Aveyond 3-4: The Darkthrop Prophecy

After destroying the Orb of Death, Mel decided to hide into the animal village with Yvette and Ulf. However, she's still denying her magic powers. Never relentess, Edward, ousted of his throne by Lydia, found her and convinced her to go to the Shadowood Academy to control them. But Gwendyal isn't done with the Darkthrop heiress... Mel being in danger, it's up to Stella and Edward to reunite with Galahad and Te'ijal, still bitter about being an human again. However, Nox, that tricked Mel in her previous adventure, is also reappearing, with Uma, a light mage. And Yemite, the little darkling servant, will also join the battle... Aveyond 3 was fragmented in four chapters. This one is concluding the story and it's still well-written and full of humor: Ulf and Yvette make an appearance though they're not going to join the fight, Mel is still full of sarcasm, Edward is still crushing on her and prompt to go to her rescue, Te'ijal and Galahad are still fighting like the married couple they are and Stella is still the naïve healer. Given the fact that the game is putting you in charge of two different teams (Mel in the Demon Realm and her friends trying to save her in the overworld), you will have new characters joining: Nox and Uma, two mages, a dark one and a light one, that are strongly connected as a Darkling named Yemite, that will be in both teams. Nox and Uma are bickering though are agreeing that they have to help Mel to survive (Nox letting her desire to make sure that Mel will rule the world on the side for her own fate) and Yemite is very happy to serve Mel. However, while I don't mind the fact that you have two teams, I didn't really enjoyed that fact. I mean; Nox and Uma were really helpful and loosing them made me sad, even for the sake of the story. After that, loosing Galahad and Mel and letting only a team of 3 to conclude the story is also very annoying. Even if well-written, I lost the exciting rush of the two first games, with so many places to visit. Here, the world is kinda small compared. The game mechanics are still the same and it's the HUD from the Lost Orb that is featured. However, the leveling of spells by fighting and the alchemist feature disappear. Now, you have Edward with a Shard that can be upgraded in Sword Station with some choices to make (as he can also use spells through the sword) and Stella learning a skill by wearing a new staff. They're the ones that are only affected by this new way of playing. Some quests needs to be done in order to advance in the story, while they're appearing as being a side-quest just for the money. Others are just bonus. But given the fact that you need money to buy stuff, any quest is worthy. You can also spare your money because fast-travel is totally disabled, apart the Reaper, as you need to go to the vampire town. You can a new pirate ship but you don't have many docks to use. True, in Gates of Nights, you didn't have many islands too. But you had a large choice of docks, at least for the Mainland. Besides, during the story, you'll acquire a dragon and it will be more useful to use it than the ship itself. Aveyond comes also with three difficulties: Easy where you're stronger and where most of the enemies don't spawn again after a defeat (yeah, I'm playing in this difficulty), Normal where every is balanced and Hard where you'll die more frequently - though even in Easy, I've been wiped. Well, if a character dies, you can ressucitate them but if your team is wiped, it's game over and it's up to you to load the auto-save (when entering a new screen) or a save of yours. I'm wondering why I can import my previous save because once launched, Mel lost all her levels, all her gears. It's the same for Edward, it's the same for Stella... and for my gold. I had to begin with a pouch of 0 gold. Nothing. I could have begin a new quest and see no difference (apart perhaps the chicken dance). Stella had to learn everything back! I wasn't happy about that. Aveyond dates from 2009-10 and from an earlier version of RPG Maker but the graphisms are still good. Besides, the landscapes are still varied: the vampire town, Thais (though at the end), the isles (with a swamp setting for one, a forest for another one and a snowy land for the third), Aveyond, Underfall (another come back, like the tomb of the goddess from the previous game) and even a Demon Realm. I thought it was a short game when in reality, I've passed 12 hours in it. But if it seems so short, it's probably because of the two teams feature. Aveyond 3-4 is concluding the saga of Mel, but I feel like this game was rushed. I've lost the rush from the two first games, maybe because I was expecting to come back to the mainland and other locations visited. I was expecting to have a full team of six, I never had it and worse, I had to finish with 3 of them. Uma and Nox didn't stay for long, which is a pity. True, there are some puzzles in the game now. But it's not saving the game from a disappointment for my part. However, if you want the whole Aveyond 3 experience, you need to buy this one. Besides, you don't want to miss Galahad and Te'ijal bickering, eh? Or Edward that still need to marry as his previous wedding was revoked?

