Let me preface my review by saying, this 4 isn't necessarily indicative of Necklace of Adrian's quality as a miniquest. It ticks the boxes as for what a mini quest should have. Therefore, I can understand the 5 ratings it currently has.

So, where does my rating drop a point from a 5 to a 4? Largely, this is due to personal preference and comparison.
Should this quest receive any major updates in the future, my 4 is possible to no longer be an accurate representation to my thoughts.


With that out of the way, let me elaborate on personal preference and comparison.


To be blunt, I tend to prefer other quests over mini quests, and this quest doesn't necessarily change my thought process there.
Another thing is that compared to other quests that I have given 5s, NoA feels noticably a bit more incomplete to me.


Now, Shoshon, wait a minute? Isn't that perhaps a bit unfair? It was a quest for a contest, AND, rating against it as a miniquest when that's the genre is wrong.
While that is true, I wouldn't hold it being a miniquest against it, or it being for a contest against it, it does somewhat affects my overall enjoyment, but that only accounts for so much.


Let's start off with what I like about this quest. The exploration is great. It's not the most top notch I have ever experienced, but it's on par with other quests I have given 5s in the past in that department.

The music choices were nice. In fact, the theme in the main town is my favorite music used in any quest on the database. It is absolutely gorgeous. And I love imagining the guitarist in the town being the one playing the song.

I also agree with Shane that the dungeons are atmospheric and unique.


To counter my own point there though, they also weren't particularly great to me. I loved the idea of just finding these tombs (?), and exploring them. That is really cool, and there are some pretty nice puzzles mixed in.
However, beyond that, I don't find them especially enjoyable. They were small and nicely designed. But that's it. Bosses or sub bosses could improve them to a degree. What do I mean by sub bosses? Consider the following, you don't necessarily need a boss, but certain notable characters mixed into the common enemies would be a nice touch. Maybe you run into some kind of rival in a dungeon which gives you a boss fight. Maybe mixed in with an army of darknuts you have a special general who leads this army. Something apart from being atmospheric or unique, but giving the dungeons a bit more of a narrative, a reason for existing, beyond being one of the artifacts you have to collect.

Now, it would be unfair for me to expect exceptional story telling from anything, but when the quest is just good at everything, but doesn't have an area it particularly excels in (imo), that's where it falls a bit.


As I said, I find the quest a bit incomplete, and by comparison to other quests it falters a bit.
Now, I could say I would compare it to Yuurei, which did get a 5 from me. But let's be a bit more fair, and compare it to miniquests.


I gave Rite of the Storm and ZScript Havoc each a 5, because they felt complete, and they offered something exceptional.
Rite of the Storm had amazing puzzles and narrative.
ZScript Havoc was just incredibly fun.

Summoning War is another miniquest I found complete.


So, where is Necklace of Adrian incomplete to me?

A lot of it has to do with the feeling, immersion and that it's just not particularly spectacular.
True, I can only expect so much, but here's an interesting fact about me...

Majora's Mask, my overall favorite Zelda quest, supremely impressive narrative and wonderful gameplay, didn't even leave me completely immersed. It is incredibly difficult to pull me in with immersion alone.
So often I show my respect for narrative choices that I find particularly spectacular.


Now, I wouldn't expect you to make the next Majora's Mask. I wouldn't expect that from anyone.


But when the gameplay isn't particularly 5worthy, and nothing else really bumps the quest as a whole above a 4 for me, being incredibly fun or deep can go a long way.


The quest felt like it ended abruptly. The final cutscene had a chance to impress me, but it just left me like, eh, I guess it works.


Lyrics of Death got a 5 from me because it is the quest on the database that has come the closest to making me fully immersed. So, despite its flaws, it really stuck with me.


So, the question for me is not whether it deserves a 4, but whether it deserves a 5. When I see that the quest is decently fun, has nice exploration, and atmospheric/unique dungeons, but doesn't particularly excel in any area, it really affects what I think.

Keep in mind, I did give this a 4, so I definitely don't think it's bad. It was well designed. It's just missing the extra oomph. As it is, I'd give it an 8.5/10, or a 4.25/5.

Rounding down, I give it a 4.


Still really well done, and I couldn't expect more out of a contest miniquest, but maybe my thoughts will help you out.

I love novel quests

It has the same quality as Second Chance, but more bite-sized. The overworld is gorgeous, music selection is great and the dungeons felt atmospheric and unique. I appreciate the effort with the story at least, and the writing isn't bad at all, but I just felt it was questionable at a certain point and only at that certain point. I wish there was bosses but I guess that's what makes the dungeons feel different than your typical ZC ones so I guess in some odd way it works in your favor? I guess at the end of the day, it won't have all the features Second Chance have since this is a miniquest made for a contest. But you added the most important thing from SC in my opinion, and that is the quality. So great work.