This is a terrific game in a world that is a mashup of fantasy with elements of molecular biology (!!!). You are a Shaper, trained in the ability to create and control other life forms for your use and shipwrecked on an island which has been banned by your kind for a century. You discover that the island is populated by creatures that normally would only exist as created by Shapers, but seemingly without any Shapers. How this came to be and what to do about it, well that is the story that you will resolve. And you have great freedom to resolve the story how you like, by joining factions or not, alone or with creations, violently or as a pacifist. And while your choices do influence how the game progresses, there are few choices until near the end that are completely irreversible. So the game has a lot of replay value and a range of endings, from terrible to some pretty good ones, both for yourself and the various factions. The game is a remake of Geneforge I from the Geneforge Saga. So why buy this one or play it if you played the original? Other than to support a great indie developer, there is quite a bit of new content, including an interesting new creation and quest plotlines. The graphics, sounds and engine have been updated to work better on modern computers, and there are the usual QoL improvements one might expect. The best improvements though are in how the game mechanics work to make the game more approachable and less punishing to unfortunate early decisions in your build. Also, the creations are much more customizable and completely rebuildable. This leads to fun possibilities, like exploding creations you send on suicide missions, or creation builds custom-designed to navigate specific zones or to defeat specific bosses. This is a worthy remake of one of his best games. Highly recommended!
As is true for all of Spiderweb's games, Queen's Wish has a great story, engaging writing, memorable characters, and interesting gameplay. Many of the gameplay elements are a departure from anything Spiderweb has done recently, starting with the very-streamlined character creation. There are no stats! The next thing one will notice is the change from isometric to top-down, ultra-retro graphics. I have to say it took a bit of getting used to, but in the end it grew on me. One gets experience for completing missions and exploring instead of from killing stuff, which I like since it reduces grinding. The thing that really sets it apart is the combination of fort-building and exploring/questing gameplay. As one builds up and building improvements in forts, one gets access to better equipment, more resources to build more improvements and even generate a lot of income. In fact, the best equipment except for jewelry and charms are obtained from your forts rather than from looting dungeons. Clearing dungeons and completing missions generates some loot and experience, but also act as sources of resources and can reduce the amount of resource-reducing thievery. As one progresses one has to reconquer vassals, which involves choosing a faction to support in each vassal. To win one reconquers the vassals, but then there is the inevitable complication that I won't spoil but serves as the endgame. One can end the game in various ways, which affects not only the endgame text but also gives you a code that allows you to apply the choices you made this game to future games. Obviously I have no idea what that will look like, but sounds intriguing, no? There are a few rough edges, such as item progression feeling a little choppy with a *lot* of items being unlocked at the last fort. While one can respec characters, the interface for this is a little bit clunky. But these things are fixable and I look forward to see what the rest of the series brings.
You pilot a squad of mechs to destroy bugs, save lives, and achieve optional objectives. What's so hard about that? And... you even get to see your opponents' moves, Piece of cake, right? Not so fast! Except in the easiest difficulty it never seems like you have enough mechs to do everything. So you have to make hard choices, Do you go all out to kill the bugs you are facing now at the expense of the objectives? Do you prioritize stopping the bugs from emerging so you aren't overwhelmed later? Do you kill a bug and let another attack a building, possibly costing lives and reducing your power grid? And even beyond the individual battles to win or lose, you have other choices. Each island is divided into zones that are revealed as you battle in adjacent regions. And you only get to battle in four regions before the final showdown on an island. So you have to choose battles not only based on objectives and rewards, but also based on which zones may be revealed. And you can choose which and how many islands to save before the final planetary showdown, which naturally scales in difficulty. And you can buff your mechs (which don't carry over between planets) and unlock pilots (which do carry over). After you complete a planet, win or lose you get to send a pilot back to use in the next planet, or you can choose one of your unlocked pilots. Finally, as you complete achievements you are able to unlock different mech squads with very different abilities. All of this adds to the variety and replayability and gives the game tremendous depth. Did I mention that it is a lot of fun as well?
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!
