評論

• gamedeal user

  Nov 30, 2021

  Childhood gem that originally released one month after Diablo II which very likely is the main reason for its failure. The combat is mediocre in comparison and people were caught up in the maelstrom of Diablo already. But it still hooked me. They focused much more on story ('played any good books lately ?'), trying to make the world and its characters believable. Expect lots of reading! A quest log keeps track of the most important things though. World building and atmosphere are pretty good, the castle feels lived in. The equipment system was way ahead of its time and I've to this day not seen anything like it again. Every equippable item in the 11 clothing/armor slots is shown on character even considering layers. That means you can equip a quilt over your pants or a cuirass over some chain mail. Or hide everything under a monk's robe. Chapter 1 which originally was the free 'demo' is still available to download online if you want to try it out.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 11, 2022

  I am simply amazed. Unlike many of the other reviewers, I have never played this game before, no nostalgic memories here. To a point, I'm glad. I am getting to experience this beautiful rpg for the first time. The promise of a classic isometric crpg that I, for some reason, had never heard of, immediately drew me in. For the last three hours, I have barley accomplished anything. What I have done, is read so line after line of well crafted lore and realized that every NPC has a story, a history. They all speak differently. The art style, is fantastic. I feel like I am exploring a breathing representation of the art style from all the covers of my once cherished AD&D 1st Edition books. The music is also very well done. Even with these tracks looped as they are, nothing feels or sounds out of place. As a gamer, you always search for those rare Gems, the ones that are so few and far between. This is one of them. The little bit of combat that I have done is very straight forward, easily comparable to Diablo II, but the rpg elements, this is what has me entranced. The writing is just so good. Their tag line; "Play any good books lately?" is a perfect description of the experience. I remember how captivated I was the first time I read a Dragonlance novel (Dragonlance = D&D World Setting) and I am getting that feeling once again of being in beautifully detailed and lore filled world. When you first load the game, there is an option to read about the events that lead up to game. I can not recommend it enough. Ill update more as I play threw, but just based on the art, writing, lore, music and how well the controls function. I haven't been this immersed in a fantasy setting in some time. I want to know everything about this world and the people in it.
• ZacJS

  Sep 6, 2023

  Best RPG I've ever played. Might be the nostalgia talking so take it with a grain of salt.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 9, 2021

  tl;dr 9/10 But i cant simp for bonnie or join mithras now im mad Siege of Avalon is an RPG that is different from the RPG you are used to today, be prepared to read in this game. i mean a lot of reading. if you have no problem with that be prepared for an ongoing siege where you start as a newcomer and start finding out your surroundings. you start in your own quarter room in the outer keep and the inner keep will be unavailable for you to access. as you progress through the game you get to pick up a lot of loot from fallen enemies and learn new spells from allies once you have collected enough experience (trainingpoints) the final chapter is my favourite simply because its the climax of the siege and all hell breaks loose - you get to face the leader of the enemy that besieges the citadel avalon, the shaman king mithras. there are quite a few characters that are memorable - sir roth and elarath from the top of my head just to name a few. your own brother will join you in chapter 6 which is a nice touch. as for graphics its an old game so dont expect much here. for me i dont really care about graphics. a good game needs good gameplay mechanics and a good storyline. in terms of story it is deep enough for an RPG, there are a lot of books scattered around the castle that explain the behind the scenes story of the ongoing war and the cultures that inhabit the lands. as for price, the price is acceptable. if you like rpgs and have no problem reading a lot of text and dont mind the dated graphic: go for it! as for engine itself there are a few updats, most obviously the higher screen resolution support though the max is only 1920x1080. seems you can now choose your gender which is a nice touch and adds more customization to the game. since im a huge fanboy of this game the bigger question for me is: what will the publisher do with this game from now on? will there ever be a proper sequel in order to continue the story and the world? so yeah 9/10
• gamedeal user

