Sorry if this has already been covered, but since I own this adventure on DnD Beyond, I thought I'd do an audit of the specific claims in this review (specifically, from
part 2).
There are several things wrong about this statement.
First, the book describes Qunbraxel as “insufferably arrogant” and as “more interested in establishing a court of grimlocks and turning Gibbet Crossing into a lair” than finding the obelisk shard. Its weak efforts towards finding the shard can easily be attributed to these personality traits.
Second, the creature that knows the command word for the magic items is not in the next room. The rooms share a wall, but it’s a 10 foot wall of stone with no passages between them through it. To get from one room to the other, Qunbraxel would need to travel through six other rooms.
Once there, it’s debatable whether or not it would be reasonable for Qunbraxel to assume any of the elemental creatures inside would know anything about the magic item. Also, three CR 5 elementals would likely be a very challenging battle for a CR 9 mindflayer and his posse of CR ¼ grimlocks, should Qunbraxel try to extract their brain to learn the command word by force.
Third, while the command word is written down in a room “across the hall”, it’s guarded by a CR 10 yochlol that is hostile to anyone who enters the room, and it’s written in a language Qunbraxel doesn’t understand.
This is technically correct but grossly misleading. These aren’t just mindflayers, they’re the leaders of the mindflayer efforts in this module. The differences in their locations changes whether they are fought together or individually. If the flayers get four pieces then each is fought alone. If they get five then one is fought alone and the other two are fought together. And if they flayers get all six or more they’re all fought together. This dramatically changes the encounter difficulty the PCs face. This is the difference between the PCs facing three Easy encounters prior to the final boss, or facing one Medium encounter followed by one extremely Deadly encounter prior to it. It may not be as creative as some would like, but its effects are significant to the party's chances of success.
This is hard to check without more details. If it’s in reference to the NPC in area P9 of Crypt of the Talhund then the adventure does give a clear explanation for how they got there, but I haven’t extensively checked all of the dungeons for out of place NPCs.
While it is true the entrance to the crypt is sealed, the adventure establishes there are other entrances. In area P9, there is an NPC who entered the crypt several days before the PCs arrived. He did so via “a secret Underdark passage leading to the pool” the hydra sleeps in, and he “swam past that room’s treacherous inhabitants” to get to his present location.
The map for the crypt also shows the pool the hydra lurks in extends off the map, and it describes that room as having “collapsed into a flooded pit”. Indicating the pit was deep enough to consume the entire missing portion of the room.
I’m not sure how this invalidates the dungeon key. It just numbers the rooms. Perhaps “key” is just a typo here?
Regardless, the barricade doesn’t prevent the goblins from going down to the lower level of the dungeon. They can still move between levels via a mine shaft that connects to the goblins sleeping quarters in Z4. The lift in the shaft doesn’t function when the PCs find it, but the shaft only descends 30 feet so it’s possible for the goblins to descend and ascend using ropes (possibly by climbing?). Also, the leader of the goblins, the only one found on the lower levels in the adventure, can fly, allowing them to traverse the shaft with ease even without climbing gear.
The description for X8 does not mention any extra doors. The map shows only one door, the one leading into the room from X7. Perhaps this is in reference to the window mentioned in the description to Z8 (in Zorzula’s Rest)? If so, while subtle, the map does show a window that looks out into Z3.
I'll skip this one since it's been talked to death here already. I just wanted to include the claim for completeness.
In the introduction to this adventure it says “One side of the poster map shows the Phandalin region, including prominent locations in the Underdark where the characters will travel. If the players don’t recognize these names yet, that’s good! Once they learn in the game where they’re headed, they’ll realize they’ve heard of the location and can head in the right direction at will.” So, while some may disagree with the designers' choice to include these, it was done intentionally on their part.
While the two dungeons mentioned are shown in two different locations, those locations are extremely close to one another on the map. The map even makes note of one being under the other by labeling one as “Talhundereth (underground dwarf temple)” and the other as “Crypt of the Talhund (under temple)”.
