For the record im an old school crpg gamer who at 40 was raised on the classics like Wizardry, Ultima. Phantasie and Bard's Tale. I have been lurking the site for almost a decade and a half but hadn't committed to a Spiderweb product until Avadon was released on Steam (I Know...shame on me)...it was a combination of frustration with the state of crpgs...Dragon Age 2 was the turning point as they took what last western crpgs elements were left in Dragon age 1 and ruined them...but i digress...
I then purchased Avadon for both Android (humble bundle) and my new Ipad (Im an IT geek so ya lots of gadgets). When I saw Avernum:EftP released today I scooped it immediately and without hesitation, penance for having neglected Spiderweb for so long...
First thoughts...the fantastic writing of Avadon and obviously previous titles is here in spades...this is the first game since Baldurs Gate 2 to make me feel like I was in a world and not just an amusement ride (Dragon Age...). I read some concerns about the graphics being the same etc. Let me say that the UI is different in a lot of ways and certainly feels both fresh and familiar but you will not mistake if for being the same game as Avadon. Even the colour palette, which in my opinion is much brighter and grimmer at the same time, is different. Lastly the art pieces while sharing some of the art with Avadon has enough new set pieces to feel fresh.
What elese do you get? You get tons of itemization and character customization like we used to get from the commercial products (really trying not to sound bitter about the state of crpgs...cmon wasteland 2...). The game certainly runs very smooth on the Ipad and i had no trouble with any selections of items, character options or dialogue trees. I will add that I personaly use a stylus for play and but even with finger the options are spaced and easy to access.
I am about 6 hours in and can't wait to play more...in fact I should have been in bed 2 hours ago and only now after this review will I actually sleep.
So if you are on the fence hopefully I have put you into the Spiderweb fields...don't make the mistake I made all these years...lamenting the state of crpgs and then letting these games slip me by. I am a fan now and will purchase future games without hesitation. We didn't need cut scenes and state of the art graphics then and we don't need them now...sure I like Skyrim but I can honestly say im not as immersed as I am when trudging around Avernum's dank recesses.
So if you are an older gamer like me who misses crpg games get this now! If you are an old school jrpg'r (games which were based on older crpgs) then get this game and lastly if you are a new gamer who wouldn't know Bard's Tale from Wizards Crown but like a good story and are getting sick of cut scenes and bland filler...get this game!