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[Story spoilers!!] Heart of the HOTS - Page 16

Forum Index > SC2 General
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Warlock40
Profile Joined September 2011
601 Posts
March 13 2013 09:33 GMT
#301
hopefully they are going to make a really good ending for LotV but i guess its just going to be kerrigan sacrifises her power to kill the bad dude, turns human cus she lost all power and then shes going to do some 18+ movie with raynor


Pretty much.
Gamegene
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United States8308 Posts
March 13 2013 09:42 GMT
#302
On March 13 2013 17:50 shaldengeki wrote:
Also the Stutkov cameo seemed pretty gratuitous to me. He really could've been replaced by generic infested Terran X and nothing in the storyline would've changed.

Not that this is such a huge problem in the grand scheme of things, I was just looking forward to some callbacks to BW and didn't really get anything substantial. Kind of a letdown.


hey no one complained about nova man.

anything to give the hardcore external canon fans a pat on the head.
Throw on your favorite jacket and you're good to roll. Stroll through the trees and let your miseries go.
Gamegene
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United States8308 Posts
March 13 2013 09:51 GMT
#303
Compared to the really shitty ending to WoL, I was pretty happy with the ending for HOTS. It was emotionally satisfying because it gave the campaign's focus on Kerrigan's ascension with the Zerg and the second loss of her humanity meaning. Unlike Jim Raynor fighting the dominion for 90% of the campaign, only to turn around and go to Char, fight the zerg, kill his best friend after a long forgotten plot point, and carry Kerrigan into the sunset.
Throw on your favorite jacket and you're good to roll. Stroll through the trees and let your miseries go.
RisingTide
Profile Joined December 2008
Australia769 Posts
March 13 2013 10:15 GMT
#304
On March 13 2013 17:46 Warlock40 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 13 2013 15:52 abominare wrote:
On March 13 2013 15:05 Swords wrote:
A lot of these posts seem very focused on "good" vs. "bad" which obviously makes sense in terms of storytelling. That being said, one of the interesting things to me about SC/BW was there was often the sense that nobody was just good and nobody was just bad. The characters frequently do what's best for their survival or their race's survival - and oftentimes this means taking actions that are wrong or appear evil. In the meantime you have Duran slinking around in the background manipulating the various factions to some unidentified end goal. Alliances frequently change - Raynor/Mengsk, the Dark Templar and Tassadar, Kerrigan/Zeratul, etc.

I think this is part of why people are dissatisfied with SC2 storylines - the focus isn't on the faction/race, it's on very specific characters. WoL isn't the "Terran Campaign" it's the Raynor Campaign. Likewise HoTS is the Kerrigan Campaign instead of the Zerg Campaign. SC2 tells the story of what happens to 3 specific characters from the first game (with some Mengsk/Duran/etc, but not much).

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing - it's simply a different way to tell a story. I do think a lot of people miss the unique way SC/BW was told though. It played out like a historical document to some extent - and you got to watch each move a variety of political players made, and see how each move played out through your actions in controlling each various faction.


Raynor has always been the good guy. Even as a former criminal, SC1 always made it a point to try to play it off as some playful wild west shenanigan where he did some sort of robin hood crime. Hes always been played out as the likeable character and the only one who retains his humanity.

The blurring of morality for the races as a whole made for interesting story telling. It was basically a prototype game of thrones, a story about a bunch of really shitty people who shouldn't be in control of the universe but are. Jimmy is like Jon Snow, the guy everyone likes and actually should be in charge of the show but never will.

Unfortunately Chris Metzen is an actual being, who loves the M Night Shamelon twist of "wait the bad guys ARE the good guys!". Thus we get Kerrigan the savior of the universe from kooky zel naga hermit who lives in a black hole.

Jim's character was salvageable from WoL, he had fallen back to the naivety that had allowed Kerrigan to be betrayed and sacrificed everything at the chance to save her and right his wrongs in supporting mengsk. Him showing up at the end firmly ruined his character as a whole. Why?

Lets remember Jim's first mission ever in SC, he risks life and limb to save of a bunch of civies that everyone else has written off because they are so meaningless in the eyes of the power hungry tyrants running the show. In fact he aligns with Mengsk because he naively thinks that the man can make a difference and cares for the people. Mengsk turns out to be just a shitty of a person as the last ruler and betrays him and kerry sending jim into a spiral. From a story telling perspective, SC:BW is the low point, the great adversity that weighs heavily on the hero in an epic. He makes some bad calls and has to take some bad short term alliances and eventually fully cements himself in his role, its his job to put down his former lover kerrigan.

