‘The Heart of Fire’ returns the reader to the land of Valeron, the setting for the first Destiny Quest book, ‘The Legion of Shadow’. Inevitably this results in the occasional crossover, but essentially ‘The Heart of Fire’ is its own independent story and there is no need to have read ‘The Legion of Shadow’.
The adventure bears the same structure to the previous one. It is divided into three interrelated ‘acts’ each represented by an interactive map that allows the reader to choose from a selection of destinations, quests and monster hunts. In this way it means the reader, at least to a certain extent, is able to choose what they do and in what order. As well as progressing the overall story, the purpose of these missions/quests is essentially for the adventurer to find equipment that builds and upgrades their character.
Each of the three ‘acts’ takes the adventurer to a different territory to explore. These are more varied in nature in ‘The Heart of Fire’ than they are in ‘The Legion of Shadow’. The second act takes you on a wonderful exploration of a tropically forested Central American like environment littered with the remnants of ancient civilisations in a Mesoamerican style. It gives this part of the adventure a slight Indiana Jones feel. Meanwhile, with allusions to Dante, the third act involves an atmospheric venture underground into the ruins of an ancient Dwarven city. The third act is somewhat more restrictive than other Destiny Quest acts as the adventurer is forced to move around in a much more linear way due to quests not opening until you complete others. It is a restriction on the freedom of movement/choice that characterises Destiny Quest but it does create a greater intensity for this final act.
Much in keeping with the plot to ‘The Legion of Shadow’ the reader starts with very little awareness of whom and what they actually are. It’s a common starting point that serves the Destiny Quest style well. As the story progresses the adventurer discovers more about themselves and their identity whilst they grow their avatar by upgrading their character’s equipment and hence their abilities. This does sometimes lead to a ‘string of battles’ scenario. The effect is less than that in ‘The Legion of Shadow’ though with the battles divided throughout the adventure better and there being more variety to them.
The upgrading of the character still suffers from a lack of equal balancing, it being essential really that you ensure you concentrate on SPEED and then on either one or the other between BRAWN and MAGIC. It is a disappointing aspect off this system that the attribute of ARMOUR becomes a little irrelevant, especially as the adventure progresses. You could never gain enough armour to withstand the more powerful attacks effectively and, besides, the most irritating attacks tend to be those that ignore ARMOUR.
The only real change/addition to the gameplay is the introduction of the team battles. They provide some exceptionally tough battles and allow you to battle a foe with another playable character. This can be done utilising a friend’s character if you know someone else who owns a copy of the book or, in an interesting twist that makes it beneficial to have played the first Destiny Quest, you can use the character you played with in ‘The Legion of Shadow’. If you haven’t played ‘The Legion of Shadow’ the book contains a full draft adventure sheet for a substitute you can use. These team battles are a good addition and provide some of the most entertaining combat.
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