Just purchased entire Steam catalog

[NamelessOne]

Greetings!

 

I am a very lucky person to have all rpgs games at my disposal. I dont really want to guess at which game to play first so I'll just ask a question. Of the games purchased, which has the best story and is still fairly simple to get into?

[Student of Trinity]

I prefer Geneforge, but they're all pretty good. If story is what you want, you'll probably want to start each series at the beginning.

 

For the Avernum series, that'd be Avernum: Escape from the Pit as the latest updating of Avernum 1. Unfortunately Avernum 2 and 3 are not yet updated, and aren't part of the Steam bundle. The original versions of 4, 5 and 6 are, because they are more recent, though not as new as the remake of 1. If you start Avernum now, you'll either have to skip from 1 to 4, or buy the old versions of 2 and 3 separately directly from Spiderweb, or wait for 2 and 3 to be updated and get them then. A lot happens in Avernum 2 and 3, story-wise, so depending on how obsessive you are about following the main plot, you might not want to just skip them.

 

The entire Geneforge series is in the Steam pack, so you could start and finish it. That's what I'd do.

 

Avadon is a recent game, whose sequels have yet to be written.

 

Nethergate: Resurrection is a remake of an old game that never had a sequel. It's a really different CRPG, and well worth playing, though it's one of the more old-school in the Steam package, presentation-wise.

[Randomizer]

This board is split on which series is better because Geneforge and Avernum require different playing styles. Geneforge has better stories, but most players have an easier time with Avernum because you control a larger party.

 

Nethergate is a good choice because it has a great story and a 4 character party. Plus you get to see the story from two different view points.

[Actaeon]

This board is split on which series is better because Geneforge and Avernum require different playing styles.

 

While this is accurate, I think that SoT's point about the Geneforge series being complete is key. If you start with G1, you're looking at five games (four of which are truly top notch) with progressively refined interfaces.

 

However, if you'd like a one-off game with a great interface and open world, Avernum: Escape from the Pit is an excellent choice. My only fear is that it will spoil you on earlier, less polished games.

[Tyranicus]

In other words: Nethergate

[Trenton.]

That's your answer to everything.

 

 

Geneforge: Better Story.

Avernum: Better gameplay.

Exile: Better... Everything.

Nethergate:... Meh

Avadon: Wouldn't know, haven't played.

 

Recommended to start with for each game:

Geneforge 3

Avernum 2

Exile 3

Nethergate Ressurection

Avadon has only one game currently, The Black Fortress.

 

I don't know. It's just horrible. Having to choose which game to play first. I hope I'm never in the same situation that you are in.

[Triumph]

Nethergate! Best story around, best atmosphere / setting, and excellent gameplay. Another reason to play it first is that it also has probably the oldest interface of any the games in the list, which means you might find it easier to play it first than than to try to come play it later after having played one of the relatively more modern games (it wasn't a problem for me, personally, but from what others have said on these fora, going back to the older games after playing the newer ones can be difficult).

 

The other starter I'd recommend is the first Geneforge. Highly impressive atmosphere, good story, solid gameplay, and sets you on the path for the rest of the series.

[nikki.]

I don't know. It's just horrible. Having to choose which game to play first. I hope I'm never in the same situation that you are in.

 

Assuming you don't develop amnesia, I'm not sure how you could be in the same situation.

[Tyranicus]

That's your answer to everything.

That's because it's the right answer to everything.

[Dikiyoba]

I don't know. It's just horrible. Having to choose which game to play first. I hope I'm never in the same situation that you are in.

Assuming you don't develop amnesia, I'm not sure how you could be in the same situation.

And if you do develop amnesia, well, you're looking for a game in a whole different genre.

 

Dikiyoba.

[Xaiya]

Recommended to start with for each game:

Geneforge 3

Uh, why? Why start with one not only in the middle, but also inferior to the rest of the series? Not that it's a bad game in itself--still good. But still.

 

Start with the old Avernum and work your way up. Save the Geneforge series for last as it's the best.

[Actaeon]

I'm with Iffy on G3. I'm also going to go the extra mile and suggest you play them by release date, alternating between Avernum and Geneforge.

 

Really, though, he only asked for a starting point. Besides, Exile and the original Avernums aren't an option, as they're not on Steam.

[Alorael at Large]

Throwing my hat into the ring:

 

Start with Nethergate: Resurrection. It's a fantastic game with an aging engine. If you find the engine okay, that's a sign that you can happily play Avernum 2 and 3, not included in the bundle, and then finish the Avernum series. If not, go to Geneforge, because that's a complete series in the bundle. Start with G1; if you find it too old for your tastes, move forward.

