Review Avadon: The Black Fortress Review

[felipepepe]

If you like to think of yourself as a proud member of a niche that plays a game ONLY because its hardcore (as I posted), congratulations. You are as deep as the guy playing a game cause "you press a button and something awesome happens", except he may be having fun.

What's your definition of hardcore anyway? I don't consider the rpgs I like hardcore or niche, just good. You know, you might consider the possibility that some folks genuinely like complex, oldschool rpgs. Your incredulity stems from your inability to appreciate these kinds of games and that's your prerogative, but has no bearing on the games I and others choose to play.

I love old-school games, and really miss the complexity in modern RPGs (or I wouldn't be here), BUT I also wont praise games that trades fun for needless complexity. To me, a good game has both.

As I said and you didnt quote:

There are some nice hidden gems though, so its worth to at least play the demo. This one seem promising.

Thus, I await for the Glorious PC Master Race Demo to give it a try.

 

[Annonchinil]

From the demos I actually thought that the first game of the series has the most interesting start. Felt spooky...

For avernum, I never really liked how the characters have no walking animation.

 

[youhomofo]

I don't get the appeal of Vogel's games, and I've tried. I really have. I've played most of them at least briefly, and I've put in a dozen or so hours in a couple of his games, but I'm always left feeling so bored.

A lot of easy fights. Really interesting worlds in terms of background, but in terms of what's actually going on, I've always felt bored. Go to this dungeon full of bandits. Kill, kill, kill. Slaughter the re-colored leader who will drop some mildly decent loot. Return to town. Get a quest to go off to this cave and kill a bunch of basilisks. Kill the re-colored one. Find some loot. Return to town.

I feel like I'm dong the same thing over and over again. It gets so dull.

Isn't there a more interesting way of doing this or are all RPGs just a series of boring fights with bits of dialog delivered from uninteresting characters that push me to the next area with lots of fights and uninteresting characters?

I don't know if I've outgrown the genre or if the genre's gone retarded.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

I don't get the appeal of Vogel's games, and I've tried. I really have. I've played most of them at least briefly, and I've put in a dozen or so hours in a couple of his games, but I'm always left feeling so bored.

A lot of easy fights. Really interesting worlds in terms of background, but in terms of what's actually going on, I've always felt bored. Go to this dungeon full of bandits. Kill, kill, kill. Slaughter the re-colored leader who will drop some mildly decent loot. Return to town. Get a quest to go off to this cave and kill a bunch of basilisks. Kill the re-colored one. Find some loot. Return to town.

I feel like I'm dong the same thing over and over again. It gets so dull.

Isn't there a more interesting way of doing this or are all RPGs just a series of boring fights with bits of dialog delivered from uninteresting characters that push me to the next area with lots of fights and uninteresting characters?

I don't know if I've outgrown the genre or if the genre's gone retarded.

Perhaps these subsets of RPG's are not to your liking. If you give some examples of CRPG's that you have really loved, and still love, I might be able to diagnose your condition more successfully.

 

[youhomofo]

The last RPG that I enjoyed was Mask of the Betrayer.

Before that, Planescape and Baldur's Gate II.

I haven't touched BGII since it first came out, so my memory is fuzzy and I may be wearing rose-colored glasses, but I seem to recall every fight meaning something. Many of them were a challenge. Possibly because I crippled myself with poor character development and equipment, possibly because it was actually developed to provide a challenge.

I remember facing a liche and suddenly realizing how absurdly important magic users were. It was an enormous triumph to defeat that liche, and it took every trick and every spell I had. I felt like I'd really accomplished something, and I seem to recall the loot being very worth the effort. I didn't just get a sword that did 2 points more than my old one. I found some really cool stuff with cool backgrounds associated with them.

I can't remember if BG II offered many options. Typically that is important to me, too. I know I had plenty with Planescape and also Fallout. And Mask of the Betrayer is probably the first RPG I've ever played that had a good evil campaign. I wasn't some sociopath out to mindlessly kill. I could be a bastard out for power and personal gain at the expense of everyone else, and I actually got rewarded for my evil deeds.

Avadon, I'm just running around killing stuff. The story doesn't really draw me in. The combat isn't a challenge. The rewards aren't exciting. I don't feel like my choices are making a difference in the world.

I mean, Avadon should be awesome. I'm part of this incredibly powerful force. People ought to fear my character, and a few do. Some don't. Excellent. Let me show them WHY they should fear me. I select an intimidating dialog option, the NPC in question rolls his eyes at me and I... I... am returned to the original dialog tree. No option to make an example of the NPC in front of his peers. No breaking his arm. No enslaving his children, setting fire to his home. On the flipside, no going out of my way to reveal an altruistic nature and dispell dark rumors of Avadon.

I do whatever it is Vogel has determined for me, with a few minor dialog options that really don't seem to matter.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Hmm,

Preliminary diagnosis is: Mild case of Storyfagitis with some additional loot obsession. The fact that you also have enjoyed tough battles keeps you from having a severe or mutated strain.

Unfortunately, there isn't really anything new to be had for someone with your condition. The new games all seem to be very easy, without any real story choices that make a large difference. Perhaps I am wrong, and you should ask others.

You may be partially cured by:

Baldur's Gate 1
Fallout 2
Arcanum
Drakensang: The River of Time
Ultima Lazarus (full conversion mod. Needs Dungeon Siege 1 to play)
The Icewind Dale games

Depending on how actiony you are willing to go;

Vampire Bloodlines
Deus Ex
Gothic 2
Risen
The Witcher


You could also try the demo's for;

Knights of the Chalice (excellent battles and loot)
Teudogar and the Alliance with Rome (very good story, multiple paths and endings)

Perhaps some of my colleagues can suggest other games that fit your description as well.

 

[felipepepe]

Fallout 2
Arcanum

Those are amazing, if you didnt play then, give a try.

KoToR 1 & 2 are really nice too, Temple of Elemental Evil (patched by Circle of Eight), although not much story-driven, has great freedom in combat and nice challenges.

If none work for you, try Dragon Age: Origins. Not as bad as people here say. Sure, its a weaker "spiritual successor" of BG2, but its still one of the best recent RPGs. Just stay away from DA2.

 

[SkeleTony]

Geneforge 5 looks pretty nice. It has vastly improved graphics, including nice avatars and loading screens.

Sort of. But if I'm going to play a series, I would rather start from the beginning. and look at geneforge 1 and avernum 1:

....Yeah. Not happening.

Waitafuckingminute here...you play fucking ascii Dwarf Fortress and you think that THOSE games above look BAD?!

I will never understand graphics whores and art-fags.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

I will never understand graphics whores and art-fags.

Now, you head right back into the Knights of the Chalice 2 thread and bring this with you. Tell me when you get there.