LogFAQs > #962067806

Avernum 3: Ruined World (PC)

Finally done. As I mentioned yesterday, I prefer it over 2 but not 1. Escape from the Pit was special I think because I had just been introduced to Jeff Vogel's brand of CRPG. It was a discovery in and of itself. All Crystal Souls ever did really was make it "bigger" instead of deeper in hindsight---it felt like an expansion pack of sorts. Which is why this game trumps that in itself. There's a whole new world to explore and I can't believe I'm saying this but I love that TREES are a sight for sore eyes.

That said, Valorim kinda sucks. Its full of these tinier towns that I get it is suppose to evoke the vastness of the world above but it just ends up being useless most of the time. Sure I'll still talk to people and such but after awhile I felt tired just exploring generic town location number 14. I ended up just using the hintbook for some of the minor quests.

The story is way better and I suppose you had to finish Crystal Souls to really understand the context and weight of things. The plot though...I dont know. It's alot more railroaded and I think the idea of the plagues is cool but it just felt like a JRPG which is fine if it were any other game but a Jeff Vogel one. Instead I very much loved the Legendary Items quests which brought some rather creative and fiendish dungeons and puzzles thereof and mirrored a bit on Avernum 1's sense of discovery. The final boss was okay---certainly better than the bs that was the 2nd game.

One thing I kinda hated too was that exp was no longer divided so I couldnt just play the game as 2 mages and hog the exp for myself which is what I did in the last game.

So yeah 3 > 1 > 2. I think this is a good place to stop. I dont know if I want to start on the 4th game but basically these games are my new Nancy Drew. The plan is to finish Avernum then Avadon and Geneforge. Though I hear that the latter is only just being remade so I might hold off on that.

As I said in my first post on this thread, last year was a blackout in terms of gaming for me so I might just play catch up with some of the big games I'm missing. Or maybe just play something else that isn't a CRPG hahah.