  Apr 9, 2021

  The first CRPG I ever played, Siege of Avalon is a 6 chapter series that released by the now defunct Digital Tome in 2000. This reading intensive game has 3 classes: fighters, scouts, and mages. Each class has its own expansion chapter that you are required to go through (chapters 3, 4, 5 respectively), although you can go through them all if you want. Chapters 1, 2, and 6 are all main story chapters that are also unmissable. The story is in my opinion well written and enjoyable. There is no levels in this game, only training points that you obtain from defeating enemies and completing quests that you use to learn skills or improve your character. One of the greatest aspects of this game was the paper doll system they implemented with clothing. All the clothes you see in the game are able to be equipped in layers, with buffs and debuffs depending on the clothing. I've never seen another game model a clothing system in this fashion. This new version released here on Steam gives technical advances that allow it to run much better on modern systems. There is no old issues present in my time played so far. I have seen no pink texture issues, infinite load screens, missing or broken music files or horrible lag or stuttering. The game has now been brought to modern life by supporting higher resolutions too, so you can instead now choose to play in 1920x1080 or 1280x720 rather than 800x600. Another issue I still see is the flickering cursor, but that's minor. If you're an old fan like I am then you absolutely need to get this. If you're a new player looking for a nice little CRPG, I also recommend you check this out. Be wary that there is a lot of reading however and that the gameplay and combat systems are well over 20 years old now. The price point is cheap and well worth the entry to this world. Seeing Siege of Avalon return in this way was fantastic, so much love to the devs!
• gamedeal user

  Apr 9, 2021

  This is one of my all time favorite cRPGs. I've done a few play throughs since finding it in a bargain bin back in the early 2000s. The new steam version seems to have fixed most of the major issues with trying to make the game run on modern systems, and it opens and runs on Windows 10 in 1920x1080, which is nice. I played through act one and started act 2 with no major bugs and will update this post if I find any. EDIT: press x to toggle xray vision and see through walls you are behind. For those who have never played SoA before: Pros: -Amazing story (I would argue best cRPG I've ever played, but was early for me and I have a lot of nostalgia) -deep lore -simple combat that can be challenging at points -fun and variable character progression in combat strength (3 archetypes can all increase in power on one character) -can wear 2 pairs of pants at the same time Cons: -No real non-combat character progression -awful companion AI -clunky mechanics (Out of range with a bow? you run into melee range instead of running to the edge of bow range) -Following certain quests can be tricky and may benefit from a guide Bugs for the Steam version (finished Act 6): -Some quest items moving to enemy inventories while looting (make sure not to leave them) -certain items moving around inventory after reloading from quick saves -In Act 5, several enemies (wraiths and elementals) ignore stealth and can aggro for the whole map at once -Some quest rewards duplicate. (Got 9x rings of speed in Act 4 from turning in one quest...)
• gamedeal user

  Apr 9, 2021

  The story goes that you sail from Elythria, your homeland to bring word to your brother of your father's death and hopefully go back and tell your mother that Corvus is alive and well. The real reason though is that deep down you wish to help in the defense of the besieged fortress Avalon and be among the heroes in their fight against the Sha'ahoul. Siege of Avalon was my first RPG growing up. Lots of dialog, quests, lore, and a great story line to go with it. The games logo "Play any good books lately?" was true. It was very much a book in video game form, and it had enough content to keep you engaged throughout your play through. Definitely worth playing.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 14, 2021

  Great game, totally recommend it to fans of atmosphric story heavy crpgs. But beware, it is full with bugs. Like your or your teammates inventory can get broken randomly and needs older save reloaded to be fixed. Accidenlty my inventoy got swapped with the shop keeper... items do not fit in and break it. Expect similar stuff.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 15, 2021

