, where Lilith eagerly awaits our visit. To get to the Penthouse though, we need to find the right security key, which can only be found somewhere on the Boardroom level. Of course we can’t take an elevator directly to the Boardroom either, because that would be too easy, so we have to start further down the chain. Three steps lower to be precise. Alpha, Beta and Omega floors must be completed first. The Alpha level floors are all combat based, and have been designed to take roughly the same amount of time, to prevent players from picking the quickest one on repeat playthroughs. The Beta and Omega levels are more varied when it comes to gameplay offering a combination of sabotage, investigation and combat style play, with Omega’s always ending in a boss fight. Each floor has its own side missions, rewarding the player with a filth canister capable of dropping a shipping container key, or something even more valuable.

Each company has its own floors, with 21 unique levels to explore. Each time you take the quest, you can explore three of them. The lobby floor contains a number of elevators which will take you to the Alpha security level floor, and you can choose to start with any of the eight Orochi companies you want. After finding out more information about these companies, it’s hard not to draw parallels between TSW and the real world companies. You’ll see what we mean as you go through the story. After your initial choice of a floor you want to go to, the next two floors you visit are usually random. Each floor has a discrete story, told through various environmental techniques. One thing to look forward to are the secret floors that will be added secretly, so you’ll be surprised by them in the future. We saw numerous readable notes littered around the place, usable computers, and even a number of whiteboards full of information. Be on the lookout for Easter Eggs, especially when it comes to those whiteboards. The development team really paid a homage to our wonderful community with some of them!

 

An Eerie Glow

One thing we noticed as we explored a very darkly illuminated Sycoil level was that the corridors of each level resembled the Orochi logo, slowly spiralling inwards, with a big room in the centre. This means you’ll always know roughly which direction to move in, making it difficult to get lost. After fighting our way through hordes of fungal annoyances, we found a dead scientist clutching a Security Card for another level. The card is random, but if you’re in a group, everyone gets the same one that allows you to travel to the next floor.

 

Ghosts in a Maze

Beta Anansi level has something truly special. The corridors there are bare and empty, with side doors all closed. Peeking through a window we caught a glimpse of what looked like the big virtual reality scenario platforms in the Sunken Library. It was much larger than the Venetian ones though, and begged the question, which one came first? Venice or Orochi? I’m sure the lore and environmental storytelling aspects will provide some more clues when we have time to fully explore the level.

I was not prepared for what happened when the scenario started. As we loaded in, a fade in fade out message, repeated in chat, told us we could use Orochi Power to destroy Ghosts. The world became neon black and white, looking a little bit like something from Tron. We were still trying to work out what that message mean when a number of green glowing jelly shaped ghosts appeared and started moving around the maze. It immediately made me think of Pacman and to complete the level, we had to collect Orochi Power Ups and run over the ghosts before it ran out. The music in here was exactly what you’d expect from an oldschool video arcade, and this whole level was an absolute delight. Upon escaping the simulation we were back in the Anansi offices and could open a few new doors, finding the next keycard, a few more pieces of the story and a note complaining about having to clean up after people have used the “Adult” programs.

 

Pleased to Meat You

Our third and final floor was Zagan Omega, and this contained a massive surprise. Not everyone was dead! The place was crawling with Orochi scientists just trying to get on with their work, wondering why we were bothering them. Apart from a bit of red liquid dripping from the pipes running along the ceiling, everything seemed quite peaceful, until you started looking closely. A whiteboard seemed to suggest Zagan were trying to grow meat in a lab, but were having trouble making it taste like regular meat, and not killing everyone who eats it.

 

The final boss on this level was the first dual shielded monster we’d seen in the tower so far. He had an attack which reminded me of the Dark House Sorcerer from the Darkness War dungeon. He would run into the middle of the room and spurt blood in four directions, covering the edge of the room in persistent damage. His blood spurts then began to spin around slowly, making sure you keep on your toes or get knocked back into the pools of blood. It would have been quite a challenge if we were on our own, and I’m excited to see what the other Omega level bosses will do. With the boss defeated we find the key to the Boardroom, and proceed to the next mission.

