Avadon: The Black Fortress

Avadon is an old-school RPG in which one embodies a "hand" in the service of the fortress whose game derives its name. Avadon is the strong keystone of the Covenant, a fragile alliance between central kingdoms threatened by enemies pushed to the ends of the continent: ogres, fallen empire, barbarians, etc. As a hand you have to implement the policy of Avadon (the "eyes" inform, the "hearts" decide): seek and destroy the threat against the Covenant, whether inside or outside. Avadon is fear, very powerful, determined, ruthless... The adventures of the player will therefore take place in the midst of political influence struggles, alternating repression, diplomacy, etc. The game universe may seem simple at first glance but it is actually rather rich, with interesting and varied cultures, and a significant coherence (until in the way that NPCs react to your status of hand). In Avadon we are in the grey, not in the black and white, the game does not hesitate a second to make you doubt, to make you hate those that he made you love just before, leaving you sometimes making to decisions not obvious at all... The script and writing are very successful, as are the characters, and the players ' companions. Small flat on dialogues sometimes a little (too) dirigistes. The game, overall, having some linearity anyway. Graphically Avadon is... Let's say simple. Not really ugly, but not even as beautiful as a Baldur's Gate first of the name. Your imagination will be useful here. But once you get it done, the environments are pretty nice and the levels are large and well designed. Again it is varied and coherent. The sound side is also very minimal. And no music, apart from the menu... The gameplay as for him honors the "old-school", especially the turn-by-turn fights that I found pretty well screwed. But Avadon can be also very very difficult, and tedious sometimes. In old-school, there is "hardcore". Difficulty levels do not lie on their name and some fights seem extremely unfair until the key is found. Personally I resolved to move from "hard" to "normal" on the end. And the final combat, optional, is an absolute and endless purge if you decide to try it (I would not go into the details, I just recommend to anyone to inflict it, it is an endless horror, really...). We also sometimes plague the difficulty of finding a particular character who has given us a quest, and on the fact that we get some to perform in areas not yet open, but of regions already visited. So it happens that we turn a little in circles in search of the goal before we can actually access it. The rise in skill of the characters is done on a rather limited and rigid tree, but which nevertheless possesses some subtleties which can in fact greatly change the deal. In my opinion, it is better to master some skills than to know full but to be bad everywhere, for example. Likewise it may be tempting to increase its endurance to support the clash of fights, but not to be touched by good dexterity is a much more interesting investment in my opinion. After that, it is up to the player to find the balance that satisfies him. At worst, there is a character (that we meet that said after already a lot of hours of play) allowing a complete reroll (of the PJ and his companions), it is very useful! In the end, despite flaws, Avadon is a very good RPG (and I wouldn't have spent 60 hours on it, if not). Very recommended to fans of old-school RPG, but it will not appeal to everyone it is clear. Avadon also exists on Android and iOS and in my opinion on these systems it is a must in the genre. The game is in English, not translated to my knowledge. Service life: 50 hours minimum at high difficulty level.