Reviews of the Saerileth Mod

[nethrin]

please post your reviews here.  this thread has been made by me at the behest of others.  I'm not trying to toot my own horn.  please, serious, well-though-out reviews only.  no "this mod rocks" reviews.  if you think so, tell me why.  if you hate it, tell me why.  always supply a reason.  post awaaaaaayyyy!

[Feanor]

SAERILETH : 9/10


Saerileth is a lawful good paladin chosen of Tyr, born on Mount Celestia and dwelt in Sigil as well, who was sent on a holy quest for the church of Tyr.

Balance
She comes with normal equipment, without anything extremely powerful. While there no problems for the gameplay, the logic of the character would require a more powerful weapon : Chosens are the mortal generals of a god and so it would be expected for Saerileth to be better equipped.
In regard to her power, she is extremely balanced and her stats fit perfectly on the character. Yes, there could be said that her Con is low, but, in my opinion, the stats should match the NPC's background and not to be copied from Achilles' biography.

The romance
This is a mod which focuses especially on the relationship between the PC and Saerileth. It has some quests, but all of them can be accounted as minor in comparison with the romance. Unlike the Bioware npc's, she does not come with a trauma from her past and so she does not need therapy. She needs only the PC's love. The mod offers a far better alternative than Aerie for a sweet/romantic relationship.
The romance is extremely well made, bringing the notion of romantic dedication to its highest peak. In fact, this is a mod where the players have come to care so deeply for their NPC companion that her advises guide the path they choose in the game, including the ending. Her age, 15, can be seen as an impediment for a relationship by some players, but, at least in my opinion, it is something normal for the fantasy world where the plot of BG2 takes place. She does not act childish (far more mature than Aerie anyway) and, although she seems sometimes a little bit naive, this is extremely logical for a person (no matter if he/she is 15 or 100) who has no experience on the Prime Material Plane at all. If the authors would motivate Tyr's decision to send her into active service at such a tender age, all would be perfect.
One particularity of this mod is that Saerileth is more involved in the PC's choices than any other romanceable NPC. She does not make any compromises about her principles (which is again extremely logical for a paladin) and she would strongly object to any evil act, even by destroying some evil items like Soul Reaver for instance. She is willing to even abandon Charname's company, a choice which makes perfect sense, because, in such cases, for paladins is preferable to achieve their goals alone rather than working with evil partners.

Friendship track

The mod has also a friendship track for those PC's who do not meet the requirement. One very rich in content. In this case, Charname will be only Saerileth's brother-in-arms and he will see Saerileth finding her love beside another Chosen of Tyr, Edorem. As a main piece of this mod, playing a crucial role in the romance, I will refer to him as well. Edorem is well-written for the romance between Saerileth and Charname, but he is not very convincing when plays the role of the winner. We know why he lost. But we do not know why he won. All the paths possible in this mod do not give him a very good report, depicting him with tendencies of a Fallen Paladin (two of them) and he acts superior all the time (even with Saerileth). The image of the character is more likely to suggest that Saerileth made a poor choice in him rather than the opposite.

The Quest
The main quest is a little bit problematic. At first sight, her mission seems very clear, but I always had the feeling that there is more to her quest than it is openly told. If it was intentional or a mistake from the authors, I cannot tell. It raises one question, but it can be easily explained (far more easy than the Bioware's plot, anyway).

The dialogs

The style of old William Shakespeare is obvious in them. Both Nethrin and Sillara are specialists in Shakespeare's work and this influences the mod in a very good way. With this, the depth of the character is ensured not only by her personality traits, but also by her particularities of speaking. The language of the 16-th century fits excellently into the atmosphere of Forgotten Realms and the immersion becomes more profound.

Technical implementation
The mod has no bugs which could prevent the gameplay (at least I did not stumbled upon any). The voicing is well done. Sometimes it sounds more mature than it should for the NPC's age, but this is only a minor thing.The portrait is probably the most beautiful I've ever seen. It make the other look pale.

