Welcome to the Finder’s Archive and a review is what we have in store for you this week. 😊
We take products and review them, intending to give the reader the best chance of evaluating whether this particular release is for them.
There is, of course, a scoring system, similar to that used elsewhere, in a 5-star rating, which we have determined as follows:
1 * – Bad
2 * – Mediocre
3 * – Decent
4 * – Good
5 * – Excellent
The following review is an OPINION piece and only reflects the opinion and tastes (because ultimately, all reviews will be based in personal taste) of the reviewer. Also please note that we were given a free copy for this review, but we will base it on the actual price as well.
That disclaimer out of the way, let’s get on with the show!
DISCLAIMER: A free product was provided for the purposes of this review.
This week we give you City of Mist (you can find it HERE)
Publisher: Son of Oak Game Studio
Author: Amit Moshe
Artists: Marcin Soboń, Manuel Serra, Juancho Capic, Marlon Ruiz, Oliver Morit
System: Apocalypse Engine (modified)
Page count: 144 ( 1 page cover, 1 page inside cover, 1 page credits, 1 page OGL,1 page Table of Contents, 137 pages of content, 1 page back inside cover (advert), 1 page back cover)
Before I start I have to preface this with something. This was provided as a PDF, but in reality, it should be a starter box. This makes it slightly difficult to review in the same context, especially as the PDF is shown in SPREAD form. That means it shows 2 pages at a time. That is extremely annoying in a PDF, and since most layout programs can handle both print (which does need a spread) and PDF (which doesn’t) at once, there’s no real excuse for this not being set up properly. That said, the bookmarks are good, as is the quality of the PDF.
Right, so let’s look at the cover first. A group of heroes (presumably superpowered from what we see here, or at least some of them have strange powers), surrounded by people holding guns. The way they’re drawn seems to indicate criminals of some kind. It looks good, though the artwork is very cartoony. Strangely enough, it contrasts oddly with the back cover – specifically the icons, where the artwork is slightly different. Interesting choice.
So the story of City of Mist can be roughly summed up as: All the stories you know are real (they’re called Mythos) and they can manifest themselves through portals (Rifts) within the City of Mist. The Mist itself is a protective cloak of sorts that layers across the City, preventing it from descending into a chaotic mess of never-ending Mythoi. At the same time, the City cannot survive without the Mythoi, as it lives within the people of the city themselves, often with the Rifts manifesting directly from the inhabitants. (If you’re confused after reading this, don’t worry – so was I. It makes sense after a little further reading).
This of it as the computer game “Wolf Among Us.” That is basically what it can be summed up as. Stories are real, and they live among us, but they only reveal themselves on rare occasions. And it is up to the player characters (who are also Mythoi themselves, able to manifest powers from myth and stories – the pre-prepared characters include a Sumerian Myth (I couldn’t quite figure out which one. I thought the Sumerian lion, but that doesn’t match the artwork), an Aztec God of Thunder (Thor but with no hammer), Iron Hans (Brothers Grimm story), Job (from the Book of Job), and a Japanese Chimaera. As you can see, this leaves room for a LOT of combinations of stories and myths. Personally, I’d love to see someone playing Methusalae as the wise old mentor along with Peter Pan. In any case, I can see a lot of fun being had with strange combinations of myths and stories – and then they go get to kill monsters! Yay!
This gives the players a lot of leeway in how they choose to create their characters (especially with the dual set of Mythos and Logos themes), but what’s equally important, and something I really enjoyed is how the various adventures (or cases) are put together for the players. They’re layered into tiers (called Depths) from 0 to 5 with numerous Clues (scenes, encounters, or hints to progress the story) for each Depth, though Depth 1 usually has the most clues, and Depth 5 is the final “encounter” as the case is solved and the story progresses. I like this as it gives a natural flow to your stories, but it might be hard for a novice GM (or MC in this game) to keep track of. The same goes if it’s a group that prefers rail-road style adventures. But for a more freeform game, this is definitely a good choice.
I would have liked more on how to create adventures, but this IS a starter set, after all, so including a sample adventure instead makes a lot of sense. It’s an interesting one too, drawing on multiple stories and legends, and tying them together in a story that more or less resembles “God Powered Mobsters come calling.” It makes for a compelling story, though for an experienced GM it might be a bit cut-and-dried in the way that each Clue is presented. For a novice though, I think it’ll do well.
But that leads us to the conclusion:
Grading this is difficult. It’s clearly a starter set, and it’d do well in print. But the presentation of the PDF is a bit annoying. At the same time though, it’s clear that a lot of effort was put into it, and it’s well put together.
In the end, I’m going with this being an EXCELLENT (5-star) product, especially for the $15 price. However, if you have the opportunity, I strongly suggest picking up a physical copy instead of the PDF. If I could, I’d actually grade the PDF a 4-star instead of 5, but I don’t think that’s fair on what’s being presented here, so I’m going to round it up. It’s an enjoyable game, and I’d really like to see more. I would suggest, if it’s possible in the future, to put in a small section on how to create your own Case though. It’d be a good way for players and MCs to continue playing in the world. 😊
For those who are interested in this, I also suggest picking up as much of the Free Books for this game as you possibly can. These are excerpts, but they can be used in a pinch to fill in while you wait for more stuff to arrive, or write your won. 😊
Kim Frandsen
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