A:EftP - The second final demise of an old wretch, and the birth of a new, happier, prettier Avernite

[Jonas Hedenquist]

(Since the first iteration of this post went belly up in the forum crash a few hours back, I'm at it again, second's the charm an' stuff.)

 

I must say that I had my doubts. The typical kind of old-school, conservative, curmudgeon-style misgivings wont to infect nearly anyone who first fired up Exile: Escape from the Pit as a child, and has since played every iteration of the Exile and Avernum games (not to mention Nethergate and Geneforge). When I realized that Avernum: Escape from the Pit would in part be based on the Avadon engine, the old miser in me reared his ugly head.

 

And I really, really liked Avadon. However, I was a bit worried them new-fangled talent tree-style traits and possibly simplified character development would go less well with an old established franchise like Exile/Avernum, and remove the depth and variation inherent in the old skill-based system.

 

Well, I can happily report that I was wrong. The old skills are almost all still there, together with a few new ones, only represented in a more attractive way. Talent tree it might look like, but it really is a complex skill system. Together with the old attributes, and a considerably expanded and more advanced trait system, this might just be the most in-depth iteration of Exile's/Avernum's character building engine yet.

 

(Now I also realize that perhaps Avadon was not simplified either, only different )

 

So far, the only thing I miss are the special skills found along the course of our adventures, one of my favourite addition to the last releases in the fist Avernum series. But perhaps they will appear as I venture further in and down, no?

 

In most other regards, the game seems to be just smashing. The music is better than ever, the UI more practical and prettier than ever, the gaming world larger than ever, character portraits and models more appealing than ever, and the story artwork in particular is *very* good, AAA-style (what artist?).

 

Just keep 'em coming, Spiderjeff, and we'll keep 'em well played and experienced.