I really enjoyed this map. First run demo is here:

http://www.quaketastic.com/files/demos/bindingtower_iw.zip

(Hard skill, 125/125 kills, 4/5 secrets)

I played a bit wonky at the start, and got got stuck for a while in the middle, but managed to scrape through.

The things I enjoyed most were (I'm going to echo everyone else here):

* The visual theme was strong and unique (tilting trees, curling archways) and yet it still worked very well with the existing Quake assets.

* In general, the attention to detail was subtle and clever: e.g. the thin layer of mist covering the ground in the forest, the old books piled on the tables (and QuakeGuy's comments about them), the way the diamond-things released by the altars gently bob up and down, etc.

* The layout was non-linear enough to be interesting and to give a sense of exploration and discovery without being overly complicated/confusing. Good job!

* It's heartwarming that all this was achieved using only the stock Quake textures and gameplay (plus some modern engine features, obv.).

I thought the following things had room for improvement:

* The clue to "Burn and light their voice and sight" was too vague for me. =( As you'll see in the demo, I ended up wandering around stuck for several minutes because I thought I must have missed something in one of the other areas. I guessed the right thing to do eventually.

* Health and ammo seemed a bit too tight at the start, and a bit too plentiful by the end.

* This is a minor pet peeve, but the buttons in front of the altars have the red "Q" texture which the id maps always reserved for shootable buttons: this gives the player the wrong cue because the buttons need to be pushed rather than shot. The red "Q" is why, in the demo, I tried to axe the first one I came across. =P

Overall, a great map! I would happily play a whole episode of this. Keep up the good work! 

I really loved this one. Gonna echo everybody else's praise here. Great visuals, ambience, gemeplay. I completed it on skill 1, found all 5 secrets (which is not that typical for me). Had lots of fun.

But I'm dumb and hadn't thought that I HAD to pick up the Quad to open that big gate. So I was certain I'd missed something and run through the empty map like a maniac trying to find a missed switch or something. Finally I picked the Quad just out of desperation and voila! The damn gate opened :D

Here's my playthrough with Polish commentary (in two parts, I'm slow):
https://youtu.be/s9s4v-_D9sg
https://youtu.be/22Re3z7ERa0