Anvil of Dawn- any good?

[<3sRichardSimmons]

It's on sale on GOG right now, and I've never played it. Looks like a slightly shittier EotB, but I've seen some praise for it around these parts. What's the consensus?

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

It's good, play it if you liked "Lands of Lore" or similar blobbers. And it looks good too. The only gripe I'd have is the lack of open world exploration. You're pretty much railroaded down there, but the ride is great.

 

[V_K]

The only gripe I'd have is the lack of open world exploration. You're pretty much railroaded down there, but the ride is great.

Not really, after you exit the first dungeon, you always have 2-4 areas open at the same time. Plus there are a few alternative paths through the game. It's much less railroaded than LoL (and generally a better game).

Looks like a slightly shittier EotB

AoD has miles better puzzles and level design than EotB, but only one character, so the combat tactics are more limited.

 

[Matalarata]

You should get it, it's a beautiful and ambitious game! Yes, there are better crawlers around (it's not a blobber, you only control a single pre-generated character but iirc you can customize it somewhat) and you'll start noticing the first signs of decline in it. Still I think it's historical value alone makes it a worthy purchase and it's not too shabby in the end, just shallow when compared to other dungeon crawlers...

Edit: ninj'd, V_K is right anyway!

 

[V_K]

you only control a single pre-generated character but iirc you can customize it somehow

That's also not quite correct. You pick a character from a roster of 5, similar to LoL, but unlike LoL you can completely redistribute the stat points (and IIRC even rename your PC). The only things the choice affects are the portrait and certain minor plot points.

 

[octavius]

It was the final dumbing down of the the Real Time Blobber genre, with not even a party anymore, but still a fun game.

 

[Matalarata]

That's also not quite correct.

Well, I did say iirc Now that I remember it, you're perfectly right, you had those pips you allocated in the beginning and each character started with the lore-friendly stat distribution that you could basically turn around as you liked...

 

[Hobo Elf]

Buy it for the death animations.

 

[V_K]

It was the final dumbing down of the the Real Time Blobber genre, with not even a party anymore

It's a DreamForge/Event Horizon game. Except for the Ravenloft series, all their games were single-character and most were heavily DM-inspired. Only previous titles had top-down/iso perspective, while with AoD they decided to return to FP roots. It has nothing to do with dumbing down, that's just how this particular studio always operated. Stonekeep on the other hand...

 

[Naraya]

I loved LoL but couldn't get into AoD, so YMMV.

 

[Leitz]

It's on sale on GOG right now

Why does this matter at all? WHY? Some 20 yo game (which you could easily download for free if you wasn't a retard) cost only 3$ instead of what...5$? Just play the damn game. GOG sales...fuck me.

 

[Gentle Player]

I enjoyed it very much (though didn't finish due to a bug). Fairly simply game but gorgeous and oozing with character; nice dungeons too.

As for stats, if I remember rightly you certainly could redistribute them, but only to a point - there were fixed minimums and maximums based on the chosen character. I went with a balanced approach, but I wonder whether it might have been better to stick with warrior's default setup, as magic didn't seem terribly useful.

 

[Sinatar]

2 main problems with the game:

1. Combat is *insanely* easy. The AI cannot handle a player moving back and forward to avoid attacks, you can trivialize every encounter in the game by doing this.
2. Rock puzzles. There are like 15 different sizes of rocks with different weights, they love having puzzles where you have to weigh down pressure plates with varying amounts of rocks which is just tedious.

 

[Sceptic]

It's on sale on GOG right now, and I've never played it. Looks like a slightly shittier EotB, but I've seen some praise for it around these parts. What's the consensus?

