Any Flashback story arcs surprise you?

[JasperStone]

In a previous post I said how I am working towards completing all the content available through Flashback with my Peace Bringer.

 

The difficulty is low so I can get through stuff easily, as it is more about the content. Revisiting it or reminding myself of things.

 

I completed the 20-29 First Ward arc. Wow. I had done it in bits and pieces. But to go straight through, pretty entertaining. I also enjoyed how concise they were but still rich in story content.

.....and close locations of missions 🙂

 

any favorites for you?

 

 

 

[Zhym]

My favorite Flashback arc is "Collateral Damage" from Laura Lockhart (22.01, under levels 20-24).  To avoid spoilers, I won't say much about it except that you should play it twice and it uses the idea of being an Ouroboros flashback arc better than any other arc in the game.  I wish there were more arcs that did something like it.

[Marshal_General]

I can't remember the name of the arc, but it is in Talos where you find out a clone of you is going around commiting crimes. I kind of felt bad about the ending.

[A Cat]

1 hour ago, Marshal_General said:

I can't remember the name of the arc, but it is in Talos where you find out a clone of you is going around commiting crimes. I kind of felt bad about the ending.

Keith Nance/Jenny Aldair's arcs. 

[Placta]

Issue 0/1 content has some big flaws that the devs realized were bad design and phased out (overly long, lots of hunt missions, mission doors spread willy-nilly across city zones, taking forever to get a contact's phone number (this one has been retroactively fixed), multiple contacts with the same missions so they didn't have much personality...), but there are some stories that grabbed me from that time:

 

• The Clockwork Captive and The Mind of the King: The guy kidnapped by the Clockwork to work on them comes to the conclusion that they shouldn't work, and then a second arc where you try to figure out how they do.

• The Vahzilok Wasting Disease: One mission with a nasty debuff, and Dr. V himself.

• Ubelmann the Unknown: You get to punch a time-travelling Nazi in the face.

• Corporate Culture, The Revenant Hero Project, The Evil Countess Crey: The first arc sets the tone for how dealing with Crey is going to go. Revenant Hero gives you a look at Crey at their worst. (There's also a mission, not part of the arc but related to it, where you see Invisible Falcon captured by Crey... and then fight off several waves of Crey ambushes hoping to do the same to you.) Then the last arc paints a surprisingly tragic picture of the Countess as you and she go after each other.

• The Library of Souls: A Circle of Thorns traitor, and learning what the Circle really is.

• Upon the Psychic Plane: Vanessa DeVore's origin story. (The Hunt 100 Carnies mission can go pancake itself, though.)

• Operation World Wide Red: Malta's grand plan, and I just love it for how big the stakes are. Also two Kronos Titans. (Also from Crimson but not in Ouroboros, the Joe Boxer series of missions is good too.)

[Akalabeth]

I did Corporate Culture and Library of Souls a few days ago for the first time, Placta. 🙂  Good stuff. 🙂

 

I also agree about the Carnie hunt in Upon the Psychic Plane. >_>  There were so few I found, after a while I started killing everything in an area in Peregrine, but still couldn't figure out if that gave the carnies a chance to spawn or not because I'm pretty sure someone else was killing them there at the time hehe. 🙂

 

I know everyone thinks it's terrible, but by the end of Twinshot's final arc, I was all emotional and thought it was actually a good story. Y_Y

[cranebump]

Man, that Vahz wasting disease. It's a pain in the arse. And Crimson was where I felt like one of my mains really came into his own. The mishes just "fit" the character, and Malta felt like a true nemesis for him. But of all the arcs I know of (and actually recall) I really enjoy Bane Spider Ruben's. Leading that throng of bad guys through a Longbow beatdown is just plain fun.

[Snarky]

I love Redside stuff.  Not sure if it is avail in Ouro but the Slot Machine arc 39-34 is short and clever.  Not exactly villainous.  Really just odd. I also love The Radio in Port Oakes 10-15.  The concept is the win there. The arc is longish but well written.  

[Marshal_General]

Redside is Oh Wretched Man is the stand out for me.

