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Post by dmikester on Feb 22, 2017 16:44:52 GMT -5
So I now have a complete collection of all of the MPC experiences to date (and I've just updated this with Filigree in Shadow), and I thought it would be interesting/helpful to review all of them in case people are unsure of which ones to get and would like an opinion on each of them. I'll start today with my personal ranking and thoughts about which ones would be best to get friends depending on what kind of experience they want.
Ranking (note that I don't think any of them are bad by any means; MPC is very consistent in my opinion and this is purely personal taste)
1. The King in Yellow- very focused and coherent set of mailings, probably the most satisfying story they've told, great and memorable artifact
2. Risen!- another very focused story and a truly amazing artifact
3. The Weeping Book- their scariest offering and the most affordable experience
4. The Lost Treasure of John Augur- the first mailing of this is the best single mailing they've done, the artifact is wonderful, and an excellent epilogue
5. The Demon Jar- their most interactive experience, with some great surprises
6. The Century Beast- very solid experience with an awesome artifact and some great multimedia content, but it does take a long time to get everything
7. Filigree in Shadow- there's a ton of content, and some of it is very good (especially the third mailing and the incredible artifact), but there are included elements that pull you out of the story/make no narrative sense, and at least for the Kickstarter, the quality of the aging on the items was sub-par compared to other Experiences. Also their most expensive Experience, and not worth the extra cost in my opinion
8. Under The Ceiba Tree- I just find this average; some cool items, but kind of a boring story and a neat but not very exciting artifact
9. Tempus Fugit- the second mailing is a lot of fun, but this is overall their least satisfying story, and the artifact is both a weird way to end the story and is very hard to display
Note that Demon Jar and Century Beast are pretty much tied here; I could swap either of them in my ranking. They're both really, really great, and for different reasons.
Recommendations for what to get yourself and friends
For yourself: I'd follow the order above, though I would recommend The Weeping Book first if money is an issue. That's actually how I started and I was so impressed that I clearly went nuts and got the rest.
For the friend who likes anything, especially horror: Risen. I think Risen is maybe their purest mailing experience; there's a claimed family connection in the beginning, the documents aren't so over the top that they seem implausible, and the artifact at the end is really outstanding and unexpected. Weeping Book is also an excellent option, though you'd really have to know your friend well and ensure that they wouldn't freak out too much, since it's the artifact without any build-up and it's intense.
For the friend who is more into literature but also into horror: The King in Yellow. The Century Beast is also an option here, but is their longest experience and most expensive.
For the friend who isn't into horror: John Augur. By far my favorite of the more kid-friendly experiences. The artifact is also not over the top like some of them and is really beautifully made.
For the friend who is less into reading and more into tinkering and also into horror: The Demon Jar. Sure, there's reading, but there are also a lot of physical items that you can set up, and the actual jar itself is interactive.
Thanks for reading!
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Post by Beckett on Feb 23, 2017 1:46:22 GMT -5
Wonderful writeup, thank you for this! Might I suggest though to move it out of the public section of the forums, since the entries here can and will occasionally be found by search engines?
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Post by dmikester on Feb 23, 2017 9:05:41 GMT -5
Of course, I wasn't even thinking about the search engine issue! Would spoiler tagging the write-up help with that? I'm also not sure where exactly to post this in the members section.
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Post by dmikester on Feb 23, 2017 11:10:40 GMT -5
And Todd has helpfully moved this discussion. Thanks Todd!
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Post by Todd on Feb 23, 2017 11:18:12 GMT -5
You all make my job so hard...
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Post by thegenii on Feb 24, 2017 12:05:23 GMT -5
I agree on The King in Yellow. It was my first experience and still ranks at the top.
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Post by chrisu on Mar 11, 2017 9:11:11 GMT -5
Well, I didn't do all experiences jet. I have completed Weeping Book, Risen, Tempus Fugit, Demon Jar and Century Beast. Ceiba Tree is next, as I am really looking forward to that artefact, might me a sucker for Mayan culture. I would rate Century Beast top, maybe because I am a roleplayer enjoying Call of Cthulhu and it is exactly like experiencing an adventure in that setting. Second favorite would be either Risen or Demon Jar. I enjoyed both quite a lot. I personally found Risen a little lackluster, I liked Tempus Fugit and its artifact much more. There was just so much more to experience in Tempus Fugit than Risen. I had hoped of more content in Risens second shipment or the crate, but for me it was only the bare bones of a story with too little actual content. Just my 0.05$...