I mean fuck this is a really sad god damn story. Dude fights for the good of people, gets betrayed by the man he puts his faith in and has to watch his lover be corrupted and turned into a monster as a result of his good success in helping megnsk. In the end she even continues to betray him and he watches the rest of his friends die for it.

Then SC2 happens and we get told theres a space baddy who live in black hole who is now really the bad guy. Jim gets to save kerry but then she has to transform back and keep killing innocents by the tens of millions, or do we just have to assume that every marine is a card carrying SS member and all the planets and major capitals she torches were evacced the week before. Now Jim who chastises her about her butcherings shows up at the end to help commit a giant atrocitiy to get to one man, keep in mind shes a god damn ghost who specialize in covert assassinations not involving giant wars. Then he gives her basically the thumbs off as she reveals that she can actually fly (THEN WHY FIGHT THROUGH THE GOD DAMN ELEVATOR) and smiles as she continues her complete lust of power and murder.

I'd been happier if we had ditched this Amon zel naga space jesus story and continued this as a tragedy where raynor's misplaced trust leaves him as a broken man who eventually has to own up and put down the monsters he put into power/create. Thats an interesting story to me.


This. This, so much. You've said everything in my head and more.


Yeah, gonna second this opinion.
BurgerFreak
Profile Joined March 2013
Denmark37 Posts
March 13 2013 13:38 GMT
#305
On March 13 2013 19:15 RisingTide wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 13 2013 17:46 Warlock40 wrote:
On March 13 2013 15:52 abominare wrote:
On March 13 2013 15:05 Swords wrote:
A lot of these posts seem very focused on "good" vs. "bad" which obviously makes sense in terms of storytelling. That being said, one of the interesting things to me about SC/BW was there was often the sense that nobody was just good and nobody was just bad. The characters frequently do what's best for their survival or their race's survival - and oftentimes this means taking actions that are wrong or appear evil. In the meantime you have Duran slinking around in the background manipulating the various factions to some unidentified end goal. Alliances frequently change - Raynor/Mengsk, the Dark Templar and Tassadar, Kerrigan/Zeratul, etc.

I think this is part of why people are dissatisfied with SC2 storylines - the focus isn't on the faction/race, it's on very specific characters. WoL isn't the "Terran Campaign" it's the Raynor Campaign. Likewise HoTS is the Kerrigan Campaign instead of the Zerg Campaign. SC2 tells the story of what happens to 3 specific characters from the first game (with some Mengsk/Duran/etc, but not much).

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing - it's simply a different way to tell a story. I do think a lot of people miss the unique way SC/BW was told though. It played out like a historical document to some extent - and you got to watch each move a variety of political players made, and see how each move played out through your actions in controlling each various faction.


Raynor has always been the good guy. Even as a former criminal, SC1 always made it a point to try to play it off as some playful wild west shenanigan where he did some sort of robin hood crime. Hes always been played out as the likeable character and the only one who retains his humanity.

The blurring of morality for the races as a whole made for interesting story telling. It was basically a prototype game of thrones, a story about a bunch of really shitty people who shouldn't be in control of the universe but are. Jimmy is like Jon Snow, the guy everyone likes and actually should be in charge of the show but never will.

Unfortunately Chris Metzen is an actual being, who loves the M Night Shamelon twist of "wait the bad guys ARE the good guys!". Thus we get Kerrigan the savior of the universe from kooky zel naga hermit who lives in a black hole.

Jim's character was salvageable from WoL, he had fallen back to the naivety that had allowed Kerrigan to be betrayed and sacrificed everything at the chance to save her and right his wrongs in supporting mengsk. Him showing up at the end firmly ruined his character as a whole. Why?

Lets remember Jim's first mission ever in SC, he risks life and limb to save of a bunch of civies that everyone else has written off because they are so meaningless in the eyes of the power hungry tyrants running the show. In fact he aligns with Mengsk because he naively thinks that the man can make a difference and cares for the people. Mengsk turns out to be just a shitty of a person as the last ruler and betrays him and kerry sending jim into a spiral. From a story telling perspective, SC:BW is the low point, the great adversity that weighs heavily on the hero in an epic. He makes some bad calls and has to take some bad short term alliances and eventually fully cements himself in his role, its his job to put down his former lover kerrigan.

