Review: Medieval Party 2013

This past summer we've been a little pampered....or tortured, depending on your point of view.

On the pampered side of things, the past three parties have been brand new; we really didn't know exactly what to expect when walking waddling into them.

Those same three parties were also Takeovers, which some might call torture.

But, now comes the first strictly Club Penguin, returning party since May - the-once-thought-axed Medieval Party.  Huzzah!

Source: Club Penguin Wikia

While, as I mentioned above, there are several things that set September's party apart from our last three events, one thing stayed almost exactly the same - a divide in the Club Penguin community's view.  You see, with every single Takeover party (even the, what I'd now call beloved, Teen Beach Movie Summer Jam), some said, "Club Penguin should be only Club Penguin," while others said, "bring it on!"

This trend continues with the Medieval Party - albeit in a different fashion.  Some say they have grown tired of the Medieval Party.  However, myself and others have no problem with it returning.

You see, the Medieval Party has always been one of my favorites.  I've had the pleasure of attending all of them, except for the first one (I joined two months after that one ended).  It's always made me nostalgic.  I've particularly love the music at this party and the designs.  Maybe it's because I enjoy fantasy stuff.

Source: SkipperJay

So, you can understand how excited I was when the event was confirmed in last month's Club Penguin Magazine.  Having thought I had lost it in May, it was all the more fulfilling.

This party does something that all THREE returning parties have done this year - changed things up.  Now this is both a good thing and a bad thing.  Good, because there needs to be at least one thing new to keep things interesting.  Bad, because I want that nostalgia of seeing the Tree Fort in the Forest with those puffles poking their heads out of that one hole.

This is also bad because new penguins aren't able to experience the fun of the previous years' Medieval events.  What I always thought was neat about the Medieval Party is that what happened the previous year was rolled over to the next, allowing you to relive the fun and let new players have a go at past obstacles.  However, this year, the four events of last year were all left out.  Now I understand this as far as Scorn is concerned because that might make the focus of the party confusing, but the Knight's Quests are a different story.  Why not copy and paste and just bring them back for old time's sake?  The Underground Pool isn't being filled up by anything else.  Why waste an easy way to add additional content?

Source: Xoro999

Few decorations from past parties have lived to see another day.  The new designs are sleek and varied, although the color yellow seemed to be in abundance on Club Penguin's color palette.  However, this section signifies one of my biggest gripes with the party.

Remember that nice royal castle with the harp music and the little, little butterfly that you could have fly around that one plant with the cursor of your mouse?  Yeah.......that's gone.  That's gone for the first time in the party's history.  And what's it replaced with?  Oh, yeah....the normal Ski Lodge.

And it's not just that room.  The Gift Clothes Shop, Boiler Room, Ski Hill, and other rooms have the same fate.  But, why?

Source: CPDN

The designs are there, nothing really needs to be changed on them.  Club Penguin just needs to "rescan" them into the game and they're done.  Something is always better than nothing.  Why not take advantage of the art in storage if you're not replacing it with anything?

And there's also another gaping problem here, which kind of includes that last point: half of the island isn't decorated!  Many key rooms, which are frequently decorated, are bare at this festivity.

For instance, remember when I brought up in my Monsters University Takeover review that the Ski Village, a room which rarely doesn't have a thing in it, was missing decorations at that party?  Well, I let the fact slide that it wasn't decorated for the review of July's Star Wars shindig (and with that word, I have used every possible party term known to man - or at least this guy) because that was a very party room driven event.  However, I brought up it's glaring decoration problem again in last month's Teen Beach Movie party review.  But now, we have four parties in a row with no banners or paint jobs in sight at the place.  WHAT.  HAS.  HAPPENED?!

Source: Club Penguin Wikia

Then there's the music.  There are a couple small new tracks this year that fit in perfectly with the old, goosebump-inducing themes from year's past.  The only strange part is that, on my computer at least, it took a lot longer for songs to start when I first entered rooms on the first day of the party.  Usually, the silence I am greeted with when I enter a room initially during my first visit to a party is broken by song after four or five seconds.  However, at this event, it took a full minute for one of the themes to come out of my computer's speaker.  What's up with that?

The items at this party are all crafted well.  However, there only three free items!  What happened to the Summer Jam's get-a-new-item-everyday system?  It just seems so random....and I'm not talking about that TV show.

Then we come to the main story-line of the party.  Garianna is an interesting addition to the very slow-growing Club Penguin canon.  The way Rockhopper was infused into the plot was pretty interesting as well.

Source: Club Penguin Wikia

The potions mini-game is very fun.  Any party that has a mini-game instantly gets a leg up, in my opinion.  It's very simple, yet sort of addicting.  The animation and designs are flawless, along with the music.  I never ran into a bug while playing it (which is kind of strange, because don't most potions require bugs in them?  At least, that's what Harry Potter taught me ;p).

But, that's not to say there isn't a problem with it.  Even if that problem amounts to exactly, right on the dot: nothing.

Those who have been reading this blog for awhile or have gone through my archives will remember (or may be going through therapy to try to forget ;p) my little gripe with the Star Wars Tatooine Stormtrooper game - even though it did not affect me in the slightest.

Source: Penguin Lodge

In that game, you played as a penguin, with your own color, that looked suspiciously like Harrison Ford Indiana Jones Han Solo.  Only problem is, if you were a girl playing that game, you were the opposite gender, something Club Penguin had never done before.  Everything else has been for both genders.

Well, the empire just struck back.

In this game, you see a penguin, who I presume is "yourself," in the shadows, mixing the potion.  One problem though: that self has a pointed hat, with the top drooped down ever so slightly.  That self also has a cackling laugh.  That self is a witch - a female witch.  It's the exact opposite of the problem at the Star Wars Takeover.

Source: Boba and Jango CP

Now, you could say that you are playing as a different character than your avatar while you play, similar to how you can play as your puffles in several games, but Club Penguin doesn't do that that often.  I think it's just strange that they didn't make these two games suitable for both genders.  If the character was a wizard and didn't have that laugh, we'd be all good, since that could go across both genders easier.  It's not a big problem - it's just a little thing that bothers me, slightly.

The only other thing is that I think that the game would be neat if there were some obstacles.  Maybe some pixie dust that blows up if you make contact with it?

The final thing at this party is transforming.  Each transformation is done well, with the Potion of Fleet being the most useful thing ever (especially if you are trying to get in a full room on foot to meet Gary).  It's also nice that there is no time limit and that you can combine them.  However, I feel that the special dances were a bit underwhelming.  Many of the transformations don't do much when you use the actions.  Some do essentially the same thing for each action.  Although, I do think that could watch the mutant-puffle-hybrids jump around for a few hours.  Hey, maybe I already did!  You don't know me! ;p

Source: Club Penguin Wikia

And as a final point, I just have to say: is it just me or does the dragon transformation seem very similar to the dinosaur ones from the Prehistoric Party, especially when you watch the actions?

So, in closing, I think the Medieval Party is here to stay in September - and I'm just fine with that.  Sure, I am sad that the Fair isn't coming back - at least not this year - but this party proves a worthy replacement.  I just hope they can coexist once again in the future.

Source: Chill's CP Opinions

As Billybob would say, Waddle On!
- Chillin43