 

Each game is self-contained, but the Geneforges especially have a lot of call-backs to previous games and you'll appreciate them more if you've played the whole way through.

 

—Alorael, who has finally gotten around to doing so, years after their first releases. It manages to be a strong series at beginning and end with only a little sagging in the middle. You can really skip G3 without missing much. (Or G2, if you're so inclined.)

[keira]

best storyline, best graphics, free, AND is prolly the only old SW game that runs natively in win64

Edited December 11, 2012 by صيلي
also dat ass

[Actaeon]

Or G2, if you're so inclined.)

 

Blasphemy.

[Mosquito---Slayer]

If you find the engine okay, that's a sign that you can happily play Avernum 2 and 3, not included in the bundle, and then finish the Avernum series.

Actually not, I happily played Avernum 3 but never managed to do Avernum 2 since the way characters moved on pressing the direction keys is weirder.

My opinion: Start from the start and end at the end.

(and having seen so many of these photos by Tyran, I have finally decided to give Nethergate a go )

[Tyranicus]

Actually not, I happily played Avernum 3 nut never managed to do Avernum 2 since the way characters moved on pressing the direction keys is weirder.

My opinion: Start from the start and end at the end.

(and having seen so many of these photos by Tyran, I have finally decided to give Nethergate a go )

This program by BMA fixes the arrow keys for A1 and A2. It will also work for the original Nethergate.

[Acky]

Since Geneforge remains my favorite game series by SW (although that might change to Avadon depending on how the next two games go), I would recommend starting there.

 

As mentioned before, A:EFTP is a remake of Avernum 1. Avernum 2 and 3 have not yet been recreated, so unless you want to start with an older system (thus buying an additional two games), I would suggest playing through EFTP first and just waiting until the next remakes get released.

 

A4-6 is very self-contained from the first trilogy, so you shouldn't worry about ruining your experience if you want to start with them. There will be a few spoilers, but the experience should be largely intact. Generally speaking however, most people consider the second Avernum trilogy to be inferior to the first.

 

Avadon and N:R are currently standalone games, with Avadon getting a sequel next year. Both are great games which are worth your attention.

[nikki.]

This program by BMA fixes the arrow keys for A1 and A2. It will also work for the original Nethergate.

 

Dude! Nice! (I mean, I use the mouse still, but that's awesome). Is it linked in the header for the original Trilogy? Can it be?

[Painted Lady]

best storyline, best graphics, free, AND is prolly the only old SW game that runs natively in win64

 

What game is that?

[Tyranicus]

What game is that?

Blades of Exile

[Painted Lady]

Blades of Exile

I have an old PC that runs Win XP. Would your link work on that PC? Is it worth the effort?

 

Thanks for your help!

[Mosquito---Slayer]

Dude! Nice! (I mean, I use the mouse still, but that's awesome). Is it linked in the header for the original Trilogy? Can it be?

I was using the mouse too until the third chapter of A2, but then it decided that enough was enough and refused to cooperate any further, now my mouse double clicks on a single click and when I attempt a double click I generally lose count of how many clicks took place.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

BoE works fine on WinXP. In addition to the three included scenarios, it has hundreds of user-made scenarios, many of which are very good. Is it worth it? Some people don't like the interface or the graphics. I like them, personally, but they are rather archaic. The best way to decide if you like it is to try it out yourself, of course. It is free, so it couldn't hurt to try.

[keira]

 

 

What game is that?

I can honestly say I spewed out my bite upon reading this.

 

I have an old PC that runs Win XP. Would your link work on that PC? Is it worth the effort?

 

Thanks for your help!

Yes, it'll run just dandy. Use the installer here and you'll be golden.

Edited December 11, 2012 by صيلي
also get scenarios from truesite, link is in the blades header.

[Tyranicus]

Dude! Nice! (I mean, I use the mouse still, but that's awesome). Is it linked in the header for the original Trilogy? Can it be?

It's not in the header, but it's a stickied thread, like my Wineskin ports for Intel Macs.

[Juan Carlo]

Last Year I played through all the Geneforge games in order. It was awesome and the series quickly became one of my favorite CRPG series ever (right up there with Fallout and Baldur's Gate). The interface is a bit wonky in the first three games, but it's one of the only video game series where I think each sequel significantly improves on the game that came before it, culminating in "Geneforge 5" which I see as the best game spiderweb has ever made.

