Aveyond 2 First Look
Aveyond 2 now available!

Amanda of Amaranth Games graciously provided me with a preview copy of the upcoming indie RPG, Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest (a late beta / release candidate, so it may not exactly match the final version). I had no time to play this weekend, but I played it anyway. I'm about two-and-a-half hours into the game, and I think I finally finished the "introduction."

Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest is, naturally, the sequel to the best-selling indie RPG, "Aveyond" (AKA Aveyond 1: Rhen's Quest) I've talked about Aveyond quite a bit in the past, and you already know most of what I've had to say about it has been pretty complimentary. Aveyond 2 is a different story in the same world, using the same core engine, and so far feels like it has improved over the previous game in nearly every area.

Like the newly-released indie RPG Eschalon: Book 1, Aveyond 2 begins with an amnesia story. Only this time, it's an interesting twist: Overnight, your best friend, Iya, disappears. Strangely, nobody in the village but you can remember her - even her own parents. It's up to you, a young elven lad, to rescue a girl with only a ribbon as proof that she ever existed.

One thing I do like is that the game doesn't string you along too much to achieving your initial goal - I've already found Iya in this time, but the situation has become more complicated, and the stakes have escalated. The plot continues to twist. That's what I like in an RPG, and I think I've now been sucked in. Things are progressing at a good pace. One of Aveyond's strengths was its story, and Aveyond 2 seems to be continuing that tradition.

Naturally, the game also has some of the weird quirks common not only to its prequel, but to the RPG Maker game engine and the typical RPG traditions (particularly "jRPGs" - Japanese [eastern] RPGs) Weirdness like cute wildlife capable of slaughtering you (including the deadly "wild chickens" that plague Rhen in the early stages of Aveyond 1). And the same cute little wildlife mysteriously drop things like baked goods, berries, and gold coins on their demise. And then there are things like inn prices that seem to rise linearly the further you get from your home village. The quest journal is minimalist, the new mouse interface is a little bit on the twitchy side, you can't flee combat once it is joined (that I can tell), and the resolution is still limited to 640 x 480.

But these are mainly minor quibbles. I love smacking passing little fuzzy animals for gold, after all, even though I have no clue where they carry their change-purse. Insert Monty Python quotes about swallows carrying coconuts here. Really, it's all good fun, and is as much of a tradition in many RPGs that I often chalk up to some kind of abstraction on bounty or something.

Overall, the game carries even more polish than the first, but will be immediately playable to anyone who played through even the demo version of Aveyond. For those with no experience with these kinds of games, Aveyond 2 includes a tutorial to get you through the basics - you'll talk to people, activate objects, get a quest, form a party, battle monsters, get treasure, solve the quest, and even level up all within the tutorial. You can also choose not to go through the tutorial, though I haven't tried that option.

Graphically, Aveyond 2 seems superior to the previous game. The music, as in the first game (if you got the free music pack upgrade for Aveyond 1), is excellent. The mouse interface is new, and addresses what was probably the biggest complaint in the original game. I personally found myself going back to the keyboard interface that I was used to, and I felt it was a little "twitchy" clicking on destinations in a moving, scrolling area (particularly since your party will do no pathfinding, ignoring clicks to destinations they can't see, as in Eschalon). But that was probably a result of familiarity with the controls from Aveyond 1 and The Last Scenario.

A good RPG should have a few adventure-game style challenges (IMO). So far, Aveyond 2 does not disappoint. The game mixes up standard combat (of which there is plenty) with some less violent challenges. Early on, I faced a timed "puzzle" challenge to trap a monster that I (in theory) could not hope to beat in combat - after all, I was still vulnerable to being two-shotted by a Wild Chicken at that point. The puzzle and timing were not at all difficult, as I pulled it off on the first try. Even though it wasn't difficult, these kinds of puzzles are always very satisfying... probably because they make me feel far more clever than I really am.

From a challenge standpoint, the game starts out pretty easy, and allows you to set your own pace as it ramps up. Go far too quickly, and you may find yourself in combat over your head. Each town (so far) has offered improvements in equipment over the previous one, and it has proven absolutely critical that I buy those upgrades before attempting to move on with the game. While leveling up makes a big difference, too, upgrading from a hunting knife to leather claws, or from no armor to leather armor, made the single biggest difference in my survivability. Otherwise, I found myself running through healing items and trips to the local inn almost too fast to afford anything else.

While the party's size, level, and equipment were primary issues in determining success or disaster in combat, there is still some tactical decision-making and resource management factors that must be considered and may mean the difference between success and reloading a saved game. Nothing that will bake the noodle of a hardcore wargaming grognard, but enough to make combat interesting once you get some powers, items, and extra party members.

While it's still too early to know for sure, so far I'm really pleased with Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest. It has all the magic of the original, but with a number of improvements and better production values - and of course, a whole new story. Most importantly, it has proven fun and compelling. I really had to force myself to call it quits as I saw the time push past midnight, as I found myself pushing to complete just one more quest, or just to just get to the next village.

Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest will be available on Wednesday, December 5th from Amaranth Games, December 11th from Big Fish Games, and January 11th from seedy Plimus affiliates like me. (UPDATE: Yep. Here's the latest version of Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest )

(Vaguely) related pseudo-literary meanderings:
* Aveyond!
* Interview with Amanda Fitch, Indie RPG and Casual Game Designer
* What Makes a Good "Casual" RPG?

Forum Discussion: Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest!

Labels: Aveyond, Game Announcements, Roleplaying Games

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