Originality
At this, the mod scores high again. The way the romance starts and develops, the conflict which could appear, the NPC's attitude towards the PC, all bring a fresh air on the modding scene. Even more, the mod has additional banters in regard of PC's class (which the original romance don't have) and race (including a different epilogue for an elf PC in v7).


After saying so nice words about this mod, why did it receive only 9 ? Well, there is a problem. The PC needs 16 Charisma to romance her. While, in regard of the character's background, this is understandable and the authors have excellently motivated their decision, it goes against the game's ethics (not to speak of the fact that charisma is extremely confusing - it is questionable if it can be used to measure romantic attractiveness or only how good is a character as a leader). The BG2 romances are definetely not conceived for stats requirements, since there are so many ways to alter your original stats. The authors found a way to ensure that the PC can romance her only if he has an original Cha of 16 or more, but there are some other possible problems, so the mod looses one point for this. Since the engine cannot handle stats requirements in romances, the drawback was innevitable.
Also, there is another thing. Saerileth's personality in the two possible romances from the mod (Saerileth/Charname and Saerileth/Edorem) is different from one to another. When questioned about it, Sillara claimed the mod tells 2 possible stories : if Charname is charming enough to attract Saerileth, then it will be the love between him and Saerileth. If not, she will fall in love with another young paladin of Tyr, who is Charname's rival, called Edorem. But what is so unusual about this ? Many mods and games have such alternative paths. Well, it's the fact that those 2 stories have 2 different starting points : Saerileth who romances Charname is not the same Saerileth who romances Edorem - not in terms of personality, nor the background. The first one had no feelings for Edorem, the second was already attracted to him when she comes to the Prime. The first is straightforward and has no doubts, the second is more shy and still undecided. More mature the first, more childish the second. This is an unusual approach and, for me, seems a little bit strange. But maybe I will get used with it.  

[Feanor]

Calemyr's review

Rate : 9/10


"First off, I want to congratulate both of you on a superb NPC mod. I love NPC mods in general, as they furthur one of the best parts of this old game - the sheer variety of faces and experiences it has to offer.

I've played over of a dozen of these in my time. Some of them, like Valen and Solaufein, didn't really catch me well - they didn't seem to be NPCs in the true sense of the term (for this game at least). Others, like Kelsey and Keto, have really felt like part of the game and made it all the more fulfilling (Kelsey, for instance, has always been in my party since I first tried his mod). Your girl Saerileth is definitely on the top end of the spectrum in this regard, a real part of the world and a joy to have around.

And then there's the romance. Sweet, merciful Tyr, the romance. Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for something like this? I'm not a therapist, I'm not a counsellor, I'm a monk, dang it! I'm sick of dealing with Aerie's wing-complex, Jahaera's fears of losing another love, or Vicconia's struggle to understand that there might actually be ONE person on the surface who is actually looking out for her. It is so refreshing that Saerileth doesn't bring so much baggage with her, that she doesn't have an psychological problems (well, her god talks to her, but then that's hardly a surprise). You don't have to "win" her, you don't have to jump through hoops to catch her eye. You simply need to be the kind of person she can respect. And speaking of respect, you have mine for the whole "chaste relationship" thing: I really think you did things right. My only real problem with the whole thing is the age issue - five years may not be much among adults, but between 15 and 20, it might as well be 50 years. Still, you gave me a chance to prove that my monk wasn't a pedifile, and that's good.

I do have a few things I'd like to suggest - I don't know if some of them are viable or not, but I feel I need to voice them all the same.

Saerileth's Voice: Don't get me wrong, I like it. It fits: quiet, controlled, and demure, and the accent is great. I just wish there was a little more strength behind it. She's one of the Chosen of the god of Justice, and she proves again and again to be a warrior without peer (save my monk). I don't want her attitude to change in the slightest, I just wish she had more breath in those lungs. Even a wimp like Aerie clear, strong voice.

Stats: Saerileth's stats are a little short in the physical side, which I suppose makes sense given her age. Still, it's a little irritating that a paladin who refuses to fight at range on principle would be so hampered. Strength and Dex are fine in that regard, as they can be altered with the proper gear, but her tiara makes it impossible to do anything for her Constitution. If a non-head item could be found to boost it, that would be nice (her ring, perhaps, though that might make it far too powerful).

