I really, really like Nali Chronicles

, it's one of my favorite custom campaigns for Unreal/UT, this mod is basically Unreal combined with RPG elements like more focus on the story, NPC interactions, a companion, a system that allows you to get special powers by combining ingredients, a log that records everything you read, etc. But even with all of that NC is still a first person shooter at the end of the day. There are so many things to like about this project like the unique story (which is connected to the original Unreal in a very interesting way), the dialogue (which thankfully doesn't use human language, voice acting and Unreal/UT mods don't mix very well), the new gameplay features like the magic system and the alchemy system (the alchemy system can be confusing because the game doesn't do a good job explaining what a "piece" is when you are making a potion), the fact that you play as a Nali (complete with being slow and jumping higher) and of course the music (which in my opinion is just as good as the original Unreal

). The campaign in general has decent level geometry and lighting but it isn't that impressive, especially considering that this project was done after other mods like ONP and Xidia. There are many issues with texture alignment, scaling, choice, lighting effects and ambient lighting, all of these things really gives NC a more amateur look. Also this campaign uses too many decorations and some of them are either located incorrectly or have issues with lighting.
NC is a UT99 mod but it doesn't use OldSkool Amp, which is a real shame since this campaign will benefit a lot from OldSkool's new features like permanent carcasses and decals, this also applies to other projects like Spatial Fear.
The map that appears when you start NC does a great job at telling you everything you need to know about the story: the destruction of the village, the corpses everywhere, the marks of the battle and that poor crucified Nali. Also the reflective water looks great, reflective surfaces and skyboxes don't mix very well because it causes many HOM errors but thankfully you are never going to see it from the angle of your camera.
NC also has a tutorial map, it's quite decent at teaching you all the necessary stuff you need to learn, however one thing that NC never teaches you properly is how vitality and bloodlust work (which I still don't understand to this day

). Also at the end of the tutorial you can damage the Nali and the Cow , something you aren't suppose to do.
The intro is great, it's quite ironic that this map uses the ending song from Unreal considering that it's the first song that plays in NC. Scripted sequences are great, the timing of the camera work and the music works really well (unless you pause the game

). One great thing about cutscenes in NC is that you can skip them if you want, which is great when you are replaying the campaign and you want to focus only on the gameplay.
NaRaLuk Village is a level where all you do is explore and get some items, so there isn't anything interesting to talk about except for the final Skaarj ambush which is very effective, however it's bizarre that while the majority of the Skaarj can be killed, there are like two of them that are basically immortal, very strange. The choice of music for that ambush is odd (the music from the trophy room from UT) , however at least it's consistent because this song appears again, so this song is like the Skaarj theme in NC.
Temple of Gazra is still a "tutorial" map where you get the chance to become comfortable with the new spell/magic system. I like that since you only have the knife you are forced to use the spells, however one tiny detail that the game never teaches you is that you need to use spells from a specific book in order to reach level 1, this activates more locations to recover mana, so if you don't know this you are going to have a bad time. The level design can be a little complicated but the map is small, so it's very unlikely that you will get lost, however the objectives can be more confusing than the level itself, especially when you have to press two levers only to activate other levers that also need to be pressed, it's quite confusing.
Issues I found:
NaRaLuk Village:
-The invisible Tree9 decoration appears in this map.
-For some reason there's a mana zone for a book that you cannot have at this point in the story.
-The nali rabbits have a tendency to go underwater.
-The source of some messages can be moved, this also happens in other maps.
-There are some decorations on top of tables that you can move, if you are very, very unlucky you will die instantly when touching one of this decorations, this issue also appears in map 3 but there it's much worse.
-Some of the Skaarj at the end of the map have an insane amount of health, but some of them are normal.
-Terrain texture alignment is not good, also the choice of texture for the water is questionable. This also happens in other maps.
-The flames have a small texture alignment issue at the top.
-There isn't a fail-safe that kills the Nali Priest, so he can survive the rocket blast depending on the preferences of your game.
-If you skip the conversation with the Priest at the end of the map, you can accidentally get killed by a Redeemer blast that appears outside the building.
-The health items at the end of the map are floating.
-Flames don't have a sound, this also happens in other maps.
-The majority of the maps don't use any DynamicAmbientSounds.
Temple of Gazra
-Zone Infos don't have ambient brightness, which can make seeing dark areas difficult especially considering that you don't have a flashlight at this point in the story.
-Terrain has no texture alignment, not even the floor/ceiling textures were aligned.
-Some messages have weird collision issues.
-Just like in the previous map, there's a mana zone that uses a book that you don't have yet.
-There are items on top of tables that can be destroyed, so if you break the tables the items will end up floating.
-Tree9 also appears in this map.
-A little nitpick, if you decide to leave the two lever objective for the end, you won't get the chance to listen to the second song that much.
Also FUN FACT (well not so fun) : if you play NC in UT using the NC menu, you can only play the campaign in Medium difficulty, also the majority of the maps don't have any difficulty filtering and there's no coop filtering. oh no

Somewhere in Nevada...