I mean fuck this is a really sad god damn story. Dude fights for the good of people, gets betrayed by the man he puts his faith in and has to watch his lover be corrupted and turned into a monster as a result of his good success in helping megnsk. In the end she even continues to betray him and he watches the rest of his friends die for it.

Then SC2 happens and we get told theres a space baddy who live in black hole who is now really the bad guy. Jim gets to save kerry but then she has to transform back and keep killing innocents by the tens of millions, or do we just have to assume that every marine is a card carrying SS member and all the planets and major capitals she torches were evacced the week before. Now Jim who chastises her about her butcherings shows up at the end to help commit a giant atrocitiy to get to one man, keep in mind shes a god damn ghost who specialize in covert assassinations not involving giant wars. Then he gives her basically the thumbs off as she reveals that she can actually fly (THEN WHY FIGHT THROUGH THE GOD DAMN ELEVATOR) and smiles as she continues her complete lust of power and murder.

I'd been happier if we had ditched this Amon zel naga space jesus story and continued this as a tragedy where raynor's misplaced trust leaves him as a broken man who eventually has to own up and put down the monsters he put into power/create. Thats an interesting story to me.


This. This, so much. You've said everything in my head and more.


Yeah, gonna second this opinion.


Seconded aswell... You guys hit the NAIL on the head there... it's exactly why the SC/BW storyline felt alot more engaging and vibrant..

It's like... The scope of the SC2, is MUCH much bigger than SC and BW ever was... alot of more things and scenery are introduced.. but it never really takes off in a big and engaging way. The scope is bigger, but the focus is still very narrow, and it leaves you feeling kinda ackward and alot of pieces of the puzzle missing.

Would have loved to see more engagement of all three races with eachother, instead of just the main characters.. Yea SC/BW was about the main characters too.. but it was also about the races themselves, about xel nega and Duran. The politics, tribulations and just general thought on life in space and the korprulu sector....

Who doesn't remember Arcturus Mengsk' speech at the end of the Terran SC campaign? Doesn't hardly ever get more epic than that... What about Kerrigans ascension speech at the end of BW, and DuGalles memoir to Helena... it was just so different than what the story is now..

I think the story would have benefitted from having a larger vibrant part going on in the background... It feels rushed.. and over much too quick..

I remember the campaigns from SC/BW.. they felt long, and each mission was important....

HOTS + WOL is... Gather biomass/money.. then go get stronger, and then kill some guys.... its.... I don't know man.. it just doesnt feel right...
Shit happens
tomwizz
Profile Joined October 2010
524 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-13 15:02:48
March 13 2013 14:07 GMT
#306
With Mengsk already dead and Kerrigan become good. Look like Starcraft don't have any bad guys left.

I think LotV is all about how Zeratul travel across the galaxy to gathering protoss force together.
And fight that Amon with Rainor+Kerrigan. ( I hope not because it will be very predictable and boring )
justiceknight
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
Singapore5741 Posts
March 13 2013 15:02 GMT
#307
some questions

+ Show Spoiler +

stukov popped out from nowhere or i miss something?

did Narud admit hes samir duran?

any speculation on Zeratul's action for not going against Kerrigan's plan?


paralleluniverse
Profile Joined July 2010
4065 Posts
March 13 2013 15:07 GMT
#308
On March 13 2013 17:41 shaldengeki wrote:
I feel like the cinematics were really well done, but it's incredibly disappointing to see the campaign be a series of "get used to this one unit" maps yet again. Something feels really lacking there, and the fact that you're able to switch upgrades on your units at will makes your unit customization seem... well, unimportant. Normally you'd think about your choices a little bit so you don't make the wrong call, but that sort of gravity is totally lacking now.

I'm also not really sure that Kerrigan's motives for going back to the Zerg really make sense in the context of what's happened in the storyline; presumably she does it to rescue Raynor from prison, but we've already had a ton of missions where squads of troops have been able to sneak onto supposedly-secure Dominion stations/ships, so it seems really weird that one former ghost, let alone the (former) Queen of Blades, couldn't figure out a way to do this covertly.

