Quick-take: The story stays fresh.

Dan's Review

Classic RPGs may be my favorite game genre. There is something very satisfying about min/maxing out a character and seeing it absolutely destroy the baddies because care was taken with all the stats, weaponry, and exploiting the environment.

That only goes so far. An aspect of RPG that can really make me mad is if everything is basically the same, just the baddies are now at a higher level to counteract the better gear the hero has acquired. It makes me think: "So what was the point? Everything was just made stronger and now we are doing it all again. Just bigger numbers." There needs to be something more.

Fortunately, I can say there was something more. The tired formula was followed... The dungeon got bigger and more dangerous. The hero got dramatically bigger. They started going through it all again. However, there were some side stories to help it. There was more focus on the surrounding town and Dale now taking a keen interest in building that up. While the dungeon did spend a lot of energy expanding floors that did not interest me, it found ways to extend its influence outside its walls, and I am actually interested in seeing how that all plays out.

Score 4/5. This book was not just "Same, but bigger". I am willing to hang on for one more.