[b]AVEYOND 3-4: The Darkthrop Prophesy {A:DP}[/b] is an interesting and enjoyable RPG, that I also consider to be a Visual Novel. Combat is turn-based. [b]I [u]highly Recommend[/u] playing through the previous three episodes[/b] … They all are excellent tales and lend to a better understanding of what is going on. If I can get it together, I'll try to put out reviews of the earlier Aveyond games. [b]{A:DP}[/b] is the final installment of the [b]”Orbs of Magic”[/b] series. The protagonist, [b]Mel[/b] and her friends, Te'ijal, Galahad, Edward, & Stella, come together to prevent the ominous Darkthrop Prophecy of the rise of a [b]Empire of Evil[/b] from occurring. Will [u]you[/u] succeed in guiding them to victory? [b]The “issue is in doubt”!![/b] Former [b]career Thief Mel[/b] has gone into seclusion after she accidentally learns that she can use uncontrolled magic. To make matters worse, wicked creatures called Darklings keep popping up, convinced that Mel is the [b]“Prophesied One”[/b] … their Dark Queen who will build a dark empire for them. Mel's pal, Edward {ousted as heir to the throne of Thais in episode 3-3} eventually finds her hiding in the animal village of Harakauna. To her dismay, Edward is accompanied by two professors from the prestigious Shadwood Academy of magic = the LAST place she wants to go. Will they convince Mel to go to a school where she can learn to control her powers? In this final installment of the Orbs of Magic series, Te'ijal, Galahad, Edward, Stella, and Mel come together to stop the Darkthrop Prophecy from occurring. Will they succeed? [u]Features[/u]: [list] [*] HUMOROUS Dialogue throughout; as the Dev put it; [b]“You WILL laugh ... [u]or else[/u]!”[/b] [list] [*] You really have to go into EVERY building, TALK to any/all NPCs, SEARCH all area corners, & INTERACT with every indicated object to gain full appreciation of this game [/list] [*] Huge world-space with MANY, varied environments [*] Many Dungeons, forests, mazes to solve & clear [*] LOTS of [b]monsters[/b], evil doers, LOOT, & strange species ![list] [*] Most monsters respawn on EXPERT Difficulty ==> [*] Build up Experience & Wealth by going back through a cleared area [/list] [*] Numerous QUESTS drive game's course; easily tracked with [b]Journal[/b] [*] Buy a Ship, or even a Dragon, to travel to distant lands [*] Manage your Battle Team & choose who will be its Leader {visible on-screen} [*] Buy & Upgrade your team's Skills, weapons & equipment [*] Protagonist & mages learn spells through use of powerful Staffs [*] Choose with whom to pursue true romance & marry your characters … Maybe ? [*] SAVE game any time … there is an AUTO-Save [list] [*] Game reverts to last save when Mel is defeated <you sorry excuse for an adventurer !> [/list] [*] Play with mouse or keyboard; I found Keyboard to be preferable [*] May gain a HEADSTART by starting game using the final Save in the preceding episode [*] Surprise ENDING [/list] [u]Cons[/u]: [list] [*] [u]Limited #[/u] of saves => Must manage which to keep [*] As is typical in RPGs, sell-back of equipment is at ½ of purchase price [list] [*] Solved this problem by simply keeping all equipment [*] May need anyway to outfit new Party members :D [/list] [*] Mazes can be complicated – for ME {I'm terrible with mazes :steamfacepalm:} [*] No Steam Achievements [*] Developer has withdrawn from Steam due to policy disputes [list] [*] May be reachable at her gaming web site ?… Not sure of current address; AMARANTHIA.com & KOMODO.com, given by Steam for support, are no longer valid [/list][/list]

系列RPG Maker游戏 整体质量其实还可以，不过个人真的不太喜欢这类游戏 节奏缓慢，就是跑图走迷宫+不停按空格的回合制战斗 虽然单作都不贵，但一个游戏分了4个部分再卖，加起来的原价其实还是能买一款非常耐玩的游戏了

