The Masterminds [Mission series]

[Jimmy_Leppard]

7 hours ago, Notna said:

I had some sort of crash halfway through if I recall correctly, quit it and forgot about it. I'll get back to that too though. Already started with this one! I'm just so happy to see your retirement is never forever 😂

Yeah, well said. By now, I've got more comeback tours than Madonna 😂

[Notna]

Alright, played through in two sittings and usually that's a good sign 😄 Off the top, it's definitely guaranteed Jimmy quality - fantastic story with twists and turns, good characters and a satisfying arc. Wasn't expecting to play as Scott Blake, my favorite protagonist of yours, again so that was an instant plus! Love the use of the new features, very innovative and makes this stand out from the crowd among your previous great work.

 

As somewhat of a minus, call it getting older and wiser or so but I occassionally felt like I was being over-explained to. Previously in playing through your mission packs I felt like that was a necessity to get the complex story, but maybe it's with all the work I've put into learning ways to include more information in a smaller space that makes it stick out a little bit. Nonetheless you're an amazing storyteller as always and there's a very clear flow with the dialogue, and the relationships and communication between characters always stands out as realistic.

 

Spoiler

I would have also liked to see more of the notorius but neverseen Ralph Brown in the story - I must admit attacking his casino and killing all his dudes got me feeling a little guilty not knowing the fellow one bit beforehand😂 The casino shootout was nonetheless great, very challenging. It was also fun to play as Ross for a bit! He's been one of my favorite supporting characters of yours and he was great in this. Tyrus on the other hand was a prick and a very well made character, couldn't believe Ricky and Nate got get. The meat factory shootout and Scott vs. Tyrus fight was neat. It was satisfactory to see justice delivered, but I do wish there was an epilogue to the story; see what happened with Scott and Tanya, how Ross and Brian used their money etc. Maybe one day?

 

Overall, as usual, great work and I'm really happy your retirement doesn't stick😂 As you've done for years, you've again inspired me to get back on the saddle for a bit. I hope to see more classic Jimmy MPs soon, if not right away then hopefully in the years to come😍 Glad to have you around!

 

 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2022 by Notna

[Jimmy_Leppard]

1 hour ago, Notna said:

Alright, played through in two sittings and usually that's a good sign 😄 Off the top, it's definitely guaranteed Jimmy quality - fantastic story with twists and turns, good characters and a satisfying arc. Wasn't expecting to play as Scott Blake, my favorite protagonist of yours, again so that was an instant plus! Love the use of the new features, very innovative and makes this stand out from the crowd among your previous great work.

 

As somewhat of a minus, call it getting older and wiser or so but I occassionally felt like I was being over-explained to. Previously in playing through your mission packs I felt like that was a necessity to get the complex story, but maybe it's with all the work I've put into learning ways to include more information in a smaller space that makes it stick out a little bit. Nonetheless you're an amazing storyteller as always and there's a very clear flow with the dialogue, and the relationships and communication between characters always stands out as realistic.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I would have also liked to see more of the notorius but neverseen Ralph Brown in the story - I must admit attacking his casino and killing all his dudes got me feeling a little guilty not knowing the fellow one bit beforehand😂 The casino shootout was nonetheless great, very challenging. It was also fun to play as Ross for a bit! He's been one of my favorite supporting characters of yours and he was great in this. Tyrus on the other hand was a prick and a very well made character, couldn't believe Ricky and Nate got get. The meat factory shootout and Scott vs. Tyrus fight was neat. It was satisfactory to see justice delivered, but I do wish there was an epilogue to the story; see what happened with Scott and Tanya, how Ross and Brian used their money etc. Maybe one day?

 

Overall, as usual, great work and I'm really happy your retirement doesn't stick😂 As you've done for years, you've again inspired me to get back on the saddle for a bit. I hope to see more classic Jimmy MPs soon, if not right away then hopefully in the years to come😍 Glad to have you around!

Thanks a lot, man!

 

I figured you'd be finished with the mission pack pretty quickly as it's not that long and on top of that, pretty much the entire first chapter has no gameplay at all. I'm very glad you liked the conclusion to the Edge of High Life universe. I hold that mission pack very close to my heart and so finishing that story the right way was very important to me. DYOM IX made it possible. Glad you liked the casino heist mission. That was super fun to make. 😃

 

We'll see if the retirement sticks 😂  Thanks for the kind words and for playing the mission pack, man. It's always a pleasure to hear your thoughts. Cheers!

[Satourn]

Same old, same new

 

I've already made my feelings towards your style clear once before, so I'm not going to re-iterate them here. It's overall a project that stays true to the Jimmy formula, for better or for worse.

