Avernum 3: Ruined World

Ok, for whatever reason a save game got lost, so I'm using that as an excuse to make a strategic retreat from Avernum 3. But I have thoughts. The good: First, I enjoyed the story a lot more than Escape from the Pit. It'll run on a potato. Some minor art by OG comic book artist Phil Foglio. A fun little game for coffee breaks at work. Some might say the turn-based combat is too simplistic, but it's not too bad. The meh: No real improvements over Escape from the PIt in regards to graphics, UI or gameplay. It's still teeny-tiny character models. Your party is still bland and personality-free. Levelling up only provides vague and unsatisfying incremental stat improvements. Better sounds and music would have helped. Quests were kinda meh. The verdict: If that saving snafu hadn't happened, I'd probably have stuck with Avernum 3 a bit longer. With a little imagination, you can have a bit of fun. But you really have to come prepared with the mindset that this is a pre-Balder's Gate CRPG, and you do have many more entertaining options available on Steam for the same price.

This one’s a tough nut to crack, but let’s start with the positives. Overall, this is the best game in the original trilogy. There are tons of quests to take on, a large world to explore, and I quite enjoyed the story—even if it’s not as strong as the first two games. I played the Avernum trilogy back-to-back, and I can confidently say you should definitely buy all of them—NOW! The third game is superb up until the endgame, which unfortunately becomes a bit boring, especially the final boss fight. It’s a shame the trilogy ends on a bit of a meh note, but that’s really my only gripe with this masterpiece. 9/10, would play again. No regerts!