Video games are tough. Every say, I read news of how a game failed to live up to expectations, or surpassed them. However, the latter is rarer. Plus, the multitude of views that can be given on a game from a variety of people seem to affect the end product, or perhaps even the sequel.
Zendir 1 had another review (probably a good thing as the second one is coming out and the first will be comparable against the second) but this review had something extra in it that other reviews didn't have - the believably of the antagonist. He said that the main antagonist didn't have much screentime, but his motives were understandable. Have these motives been transferred well to Zendir 2? I hope so, but time travel can be tricky...
SPOILERS FOR ZENDIR: A NEW WORLD FOLLOW.
DO NOT READ BETWEEN THE SPOILER TAGS IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE SPOILERS.
[SPOILER]
DO NOT READ BETWEEN THE SPOILER TAGS IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE SPOILERS.
[SPOILER]
Zaphilia traveled to the mainland due to the dying crops of the island she inhabited. However, the mainland detests magic-users. The water supply was also found to be poisoned in the mainland. After a long journey, Zaphilia finds out the antagonist's poisoned water supply was actually to force the King to accept his demands and to control the King. With the King under his thumb, he'd be able to create the Castle in the Sky and to further manipulate the denizens of Zendir for his own ends, as the water supply was also home to a certain form of the mind-control magic.
Additionally, the King wanted magic to be banished, and Hudu wanted the Heart of Zendir to be destroyed, and these two motives intertwined to reveal Count Hudu's main goal - to change the beliefs of those who drank the water, to encourage them to like magic instead of hate it. The King originally liked magic in the past, but began to hate it because of what Hudu did - he led a crusade across the North of Zendir for a hidden reason (revealed in A World Reborn).
This is the main twist of Zendir: A New World - in reality, magic is hated after the events revealed in A World Reborn, but the poisoned water causes them to feel the opposite, hence the lack of magic-hate amongst the denizens!
Because after all, if the King liked magic in the first place, would he have hired Count Hudu? He hated it at that point, then was forced to like it due to the water. It's complicated, and the Director's Cut should hopefully make it clearer.
Additionally, the King wanted magic to be banished, and Hudu wanted the Heart of Zendir to be destroyed, and these two motives intertwined to reveal Count Hudu's main goal - to change the beliefs of those who drank the water, to encourage them to like magic instead of hate it. The King originally liked magic in the past, but began to hate it because of what Hudu did - he led a crusade across the North of Zendir for a hidden reason (revealed in A World Reborn).
This is the main twist of Zendir: A New World - in reality, magic is hated after the events revealed in A World Reborn, but the poisoned water causes them to feel the opposite, hence the lack of magic-hate amongst the denizens!
Because after all, if the King liked magic in the first place, would he have hired Count Hudu? He hated it at that point, then was forced to like it due to the water. It's complicated, and the Director's Cut should hopefully make it clearer.
[/SPOILER]
But of course, Zaphilia's arrival changed everything. A World Reborn seeks to solve most complaints from A New World, and to expand on what made the first game good. One other complaint was that there was a lot of nonsense within the first game, but I think this was due to the lack of time of working on it, and lack of refinement. Never mind, it'll be a good journey!