First, an older gamer, been at it since the 70's (decade, not my age). First GOG review, I've played hundreds RPG's of all sorts (all the various hybrids/genre names). I'm not an accomplished gamer, never get far in many games, only finished a few this last decade or so. IMHO, a quality opinion can usually be formed partway through content, unless a critique about later to end-game bugs or content.
I played so far maybe a fifth or so content. Upon reading all previous reviews up until this writing, I feel some overly focused on maker's previous releases, found this fairly different, and then lowered the review for a terrific indie game, on its own merits, by a lot. So, I wrote this consciense based review. Since some people have critiqued this offering based on comparison with previous Spiderweb games, I'll use that as a basis for making a case for this as an extremely good RPG, and excellent for an indie title.
This is not an Avernum 2 or 3, or Avadon 1 to 3 type clone. It has some nice similarities that would make most fairly bright people realize it was the same maker. One very dominant similarity is storytelling, but this is even more immersive, and by far replayable, than any of those (and those are ok for replayability). Second, it has the wonderful interactivity leading into many of the encounters and dungeon layout, with fun, surprising moments. Only few of the giants have gotten all this type stuff right the last decade or so.
Graphics are nothing special, but this is played for an overall turn-based, story based RPG experience, so graphics takes a backseat. But, they're rather nice in their simplicity and fit the experience very well enough, and this includes the sounds. The timely based XP fits for the purpose and is balanced. The streamlining of stats takes nothing away. You build your fort towns as you go, a critical component, and very different (a core play aspect). It's a winner RPG, with sim aspects for both aesthetic and strategy.
