The Aveyond series has been my favorite game series for well over a decade now, something which means I owe the first title the special honor of "probably the singular most important video game to me, ever". Most die-hard fans of this series got into it within the first few years of Aveyond 1's release, and while a lot of people chalk that up to nostalgia, I'd credit something far more special than that: Aveyond 1 was truly something unique back in 2006. It was frequently positively highlighted for being an indie RPG by a female developer, something that obviously shown through its storyline and characters. It was also one of the first Western commercial RPG Maker games. There was a time where many, if not most, of the RPG Maker lists and interviews you'd find highlighted Aveyond. I'm grateful for the fact that neither of those elements are particularly remarkable anymore, and all the cool games we get to play as a result. But it feels worth mentioning!
In 2022, Aveyond holds up fairly well, though perhaps not quite as well as I would like it to. This is in many ways the series' weakest installment without nostalgia or the context of its release, but it remains a worthy opener. Despite that, I'm giving it 5 stars because anything else would simply be inaccurate given the depth of love I have for this game.
The plot is simple, straight-forward fantasy fare, but to me that's a pro and not a con. The cast isn't very well fleshed out, but they have strong, charming bones that easily endear players and just beg you to expand on them in your head. Protagonist Rhen feels like the halfway point between a fully realized character and a player insert protagonist, but the level of choice the player is given for her at the end lets it feel cohesive and pay off. Lars and Dameon, the secondary and tertiary leads, leave a little to be desired in their arcs, but a few key points at least provide reasonably compelling scaffolding for the player to fill in. The rest of the playable cast is filled out by a series of entertaining spins on common fantasy archetypes: a flirty demon summoner with three husbands searching for a fourth, a vampress who longs for the light and the patronizing paladin she sets her sights on, a pirate who rides dragons part time and a bar maid for hire.
Aveyond 1 has some of my favorite mapping in an RPG Maker game to date - the tilesets cohesively combine the typical more pixelated style with art more evocative of paintings. The colors, scale, and parallaxes combine together to make the world feel truly rich and magical. Trees seem massive and looming, chasms jagged and eerie. Multiple caverns inexplicably show the night or sunset sky below as you wander through. The battle scaling is a little ridiculous - play on Easy mode if you don't want to have to grind to level up! - but for me it breezes past "works" into enhancing the game - it makes me feel like I really am training for an epic quest, and gives me more time to roll the characters over in my head and get attached.
If you want a fantasy epic with plenty of plot twists and fully-realized character arcs, Aveyond probably isn't the game for you. But if you want a goofy high fantasy ride across magic retro-inspired landscapes filled with characters who will pique your interest and who you can make your personal playground, I can't recommend it enough. Ultimately, this game is FUN, and that's exactly what it's trying to be. It gets five stars for doing it so damn well, and managing to keep doing so a decade full of replays later.
In 2022, Aveyond holds up fairly well, though perhaps not quite as well as I would like it to. This is in many ways the series' weakest installment without nostalgia or the context of its release, but it remains a worthy opener. Despite that, I'm giving it 5 stars because anything else would simply be inaccurate given the depth of love I have for this game.
The plot is simple, straight-forward fantasy fare, but to me that's a pro and not a con. The cast isn't very well fleshed out, but they have strong, charming bones that easily endear players and just beg you to expand on them in your head. Protagonist Rhen feels like the halfway point between a fully realized character and a player insert protagonist, but the level of choice the player is given for her at the end lets it feel cohesive and pay off. Lars and Dameon, the secondary and tertiary leads, leave a little to be desired in their arcs, but a few key points at least provide reasonably compelling scaffolding for the player to fill in. The rest of the playable cast is filled out by a series of entertaining spins on common fantasy archetypes: a flirty demon summoner with three husbands searching for a fourth, a vampress who longs for the light and the patronizing paladin she sets her sights on, a pirate who rides dragons part time and a bar maid for hire.
Aveyond 1 has some of my favorite mapping in an RPG Maker game to date - the tilesets cohesively combine the typical more pixelated style with art more evocative of paintings. The colors, scale, and parallaxes combine together to make the world feel truly rich and magical. Trees seem massive and looming, chasms jagged and eerie. Multiple caverns inexplicably show the night or sunset sky below as you wander through. The battle scaling is a little ridiculous - play on Easy mode if you don't want to have to grind to level up! - but for me it breezes past "works" into enhancing the game - it makes me feel like I really am training for an epic quest, and gives me more time to roll the characters over in my head and get attached.
If you want a fantasy epic with plenty of plot twists and fully-realized character arcs, Aveyond probably isn't the game for you. But if you want a goofy high fantasy ride across magic retro-inspired landscapes filled with characters who will pique your interest and who you can make your personal playground, I can't recommend it enough. Ultimately, this game is FUN, and that's exactly what it's trying to be. It gets five stars for doing it so damn well, and managing to keep doing so a decade full of replays later.