  [h1]Sail away to Avalon The journey has begun 🎵🎶 [i]~Ayreon[/i][/h1] Video game preservation. No matter how you look at it, it's a very important thing. I mean, you know how it is. There's heck of a lot of games out there that you just can't buy anymore. For different reasons. Sometimes those are games that were removed from stores due to copyright issues (like all of those [b]Ninja Turtles[/b], [b]Transformers[/b] and [b]Star Trek[/b] titles in [b]Steam[/b]), sometimes those are just old titles for the obsolete systems and sometimes those are just rare or little-known games. That's why the video game community is so important. But you know, all those preservation websites, where you can download all of those old games for free aside, it's always great to get something like that released in [b]Steam[/b]. Especially when it also comes with some basic updates to make it playable on modern systems. You know, like it was with games like [b]Fallout[/b] and [b]Hexxplore[/b]. So... ladies and gentlemen, please, welcome – [b]Siege of Avalon[/b]. Now, what the heck is [b]Siege of Avalon[/b]? Seriously, I bet most of you guys didn't even hear about this one. And, well, you should not feel ashamed since this game was never really that big. Partially because it was one of those early episodic games that wanted you to download the new episodes from the [b]Internet[/b]. You know, like [b]ShadowFlare[/b]. Except the first episode of this game (which was completely free for everybody with [b]Internet[/b] connection) was released two years before it, in [b]2000[/b]. And that's... what used to make it interesting. I mean, the new generation of players may think that episodic games are something quite new, but actually, quite a lot of games in the past used such format. Even the biggest names like [b]Commander Keen[/b], [b]Wolfenstein 3D[/b], [b]DOOM[/b] and [b]Duke Nukem 3D[/b] were like that. Except we were supposed to order the rest of the episodes by phone. You know, that landline monstrosity that's completely obsolete nowadays. What was interesting about games like [b]Siege of Avalon[/b] is that they offered us to avoid waiting for our orders and download the game directly to our computers through the global network. Obviously, it's, like, the most common thing you can ever imagine nowadays, when using physical media feels more weird than downloading games from [b]Steam[/b], but back in the days? It was rather interesting thing to do. So... yeah. Here comes an episodic game from an early [b]Internet[/b] era. Sure, the complete game was later released on physical media (right after the final episode was finished and released online) and even got big box release (actually, some countries had big box release for every single episode), but still, it's impossible to talk about [b]Siege of Avalon[/b] without talking about its origins. Naturally, what we have here is the complete set. The game comes in six episodes, but only four of them are needed to see the ending. The 1st, the 2nd and the 6th chapters will contain the main story, while chapter 3, 4 and 5 will include class-related stuff. Technically, you'll be able to play through them all, but the game will force you to play only the one that's directly related to the class you'll choose at the beginning. Fighters will be forced to play chapter 3, scouts will need to play chapter 4, while chapter 5 will be for mages. Sounds a bit confusing, huh? Well... that's what [b]Siege of Avalon[/b] does best. Being confusing. See, despite quite a lot of text (don't expect much choice here, though, this game is mostly about reading, not choosing, in other words, it is [i]not[/i] [b]Baldur's Gate[/b]), the game does terrible job explaining and organizing things for you. Read every line carefully, take notes (you know... by using pen and paper in real life), draw maps (paper... pen...), [i]or[/i] risk to end up being completely lost. Especially if you'll decide to take a break. Seriously, it's one of those games you either finish without taking long breaks or forget about what to do completely. Which... isn't really that bad. I mean, sure, [b]Siege of Avalon[/b] feels a bit too archaic even for [b]2000[/b], but let's just admit it, we all need something old-school from time to time. All those confusing maps with no markers, lack of proper explanations and stuff like that only makes you care more. Sure, it's uncomfortable as heck. But it's like... part of the fun. Playing this kind of role-playing games is like playing the old school point-and-click adventures that won't conveniently highlight everything for you when you press spacebar. In other words, it's one of those games, in which you're supposed to suffer to have fun. The real problem is - [b]Siege of Avalon[/b] is not... really... that good as a game. Not because it's a bit too old-school (seriously, you can't take old school – stay away from this one), but just... because it is not. The battle mechanics, for example, is way, [i]way[/i] too clunky. Real-time battles were a mistake and turn-based ones from games like [b]Heath: The Unchosen Path[/b] will be way better choice. [b]UI[/b] is a complete disaster too (this version doesn't have manual, so, make sure to google the controls before starting), while all in all, there isn't much stuff to do. Look at the [b]Steam[/b] achievements. That's pretty much all of the quests you can do in the entire game. And most of them are optional. So, most of the time it'll be you, trying to figure out what to do and where to find certain [b]NPC[/b] instead of doing the real thing. Thankfully, the game doesn't have that many screens, so, traveling through the entire thing won't take too long, but... I can't say that it makes the game any better. I mean, most of the time here you'll just walk through the same exact screens again and again with no end. Where's the fun in that? So... yeah... Let's just say that [b]Siege of Avalon[/b] is [i]not[/i] a blast from the past you hoped for. Personally, I actually enjoyed it (up to a certain degree, of course, but still), but I can clearly see that it was mostly because of my personal nostalgia. Because yes, I used to play it back in the days and, since my old [b]CD[/b] version doesn't work on modern systems, I always hoped for something like this to happen. And you know what? They did a pretty nice job on bringing the game back to life, really. In my case, it worked perfectly well on [b]64-bit[/b] version of [b]Windows 10[/b], there's [b]Full HD[/b] resolution support, widescreen and, naturally, all the official updates are included. That alone made the purchase worth it for me, since ages later, I was able to finally finish this game. Unfortunately, the game still comes with a couple of pretty annoying technical difficulties (for example, in my case it just kept crashing on me on one of the screens during the late stages) and... you know how it is. Like I said, video game preservation is a great thing. And personally, I always welcome (and ready to support) any less-known titles from the past in [b]Steam[/b]. Seriously, guys. Give me [b]Heath: The Unchosen Path[/b]! Give me [b]ShadowFlare[/b]! Give me [b]Mistmare[/b]! Give me Korean [b]Fate[/b] (not to be confused with [b]WildTangent[/b]'s title we all know and love)! Give me the dang [b]Spells of Gold[/b]! I'll pay for them. Just because having such things in my [b]Steam[/b] library? Fully playable? It's cool. But when we're talking about the actual gameplay... well... Look at those games I've mentioned above. If you've played at least one of them... you know exactly what kind of game we have here. [b]Siege of Avalon[/b] is not one of those games you play because they're good. It's one of those you play because (let me quote [b]Clint Basinger[/b] here) they're lost... forgotten... and obsolete. So... do I recommend this release for geeks? Sure thing. But do I recommend it for those who just want a good game? [i]Heck, no![/i]
• gamedeal user