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Post by dmikester on Mar 11, 2017 10:58:45 GMT -5
Thanks for your thoughts! Century Beast is honestly the toughest one of all of these for me to rank, as I really think that it's great and that the artifact is wonderful. I'm going to edit this a little bit now that John Augur ended up having an excellent ending, and when I edit, I may make it clear that I consider some of these experiences to be tied.
I think Risen was their first ever experience (though I could have that wrong, but it's definitely one of the original three), so it makes sense that it would be a little more spare and simple compared to the others, as they were trying something very new and laying the foundation for the other experiences. However, that spareness is actually one of its biggest advantages to me, especially as something to get as a gift, as there isn't an overwhelming amount of ephemera, the story is very focused and easy to follow, and I think of all of them other than The Weeping Book, it's the one that could most easily fool someone who had no idea what's going on, as much of it is based on a real place and event, and the items you get (well, until the final artifact) are highly believable as real things.
Tempus Fugit is a point of debate in the forum here. I actually enjoy the ephemera in it a lot and I especially love the second mailing with the small puzzle. And I agree with you, there is certainly more to do with Tempus Fugit than Risen. The artifact is also certainly a unique item and kind of amazing in it's construction, but for my taste, I think it's dark and hard to see what it is from a distance, and it's very difficult to display in a display case as it's not freestanding (the only one of their artifacts to be that way). Also, to me, it's a narratively unsatisfying artifact; I would have wanted some kind of epilogue that you just don't get. However, I know there are people who love Tempus Fugit and the overall story, which is great! It's just for sure my personal least favorite.
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Post by chrisu on Mar 11, 2017 15:27:02 GMT -5
Well, I like the story conclusion of Tempus Fugit. It gives you something to do, namely keeping the artefact save for the future. As it is a time travel story in which you are only the keeper of the chart I like it a lot. You literally could tell that story to your grandchildren and entrust the artefact into their care one day. I would have liked Risen better if there had been a newspaper clipping about the occurrences in that village. Something along the headlines at the start of the original Resident Evil. And the whole thing didn't feel (sorry, no native speaker here) smooth enough. First you get told that you are connected to the victim but in the end there isn't anything in the case. An additional medical file or better autopsy report which includes your own family name would add more quality for me. But of course I am nitpicking. I don't regret spending money on any of the experiences and will gladly get all of them in the long run. I just wish I had backed Filigree...
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Post by thegenii on Mar 11, 2017 20:51:56 GMT -5
I think the MPC will launch another experience before Filigree in Shadow starts shipping. Just a guess.
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Post by dmikester on Mar 12, 2017 17:26:50 GMT -5
Tempus Fugit spoilers below: I should really go back through Tempus Fugit; my memory of it is that it's more like it's an archeological find, and I don't remember there being a clear reason for you personally to hold onto the chart. My issue with it narratively is that the chart doesn't make it clear that she's ever going to find him; it provides some kind of message that she understands, but the story just ends there, with no positive or negative resolution. She'll just constantly keep looking for him until she lucks out on finding you with the chart. I'm all for metaphorical endings (for example, I used to study Japanese literature, which often ends more spiritually or symbolically than with a clear plot resolution), but this doesn't seem to have a deeper meaning other than "Love can keep someone trying to find their missing loved one forever." You make an interesting point with Risen. I didn't feel a need to have more of an explanation about the village, as I felt that what happened was pretty much implied. I actually love the ending of Risen, but again, to each their own. Finally, I feel like I'm really knocking Tempus Fugit when overall I have a very positive feeling about it, especially the second mailing. I think each and every experience is worth purchasing.
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Post by thegenii on Mar 13, 2017 1:56:11 GMT -5
Risen = thumbs up. The ending is literally in your hands. Tempus Fugit = thumbs down. There is no resolution whatsoever.
