Avernum 3: Ruined World

This is an amazing game, an open-world game with an enormous world, both surface and underground, a gripping, deep main story line and a virtually limitless number of things to do (including procedurally generated courier missions in every major city when you need cash). The game starts with enough background information to get players new to the series up to speed, and the interface is intuitive so you can focus on exploration and the story. Your people have been exiled from the surface to the underworld, and you have chosen to explore the surface world to gather information and hopefully find a home on the surface for your people. How the people on the surface react to you depends on your actions, your reputation, and even the composition of your party (in many places non-humans are not welcome). The other thing is that you find is that the people of the surface have suddenly been set upon by magical monster plagues that threaten to destroy the surface world and your potential future home. So now you have monster plagues to destroy and a mystery to solve: who is responsible for the plagues? So what has changed since the remake (available in Avernum: The Complete Saga)? The graphics and sounds are nicer, but be aware that these have never been the focus of the games. Most of the improvements have been in the interface, skill tree, game balance, and general reduction of tedium (e.g. dealing with cursed items, repeated trips for hauling junk for sale, etc.). All of these things improve the game experience and allows the player to focus on the fun parts of the game: exploring, kicking monster butt, and making the world safer for the surface folk and for your people. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and explore!

Avernum is a framework for casual RPG fun. You run a party of four. Want a muscular thief? A nature-loving priestess? A wimpy lizard-mage clad in steel armor? A brooding cat-sorceress who drinks wine and shoots lightning from her fingers? You can make anything you have skill points for. Every character has their place in this huge, living world. Locations, architecture, even the stuff scattered around serves to reinforce their stories. Every once in a while, you get a scene right out of pen-and-paper RPGs. There's [spoiler] where all the guests have been murdered and aren’t happy about that, written in chilling style. A vampire invites you to his lair; in you go, lured by the promise of XP and loot. There’s a lot of fun and adventure to be had here. Download the demo at Spiderweb Software if you’re unsure. Odds are, you’ll get hooked.

In a world filled with identical AAA games, micro-transactions, and short attention span games, I'm so glad there are gems like this still being released. Jeff Vogel is a fantastic dev, and has developed another one of those games you can just get lost in. The details, the role playing, the combat, the world, characters, and dialog; its all fantastic.

don't trust those negative reviews, there's some crpg veterans out there who love to spit on jeff vogel's games for no reason at all. "newer is no better" in this case yes it is. exile 3 is unplayable and ugly. yes it had more spells and skills, but hey guess what, "less is more" right? that's what you old crpg veterans say all the time. avernum 3 is as great as any other classic crpg, even better. vogel's games are the type of game that most people secretly love to play but are ashamed to admit they enjoy it more than classics. well, i'm not, never cared about those crpg veterans, they're just blinded by nostalgia and stuck in the past, let them be. first 3 avernum are fantastic, writting is better than most classic crpgs, exploration is great and rewarding, and combats are deeper than what most people say. less is more, you don't need hundreds of skills and spells to make a great tactical crpg. those games are cheap, don't trust those negative reviews and give avernum a chance, you won't regret it.