I mean, not that it even makes sense to raise a huge army to track down one guy, but that's another thing altogether.

EDIT: Oh wait, Kerrigan initially goes back to the Zerg to track down Raynor and help him escape; at this point she didn't know he was in a prison ship. Her actions make even less sense then, since large swarms of Zerg aren't going to be terribly effective at gathering intel from Terrans.

Kerrigan didn't get infested to find Raynor. She thought Raynor was dead.

She got infested to attack Korhal and kill Mengsk.
paralleluniverse
Profile Joined July 2010
4065 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-13 15:35:13
March 13 2013 15:09 GMT
#309
On March 14 2013 00:02 justiceknight wrote:
some questions

+ Show Spoiler +

stukov popped out from nowhere or i miss something?

did Narud admit hes samir duran?

any speculation on Zeratul's action for not going against Kerrigan's plan?



It's obvious that Narud is Duran (shapeshifter, created hybrid, works for some ancient power, Duran spelt backwards). Zeratul says he wants Kerrigan to get her powers back to help defeat Amon.
BlackCompany
Profile Joined August 2012
Germany8388 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-13 15:23:05
March 13 2013 15:20 GMT
#310
On March 14 2013 00:02 justiceknight wrote:
some questions

+ Show Spoiler +

stukov popped out from nowhere or i miss something?

did Narud admit hes samir duran?

any speculation on Zeratul's action for not going against Kerrigan's plan?




Stukov died in SC1 as far as i rememmber, so yes he popped out of nowhere because apparently he didnt die and just got infested

Edit: apparently he was infested in sc1 already and got healed. And then he turned up infested again? Dont understand it myself now lol
ppshchik
Profile Joined September 2010
United States862 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-13 16:27:28
March 13 2013 16:24 GMT
#311
HOTS plot is the worst of all the SC games. The plot is simply-> Gather your swarms back, get primal zergs, attack and kill Mengsk, the end. It completely lacks the dark storylines and plot twists that SC1 campaigns had. Hell, even WoL had more plot twists such as Zeratul's prophecy's, and Tychus' betrayal etc...

Also, HOTS should've given Mengsk a more surprising / meaningful death than Kerrigan just invading Korhal like that, that fucker was cunning and managed to outlive all the other villains from Vanilla SC1 up until HOTS.

Blizzard developers really should focus more on plot writing than designing fancy shit such as reviving ultras that allow players to cruise the campaign under Brutal difficulty.
Legends never die... they end up working in McDonalds.
Spidinko
Profile Joined May 2010
Slovakia1174 Posts
March 13 2013 16:36 GMT
#312
On March 14 2013 01:24 ppshchik wrote:
HOTS plot is the worst of all the SC games. The plot is simply-> Gather your swarms back, get primal zergs, attack and kill Mengsk, the end. It completely lacks the dark storylines and plot twists that SC1 campaigns had. Hell, even WoL had more plot twists such as Zeratul's prophecy's, and Tychus' betrayal etc...

Also, HOTS should've given Mengsk a more surprising / meaningful death than Kerrigan just invading Korhal like that, that fucker was cunning and managed to outlive all the other villains from Vanilla SC1 up until HOTS.

Blizzard developers really should focus more on plot writing than designing fancy shit such as reviving ultras that allow players to cruise the campaign under Brutal difficulty.

Seems to be a matter of taste. I replayed SC and BW campaigns just before HoTS and I found them rather dull in comparison.
phyvo
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States5635 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-13 17:14:01
March 13 2013 17:11 GMT
#313
I actually liked WoL's storyline for the most part, unlike most people in this thread. The final protoss mission was probably the best bit of storytelling in play I've ever seen in an RTS. I loved SC1's story back in the day (the gameplay is dated but the dialogue is great) but honestly I hated playing BW's and just couldn't get over how they just killed so many characters off and just hated Kerrigan (I suppose that was a success at least but I hated the campaign for it).