 

Corporate Bees

Stepping a few meters down the corridor, we’re greeted by this talkative fellow over a TV screen. We’ve seen him on posters all over the place, but this is the first time we’ve had any direct contact with Samuel Chandra himself. He wants us to turn back, and let him deal with Lilith on his own. We press on despite his urging for peace, and eventually he blows our mind and introduces us to the Mitsubachi.

If you’ve ever wondered why the Orochi seem to produce so many weapons and equipment suited specifically for our bee powers, you now know why. We are not alone! Oh and remember that portable anima well Romain Amiel teased us with in the last Monthly Development Update? Yeah, you’ll get to explore how they were created on one an entire Manticore floor and dedicated to how they were created.

 

Our Lagomorphic Friend

Heading up into the giant penthouse we can see Lilith standing on a balcony, modelling for the Issue 11 cover artwork. Before we can reach her, we enter a cutscene and discover our favourite assassin has beaten us there. If you want to find out what happens next, and you will, you’ll have to wait and see for yourself.

 

Ultimate Power

While there isn’t a new progression system being introduced with Issue 11, completing the storyline will unlock something new and ultimately very cool. Something based on the choices you’ve made with the Dreamers previously. If you accepted a gift from a Dreamer, or ran away in righteous defiance, you will finally reap your reward. Not only does it look uber cool, it will also be the Ultimate ability to have. The thing with it is that you can only get one of them and that will be based on the choices you’ve made this far. If you’d like to have another one, you’ll need to create another character and make different choices. This ability will be the most powerful ability on the ability wheel so far and will be able to one-shot certain enemies dealing a huge amount of damage. This ability will work slightly differently in upcoming dungeon and raid, but it will definitely be interesting to see how players end up using it.

 

 

Collecting Issues

A Collector’s Edition full of new goodies will be available for Issue 11, and will contain an Orochi lab/trench coat, the Little Smiler mech pet and an Experimental Anima Injector gadget. The gadget grants you the effect of either a penetration, critical rating or critical power anima potion, with a 30min cooldown. Which effect you get is random, and lasts for 60min, or until death. There are a number of other new cosmetic items, including a couple of sci-fi looking visors and an Orochi drone faceplate, awarded for the various new achievements.

 

 

Skill Tinkering

As with every major patch, a number of changes have been made to various skills. While the recent Enhanced Player Experience raised the ire of some players with a sizeable damage nerf to all AOE skills, Issue 11 contains a number of small buffs to stat boosting passives like Accuracy and Mad Skills. Various cone and column AOE attacks have also had their damage boosted slightly, making up for the downside of having to aim them, unlike most circular AOEs. Raiders will also be pleased to know that Iron Maiden will now provide a 15% bonus to penetration chance instead of the previous 10%, although this comes at the cost of regular penetration chances being lowered slightly. Agitator now increases hate generation by 350%, up from 300%, which goes a little way to helping tanks keep aggro after their AOE attacks recently became less effective.

 

The Future

As Issue 11 has been designed for solo play, our group was able to breeze through most of the combat encounters. From what I could tell, the combat looked a little more challenging than the South Kaidan area, but  less difficult than the nightmare level monsters on the ship off the docks. Romain Amiel did mention that upgrading our AEGIS shields would be useful in the higher levels of the Tower, especially for solo play.

When you enter the tower with us, expect more of the story telling that you’ve grown to love. Be ready for more consequences and revelations than you can handle. Be prepared to take your time and look around, and breathe in the atmosphere. AIMEE the Orochi AI assured me the atmosphere on this level is perfectly safe, and I’m sure she wouldn’t lie.

 

NOTE: The crew of Beyond the Veil: The Secret World podcast will be interviewing Romain Amiel (TSW’s Lead Designer) and Joshua Doetsch (TSW’s Lead Writer) on 7th of May at 7PM EST live over on our Twitch channel. Join them in chat asking questions or you can post them on TSW’s forums and they’ll make sure to ask them for you.