[Without_Pause]

You might need to use flashback to get all of the badges, but Mr. G's arc when he's part of Primal Earth stood out to me. Genuine hard missions at times and the final Penelope Mayhem mission was trippy.

[DoctorDitko]

On 12/30/2021 at 11:53 AM, Zhym said:

you should play it twice and it uses the idea of being an Ouroboros flashback arc better than any other arc in the game.

FWIW, I'm probably being an idiot.

 

Yesterday and today I played this arc through solo (on a controller, no less!)

 

I didn't notice any difference.

 

Spoiler

Laura still died in my arms, which again made me misty-eyed.

 

Both times were through Ouro Flashback, same character. I had done this once before, but I couldn't be sure it had been on the same character, so I put it down to incipient old-timer's disease and forgot about it (that part was easy!).

 

What am I doing wrong?

[Zhym]

7 minutes ago, DoctorDitko said:

FWIW, I'm probably being an idiot.

 

Yesterday and today I played this arc through solo (on a controller, no less!)

 

I didn't notice any difference.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Laura still died in my arms, which again made me misty-eyed.

 

Both times were through Ouro Flashback, same character. I had done this once before, but I couldn't be sure it had been on the same character, so I put it down to incipient old-timer's disease and forgot about it (that part was easy!).

 

What am I doing wrong?

It's easy to miss, but when you run the arc a second time, there's a glowy (a crate) in the first mission that wasn't there the first time you did it.

[DoctorDitko]

Thanks a million, Zhym!

I was looking for clues in the dialog, not an actual, clickable clue!

(No idea why... I have played this game before.)

A much more satisfying conclusion to the arc!

 

And, yes, top ratings for best flashback surprise!

 

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by DoctorDitko
back on topic

[Redletter]

Im not sure what a flashback arc is, but like, the Oro mission from the floating lizard guy was really nice? Like, the one with the chunky speedster. Never in the course of the game (up till then) had I been felt for a character, but like, I really wanted to save the tubby speedster who, like an absolute HERO, decided he'd throw hands with some Circle of Thorns head-honcho even though there was NO way he'd win that fight.

 

Compared to like, the missions Silos sends you on for the Jade Spider thing? Like, god, I thought those were gonna go somewhere but I felt really gipped when the Redside version has Manticore go "Ok I know I totally helped you build the jade spider, using sister psyche, but YOURE a total dumbass, I was faking the WHOLE time, and Sister Psyche is totally alive now fight me, her, and Statesmen". I wouldnt have rolled my eyes if Silos hadnt been hyping up Redside Manticore the WHOLE time like "Oh? Are you SHOCKED? SURPRISED? BEFUDDLED and ASTONSHED?! Yes, you see, Manticore is truly a man who hides much DARKNESS in his heart you see, yes yes, he, in many timelines, is the right hand of Lord Recluse! Oh? You still dont believe he could, would, and IS a villain? Oh ho! Well! Continue! Continue and see! Watch as this mighty hero proves to you, that he is, in fact... A VILLAIN! For the GREATER GOOOOOOD"

 

Then Manticore himself is like "Nah idiot, youre a big stupid. I was fakin' the whole time." and fuckin Silos has NOTHING to say. He's just like "Ah well done, youve changed the timeline, good job..."

[ZorkNemesis]

I never flash to it unless I didn't start as a Villain, but Brother Hammond is one of my favorite red arcs.  You take advantage of a random Luddite spouting his nonsensical prophecy by fufilling it.  This causes him to let you take command of the Luddites and you use them as a distraction to rob a bank.  The distraction causes the PTS to go all haywire and Dr. Aeon is pissed at you, but unable to do anything about you due to the power failures and his suit being out of juice.  You end up fixing the mess for a nominal fee, and all is well.  The real cherry on top for this arc is the souviener though where in the wake of these events, Lord Recluse saw fit to force Dr. Aeon to write you a letter thanking you for saving Cap from the Luddites and the PTS overload and the letter is full of snark and sarcasm.

 

P.P.S. May a dimensional portal open within your innards, causing you to explode into a shower of blood and Rikti monkeys.