Bene (anzi, male) finito l'ultimo episodio di Aveyond 3. Purtroppo confermo il mio giudizio negativo su tutti gli episodi singoli. In questo caso preparatevi ad un backtracking selvaggio, visto che addirittura non esistono nemmeno i viaggi rapidi, li hanno tolti! Bah, incredibile. Ad un certo punto dovrete viaggiare per una foresta innevata che ha la seguente mappa (ringraziatemi anche per questa illustrazione, visto che detta operazione di mappatura non è poca cosa): chiudete gli occhi, prendete un foglio bianco, una penna e poi passateci 30 minuti a scarabocchiarci sopra! Sì, una mappa così, in cui per fare 10 metri dovrete fare sali e scendi per 45 volte. E alla ventesima volta che ci passate ancora non avrete capito che direzione prendere per andare da una certa parte! Pazzesco, l'idiozia del level design. A proposito delle mappe! Qui si vede la superficialità degli sviluppatori: nel primo c'era una mappa, da trovare (schifosissima ma c'era, immaginatevi di avere un mappamondo con segnate solo l'Italia e l'Argentina, e voi vi trovate in Nuova Zelanda), negli altri misteriosamente scomparsa E quando dovrete riparare una certa cosa e uno dei protagonisti dice che bisogna tornare all'oracolo per farlo? Bene, altra mezz'ora di viaggio, poi l'oracolo dice sì, vi teletrasportate tutti nel punto in questione, e con una semplice frase ripara tutto: ma davvero mi hanno costretto a tornare dall'oracolo per una cosa così stupida? Peccato perchè questo ultimo episodio ha anche belle ambientazioni e alla fine c'è pure un bel colpo di scena. Bellissime due canzoncine, di cui una è quella che si sente mentre si guida il drago per la mappa (peccato che duri 1 minuto solo, poi si blocca all'improvviso e va in loop...): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrjJf9J1m6A Thais Town Flying a Dragon Però prima della sequenza finale mi sa che sono pure incappato in un bug: avevo tre possibilità di chiudere la storia, due delle quali senza sbocchi (e mi è rimasta solo quella più loffia che nessuno avrebbe scelto...): se non avessi avuto un salvataggio precedente ero fottuto... Ultima cosa: tra un episodio e l'altro si possono usare i salvataggi dell'episodio precedente. Non ho capito a cosa serva sta porcata se poi si inizia sempre dal primo livello e senza soldi ed equipaggiamento...

There were some minor problems, but this game was somewhere between good and okay. One big annoyance was that certain enemies were immune to certain weapons. If you go into a town, buy all new weapons and sold your old ones, you might of screwed yourself. If you buy the weapons in Underfall, good news! The enemies in Underfall are immune to them! So, you are pretty much screwed until you buy your old weapons back. This isn't a constant problem, but it is annoying. Staus effects were also annoying. There is one battle about half way through that was beyond terrible. You have four enemies and they all constantly cast spells that make your entire party sleep or loose turns. So, the only thing you can do is pray that you can kill them all before the cast spells. If you don't get the first turn, you might as well shut the game off and load your save, because you can't win. Victory is based on luck. Other than that, the story was amazing. Might be my favorite yet in the series, I cared about the plot and wanted to see where it was going. The new places in the game were interesting and had good music. Almost all of the problems the other 3 parts had were better this time around. I'd give it 7/10. But this game is way too expensive for what you get, try when it's on sale.

Immediately regreted my purchase in 5 minutes into the game.

