Return to the pit?

[Sol]

I’ve played through Exile 2 countless times, and count it as one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I’ve had to date. However, I find it incredible vexing to have so many locations unavailable to visit.

 

I’ve seen so far that most are in agreement that the second iteration of the series has a better story, and better system overall. But I can’t shake the feeling that I’m missing important information by never having played the first game.

 

So I suppose I’m asking if there is enough new that I have not seen in Exile 2 to warrant the time to play through the first

[Randomizer]

Exile 1 gives the back story of the people coming to the Pit and fighting Grah-Hoth. I would recommend Avernum 1 over Exile 1 because it adds Bahssikava and the story of the sliths.

 

Exile 1 game engine can be tedious with few item slots and the automap is harder to use.

[Alorael at Large]

E2/A2 is better, but E1/A1 is also quite good. It has less of a story, but it introduces you to everything in the caves and some very important characters. E1 is much cruder than its sequels, though, so if you don't have anything against the Avernum engine I'd recommend switching to A1.

 

—Alorael, who on the other hand sees nothing wrong with playing E1 if you have it registered and don't mind the age. You'll miss out on the story of the sliths and Lost Bahssikava, but they're never mentioned again in the series anyway.

[The Mystic]

Quote:

Originally written by Relentless:
E1 is much cruder than its sequels, though, so if you don't have anything against the Avernum engine I'd recommend switching to A1.

—Alorael, who on the other hand sees nothing wrong with playing E1 if you have it registered and don't mind the age. You'll miss out on the story of the sliths and Lost Bahssikava, but they're never mentioned again in the series anyway.

As far as challenge goes, I prefer E1 over A1, despite the former being raelly crude. I've beaten A1--quite easily, I might add--on the highest difficulty setting with PCs with the "Cursed at Birth" and "Completely Inept" traits.

And maybe the next Avernum game will continue the Bahssikava storyline.

[Enraged Slith]

Quote:

And maybe the next Avernum game will continue the Bahssikava storyline.

Buy and play Blades of Avernum then, and don't let Kelandon see this.

[Alorael at Large]

Years ago Luthien played through A2 on torment with two singletons: Hapless, who was Cursed at Birth and Completely Inept, and Avatar, who was a Divinely Touched Elite Warrior. His report seemed to be that the latter is much, much harder to play.

 

—Alorael, who still can't manage a singleton on normal difficulty even with reasonable traits.

[Sullust]

E1 can be ridiculously easy if you know what you're doing...

[Chicken]

Quote:

Originally written by XLNC IN ORTHOGRAPHY:
Years ago Luthien played through A2 on torment with two singletons: Hapless, who was Cursed at Birth and Completely Inept, and Avatar, who was a Divinely Touched Elite Warrior. His report seemed to be that the latter is much, much harder to play.

—Alorael, who still can't manage a singleton on normal difficulty even with reasonable traits.

I can recall reading that yes. Hapless started out as pitifully weak as you'd imagine but quickly got very powerful indeed since he was gaining experience at extremely high rates, while Avatar started off quite strong but lost out in the on getting stronger since he gained far less skill points than Hapless ever did over the same amount of gameplay.

And if you're trying to be a party all by yourself, you want skill points.

[The Mystic]

Quote:

Originally written by XLNC IN ORTHOGRAPHY:
—Alorael, who still can't manage a singleton on normal difficulty even with reasonable traits.

Same here, although I can get quite far with a singleton that has both the "Fast on Feet" and "Natural Mage" traits. (I almost defeated Grah-Hoth this way.)

Quote:

Originally written by Enraged Slith:

Quote:

And maybe the next Avernum game will continue the Bahssikava storyline.

Buy and play Blades of Avernum then, and don't let Kelandon see this.

I plan to buy it later this year, after I first register A3.

I've long since downloaded the Bahssikava scenario, and skimmed through a little bit of it, so I know the story already continues. Maybe Jeff could pick it up where Kelandon left off. Who knows?