[A Cat]

2 minutes ago, ZorkNemesis said:

I never flash to it unless I didn't start as a Villain, but Brother Hammond is one of my favorite red arcs.  You take advantage of a random Luddite spouting his nonsensical prophecy by fufilling it.  This causes him to let you take command of the Luddites and you use them as a distraction to rob a bank.  The distraction causes the PTS to go all haywire and Dr. Aeon is pissed at you, but unable to do anything about you due to the power failures and his suit being out of juice.  You end up fixing the mess for a nominal fee, and all is well.  The real cherry on top for this arc is the souviener though where in the wake of these events, Lord Recluse saw fit to force Dr. Aeon to write you a letter thanking you for saving Cap from the Luddites and the PTS overload and the letter is full of snark and sarcasm.

 

P.P.S. May a dimensional portal open within your innards, causing you to explode into a shower of blood and Rikti monkeys.

That is a hilarious arc. My favorite part is when you force him to hire you to fix the problem you caused for him to begin with and his brain just explodes from anger. 

[Zhym]

4 minutes ago, ZorkNemesis said:

I never flash to it unless I didn't start as a Villain, but Brother Hammond is one of my favorite red arcs.  You take advantage of a random Luddite spouting his nonsensical prophecy by fufilling it.  This causes him to let you take command of the Luddites and you use them as a distraction to rob a bank.  The distraction causes the PTS to go all haywire and Dr. Aeon is pissed at you, but unable to do anything about you due to the power failures and his suit being out of juice.  You end up fixing the mess for a nominal fee, and all is well.  The real cherry on top for this arc is the souviener though where in the wake of these events, Lord Recluse saw fit to force Dr. Aeon to write you a letter thanking you for saving Cap from the Luddites and the PTS overload and the letter is full of snark and sarcasm.

 

P.P.S. May a dimensional portal open within your innards, causing you to explode into a shower of blood and Rikti monkeys.

I love that arc—but somehow, I'd never read the letter from Dr. Aeon in the souvenir.  That's just wonderful.

 

Another nice touch in that arc is how you always have to talk to Brother Hammond in person, not call him—because he's a Luddite.  Of course he wouldn't have a cell phone! 

[Zhym]

20 minutes ago, Redletter said:

Compared to like, the missions Silos sends you on for the Jade Spider thing? Like, god, I thought those were gonna go somewhere but I felt really gipped when the Redside version has Manticore go "Ok I know I totally helped you build the jade spider, using sister psyche, but YOURE a total dumbass, I was faking the WHOLE time, and Sister Psyche is totally alive now fight me, her, and Statesmen". I wouldnt have rolled my eyes if Silos hadnt been hyping up Redside Manticore the WHOLE time like "Oh? Are you SHOCKED? SURPRISED? BEFUDDLED and ASTONSHED?! Yes, you see, Manticore is truly a man who hides much DARKNESS in his heart you see, yes yes, he, in many timelines, is the right hand of Lord Recluse! Oh? You still dont believe he could, would, and IS a villain? Oh ho! Well! Continue! Continue and see! Watch as this mighty hero proves to you, that he is, in fact... A VILLAIN! For the GREATER GOOOOOOD"

 

Then Manticore himself is like "Nah idiot, youre a big stupid. I was fakin' the whole time." and fuckin Silos has NOTHING to say. He's just like "Ah well done, youve changed the timeline, good job..."

Ah, yes.  "Trading Places."  I really want to like that arc, because it's so earnest in a print-comic kind of way, but it has so many problems.  As the description says, it "was originally published in issues #10 - 12 of the City of Heroes comic book," which is probably why the story seems over the top and way too focused on NPCs, IMO.  Maybe this arc would be more engaging to someone who had been keeping up with the CoH comics.  But I hate feeling like a bit player or a Mary Sue, and Trading Places gets way too close to that for my tastes.  And you're right that the "Did Manticore turn EVIL???" plot is a very well-worn trope.