That said I think HotS is a step down from WoL story-wise. The plot isn't as interesting, the characters don't produce good conversations, the primal zerg/zerus make no sense + Show Spoiler +
Weren't they just parasitic worms until the Xel'naga got to them? If *all* life was more or less eradicated from Zerus at any point why does it look like a lush jungle? What the crap IS the "first spawning pool" or "the power of Zerus" anyway? Basically Blizzard makes up a bunch of stuff about zerg on Zerus and only ties it to the first lore origins of the zerg with a "we survived anyway" hand wave and a "Mannaroth corrupted you" (oh wait that's Amon)
. The whole zerus thing just seems to be filled with plot holes that lack any satisfying explanation... I'm sure the lore crew at Blizzard thinks they have everything tidy and neat in a backroom somewhere but that doesn't help HotS itself.

Dialogue in HotS wasn't a disaster, merely forgettable, but outside of evolution-man and zeratul they rarely developed any narrative. Kerrigan's relationships with the characters were pretty zero-dimensional. In SC1 as zerg you really felt like you were in and part of the swarm, the swarm had a unique character, while in HotS it felt more like I was standing around a bunch of stupid people for Kerrigan to order around and give cheesy lines. The zerg/human morality tension was there but kinda glossed over as Kerrigan just tells them to shut up and nothing ever happens. Aside from that the dialogue didn't help the Raynor/Kerrigan dynamics either. I liked the Raynor/Kerrigan reunion theme from WoL but in HotS with all the one-liners going nowhere the zerg/human tension was there but lacked any underlying depth.

Perhaps I'm just spouting a bunch of opinionated nonsense but, well, I believe in my opinionated nonsense more than I believe in anyone else's. Overmind 2016 plz
"BE A MANGO TO SLEEP LIKE A SNORING TIGER" - Monte
esperanto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Germany357 Posts
March 13 2013 17:22 GMT
#314
This was my mail to blizzard regarding the HotS story: (I still like blizzard, but I felt the need to write something about HotS)


Dear Blizzard Entertainment,

it is not within my intentions to ciriticize you or any of your products. In my time volunteering at a kindergarten I notice that beeing nice and calm is the best way to encourage people to do better.

Thats why I always try to stay positive and one of my basic rules is: "Before you criticise someone, first try to make it better yourself." And here I am offering myself to make it better.

I am talking about your story-writing department. I could write the story and script for your next starcraft product. You wouldn't even have to pay for it. Writing a story based on this great franchise would be an honor for me. I am not kidding.

I even have some experience in writing. I wrote an article for the local newspaper once and I can do limmerics:


There once was a ghost with a gun
who decided to fight not to run
alot of zergs came
your story was lame
I cant believe my money is gone



Sincerely yours,

Jan
caleb3
Profile Joined October 2011
United Kingdom13 Posts
March 13 2013 17:26 GMT
#315
A bit off top - any1 found the secret mission? If there is one of course.
ticklishmusic
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
United States15977 Posts
March 13 2013 17:59 GMT
#316
Amon like the bad guy in Avatar LOK

huehue incoming
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
DarthYAM
Profile Joined December 2010
19 Posts
March 13 2013 18:16 GMT
#317
On March 13 2013 15:52 abominare wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 13 2013 15:05 Swords wrote:
A lot of these posts seem very focused on "good" vs. "bad" which obviously makes sense in terms of storytelling. That being said, one of the interesting things to me about SC/BW was there was often the sense that nobody was just good and nobody was just bad. The characters frequently do what's best for their survival or their race's survival - and oftentimes this means taking actions that are wrong or appear evil. In the meantime you have Duran slinking around in the background manipulating the various factions to some unidentified end goal. Alliances frequently change - Raynor/Mengsk, the Dark Templar and Tassadar, Kerrigan/Zeratul, etc.

I think this is part of why people are dissatisfied with SC2 storylines - the focus isn't on the faction/race, it's on very specific characters. WoL isn't the "Terran Campaign" it's the Raynor Campaign. Likewise HoTS is the Kerrigan Campaign instead of the Zerg Campaign. SC2 tells the story of what happens to 3 specific characters from the first game (with some Mengsk/Duran/etc, but not much).

I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing - it's simply a different way to tell a story. I do think a lot of people miss the unique way SC/BW was told though. It played out like a historical document to some extent - and you got to watch each move a variety of political players made, and see how each move played out through your actions in controlling each various faction.


Raynor has always been the good guy. Even as a former criminal, SC1 always made it a point to try to play it off as some playful wild west shenanigan where he did some sort of robin hood crime. Hes always been played out as the likeable character and the only one who retains his humanity.