Axes: Just a minor point, but axes are allowed for a Cavellier and several of the best at any time are throwing weapons (along with daggers). Saerileth has commentary on a lot of items placed in her inventory, so perhaps she should refuse to accept weapons like the Azure Axe or Firetooth, either dropping them on the floor or handing them to Charname. Not a big deal, but I felt really guilty when I learned her rationale for not using bows while she was carrying the Azure Axe.

Flirting: I really don't know if this is at all possible in this game, but it seems like it should almost be a necessity in this romance. Is it possible to allow Saerileth to initiate flirts? Not the random ones the pop up on occassion like lovetalks, but clicking the paladin, the talk button, and then Charname, and then flirting with him the way he does with her. I know it'd be tricky, to say the least, and that Charname's dialogue would be mostly action and intention rather than words, but it seems like that would really be nice touch. Even better if you consider the possibility that in multi-player, a real life couple might have split control of the pair. Well, I'm sure this would be horribly tricky on the upside, downright impossible on the downside, but it'd be sweet, no?

Edorem: Now, I understand his role in the Shadows of Amn part - the self-proclaimed rival for Saeri's love and the instigator of some critical moments in the relationship, but what of Edorem in ToB? The Wraith tortures the girl with claims of his pain, but he never returns at all, even if he is shown the error of his ways and departs peacefully from that Charisma debacle. We're never told what happened to him, and the question just hung, not even resolved in the ending. If Edorem is spared, could it be possible for him to return after Yaga-sura's demise to congratulate her, and to thank Charname for being true to her? It's just cruel to leave that doubt eating at her, isn't it?

The Saeri mod is a solid, enjoyable mod with a real breath of fresh air in terms of the romance. (The only complaint I have any more is that I still wish she had a stronger voice - the gentle whisper may fit her personality, but it still keeps her from fitting in with the BioWare cast, of whom even the most incoherrent - such as Edwin, Jan, or Yakman - speak their lines with a strong, clear voice.)


Anyway, that's what I walked away with after one of the most interesting BG2 campaigns I think I've ever played. Your work was superb, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks again."

[Feanor]

Imrahil's review in the Ironworks forum (yeah, I'm gathering them all   ) :


Name: Saerileth 6.0
Characteristics: LG Female Human Cavalier
Str: 16 Dex: 14 Con: 12 Int: 14 Wis: 17 Cha: 18
Equipment: Plate Mail, Bastard Sword +1, Saerileth's Holy Symbol (in helmet slot, unremoveable), Potion of Fortitude
Personality: A
Saerileth has been sent from the Outer Planes by Tyr to look for a fallen Deva. She was told to seek out a Bhaalspawn who would lead her to her quarry. She's Human, but touched by the Outer Planes. She's 15 years old & a devout follower of Tyr, so she sees things in complete black & white, & sometimes comes across as very naive. Saerileth has several banters with the other NPC's, interjects quite often, & is romanceable (for Good Male PC's with a very high Charisma, although you probably don't want to be a Thief).
Implementation: B+
Saerileth has a fairly major quest, involving a trip to different planes (Planescape fans will recognize some of the locations), which in & of itself sets her apart from the Bioware NPC's, & also introduces some over-powered items available for purchase (ToB level while in SoA). The MOD also adds a new path to Spellhold, which aside from introducing a very early Dragon battle in an odd location, has a number of bugs associated with it at the moment. Aside from that, the whole concept of a 15-year old, level 10 Cavalier, Chosen of Tyr is a little far-fetched & the romance can seem a bit on the creepy side. It's possible to begin the romance after the very first dialogue, she's a bit one-dimensional, she uses a lot of parenthetical actions (which the Bioware NPC's don't use), & she's very willing to abandon Tyr's Quest if CHARNAME doesn't live up to her ideals. The extremely high Charisma requirement makes her seem a bit shallow & a few of the custom items that come with the MOD don't have detailed descriptions (damage, enchantment, abilities, etc.). Also, she doesn't even appear in the game if the PC is Evil.
Power: B
Saerileth is a bit low on hit points & doesn't have a good Dexterity, so while she's fairly powerful, she's not the most effective frontline fighter.
Ease: B
You can enlist Saerileth fairly early on by walking just outside the entrance to the Radiant Heart in the Temple District.
ToB: Yes
Overall: A-
Saerileth is a very nicely done NPC, but she doesn't fall into the seamless, "you'd never guess she was a MOD" category. Still, she has a lot of very well-done content & adds a lot to the game. If you don't have a problem with a 15-year old romanceable Cavalier with an extreme stat requirement who is prepared to disobey her God if you hurt her feelings, she's very worthwhile. I'd highly recommend avoiding the 3rd path to Spellhold aspect in its current incarnation.

