Posted on: January 23, 2013

gnarynhar

Games: 177 Reviews: 2

Hours of gameplay.

I started off playing the precursor to the Avernum games, Exile. Each Exile gameworld was *huge* and I used to play it for so long I started seeing the graphics in my dreams. While I do have some quibbles with update/remake of Avernum (less party members, can't equip two weapons, isometric perspective means navigation isn't as simple), the fact is, I can spend ages immersed in these games, searching out the best weapons, mapping out as much terrain as possible, and indeed reading the text. (Hell, I even found myself trying to tidy up the various homes I was breaking into, or dropping of things like plates, pots and pillows in the homes of the poor or by refugees.) If you're not into reading text, this game probably isn't for you, but for those of us who enjoy reading, (or don't mind it if they want a rich, immersive experience) then do try the Avernum series. The graphics may be old and simple but the story and imagination more than compensates.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: March 2, 2022

Roger.352

Games: 28 Reviews: 1

Blades of Avernum. Magnificent!

I just completed the first, of four campaigns in this game. It was very good, handcrafted, well balanced and fair. very spooky and sometimes very funny. It was interesting and engrossing from beginning to end. It reminded me of Legend of Grimrock. I suffer from the attention span of a goldfish but i was engrossed none the less. True RPG's LIKE THIS are few and far between these days. You can continue to new adventures with your party, and i hear there are tons of fan made scenarios out there too. i really appreciated the handcrafted nature of this game. These days, procedurally generated TRASH does not respect your time and effort, making you grind. but the megadungeon in this game makes SENSE and i was eager to investigate and uncover it all. I LIKE the graphics on this game, and am turned off by the newer graphics in the more recent games /shrug.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: January 15, 2013

rutra80

Verified owner

Games: Reviews: 5

Rolling release series

These games started in 1995 as "Exile" series. Five years later developer made a remake with new graphics, improved GUI, and additional quests - it was called "Avernum" and this is what is being sold here. The point is that developer is making another remake of the series now, first game of the series was already re-released a year ago with another batch of improvements, and Avernum 2 is going to be re-released soon too. So, what you buy here is already a bit outdated. Anyhow, it is well worth the price offered here. Cumulatively it will give you like 200 hours of well crafted turn-based fantasy RPG gameplay.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: December 4, 2020

cahallmxj

Verified owner

Games: 1300 Reviews: 17

A almost exhausting amount of old fashioned CRPG fun

In this saga you take on the role of 4 different adventures in 6 different time periods in the underground kingdom of Avernum. The story takes the players from Avernum's beginnings as a place where criminals and those who didn't fit in the empire above were sentenced to live out there lives in exile to a flourishing kingdom on the brink of collapse from a mysterious plague that is destroying it's food supply. The stories can range from fleshed out narrative that tells the player to go here and do this to a more open world approach that tells the player about all the problems and leaves it to them to figure out how to fix things. The thing about all these games is that, for the most part, it can be as bare bones as the player wants or as full as the player wants, depending on how many main objectives and side quests the player wants to do. Just want to take out the big bad with the minimum amount of questing done go for it, game won. Want to solve all the worlds problems and take out all the big bads go for it, game done when you say it's done. The second approach will give the player a lot of content to wade through. Almost to the point where it becomes a slog if the player tries to do everything in every game. Game play is basically what you expect from games like this. You control 4 different adventures and you level them up by doing quests and fighting monsters with the end goal being take out the big bad. As the games progressed it felt like the focus shifted a little bit from exploring to trying to make the combat a little more interesting. So the huge areas that are present in the first game get zoomed in by the time you get to the later games. The combat encounters also seem to increase as the series went on with with there being a attempt to focus on character abilities instead of whacking everything with fireballs and swords. Not a bad thing necessarily just noticeable. In conclusion, great games if you like old fashioned Crpg's.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: March 30, 2024

Fergei

Verified owner

Games: 106 Reviews: 3

I'm a mere 20 years late...

I loved Spiderwebs original Exile trilogy when they came out, but held off on Avernum as: i) I don't really play remakes (life is too short) ii) I was put off by the streamlined magic, the reduced party size, the lack of typed conversations with NPCs and the isometric graphics iii) it came out at a time when my free time was limited, so shorter games were the order of the day. However, within 15mins of loading up Avernum 4 I was a convert. The quality of writing from the earlier games remains but there is more thoughtful/challenging combat than with Exile and despite the large game world, it is arguably more tightly focussed than Exile 3, with the questing system and enjoyable combat challenge propelling me through the game. There is still arguably a requirement to write some degree of notes to get the most out of the game (which I personally like), but you can play it purely using the user interface if need be. The audiovisual presentation is arguably not even as good as with the far older Exile, but for anyone who enjoys reading hard copy books this should not be overly off-putting as humans come built in with an imagination! I recommend dxwnd for windowed play and can't recommend this (and Exile) highly enough for those who enjoy RPGs, stories and turn based strategy/combat.

Is this helpful to you?

Discover CD PROJEKT RED games

Highlights

Featured

Close, but not an exact hit

Avernum: The Complete Saga

Other ratings

Add a review

Edit a review

Delete this review?

Report this review

Additional Details (required):

Report this review