Avernum 2: Crystal Souls

[TOME]

I tried this game (again) today, and I just can't get over how slow the combat is. It takes ages to acticate character and another one to see results, i.e. the damage done. Managed to get to the second fight before giving up.

 

[solomonhume]

I've played the demo for a few hours now, only to realize it was different than any other spiderweb's game. I apparently can't upgrade my demo version to premium by buying it. Is that actually correct? Will I have to buy it and start over on a different, freshly downloaded version? That would make me not buy it, I don't want to waste the 4-5 hours I've spent on the game so far.

Beside that, being an old spiderweb player (first game I've played was exile 2, before exile 3 went out) I don't think those remakes are THAT bad, I'm enjoying playing them.

But I sure would prefer 10000000 times play remakes of the geneforge serie, which is pure gold.

I don't know but I would suggest you not to upgrade the game, but buy a DRM-free version instead.
The saves are compatible, and in the same location. If you do not remove your save files, you can use them immediately when reinstall a full version.

 

[Maxie]

I'm some 46h in and finished two end quests (returned the crystal souls and destroyed the portal), still need to kill garzahd (also killed sulfras because it was an option)
my biggest gripe with the game is that vogel refuses to let you feel strong even at lvl 32 and in legendary gear, endgame dungeons are full of minor unnamed mooks who have hard CC on autoattack and tons of hp, also beholders are the worst type of enemy envisioned to date
just like in avernum 1 exploration's stellar and just wandering about unlocking new pathways and picking up random crap is enough of a treasure, especially that it's completely free from any overmap resource management etc
tho fuck me he didn't have to make every end quest be preceeded with a series of fedex quests, meeting erika was prob the biggest offender (since she directs you to two more goddamn npcs instead of answering your questions lol)
wouldnt be a vogel game without odious pathfinding and summons notoriously blocking pathways which causes your guy to circle around the room pulling aggro from everything on the planet coz you didnt notice lmao
wish it had more gear variety there's preciously few items like the flaming sword or the cuirass which doesn't encumber at all and i don't think i saw a single unique poleaxe

 

[OSK]

endgame dungeons are full of minor unnamed mooks who have hard CC on autoattack and tons of hp

I played these re-remakes not too long ago. This second one in particular suffers from massive HP bloat towards the end. It just turns into a slog. It's easily the weakest of the trilogy. I suppose it has the strongest story, but that comes at the cost of being the most linear.

Though linear for these games is still less railroaded than most RPGs.

 

[Maxie]

endgame dungeons are full of minor unnamed mooks who have hard CC on autoattack and tons of hp

I played these re-remakes not too long ago. This second one in particular suffers from massive HP bloat towards the end. It just turns into a slog. It's easily the weakest of the trilogy. I suppose it has the strongest story, but that comes at the cost of being the most linear.

Though linear for these games is still less railroaded than most RPGs.

beaten the game, garzahd's dungeon was pleasantly straightforward, he himself a horrible asshole due to the positioning inside the boss arena
the linearity becomes really apparent as you approach the ending, since you can't really tackle the end quests at random, in order to get renar's help you need to get a single crystal soul, to get the demonslayer sword you need two souls, etc., there's a system of imperial passes, the orb of thralni is absolutely vital, and so on
I'd say after you leave the alien land for the first time the next fifteen to twenty hours are spent purely on farming reputation to get the highest clearance and gathering imperial passes, and only after that does the game open at all - getting dispel barrier for killing limoncelli being a very apt mid-point of the game (tho i tackled him a bit overleveled)
I really dislike the fact that the war plot essentially blocks out 1/5 of the map, and the alien lands you get in exchange are hardly very enticing (insane crystal soul dungeon being prob the only interesting part)

 

[Tacgnol]

endgame dungeons are full of minor unnamed mooks who have hard CC on autoattack and tons of hp

I played these re-remakes not too long ago. This second one in particular suffers from massive HP bloat towards the end. It just turns into a slog. It's easily the weakest of the trilogy. I suppose it has the strongest story, but that comes at the cost of being the most linear.

Though linear for these games is still less railroaded than most RPGs.

This is always a problem with Jeff's endgame content, at least post-original Avernum 3. I seem to remember the HP bloat issue being far less significant in the older titles.

Geneforge 5's endgame was a total slog. Every enemy seemed to have a million HP and crazy damage resistance.

 

[Space Satan]

I opened this topic because I scrolled and misread Arcanum 2 and now I post here becaue I am angry

 

[OSK]

This is always a problem with Jeff's endgame content, at least post-original Avernum 3. I seem to remember the HP bloat issue being far less significant in the older titles.

Geneforge 5's endgame was a total slog. Every enemy seemed to have a million HP and crazy damage resistance.

I didn't have this problem with Avernum: Escape from the Pit or Avernum 3: Ruined World. It was just this second one. Those other ones have bosses with HP bloat, but Avernum 2: Crystal Souls suffered from trash mobs with HP bloat at the end. It was like both sides were fighting with foam bats.