[Mightysword]

Hiya, I'm just done with the Saerileth mod, this mod keep me stick to the comp longer then any other mod, longer then even the original game when I first got it. I beat it in 4 days from SOA to TOB, not because I was rush, but this mod keeps putting me back at my chair whenever I have some spare time. Great god. :? So as a way to thank the people who made the mod, I would like to share just a bit of my thought on the mod.


* The good thing:

- This mod probably have almost everything a romance mod needs and a game need: fun, insight, compelling ... and most of all, passion. Yes, Passion!!


+ Passion, IMO, is probably the most important thing to a romance, and strangely also one of the thing that most romance in RPG lacks, and I apply this to all other game, even those of the Final Fantasy series. Most game successfully deliever a romance that can be very romantic, however I don't know why they always miss to attach a passionate feeling to the romance. This is a shining point of the mod, and of which I enjoyed the most.


+ Maybe (just my guest) this is the reason why the creators decide to have Saerileth at 15 years of age. Maybe it's her devotion that created the passion. And maybe only such a young person can give such devotion so willingly, so innocent but yet not ignorance, blind to love but not to knowledge.


- The dialogue is well crafted and well meaning. Back to the time I was still in school where I had to learn the old English literature, I grew a distaste for Shakeasper's writting. I declared "this is not English". However, I admit the dialogue of this mod changed that. I was so please with it that I tried to understand all of them. And here am I, although I already graduated for sometime now I sent my old teacher an email, ask for him some translation of certain words and phrases. Knowing my distaste for this writting his first reply was "this is odd , you used to hate this with a passion, finally meet a girl of your choice?". ----- "Nah, just a piece of writting that will make me feel stupid not understand fully dear teacher". It's just that good. :thumbsup:



- They say Quantity and Quality usually do not go together. I'm glad to say this mod is an exception. It delievered both. I already talk about the part of Quantity, and yet, those come in number. Saerileth has the insight and her own thought on almost every quests, event. (in SOA at least). And those enrich Saerileth's image. Most of the time, a game just present a character, Saerileth moves one step further, her character is not only presented, but also defined through her action. This give her something unique, something that wil leave a memory to the mind. And it breath a new air into the game in general.



- In fact, the impression on Saerileth is too strong that I hardly think anyone can be mean or deny her in the game. Despite my hectic personality I always prefer to play as a nice guy, and I always like Aerie's romance the best. Even that, sometime I must say Aerie pulled my nerves and I had to be mean, and don't feel bad about it. As for Saerileth, I tend to keep a save for all the love talk so I can go through all of the options, including the mean one. The results, most of the time, make me say "what a moron". Yep, I say that myself to my character even I was the one who chose it. :tear:





* Hiccup. (I don't say these are bad parts of the mod, because I believe it's down to Personal Opinion).


- The voice: I don't say it's a bad voice, comparing to some of the recent JRPG I play lately it has the better. However, it doesn't seem fix to me. Saerileth is a 15 years old girl, innocent and passionate, and her voice should reflect such characteristic. Her current voice is too deep, emotional but lack of passion.