 

The game play just isn't that great, either.  I'm sure there are multiple missions, but all I can remember is that last one where you have to find and rescue various members of the Freedom Phalanx and Vindicators, who will then try to follow you...and fail.   I had no idea some of these heroes had such pitiful perception!  And I would have sworn most of them would be faster, too.  Of course, if you're buffed up enough, you can just rescue them all, ignore them, and fight the big spider (which is kind of cool) on your own, but I'm sure that's not how the mission was meant to be played.  It's really a waste of having all those NPCs —including Statesman!—when they're hobbled by such moronic, broken perception and movement logic.   

[Glacier Peak]

On 12/30/2021 at 9:53 AM, Zhym said:

My favorite Flashback arc is "Collateral Damage" from Laura Lockhart (22.01, under levels 20-24).  To avoid spoilers, I won't say much about it except that you should play it twice and it uses the idea of being an Ouroboros flashback arc better than any other arc in the game.  I wish there were more arcs that did something like it.

This! Some of the best writing in the game. I had THE FEELS after playing it the first time and THE JOYS the second time after doing the spoilery thing. 

[Glacier Peak]

I think redside has the best story writing hands down. And the unlockable contacts on redside are a breath of fresh air for anyone who is tired of the Issue 1 blueside grinds. It's really odd, but I like the feel of blue side the most, the story of the redside the most, and the artwork, buildings, and set pieces of goldside the most.

 

I think the Tour Guide missions and the Alignment missions should also get their just praise. 

 

Edit: And let's not forget the amazing community content created in the AE! The limits of imagination are hardly constrained in this system and I forsee a lot more content being added in this realm in the future. 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Glacier Peak

[Zhym]

12 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

I think the Tour Guide missions and the Alignment missions should also get their just praise. 

The alignment missions are quite good and don’t get enough love—probably because you don’t get much in the way of rewards from them now that you can’t get almost instantly by visiting Null the Gull.  But the stories are great, especially when changing alignment.  On the one side, you’ve got some missions showing where someone might go vigilante because they no longer believe the system can bring bad guys to justice, and then going so far that they fall into villainy.  On the other, you’ve got missions where a rogue ends up doing accidental heroism, and starts to like it.  It’s all really well done and worth the round trip at least once.

 

My only quibble with the whole system is that when your former hero finally goes too far and turns outright villain, they’re treated as if they have the same history (e.g., Destined One nonsense) and motivations (greed or chaos being the usual ones) as all the other villains.  I realize it would be way too hard to write ex-hero motivations into all the red side arcs, but it does break the story a bit for me.  (Villains who turn hero don’t have the same issue, since blue side is less concerned with why heroes are being heroic.)

Edited January 3, 2022 by Zhym

[A Cat]

30 minutes ago, Zhym said:

The game play just isn't that great, either.  I'm sure there are multiple missions, but all I can remember is that last one where you have to find and rescue various members of the Freedom Phalanx and Vindicators, who will then try to follow you...and fail.   I had no idea some of these heroes had such pitiful perception!  And I would have sworn most of them would be faster, too.  Of course, if you're buffed up enough, you can just rescue them all, ignore them, and fight the big spider (which is kind of cool) on your own, but I'm sure that's not how the mission was meant to be played.  It's really a waste of having all those NPCs —including Statesman!—when they're hobbled by such moronic, broken perception and movement logic.   

Part of the problem is that horrible Siren's Call map. It is a pathing nightmare for NPC's. Should have been a solo mission, or have the rescues be on another more simple map. 

 

17 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

This! Some of the best writing in the game. I had THE FEELS after playing it the first time and THE JOYS the second time after doing the spoilery thing. 

Same fam. I was on a roller coaster of emotion. 

[Redletter]

3 hours ago, Zhym said:

Ah, yes.  "Trading Places."  I really want to like that arc, because it's so earnest in a print-comic kind of way, but it has so many problems.  As the description says, it "was originally published in issues #10 - 12 of the City of Heroes comic book," which is probably why the story seems over the top and way too focused on NPCs, IMO.  Maybe this arc would be more engaging to someone who had been keeping up with the CoH comics.  But I hate feeling like a bit player or a Mary Sue, and Trading Places gets way too close to that for my tastes.  And you're right that the "Did Manticore turn EVIL???" plot is a very well-worn trope.