 

I did like your implementation of IX's features and the 'Security Cameras' script. The mission where you steal the master keycard feels fresh and unique thanks for that, and the same goes for the Spymaster mission (although the battery drain function is either broken entirely or just didn't work for me).

 

What I absolutely did not like was the script. Notna mentioned well the over-explanation aspect, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. I honestly do not understand how and why do people like Tyrus as a villain and even call him 'well-written' and 'the best villain DYOM has ever seen' when his only schtick throughout the entire plot is 'I'm smarter than you'. To then subvert him to the point that he goes from by far the smartest to by far the dumbest character in a matter of a single mission was just laughable development. The actual writing is also both horribly cliched and also very cringe-inducing at moments.

 

And the story itself is fine. It's not something we haven't seen before in this trilogy, or in your entire catalogue, but it's not egregiously bland or unoriginal. I especially liked that you answered some of the questions players could have through the characters' dialogue.

 

Gameplay feels a lot better than what I'd usually seen in your works before, again, thanks to the new features on offer. The shootout at the quarry sticks out like a sore thumb however, it's unnecessarily unfair to the player.

 

In conclusion, it's an okay project. But that's about it.

Edited October 11, 2022 by Satourn

[Jimmy_Leppard]

1 hour ago, Satourn said:

Same old, same new

 

I've already made my feelings towards your style clear once before, so I'm not going to re-iterate them here. It's overall a project that stays true to the Jimmy formula, for better or for worse.

 

I did like your implementation of IX's features and the 'Security Cameras' script. The mission where you steal the master keycard feels fresh and unique thanks for that, and the same goes for the Spymaster mission (although the battery drain function is either broken entirely or just didn't work for me).

 

What I absolutely did not like was the script. Notna mentioned well the over-explanation aspect, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. I honestly do not understand how and why do people like Tyrus as a villain and even call him 'well-written' and 'the best villain DYOM has ever seen' when his only schtick throughout the entire plot is 'I'm smarter than you'. To then subvert him to the point that he goes from by far the smartest to by far the dumbest character in a matter of a single mission was just laughable development. The actual writing is also both horribly cliched and also very cringe-inducing at moments.

 

And the story itself is fine. It's not something we haven't seen before in this trilogy, or in your entire catalogue, but it's not egregiously bland or unoriginal. I especially liked that you answered some of the questions players could have through the characters' dialogue.

 

Gameplay feels a lot better than what I'd usually seen in your works before, again, thanks to the new features on offer. The shootout at the quarry sticks out like a sore thumb however, it's unnecessarily unfair to the player.

 

In conclusion, it's an okay project. But that's about it.

Hey bud, fancy seeing you here 😃 I didn't think I was ever going to see your review again.

 

I'm sorry to hear you didn't really like it, but considering your prior review and stuff, I can't say I'm surprised. What are you gonna do, am I right? It is how it is. Nonetheless, I'm glad you also liked the keycard mission and the gameplay part of the whole mission pack overall. It was definitely a lot of fun to make alongside the casino heist mission. It took a bit to map everything out to work correctly, but now I can see it was worth it. Security Cameras script is amazing.

 

When it comes to Tyrus, I don't really know. I didn't expect it either. Maybe it's because Tyrus is actually a lot more rigid and more brutal in a sense than many of my other villains. Definitely the most brutal as far as EoHL universe goes. At least that's what I was going for.

 

All in all, thanks for playing the mission pack! 😃

[Black Fox]

In my opinion, it's a good mission pack. I can understand the plot clearly, and missions like the Spymaster and the stealing keycard mission are very refreshing too because you implemented new features, which is great! I also find that during the Spymaster mission, the meter doesn't seem to work as intended but it's a minor issue for me. Overall, it's just the same old mission pack by you with a few minor upgrades, which I enjoy very much as always. I will replay EoHL and Sweep Squad after this to catch up with the story as I played them a long time ago. I hope you don't stop doing this and always work to improve yourself as well as make these good mission packs. Keep up the good work bro!

[Jimmy_Leppard]

5 hours ago, Black Fox said:

In my opinion, it's a good mission pack. I can understand the plot clearly, and missions like the Spymaster and the stealing keycard mission are very refreshing too because you implemented new features, which is great! I also find that during the Spymaster mission, the meter doesn't seem to work as intended but it's a minor issue for me. Overall, it's just the same old mission pack by you with a few minor upgrades, which I enjoy very much as always. I will replay EoHL and Sweep Squad after this to catch up with the story as I played them a long time ago. I hope you don't stop doing this and always work to improve yourself as well as make these good mission packs. Keep up the good work bro!

Thanks a lot, man! Hopefully after replaying those mission packs, this one feels more cohesive. Cheers! 😃