Na última parte de Aveyond 3, Mel está vivendo escondida desde que descobriu que podia usar magia, mas as trevas - e Edward! - não vão deixar que ela leve uma vidinha pacata em uma cidade de animais falantes qualquer! Afinal, a profecia dos Darkthrop está pairando sobre todos... Sem mencionar que a podre da Lydia ainda está dominando Thais! conclusão muito boa da série... Fica a dica: assista os créditos até o final, mesmo depois de ver o The end ;) Recomendado

Aveyond 3-4: The Darkththrop Prophecy is the thrilling (or rather mildly satisfying) conclusion to the Aveyond 3 series. I don't dislike this game quite as much as 3-3 but the things I dislike are often the same type of things. I love the Aveyond Series and have played all of them. I think Aveyond 1: Rehn's Quest is stil my favorite (though sadly not available on Steam) but I've enjoyed playing all of them except 3-3 and 3-4. I still really hate that they split our Aveyond 3 into 4 separate chapters. I really feel like they could have (and should have) simply put all the games into one single game. As it currently stands you save your game at the end of each chapter for import into the next and each new chapter starts with a sort of brief recap of where the previous game ended. One thing I really, REALLY hated was that in this chapter you once again have lost all your stuff but now you also lost all those levels you worked hard to obtain in the previous 3 chapters! In game they start out with Mel telling us she's been living in the secret viliage of Harakuna (I probably misspelled that) for a year. So, it makes no sense to me that after having gone through so much trouble to earn the gold, buy the stuff, use the stuff (which has proven time and again to be ever so useful in Mel's life) that she would basically give up everything she owns and not even own a single weapon or even basic set of armor! She also went from super buff (if you leveled even on the more conservative side or like me maxed or nearly maxed levels) to a wimpy level 1 again. Okay, I was really pissed off about all the time wasted on leveling that was simply gone now but at least that makes some sense if she's been sitting around doing nothing all day living like a lazy bum. It seems very unlikely and not well suited to fictional game life though. Then not only that but all the skills/spells learned are essentially gone too! Stella doesn't know any of her spells! I get maybe she was lazy too so no longer has the mana capacity to cast them till she levels up but she jst forgets everything she learned? I couldn't get over that one. If it were not that this is the conclusion than I probably wouldn't played through but of course if your like me you want to complete the series all the way through. The party gets split again and I don't like that much of the time you don't even get a full party to fight with and some of the characters seem to be pretty over-powered while others are extremely underpowered. You really have to supplement with armor, weapons, items to compensate which often makes it necessary to purchase all upgrades immidiately as opposed to some here and there while advancing till you find the best in game ones which is how I usually played it unless I have a ton of spare gold like if I decided to search out goodie caves (which we're tricky to get into I felt... like the character never wanted to move in just the right spot/way to get in even when I knew where it was) Anyhoo, despite it's pitfalls and my frustrations with the coices developers made on this game... I did enjoy playing and at least the story on this one felt more complete than 3-3 and not as much back and forth travel for one thing. I did enjoy the satisfaction of seeing Lydia behind bars and Mel and Edward finally getting to marry each other (unless you choose differently). I also enjoyed the satisfaction of having completed the series. The final battle however seems ridiculously overpowered and excessive. It's two battles, one against Mel, Galahad, and Yemite (Mel's Darkling Personal Servant) the other Against Mordred Darkthrop and his minions. You have to beat both and if you beat the first but not the second you have to do both battle all over. There really should have been a pause that you could save at or at least the autosave should have brought you to the beginning of the second battle. It takes quite a while. I only did basic leveling since it felt pointless after having lost all my previous levels so I went into the final battle around lvl 40? I could with effort beat the first battle with Mel but I couldn't est more than 3-4 rounds with Mordered. I finally decided to just seek out the goody caves which I used to learn all spells for Stella, get est weapons and armor, max levels, and get a bunch of gold to purchase things like toxic sludge and healing/man items. Then both battles went down easily in a few rounds. I read someone else did it at 60 and said it was easy so maye the goal range is 50 for leveling if you want to do it on your own. I admit I didn't complete every possible side quest but I did most of them so doing the minimum (and using all the level eggs) will only get you around 40 you'll want to pick up some extra levels before you begin the final battle scene.

The final chapter has best conclusion for the Aveyond Orbs of Magic series.

Excellent game. Easily the best of the four game series. Edward's new sword is a great idea and a fun addition. There are many unique locations and interesting plot surprises. Maps are well done and pleasing to the eye. Game is long enough to satisfy anyone. Update: I just tried to play the 4th aveyond game "shadow of the mist" I only made it about half way and quit. Darkthrop Prophecy is far superior.