The blurring of morality for the races as a whole made for interesting story telling. It was basically a prototype game of thrones, a story about a bunch of really shitty people who shouldn't be in control of the universe but are. Jimmy is like Jon Snow, the guy everyone likes and actually should be in charge of the show but never will.

Unfortunately Chris Metzen is an actual being, who loves the M Night Shamelon twist of "wait the bad guys ARE the good guys!". Thus we get Kerrigan the savior of the universe from kooky zel naga hermit who lives in a black hole.

Jim's character was salvageable from WoL, he had fallen back to the naivety that had allowed Kerrigan to be betrayed and sacrificed everything at the chance to save her and right his wrongs in supporting mengsk. Him showing up at the end firmly ruined his character as a whole. Why?

Lets remember Jim's first mission ever in SC, he risks life and limb to save of a bunch of civies that everyone else has written off because they are so meaningless in the eyes of the power hungry tyrants running the show. In fact he aligns with Mengsk because he naively thinks that the man can make a difference and cares for the people. Mengsk turns out to be just a shitty of a person as the last ruler and betrays him and kerry sending jim into a spiral. From a story telling perspective, SC:BW is the low point, the great adversity that weighs heavily on the hero in an epic. He makes some bad calls and has to take some bad short term alliances and eventually fully cements himself in his role, its his job to put down his former lover kerrigan.

I mean fuck this is a really sad god damn story. Dude fights for the good of people, gets betrayed by the man he puts his faith in and has to watch his lover be corrupted and turned into a monster as a result of his good success in helping megnsk. In the end she even continues to betray him and he watches the rest of his friends die for it.

Then SC2 happens and we get told theres a space baddy who live in black hole who is now really the bad guy. Jim gets to save kerry but then she has to transform back and keep killing innocents by the tens of millions, or do we just have to assume that every marine is a card carrying SS member and all the planets and major capitals she torches were evacced the week before. Now Jim who chastises her about her butcherings shows up at the end to help commit a giant atrocitiy to get to one man, keep in mind shes a god damn ghost who specialize in covert assassinations not involving giant wars. Then he gives her basically the thumbs off as she reveals that she can actually fly (THEN WHY FIGHT THROUGH THE GOD DAMN ELEVATOR) and smiles as she continues her complete lust of power and murder.

I'd been happier if we had ditched this Amon zel naga space jesus story and continued this as a tragedy where raynor's misplaced trust leaves him as a broken man who eventually has to own up and put down the monsters he put into power/create. Thats an interesting story to me.


I disagree with it. If downer endings were the only ones we got it would be boring and unbelievable, not to mention stagnant. If everyone is an asshole and only bad things happen where even the best victory is hollow, why should I care (game of thrones has this problem as well even though I love that series)? Having Raynor continue to have bad shit happen to him (having kerrigan turn evil despite the artifact) gets tiresome and stupid. He deserves to at least find some degree of hapiness, and not be such a broken man at the end of the game (having him get more broken is really tires). WOL was natural because it forced the broken man to go in a believable direction; facing his past and finally atoning for his failures (each sub plot involves one of Raynor's demons). In Heart of the swarm he's in a believable place. He doesn't get to ride into the sunset, but they've both made peace with it, and he's finally managed to do something without it blowing him up.



2.) Kerrigan: Kerrigan does not have a lust for power and murder in heart of the swarm. The game also flat out ackowledges that she isn't a hero either. Kerrigan herself admits that her actions are ruthless, even if she doesn't enjoy it.

a.) When Kerrigan killed Lessara she didn't take any pleasure in it.
b.) After realizing that Warfield was right she spared the injured soldiers (which she would have killed earlier)
c.) Doesn't stab the Terrans in the back even though Za'gara tells her "the other brood mothers think that we should do this".
d.) just prior to the final battle, she and Valerian have a conversation wherein Valerian asks her to try avoid hitting civillian centres. At first Kerrigan says no, but after Valerian points out that millions will die, she agrees to make an effort to do so even though she can't guarentee it. In essence, it isn't necissarily some giant atrocity. It's nasty, but is far less destructive than tarsonis and most other zerg rampages. She gets her hands dirty, but isn't an indiscriminate butcher.
e.) Blizzard confirmed that Kerrigan wasn't wholly herself in Brood war. Part of it was the massive power to get revenge on those who wronged her, part of it was Amon's taint, and part of it was her morality being surpressed by the infestation.
f.) the whole "just kerrigan and she was being herself in brood war all along" never made sense. She tried to call for help even when being put in the Chrysalis, and even though she had every reason to hate the confederacy and be a heartless sociopath as a terran she still had morals and still opposed using the psi emitters. As such, the artifact restoring her humanity and thereby turning her into a good guy is entirely plausible.

