Oh, golly, I am having FUN!
This indeed qualifies as an addiction. It isn't all Spiderweb games, because I haven't played them all (although I own them). But I cannot resist the Avernum series. It was released yesterday afternoon! How could I resist?
Yes, I started the game even though I have yet to finish Scratches and Baldur's Gate. I will finish them!! I will!! But I was salivating over this new release, even though it's the third incarnation (actually the fourth, if you count the ancient Exile 2, which I do not own).
My addiction to Spiderweb games started with the original Nethergate. I'd never played an RPG before and had no idea what it was about. Nethergate was simple enough for even me to figure out how to play it, and I got hooked not only on the Spiderweb gameplay style, but on Jeff Vogel's humor. (Actually, I think that's why I didn't get addicted to Geneforge--he didn't put much of his trademark humor into those games.)
Anyway, I have not yet purchased the game, because I can't afford the $20, which it most certainly is worth. But I remembered that Jeff always puts up big demos of his games. You can play for days before you buy the game. I found one of the "Demo Demons," as pictured here:
Yes, the Demo Demon is described in print
I also actually like it that these games are almost text adventures. You have lots of reading to do. No annoyingly bad voiceover jobs. I can supply the voices in my head. There are sound effects, including some new to this game (the walking sounds are different here, and there are some nice new creaks and spooky sounds in the dungeons), but all the dialogue and descriptions are in print, as above. Even though Jeff allows a larger typeface, that still isn't enough for me. But I run the game in the 1200x720 format, which cuts off the sides, but telescopes everything forward so that it's larger, and I can read the stuff just fine.
I have two disappointments. Jeff has eliminated the feature that allows your party to rest on long treks. If you want to regain full health and spell energy, you have to enter a friendly town. That sucks, although it does make the game more challenging, and maybe it finally will force me to use my consumables. You have to use spell energy, potions, or food to get back up to full power if you don't want to trek all the way back to a town.
Also, Mycroft has disappeared as a character. I've been playing with Cordelia and Mycroft ever since the first version of Avernum 1, darn it, and I'm used to them. Last time Jeff made Mycroft the priest and Cordelia the sorcerer, but I switched 'em back just because it's how I'm accustomed to playing--why change now? But Cordelia is still there, so I made her my priest and put her back into the third position in my party, then went with a Nephil as my sorcerer. I've always intended to use a Nephil character because they're so good with bows, so here's my chance. Also, Ssaach is gone, but there's another Slitherazki in his place, so that's good. He's still got good old Aldous as the main melee fighter and leader of the group, so that's fine.
Also, Mycroft has disappeared as a character. I've been playing with Cordelia and Mycroft ever since the first version of Avernum 1, darn it, and I'm used to them. Last time Jeff made Mycroft the priest and Cordelia the sorcerer, but I switched 'em back just because it's how I'm accustomed to playing--why change now? But Cordelia is still there, so I made her my priest and put her back into the third position in my party, then went with a Nephil as my sorcerer. I've always intended to use a Nephil character because they're so good with bows, so here's my chance. Also, Ssaach is gone, but there's another Slitherazki in his place, so that's good. He's still got good old Aldous as the main melee fighter and leader of the group, so that's fine.
These games indeed are challenging, even if the gameplay is simple to learn. Just because you can figure out how to play doesn't mean that you aren't going to have some difficulties. Fortunately, I know enough about them to be able to do pretty well in the beginning phases. The skill trees seem even simpler this time.
I've reached Level 4 with my party, but I still need plenty of buffs to get all the stuff I want. I've already missed out on some herbs and a Level 3 spell because I didn't have enough cave lore or arcane knowledge. I'll go back for those.
And I will finish Scratches and Baldur's Gate. I'll play this until I hit all the Demo Demons, then go back and finish absolutely every tiny thing I can do in the demo. Then I'll have to wait for the end of the month for money to appear. Then I'll buy it!
I'm ahead on my Kirkus books, so I hope I'll be able to finish those two games before I really am able to plunge completely into this one.
But as I remember, I always liked the second Avernum script the best. So I'm looking forward to some serious fun!
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