25/11/2013 - "Dranoo Village and Dranoo Path" by Eater

[Jigoku]

Map Title: Dranoo Village and Dranoo Path
Author: Sergey 'Eater' Levin
From: Nali Chronicles
Filename: NCLevel004.unr
Music Files: NCERising.umx, Fifth.umx




Video Playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOPMtAUqiQw

Synopsis: The player enters a broken temple of sliths and it's filled with slith and tarydium.

Discuss!

[TheIronKnuckle]

This level was where I stopped playing nali chronicles on my first playthrough. Those giant squids in the black lake were just too much for me. That was in 2005 or 2006 I believe. Only properly played it through in 2012 and I have to say, that dark lake with the squids is still the most memorable aspect.

[SteadZ]

aah... yes... this is the level where you find your rabbit. Contains a bug where if you don't go a certain way, your rabbit dies on you immediately. When I first played NC, I wondered what I even had the rabbit for, it never did anything... I also found the gameplay to be rather difficult at the time, as I had not learnt to use spells, and purely used the weapons. However, the build, while not amazing is solid and the music (NC-Eternity) is great- I just love NC's soundtrack for some reason
While not one of the most outstanding maps in the pack it has it's memorable moments- the giant multi-sludge spitting Queen Slith (foreshadowed nicely by a large hole in the wall made by her) and also the revisiting previously seen areas was also funky. Also, this map preceeds one of my favourite maps- the Ghost Island.
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SZ
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[Sat42]

A great level, that really conveyed the "journey" aspect of the adventure. I have to say I totally agree with TheIronKnuckle, that one section of the map where you can swim in a dark lake to a shrine of sorts only to find yourself surrounded by giant squids is really scary! The first scary level of the pack! I remember having to rely on a basic lightning spell to light my way up to the cave's exit, as by that time my lantern had consumed itself. The Slith boss was easy, not really a bad thing as it still managed to participate in this overall feeling of an adventure rich with detail and sublots to remember. Of course, later in the level is where you meet the talking Nali rabbit, your companion for the rest of the odyssey thereafter. Dranoo Village nicely wrapped things up, with the first intermediate cutscene which sees you sail off to the Ghost Island!

[Semfry]

This feels like 3-4 levels in one with the amount of themes in it. It does a good job conveying a journey and it also introduces multiple plot elements with both the Slith boss and the Rabbit. Plus the second half has one of NC's cool new songs. The visuals are just about adequate, but like most of Eater's other NC levels that's made up for by the sheer amount of stuff you do in it. I think the giant water cave could do with a bit of ambient light, but I guess you are given a lantern right before it. It's also one of the bigger sufferers of early-game NC's pest enemy fetish, but at least most of the environments are pretty open to make dealing with them simple.

[Mister_Prophet]

Oh the rabbit. This is where I encountered the infamous disappearing rabbit glitch and wandered around for an hour because I didn't realize a critical character did not appear.