I dont even mind it, like I really enjoyed the plot on blue side. I had done the twinshot stuff, so I had already kinda met manticore, and without knowing too much about if there' more missions with him and stuff, it kinda felt like Manticore and I had some history as a sorta "jerky, unofficial mentor" and "ludicrously powerful demigod student". I liked the idea of him being ousted from his pals and going at arachnos alone and us tagging along with him being powerless to stop us from trying to help him. It was like, I didnt feel like a Sue (could be because I was a tanker, and my damage PALED in comparison to his). And the question of manticore's allegiance was kinda fun for me, since like, he DOES seem like an asshole who'd join the badguys JUST to spite Statesmen for throwing him out of the good guy gang. It's just that there IS no payoff to that. Silos is literally hyping it up and telling you "oh i know you dont believe it, but its tooootally true! It's reeeeeally haaaaapppening ohhh boy" and it was after this mission I decided Mender Silos NEVER outgrew being an enormous fucking troll.

3 hours ago, Zhym said:

 

The game play just isn't that great, either.  I'm sure there are multiple missions, but all I can remember is that last one where you have to find and rescue various members of the Freedom Phalanx and Vindicators, who will then try to follow you...and fail.   I had no idea some of these heroes had such pitiful perception!  And I would have sworn most of them would be faster, too.  Of course, if you're buffed up enough, you can just rescue them all, ignore them, and fight the big spider (which is kind of cool) on your own, but I'm sure that's not how the mission was meant to be played.  It's really a waste of having all those NPCs —including Statesman!—when they're hobbled by such moronic, broken perception and movement logic.   

I was pissed, in both routes. Because here's something fun!

 

So. The OPPOSITE faction supers (Lord Recluse's inner circle for Blues, Freedom Phalanx/Vindicators for Reds) has the OMNISCIENT A.I. They know EXACTLY where you are, at all times, and they WILL follow you from ANYWHERE in the map - the ONLY time they stop is when something attacks them enough to pull their hyper aggro from you, to them. While YOUR allies are totally blind.

 

More than that though, YOUR allies are made of tissue paper. The random NON named characters in the mission can absolutely end ANY of the Blue Side heroes with you. That's not including the named characters who can, and will, eviscerate them (Sirocco took out Libby in three hits, baseline level 50 with NO difficulty modifiers and Statesmen died OFF SCREEN in my run, I have NO idea what got him). It's why, for anybody who wants to do this, DONT play blue side. Play Redside, for two reasons.

 

1: Fighting alongside the Jade Spider is kinda cool, so far in my time with the game you dont really get giant monster allies, and it's model is really cool. Doubly so if youre like, ACTUALLY into the decor of Redside and are repping arachnos aesthetics.

 

2: Ghost Widow is, without any exageration, the single most powerful named character in this entire mission, regardless of side. As a mostly fully incarnate elec/elect tanker with mostly completed slots I couldnt KILL her on my blue run (she couldnt kill me either, we were literally deadlocked) and on me red run she was UNKILLABLE. She, quite literally, 3v1'd Statesmen, Manticore, Sister Psyche. Before that, she basically solo'd the entire host of heroes who showed up, even including Synapse's bullshit ressurection. There was a point where I realized that, even if I were dead, they would aggro to her, and she'd fight them all. I sat and watched her just fucking murder everyone.

 

I dont know who's waifu Ghost Widow was, but holy shit she's unstoppable. Im halfway convinced the "she'll survive as long as arachnos exists" line is just a token lore explanation as to why they made her an unkillable turbo deity...

[UltraAlt]

16 hours ago, DoctorDitko said:

I put it down to incipient old-timer's disease and forgot about it (that part was easy!).

 

What am I doing wrong?

 

I told you not to get old, but ... no ... you wouldn't listen, would you?!

[Snarky]

Another story that was well told was the red side Johnny Sonata arc.  Just great storytelling.