 

So I say start with the Geneforges. Compared to the other Spiderweb games, they really don't take that long to beat, either (they average in the 30-60 hour range, depending on how much you want to do, whereas most Avernums can often take 100+ hours to beat), so playing all 5 of them isn't as daunting as it sounds.

 

As to the other games in the collection, Avadon, Escape from the Pit, and Avernum 6 are all awesome. So Avadon or "Escape from the Pit" would also be good places to start, although they are much bigger games than the Geneforges so will take longer to complete (Avadon less so, but it still took me longer to beat than any of the GEneforges).

 

Just my humble opinion, but I definitely wouldn't start with Avernum 4 or 5. Avernum 4 isn't awful, but there's not much to it storywise to justify its existence. And Avernum 5 is awful (the only bad game Spiderweb has ever made, I think). Avernum 6 is quite good, though, and even arguably the best Avernum game on steam.

 

NEthergate is the only spiderweb game on steam that I've yet to play so I can't comment on that. I'm looking forward to it, though, as I hear good things.

[Student of Trinity]

Everybody has different opinions. I really liked Avernum 5. It's different from most other Spiderweb games in that it's a chase. You're following a guy through the underworld. You can dawdle a lot if you want, and the various scripted plot points will still be there when you get to them; and there are lots of fairly wide areas to explore, as you try to figure out where the guy went next. But still if you lay out the game map and straighten it out, it's much longer than it is wide. On the large scale, it's a linear game, in the literal sense of following a line.

 

I liked that. I liked the sense of continuing purpose, and of making a really long journey instead of just wandering around in a landscape that seems infinite at first but ends up feeling like a small sandbox. Some people hate it, though.

 

People who had already played through A1-3 tended to be disappointed with the plot of A4, finding it too much of a rehash, but people new to Avernum seemed to like it much better. I've never played A3, so I quite liked A4.

 

People also used to complain about Geneforge 3, probably again because it's not as wide open a world. It's set on a series of smallish islands, and it forces you to choose one of two sides, eventually, instead of picking from among multiple factions. It also has one or two situations where there is no good really good outcome, and it's not clear why not, other than that people are stupid. But I liked G3 because its narrowing of focus seemed logical in the context of the whole series arc, because the stupidity of people in wartime seemed like sad realism, and because each island was quite different. I'll agree, though, that G3 is probably the weakest of the five Geneforge games, just because each of the others has some really outstanding features, while G3 is more just a solid game that moves the series along.

[Mosquito---Slayer]

I guess I quite liked Avernum 5 too, when I was playing it, there was the obvious thrill of exploring previously unknown caverns as well, however one thing that probably goes against it is that it's not as Epic as maybe you would call the other ones.

 

 

Avernum 1 : Kill the empire king, kill the lord of demons EPIC

Avernum 2: Find a totally new race, win pretty much a full war against empire. EPIC

Avernum 3: Re-establish good relations with empire, rid the surface of a horrible set of plagues. EPIC

Avernum 4:Kill the guy responsible for the plague, save Avernum from assured destruction and madness. EPIC

Avernum 6: Decide what will be the future of your whole motherland. EPIC

Avernum 5:Find the guy who killed the surface king, get a new king who is not different in any noticeable way, no real impact on Avernum or even empire. EPI...,uh not really.

 

 

and linearity too, it's very well written(especially the Howling Depths, probably my favorite in all of the second trilogy), but ending it is just not satisfactory as the others.

[Student of Trinity]

Yeah, that's true. A5 is a bit like one of those noir films or stories where the ending doesn't really change anything. In fact A5 is kind of downbeat. It starts with the bad guys making a big gain, and as you play through the game you keep getting reminders that the Empire is nasty and Avernum is living on borrowed ecological time.

[Alorael at Large]

I'll throw in a nod to A5. I think it's probably a much less effective game to start with; you can probably appreciate the exploration more when you've already become accustomed to Avernum proper and the frontier feels suitably exciting. It's also harder to connect with the story if you don't already have strong feelings about Avernum and the Empire; playing A4 and having opinions about the enemy you're chasing helps too. But for my money A5 has some of the best areas in Spiderweb games. The Drake Pillars are a fun spy hunt, the Howling Depths create a rare sense of pressure, Solberg's crazy social/golem engineering give a real sense of just how far he's come from the hermit in A1 and make for a striking place to deal with.

 

—Alorael, who still rates Chapter 2 of Avernum 2 as his single all-time favorite game section. There's really no plot to speak of except getting from point A to point B, but it manages to make doing so thrilling, nerve-wracking, and fascinating. It helps that point B is largely unknown. It also works better in E2, when starvation is a constant threat and pressure (if you don't abuse Minor Manna, which everyone does) but it still works in A2. Being cut off from everything is scary!

