Avernum 2: Crystal Souls Reviews
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A small stream of reviews for Avernum 2: Crystal Souls have showed up on the web since the last time I looked, so I thought I'd share the handful of articles that I was able to find after a bit of sleuthing.
Game Industry News gives it a 4/5:
The bottom line for a remake like this is that Exile was a fun game to play, especially for lovers of deep RPGs, but it never worked quite right on modern computers. It doesn't hurt that Crystal Souls was arguably the best title story-wise of the series. As such Avernum 2: Crystal Souls is also fun to play since it's basically Exile in a brand new shell but with the same heart. It will of course appeal to people who played Exile many years ago, but you don't need that experience to enjoy Avernum. All that is required is a love of those old school, deep dungeon diving experiences of the past now made new again and ready to impress former players and a new generation alike.
Dealspwn gives it an 8/10:
Avernum 2 may be built on a formula, but it's a winning formula, while the remake still deviates from traditional genre structure in a number of pleasing ways. Thanks to the massively expanded amount of content, quests and enemies and a slight yet welcome graphical update versus Avadon 2, even longtime Spiderweb fans should book themselves another lengthy vacation into The Pit.
Gear Diary gives it a solid recommendation:
Long-time fans of the RPG genre have certainly seen branching elements in games pruned significantly through the years. It has been explicitly stated by game company executives that it is simply too expensive to produce the assets required for a number of branches that will never be used. As a result you see what I call '˜phantom branching' in many AAA RPGs small things that look like significant choices but that all lead back to the same point and use the same core set of assets.
And Softpedia gives it a 4/5:
Overall, it's among the best indie role-playing game experiences ever crafted, and if low-fi visuals and reading don't scare you, it's well worth the purchase, especially since there is just so much content to enjoy, as well as added value through replayability.