- The course of the romance: now this is not an issue about the length between TOB and SOA (I'll bring it up later). It seems to me that the Romance is finished in SOA. It's stalled, or develope no further in TOB. There are about over a dozen lovetalk in TOB for granted, however, they doesn't seem to add much to the romance like in TOB. Maybe because SOA handled the romance too good and left no space for TOB? Or is it because now they're already marriage? This reminds me of a song in my country, temporary translate a phrase into English "Love is only beautiful when the flower was still a bud, life is less happy after the flower flourished" . To me, you finished SOA, you get 80% of what you can get out of the romance.


- I understand that the length of TOB is a problem. It's shorter then SOA, and adding any more floating lovetalk will force the player to stretch the game unreasonable longer (like the one you have to wait for Aerie's birth). However, I still see lots of empty space that can be filled with achored lovetalk. Like each time after you kill one of the five, or each time you finish a trial, some additions that can make the romance grow at those points will be nice, I think.



- Finally, it's the ending. It's too typical. The whole mod is very original comparing to the official romances or even to those of other games, but the ending is too typical I think. IMHO, the ending would be better without the part of "the 2 battle evil for a long time". It'll be better if they return to Saerileth's home right away and the ending tell a little more about their life there, like how the charname is appriciated at her home, how her family reacts to hi, how they carry out their life ....etc...



That's all, it's a great mod, greatest one I have played so far, may be even better the official at some points. I spend 4 days trying to finish it none stop and I don't regret any minutes I spend although this is the 9th time I beat BGII. My thanks to the people who created the mod, nethrin and Sillara I take it, for a very well done mod and all the afford you have been putting into it. This is something for the BGII's community to treasure

[Moongaze]

Since people had to nitpick about the one little bit where I mentioned my lady, instead of focusing on the review itself, I have removed it. :\

[nethrin]

I'm 20 years old, and my girlfriend is 13 years old.

 

[Mightysword]

I'm 20 years old, and my girlfriend is 13 years old.

 

oh well, in America 13 is considered "teen"  :

[nethrin]

ok, sorry.  let's keep this thread for mod reviews only.  sorry, I started it.

[Moongaze]

ok, sorry.  let's keep this thread for mod reviews only.  sorry, I started it.

I regret mentioning it...
I thought there would be a normal reaction to my review, but apparently not. Hrm...  :\

[Minarvia]

I have't yet finished a game with Saeri.  I'll be sure to add my views when I do.  So far I am playing a romance with her and I am so very impressed!  I'm not surprised because Sillara and Netherin do such wonderful work.  Saeri is so...real.. that you just can't help but accept her right off.  Even her love at first sight is believable.  These mods at COM are just blowing me away with their quality and depth, not to mention the humour and well-done side quests.    S and N are definately doing such wonderful work that breathes new life into BGII for those of us who have played it so often over the years that we thought that we may have to move on.  Now I no longer want to.  It is almost a whole new game to me.  Tsujatha has stolen my heart (well, he definately gives Edwin a run for his money) and I think that Saeri will (as a romance first, then just as a friend so I can return to being female) become a permenant fixture in my party.  Thank you so much for all of your wonderful work.  I'll be sure to post here again when I finish a game with her.  
So far only Kindrek seems to be too hard for me to play.  :mad:

[Mistress Elysia]

After a long absence from actually playing BG2 (modding does that to you - it should have a Government Health Warning. 'Warning - modding can seriously affect the time you have to actually *play* the damn game...') I knew that as soon as I came back to playing for fun, Saerileth had a place in my party.
 
All I can say is this: You gits! You wonderful, talented, evocative gits! (okay, so I'm joking - you're not gits at all ,but I can't help but think 'whoa. Give up now, girlie - you can't compete!') Saeri raises the bar for all of us. Mediocrity in mod writing will not be accepted once you play this character...

So I guess you could say I'm impressed (understatement of the year)... and I haven't got that far yet! (And sooo many ideas now for crossmod; just need to organise them into something more coherant than 'something has to be said here!')

[Grunker]

Just wanted to give my appreciation to those who have created this mod, it's truly fantastic!

