Avernum

Trying to play Avernum again, but the game is so shit it’s impossible. I really should analyze deeper why it’s so bad, but I think I got the gist of it.

Horrible pacing/direction: There’s little clue what to do, the world map is just emptiness to wander in.

Horrible combat: “Here are 4 premade characters and nothing to tell them apart, each with dozen spells”.

Horrible writing: I would ask what the creator was thinking, but then I wondered how would have it differed if I had written it myself. The fact I can’t tell perhaps means I would produce equally crappy writing. The idea for the setting is pretty cool though.

Horrible graphics: I’m fine with primitive art, but here the art is barely communicating. You can’t tell apart the people/monsters clearly. I went to some bat cave and couldn’t see the bats because they blended in the ground. Why do goblins look like golden statues?

The tutorial page (written with voice from beyond the 4th wall, ugh) told me to look for a specific hidden room in a city and when I went there the trap instakilled most of my chracters. I recall the author saying he used to get death threats — now I know why. I suspect the sequel games might be better, but Avernum is already a remake. He has his chance to fix it but as far as I can tell it’s completely broken, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to play any of his games ever.