Guild Wars 2 Diary #7: Halloween Surprises & The Carnival Challenge

Last week we left out the best part of the story and if you didn't get to watch the video, you may be confused as to what exactly a Floating Grizwhirl is. You wouldn’t be alone, because we’re still not entirely sure ourselves. To catch up in terms of continuity, the conclusion of last weeks article is below. And of course we continue our Guild Wars 2 adventure. This week it was all about Halloween in the world of Tyria. Halloween instances should be checked out as they are great sources for experience points. We also took the Carnival Challenge. Continue reading to see this week's gameplay video.

[if you've missed Guild Wars 2 Diary #6: read it here->]

The Floating Grizwhirl

All the hard work you’ve had to do to get your character up to snuff is more than worth it. Your reward - outside of saving lives that is – is that you get to visit the carnival. A little boy has gone missing and it’s up to you to find him, but things aren’t quite as they seem and the carnies aren’t very receptive to your questions. The show they put on isn’t exactly the most amazing thing in the world: the strongman breaks a seemingly unbreakable stone, the fortune teller is vague and mysterious and the snake tamer loses control of his snake and you’re forced to kill it. The important thing is that they keep being professional, I suppose.

After having your fill of entertainment, you ask around in the hopes that somebody has seen the young boy you’re after. It’s something of a wild goose chase, with each of the carnies telling you to ask one of the others. Finally the strong man points in in the direction of the stables, the location of a mysterious Floating Grizwhirl. Although nobody seems certain as to what it is, the ringmaster describes it as something which will amaze your friends and baffle your enemies. The room seems empty, asides from a few spiders, until you open a small box. These small toys must be the Floating

Grizwhirls, but what do they do?

Before you can think on it for too long, a group of carnies burst in. They’re obviously hypnotized, repeating “Grizwhirl, Grizwhirl,” over and over again. They try to attack and you’re forced to kill them. You report back to Logan Thackery who tells you about a carnie training camp. You must head out there, pass their tests and find out what they know. To continue, we need to join the carnival.

Spooky Surprises

It’s all measure of fun and games this week, not least because of the Halloween goings on invading the world of Guild Wars 2. Pumpkins, scary entities and special group instances are the focus for the developers over the next few days and little pumpkin symbols now dominate your map, luring you into the Mad King’s Labyrinth. I spent quite a bit of time in there this morning, and as you’ll see from the accompanying video, things got pretty wild. Whether it’s candy corn elements, plastic spiders, skeletons, mummies or gargoyles, your job is to explore the labyrinth and survive. This isn’t going to be nearly as simple as it sounds.

Guild Wars 2 Review Episode #7 - Gameplay Video

As with all group instances, your level will be scaled up to 80, so there’s no worry about not being able to hold your own here. One on one, you’ll take down more or less any of the monsters on offer. The only downside to that is that monsters rarely want to attack you single handedly and you’re more likely to be mobbed by a group of varying powers and sizes than by a single, lone enemy. Thankfully, you’re not alone; the Halloween instances are packed to the brim with players hoping to discover all the secrets of the Mad King.

Halloween is great to gain more experience, quickly!

You’ll fight as you explore, but you’ll also come across events which will boost your experience and give purpose to your exploration. These events tend to just have you fighting a set number of enemies but, like in the main game, your participation will be rated. It’s great fun, and if you haven’t tried out any large group quests yet, today is the day to do it. There’s some special bonus items that you won’t be able to get (until next Halloween, I imagine) and plenty to see and do. Plus, you know, you really can’t know any situation to take on groups of glow-in-the-dark spiders and mine for rare candy corn.

There’s at least a few Halloween instances to check out, although I imagine they all boil down to the same thing. Be sure to check them all out to maximize the amount of experience available to you. I have to say, if this is what the developers are doing for Halloween, I can’t wait for Christmas.

Joining the Carnival

Halloween stuff over, it was time to get on with the main quest. The carnies aren’t as near to Divinity’s Reach as perhaps you’d have thought, and if you haven’t explored very far, you’re going to have to go right out of your way. So long as you’ve made it to Beetletun, you can just use a waypoint, but if you haven’t (and can’t),

I’d suggest taking the time to do some of the renown heart quests and exploring for vistas and the like.

It’s not so much that you’ll need the experience – this quest is easier than stopping the water from being poisoned – but it’ll save you the hassle of having to walk across this rather large expanse of land time and time again.

The carnies are standing around when you arrive in Beetletun, preparing themselves to test new recruits. An animal tamer, a mime and a clown will test you to see how well you’d cope as a carny and to weed out any spies that might try to find out too much. Upon first glance there’s no sign of the little boy we were sent to rescue and no indication that the carnies have any ulterior motive outside of embaressing people who think they have what it takes. Think of it as fantasy X Factor.

The mime has you imitate him in what is a nice idea, but is terribly done. The weapon skill slots at the bottom of the screen change into mime moves, and you must do exactly what the mime does. This is stupidly easy and ridiculously long, a terrible combination. At one point I thought the quest had glitched on me, because I had to do the same move no less than five times. Apparently becoming a carny is easier than you’d think. The clown, similarly, has you tell a joke, and it seems no matter how you structure it, you’ll end up passing his test. “It’s so bad, it’s good. I’m laughing and that’s what you want.” I can just see that advice inspiring a whole new wave of stand-up comedians.

The final test, given to you by an animal trainer, has you fighting a couple of stalkers – big cats with sharp teeth. Pounding them into submission gets you a ton of praise and accepted into the carnival.

“There’s just one thing,” the clown warns you. “Don’t go into the warehouse, the Ringmaster hates it if people enter without permission.” They do nothing to stop me as I walk the three or four steps to the door and enter the warehouse without permission.

And there they are, a group of hypnotised children, including the young man we were originally sent to save. Getting them out won’t be as easy as all that, as carnival folk swarm into the room and try and destroy you. There’s only four and at least two of them will be a lower level than you are. They fall fairly easily and the spell breaks. One of the carnies reveals that the Ringmaster is holding an initiation ceremony for new recruits and we’re going to be there. We have evidence of his wrongdoing now, and he’s not going to get away with it for much longer.

Conclusion : Guild Wars 2 Review Episode #7

I always like to see a developer make an effort for special occasions.

It used to happen in console games. I remember turning on Ready2Rumble on the Dreamcast on Christmas day and being met with a specially designed Christmas variation. Nowadays these “seasonal cameos” are either fairly minor – I’m thinking Batman Arkham City and Calendar Man there – or in MMOs. For MMOs they tend to be mostly visual differences – snow at Christmas, pumpkins at Halloween, eggs at Easter – but the ones that make an effort always end up with happy fans.

With that said, any game that lets you impress hypnotised carnies with your skills at joke telling, animal bashing and mime-mimicking is a game worth playing in the first place.

Read previous episodes of Guild Wars 2 Diary here->