I've played through BG2 more times than I can count now, but I never found any interest in trying other NPC's than those Bioware had created, simply because my interest wasn't caught by any of the NPC's out there. But I needed a paladin in my group, and was terribly bored with Keldorn, so I thought I'd try Saerileth. Good choice, it seems smile

She has a well-developed personality, and romancing her has been more fun that it ever was with the Bioware NPC's, though my eyes certainly widened when I found out about her age eek

But, all in all, this must be one of the best mods for BG2 that I've ever tried, especially because I enjoyed the quests that came with her. Also, I've never played through a more bugless mod, ever. Every time I thought a bug was coming, it soon turned out to be a slight mistake, like the slow spawn-time of Mon, and only shortened my gaming time with about 2 mins. The only thing I've had real problems with in terms of questing, is that my party of level 10'ers and 11'ers had a very difficult time of disposing of the devil that captured her, without being allowed to cast spells.

And,

The only real bug I've encountered so far, is that when I killed Bodhi, and Saerileth turned into the ghost-vampire thingy, she was both a ghost, and a duplicate of her remained in my party. "That's it" I thought, "Romance-stopping bug". But nope, after dealing with the Deva, the romance continued as it were before.

After writing this enourmsly long post (you must excuse me, but it's late in Denmark, and I'm drinking too much coffee) I'll stop here. I just thought I'd give my praises to the creators.

Thank you for a fantastic mod.

- Grunker

[DragonMaster]

Well now first and foremost I will have to admit that you two wrote one excellent mod.

I have played almost fully through the game and have Myself,  Saerileth  Immy, Kiyone , Kova and Solafein in the party.

Have yet to take back the Lanthorn to do the elves stuff do to waiting for information I need on the Kova kiyone(BTL) mod.

Liked what you did with the Bodhi abduction of her. Will have to admit that was sure different as apposed to being the NPC being abducted and used as one of bodhi's pawns against the party.  

Can't wait to finish it up and get through to kick the crap out of Irenicus. and see what happens in that.

Great talks and stuff as well. You two have a great mod going for you hear and I like it allot.

DragonMaster

[Beetle]

I just finished SoA last night and have to say that Saerileth is definately one of the best mods I've played.

Powergaming stuff: I liked Saeri's stats. They were high enough for her to be viable but not high enough for her to be a combat god. It made her development as a fighter easy to see. She required some shepherding early on, but really came into her own with some enhancing items and Carsomyr. I was less taken with her starting level. I know she's from a different plane, but it seemed wierd that a 15-year-old girl would have more experience than Charname. Not a major criticism, just a little nitpick.

Story: Saeri's quest is original, well developed and brings in unique areas and interesting NPCs. Everything made sense (though the early dragon fight was bracing at least it gave Aerie something to brag about). Very nicely done. Most importantly, it flows naturally from the character. I think the trend towards wacky backgrounds and extra-planar origins has gone a bit too far, but it would be unfair to hold that against this particular work.

I can not thank you enough for putting in a new path to Spellhold. Finally Charname didn't have to decide between slimy thieves or murderous vampires.

Character stuff: This is where the mod really shines. Saeri's personality is great. Like a real person, she's complex - sometimes showing "girlish" enthusiasm and other times steely determination. And she's not carrying enough baggage to keep the American Psychiatric Association employed for the next twenty years (I like the bioware women, but they do wear sometimes).

You also managed to do something that is almost unheard of in a game - you created a religious character that is both very religious and also likeable. CRPGs (and pen-and-paper D&D for that matter) are full of clerics and paladins whose only mark of religion is that they cast spells. Not so with Saerileth. Her devotion to Tyr is prevelant from the first meeting. And it really is devotion, not dull duty. Her talking about Tyr is also handled well. She doesn't bash people over the head, she's just enthusiastic about Tyr and loves to talk about him.

Techinical stuff: The mod installed fine and played fine. There was only one minor hiccup (Saeri not being kidnapped because she moved too quickly after the Bodhi speech) which was quickly solved by this board (thanks!). Other than that, everything worked perfectly.

Congratulations on making a fantastic Mod!

I'm going to take a break from BG2 to try Tutu for a while, but after that I'm going to see if Saeri can make the slogfest known as Throne of Bhaal enjoyable.