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Post by craigrj on Mar 13, 2017 12:29:03 GMT -5
Let me give my take on Tempus Fugit, having just spent a very pleasant afternoon re-reading all the papers and researching the artifact online... Brian Tanner is lost somewhere in time and his wife, Amy, is looking for him. She knows where he is - Quantico Creek - she just doesn't know when. Doing micro-jumps herself is hugely inaccurate which is why she keeps missing "our" time by up to 40 years and the second mailing consists of the letters she sends or persuades people to send on her behalf (hence the final newspaper article in Italian referring to the circumstances of the Italian menu used as a letter in the second mailing). The letters mention she cannot bring anything back with her otherwise she'd bring the artifact itself, but what she can do - and what she explicitly asks "you" to do, is to hold onto the artifact and pass it onto your descendants for several generations - until "her" present time is reached and she's already made contact with your heir to ensure that IF you hold onto it, the heir will find it and bring it to her. So what did Brian bury at Quantico Creek? Simply point - the night sky view of constellations and planets as he saw it from when he is, at that location. The carbon dating sheet gives you the year range of 420 to 620 AD, but the intention is for Amy to look at the constellation pattern in her future time, calculate exactly WHEN Brian is, and use the rest of the meteorite to jump to his time to be with him once more. In fact, night sky viewers already exist for us to use to get a rough idea of when Brian is - the diligent student can calculate the exact date from the artifact. So there is indeed a resolution to the story - IF you keep the artifact, hand it down through the generations, and ensure it does not get destroyed in a fire (as noted in Amy's letter), then you will be responsible for Amy and Brian reuniting back in the past.
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Post by dmikester on Mar 13, 2017 15:25:02 GMT -5
Let me give my take on Tempus Fugit, having just spent a very pleasant afternoon re-reading all the papers and researching the artifact online... Brian Tanner is lost somewhere in time and his wife, Amy, is looking for him. She knows where he is - Quantico Creek - she just doesn't know when. Doing micro-jumps herself is hugely inaccurate which is why she keeps missing "our" time by up to 40 years and the second mailing consists of the letters she sends or persuades people to send on her behalf (hence the final newspaper article in Italian referring to the circumstances of the Italian menu used as a letter in the second mailing). The letters mention she cannot bring anything back with her otherwise she'd bring the artifact itself, but what she can do - and what she explicitly asks "you" to do, is to hold onto the artifact and pass it onto your descendants for several generations - until "her" present time is reached and she's already made contact with your heir to ensure that IF you hold onto it, the heir will find it and bring it to her. So what did Brian bury at Quantico Creek? Simply point - the night sky view of constellations and planets as he saw it from when he is, at that location. The carbon dating sheet gives you the year range of 420 to 620 AD, but the intention is for Amy to look at the constellation pattern in her future time, calculate exactly WHEN Brian is, and use the rest of the meteorite to jump to his time to be with him once more. In fact, night sky viewers already exist for us to use to get a rough idea of when Brian is - the diligent student can calculate the exact date from the artifact. So there is indeed a resolution to the story - IF you keep the artifact, hand it down through the generations, and ensure it does not get destroyed in a fire (as noted in Amy's letter), then you will be responsible for Amy and Brian reuniting back in the past. Awesome, thank you for this! You've definitely inspired me to go through it again tonight to see if I get this conclusion from it, as this is lovely. What I think is telling in my mind is that this is the one experience where off the top of my head I don't have a clear memory of what happens in the end; I think of it as vague and inconclusive. Maybe this means there's just more work for the person experiencing the story to do in order to infer what happens, but I suspect it's more that it's slightly muddled storytelling that requires some leaps to be able to fully understand. Again, I'll go over it tonight with this post in mind and see if I get this impression of the ending from it.
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Post by dmikester on Mar 13, 2017 23:49:53 GMT -5
All right, I went ahead and went through everything again, and I have a more positive feeling about Tempus Fugit's ending now. I do like and appreciate the story much more now that I did a significantly closer reading of the whole thing. It's odd that it wasn't close to as clear to me the first time around as it was on a second read. The artifact certainly holds more meaning now. However, I still maintain that it sits at the bottom of my list for two reasons: 1) The way that the artifact is constructed makes it difficult to display and handle. Cool in concept, not so great in execution. None of their other artifacts have this issue. 2) While I love the way that the story is told, I find the ending relatively thin compared to their others. We get all of the emotional payoff in the second mailing, and the third mailing, beyond having the artifact, just fills in some detail that I'm not even sure we need, like the menu article. I now no longer find the ending vague or inconclusive, I just find it kind of dull. I still feel like an epilogue, say a letter from a future descendant of yours, would have gone a long way towards making this more satisfying. Also, I'm unclear about what the deal is with the fire, which I assume is somehow connected to the evidence of tampering with the crate. That whole part, that there's something sinister going on, feels like an unfinished idea. Still, I'm very glad I went back through this, as I now have a much better understanding of the story. Thanks for inspiring me to do so, chrisu and craigrj!
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