It's more of a typical Dreamforge game than a typical DM clone I think. Combat is easy and not particularly interesting but also fast enough that it doesn't get in the way and make the game a slog. Magic is very good BTW, some spells are very powerful, but having a mix of magic and melee works best, as you can't always rely on magic alone. No rest mechanic per se, health and mana regenerate slowly over time, but the game throws a lot of restoratives at you so you really shouldn't be standing there waiting. The puzzles are typical Dreamforge so expect a LOT of pressure plates to weigh down, teleporters, switches and levers. Anyone who played and liked The Summoning won't have a problem with these. I personally find them fun, even if Dreamforge do tend to overdo it with them sometimes. The actual level design and exploration are very solid and I think they're what makes the game worth playing, and since they happen to be things I value much more highly than raw combat mechanics I have much higher consideration for the game than others here. The one thing that makes the game stand out, and that is also typical of Dreamforge, is that it oozes atmosphere, from graphics to sounds, spell effects, writing and plotting. The "plot" as such is nothing much really, and this being a dungeon crawler you could easily ignore it entirely, but the little details in it make the game feel much more alive. The game has 2 endings, and the "bad" one is actually pretty good. It's a very different beast from EOB; I think EOB1 is a better game (then again I think EOB1's level design is stellar and very few DM clones outside the original and CSB compare) but AoD is more like a first-person Summoning, and that's how you should look at it in trying to decide if it's your cup of tea.

 

[V_K]

The game has 2 endings, and the "bad" one is actually pretty good.

Four, actually, and the best one, like in The Summoning, requires some thinking and preparation.

 

[Tito Anic]

It's on sale on GOG right now, and I've never played it. Looks like a slightly shittier EotB, but I've seen some praise for it around these parts. What's the consensus?

Combat is just tedious clickfest, puzzles are monotonous(pick up stones and carry them from point "a" to "b"), magic is bad - too long mana regen time, strange enemy art design - not pleasant. One thing i liked about this game was labyrinth-like dungeon design.

Better play some major roguelikes.

 

[Scroo]

It's ok but as others said it gets repetitive. I got burned out in the third "world".

 

[V_K]

It's ok but as others said it gets repetitive. I got burned out in the third "world".

Um, "world"? Are sure you're not confusing it with something (like LoL2)? AoD had only a single world map:

Spoiler

 

[Scroo]

It's ok but as others said it gets repetitive. I got burned out in the third "world".

Um, "world"? Are sure you're not confusing it with something (like LoL2)? AoD had only a single world map:

Spoiler

I put it in quotes bc I kinda see the different dungeons as "worlds" since each follows it's own theme and you don't overworld travel towards them by yourself

 

[Gentle Player]

Started playing again. Forgot just how sprawling some of the dungeons are. It's simple, but good fun and can be challenging at times (second dungeon is a huge difficulty spike, though it becomes easier later on). There are some atrocious bugs, however. Particularly when it comes to the rolling boulders. It's hard to tell whether it's a bug or not, because sometimes a pressure plate will make the boulders stop moving, and that's part of the puzzle, but at other times the boulders will stop moving of their own accord and can block progress, as happened to me on the Sunken Ship level. I think the way to tell is that if the boulders are still twitching and rocking from side to side, but otherwise not moving down the lane, then that is a bug. If they're motionless then it's part of the puzzle. Fortunately I saved regularly and in different slots, and I'd advise anyone who wants to play this to do the same. Make a separate save as soon as you even see a rolling boulder.

 

[Gentle Player]

What's best to level up after maxing Slash? Does the Steelripper spear, when thrown, benefit from Thrust or Ranged?

 

[Fowyr]

AoD is a great game.

Combat is just tedious clickfest,

You can play from the keyboard, pressing "l" and "r" to attack, I think. Mabe some other buttons, but they were definitely present.

 

[megidolaon]

Don't use containers along a bunch of other items to weight down pressure plates, there's a bug in the game where the container will disappear into thin air forever even after you pick everything back up.

 

[Daemongar]

It's not bad, I am still slowly chugging through the game over the last... 3 years or so.... Nice to jump in, finish a dungeon, then come back later.

Magic isn't bad, and has some originality. Just the mana regen is almost on par wtih Morrowind. Lots of interesting levels with limited keys to open different chests. Some nice puzzles, dialog and such. However, those dungeons are huge.

If you've made it through either Legend of Grimrock, there is no rock puzzle here that can bring you down. Just lots of hidden stuff, and it does get repetitive. Will finish, but it's better game to zone out on.

 

[Eisen]

I guess this game doesn't feature sidestep?