  Apr 22, 2021

  I, like many others who have reviewed this game, played it when it came out and view Siege of Avalon as a cult classic. It certainly has some flaws, but overall is worth the asking price. A true hidden gem. Produced by Digital Tome, Siege of Avalon was advertised as a novel in video game form, cheekily referenced by their “Played any good books lately?” tagline. As such, expect much more reading in this game than other comparable titles. The game has a simple, yet compelling narrative, and one that shines when you pay attention. Almost every NPC has unique dialogue for you, and many of them have new lines as events change and your heroic feats become more well-known, even out-of-the-way characters with no relevance to your current concerns. At a glance, this game may appear like a diablo clone, but it remains distinct – there are no randomized features here; everything is handpicked and deliberate. There are sizable areas for you to explore and memorable characters to meet. Don’t forget secrets to uncover, whether it be invisible walls to new areas (pay attention to the map) or new dialogue options if your charm or perception stats are high enough. You will end up backtracking through the same areas a lot, though thankfully a fast travel system through the castle is available. You’ll be listening to the same music for a long time, but they’re surprisingly good atmospheric tracks that, for me at least, remain nostalgic. This being an update of an old PC game, there are some differences from the original. An obvious one, of course, is support for larger resolutions. The UI has changed slightly to accommodate this, though some artifacts are noticeable. You also get a much larger view of the area around your immediate vicinity – a notable difference when line-of-sight and stealth are features of the game. This goes both ways, though. Enemies can notice you from further away just as you can them. This changes the game balance somewhat. Another change is that you can have up to four companions with you now, instead of the original version’s maximum of two. You’d think that would be significant, but it’s give and take. You may have more meat shields and inventory space, but poor AI and the fact that friendly fire exists means that having too many allies can be just as much a hindrance as a benefit. One major hurdle to note is that this game is difficult, especially in the first few chapters. You’ll have to be careful and keep backup saves ready just in case you run into an enemy that easily mops the floor with you. The enemies scale with you somewhat, but you’ll eventually become effectively a god by the final chapter, especially if you did all three optional chapters. This old game lives up to my expectations, and is just as good as it was in my memories.