[Randomizer]

A5 is liked because it almost all new areas to explore so the complaint from A4 that the world is so small isn't there as much. The smaller scale between towns and outdoors isn't a problem and towns are spaced out instead of next door to each other,

[Juan Carlo]

I didn't hate A5 as much for the linearity (although I didn't love the linearity), but for the way it was designed. It has absurd levels of hit point bloat and trash mob after trash mob after trash mob. You can't walk 10 feet in the game without having to dispatch another herd of cattaracts (or what ever those things are called) or rabid rats or 4,000 hit point packs of wolves--so getting anywhere takes FOREVER. Because of this, even though it's my least favorite Avernum game by far, it ended up taking me longer than any other Avernum game to finish---like by a good 25 hours or so. It's just a terrible, tedious, game to play--not so much because of its linearity or any specific area (I agree, actually, that the Solberg thing is kind of interesting and the game does introduce Melchianon (sp?) the dragon who is pretty awesome) , but just because the way its difficulty was designed (far too many meaningless enemies with far too much hitpoints).

 

Vogel seemed to be experimenting with difficulty settings in A5, perhaps because A4 was way too easy. So in response he did the worse thing you can do in increasing difficulty--i.e.just jacking up the hitpoints (which doesn't make things hard, it just makes fights take longer). To his credit, though, he seemed to realize that the difficulty in A5 sucked as A6 didn't rely as much on hit point bloat to increase difficulty (in fact, I think the way difficulty was done in A6 was just about right).

 

Plus, it has no story to justify the aggravation in playing it. You know pretty much everything about the over all plot from the very first scene: there is a really bad guy. You have to kill him. End of story. Other Avernums usually have mid game storyline twists that change things up a bit, but with A5 you know everything there is to know about the main plot from the very first scene.

 

 

But yes, it's also basically just one long winding corridor. I mean, look at the map, you can't really get more linear than Avernum 5:

 

http://hasenjs.byeth.../MainMap51.html

[Mosquito---Slayer]

Chitrach(s) shouldn't be that tough to spell if you have played all the Avernums.

[Randomizer]

Avernum 5 was the first game where Jeff asked beta testers how they played a fight when sending him a saved game. Lots of past game exploits were removed and spells giving extra health were weakened.

[NamelessOne]

I went with this game-Avernum. My main character is on the right of my profile picture. Me and my party are level 18.

[Mosquito---Slayer]

Not Nethergate? you just really disappointed Tyran.

 

 

 

 

^{he is going to warn you..............}

[theta-soul]

I know the thread's a week old, but I thought I'd throw in my opinion.

The Steam bundle has Avernum 4-6, Geneforge 1-5, Avadon, Avernum EftP, and Nethergate: R. In my (terrible) opinion, those are the most modern and playable of all the SW games - the original Avernum trilogy is a bit too dated for me, and Nethergate: Ressurection is right on the cusp. It's still a really great game, but you have to be willing to fiddle with the dated interface.

 

So, I would start with the most dated of those, Nethergate:R, and work your way up by order of release date. That's how I played through them, and it makes each one that much better.

 

Nethergate, then Geneforge 1-3, then Avernum 4, GF4, Av5, GF5, Av6, then Avadon and the Avernum remake. You get to experience how the games evolved as well as get the best versions of each game, and this way you have PLENTY of time to enjoy the classics and Avadon/Avernum remake before Avadon 2 and Avernum 2 are released in 2013.

 

(I know that technically Nethergate: R came out much later, but the original was in 1999 and Resurrection isn't *that* much improved ^^ just enough to be modernly playable!)

[Mosquito---Slayer]

Nethergate, then Geneforge 1-3, then Avernum 4, GF4, Av5, GF5, Av6, then Avadon and the Avernum remake. You get to experience how the games evolved as well as get the best versions of each game, and this way you have PLENTY of time to enjoy the classics and Avadon/Avernum remake before Avadon 2 and Avernum 2 are released in 2013.

It will probably be more enjoyable if you played all geneforge games at one go and then continued on to the second avernum trilogy, A4 doesn't feel much older than G5, just my opinion though.

[Trenton.]

And if you do develop amnesia, well, you're looking for a game in a whole different genre.

 

Dikiyoba.

 

Why? Isn't most of Jeff's games Horror? Or at least horror/romance.

 

It's more of SCI-FI actually.

 

Crap. I gotta check these topics more.

 

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