The Overmind was still amoral, and Amon can be reconciled. In essence, I felt that this progression was far more organic and natural



DarthYAM
Profile Joined December 2010
19 Posts
March 13 2013 18:20 GMT
#318
On March 14 2013 02:11 phyvo wrote:
I actually liked WoL's storyline for the most part, unlike most people in this thread. The final protoss mission was probably the best bit of storytelling in play I've ever seen in an RTS. I loved SC1's story back in the day (the gameplay is dated but the dialogue is great) but honestly I hated playing BW's and just couldn't get over how they just killed so many characters off and just hated Kerrigan (I suppose that was a success at least but I hated the campaign for it).

That said I think HotS is a step down from WoL story-wise. The plot isn't as interesting, the characters don't produce good conversations, the primal zerg/zerus make no sense + Show Spoiler +
Weren't they just parasitic worms until the Xel'naga got to them? If *all* life was more or less eradicated from Zerus at any point why does it look like a lush jungle? What the crap IS the "first spawning pool" or "the power of Zerus" anyway? Basically Blizzard makes up a bunch of stuff about zerg on Zerus and only ties it to the first lore origins of the zerg with a "we survived anyway" hand wave and a "Mannaroth corrupted you" (oh wait that's Amon)
. The whole zerus thing just seems to be filled with plot holes that lack any satisfying explanation... I'm sure the lore crew at Blizzard thinks they have everything tidy and neat in a backroom somewhere but that doesn't help HotS itself.

Dialogue in HotS wasn't a disaster, merely forgettable, but outside of evolution-man and zeratul they rarely developed any narrative. Kerrigan's relationships with the characters were pretty zero-dimensional. In SC1 as zerg you really felt like you were in and part of the swarm, the swarm had a unique character, while in HotS it felt more like I was standing around a bunch of stupid people for Kerrigan to order around and give cheesy lines. The zerg/human morality tension was there but kinda glossed over as Kerrigan just tells them to shut up and nothing ever happens. Aside from that the dialogue didn't help the Raynor/Kerrigan dynamics either. I liked the Raynor/Kerrigan reunion theme from WoL but in HotS with all the one-liners going nowhere the zerg/human tension was there but lacked any underlying depth.

Perhaps I'm just spouting a bunch of opinionated nonsense but, well, I believe in my opinionated nonsense more than I believe in anyone else's. Overmind 2016 plz



actually the overmind was created after the Xel'naga evolved the Zerg. The primal zerg are probably the zerg that are hyperevolved, but existed before the Overmind was made. Zurvan might have not known the xel'naga got involved. The "primal power" was probably the xel'naga's influence WITHOUT Amon's taint (everything overmind on). I felt Kerrigan and Raynor had a good dynamic and the conversations were good.
willoc
Profile Joined February 2011
Canada1530 Posts
March 13 2013 18:26 GMT
#319
Hehehe. Reading all this. Agree and Disagree. Here's what I want say:

Did anyone else feel like Kerrigan was some pirate queen on board a giant pirate space ship filled with a wacky pirate crew? After I got Stukov on board, suddenly, I just felt like everyone on board the Leviathan was wearing pirate hats, saying random things and then going out to get more booty (essence, biomass, whatever).
Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid!
dcemuser
Profile Joined August 2010
United States3248 Posts
March 13 2013 19:18 GMT
#320
On March 14 2013 03:26 willoc wrote:
Hehehe. Reading all this. Agree and Disagree. Here's what I want say:

Did anyone else feel like Kerrigan was some pirate queen on board a giant pirate space ship filled with a wacky pirate crew? After I got Stukov on board, suddenly, I just felt like everyone on board the Leviathan was wearing pirate hats, saying random things and then going out to get more booty (essence, biomass, whatever).


I never got this vibe at all, but now I don't think I will be able to picture anything else on my second playthrough.
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