Jump to content

Greetings, a question for ya all.


al_dude

Recommended Posts

Hello, ladies and gents. I am new here.

 

Well,  an old game called "Eschalon" brought me here. The trouble here, though, is that Spiderweb games have so many games that I am not even sure where to begin.

I had a quick look and it looks like Queen's wish is the latest title while Avernum is the longest running.

 

Looking at screenshots, I certainly favor Avernum which looks like Ultima 6 or 7.

 

So, I ask you guys: Which one do you recommend? Queen's wish or Avernum series?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of it depends on what you are after.  The Avernum series has six chapters, the first three of which have been remade in the past six or seven years.  This is the series that started Spiderweb Software and is my personal preference.  Queens Wish is Jeff's latest creation, with the first chapter out now and later chapters expected in approximately two and four years from now.  

 

Avernum is a traditional old school RPG.  You have four characters that have a lot of options to customize their skills and abilities and you go around exploring and killing things while proceeding towards completing one or more of the three game "winning" quests.  Queen's Wish involves a substantially different character and spell mechanic and includes a building mechanic where establishing towns and shops helps improves your abilities.  

 

I prefer Avernum, but that is or course just my opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes.

 

Another multi chapter series is Geneforge (5 chapters), however for that one the first chapter is being updated for modern machines & due out early next year so you may as well wait on that.  Spiderweb (link at the top of every page here I think) will let you play the first 1/4-1/3 of any of their games in demo mode (fully functional, you just can't finish the game for free) so you can get a really good feel for what you may enjoy.

 

Both games have deep RPG roots but QW involves a lot of strategic goal pondering in addition to good old fashioned monster thumping

 

Anyway, enjoy the journey.  I wish I was seeing Avernum (a place that I have spend hundreds & hundreds of hours over the decades) for the first time again.

 

And welcome to the forums.  If you look over there -----> you'll see a box, please leave your sanity in there if you happen to stick around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, the Avernum story was originally told in Exile 1-3.  That was remade as Avernum 1-3 and then added to with Avernum 4-6.  The first three stories have since been remade as A:EFTP, A:CS, and A:RW.  Steam is showing the three newest remakes (A:EFTP, A:CS, and A:RW) on sale for $18.86 or for $21.49 you can get A:EFTP, A:CS, A:RW, A4, A5, A6, Avadon 1-3, Nethergate:Ressurection and Geneforge 1-5.  I would recommend the bigger package. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had some goods hours into Queen's wishes as well as Avernum.

 

My conclusion is that Avernum is better in all aspects.

 

A major problem I have with Queen's wish is combat. The lack of character customization is what really gets me. Everyone ends up becoming very similar in skills as you advance further into the game. Additionally, instances (dungeons) renewing whenever you are forced to retreat feels like another letdown. I can see the point but it's either you have to go all the way or nothing.

 

My biggest issue with the game though is that you do not get any rewards from combat itself. It's all from quests. This makes me avoid combat as much as possible since your energy is painfully limited, and hard dungeons require conservation of energy. Avoiding combat always is not something I keen to do in a RPG game.

 

While I do like abundance of choices in many dialog, I feel the bad outweights the good.

 

Edited by al_dude
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m not sure it’s all that controversial a view. These forums are perhaps slightly more biased towards the game than some other places, but I’ve seen some very good opinions and analysis on here from players who didn’t enjoy the experience.
 

Queen’s Wish is an experimental game, one in which Spiderweb tries out some new concepts. Some people like the changes, and some don’t. As a result, the reviews tend to be a little more mixed than some of the other titles.
 

But this is the first step in a process. I think it’s worth noting that Spiderweb has said on a number of occasions that it’s been listening to the criticisms they’ve been receiving, and will act on them. The implication is that some of the more unpopular changes are going to be reviewed for Queen’s Wish II.
 

So keep your fingers crossed. If you disliked the experience of Queen’s Wish I, the sequel might be a little more to your taste!
 

Also, al_dude, I’d suggest that you try out Nethergate: Resurrection at some point. Since you mentioned Ultima, to me Nethergate feels like the Spiderweb game that’s closest to that series, even if it’s only a standalone game. I can’t quite put my finger on why that is, but it’s probably a combination of factors. Some of the ideas and motifs explored are similar, the way that magic is tied into the world feels not dissimilar, at least to me, and there’s even a simple virtue system!
 

If you ever feel like taking some time out of Avernum, do give it a try!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did enjoy Queen's wish during its early stage. And it was my first Speiderweb game. Thus, I have very little bias if any.

 

After I backed the Owen for Vol and destroyed the pass, it was around that time that I felt what I wrote up there. After that, I tried Avernum and I certainly liked it better.

 

I will try Nethergate and Avadon eventually. For now though, I am playing Avenmum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/9/2020 at 8:14 PM, al_dude said:

The lack of character customization is what really gets me. Everyone ends up becoming very similar in skills as you advance further into the game.

I had this problem too. I ended up giving some perks/skills to only one character in my party so that only one has that particular skill and not the others. It was not much satisfying though. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a question. Is melee useless in this game? In the early stage of the game, they were fine, but now they are missing most of hits that my warrior is virtually useless. Can't tank much better, either.

 

Edit: In Avernum Escape from the pit.

Edited by al_dude
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Melee is useful, but if you are missing you may not have been adding enough to strength and/or wearing too much armor with negative to hit chances. There are some monsters that take mostly physical damage.

 

Fighters become less useful because mages and priests get area of effect spells that will take out groups. It depends upon the fight and how many targets are out there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...