Avadon: The Black Fortress

Alright. Avadon: The Black Fortress is done and dusted. I played this for a couple hours maybe a decade ago, and I remember thinking at the time that it was difficult to get in to, but recently, I'd been thinking about it and decided to give this game another go. And my perspective definitely has changed over the last decade, as what I found this time around was a very engaging super old school CRPG with a really fun setting and interesting story. I've played Geneforge 1 & 2 previously, and if I was comparing Spiderweb Software offerings, I'd say that while Avadon was not nearly as involved from a story perspective, and is less expansive, it's also probably a bit more approachable if you are looking for a good entry point into the Spiderweb Software catalog of games.
Visually, this is about as old school as it gets without being a Gold Box offering or some such. It's very basic and on the surface, seems pretty sparse. However, in reality, there is actually a fair amount going on within the confines of the visual style this developer is known for. After a couple hours, it's pretty easy to forget you are staring at old graphics with old textures and assets shared between his games. Instead, it becomes really easy to hone in on what is happening on screen as it ties together with the story and gameplay. So, while it is certainly visually unimpressive for the most part, it also somehow manages to be evocative. I believe there is only one music track, which has a cool hint of discordance to it. The rest of the audio is made up of the ambient sounds and the sounds that interact with whatever you're doing. That all works well.
Gameplay is fairly standard turn-based CRPG fare as well. You'll run around maps, revealing more of your surroundings as you explore. There are a lot of secret areas and areas that only open up after certain conditions are met. Combat is actually a lot of fun. You have your main character, of which you can choose from four premade characters. I played as Cordelia the Sorceress. You will fill out your party with one or two of four NPCs that will be assigned to you by your Black Fortress masters. The game is very combat focused, and your little group will have no lack for battles to jump into. I enjoyed the four character classes and their options in battle. It's a good mix of support, defense, and offense, and seems quite well balanced in my estimation. Spells are cool, melee feels meaty, ranged combat seems appropriately lethal. All very cool, There is no stealth in this game, so everything is pretty up front from a tactical standpoint. This is a game that pretty much keeps everything right where you can see and react easily to.
The story has a simple premise, but creates a lot of depth within the premise. Which is that you are a new "Hand", who are elite soldiers/spies working for The Black Fortress to uphold the values and protect the stability of Avadon and the Pact nations. There are five nations that make up the Pact Nations of Avadon, and all are ruled from the central seat of power, The Black Fortress, by the unkillable and ruthless Redbeard, this game's singularly powerful ruler. Not all is sunshine and roses in the Pact Nations though, and Farlanders, people and nations outside of Avadon's rule, also muddy the waters. And that is where you come in. You will travel to the four other Pact nations to settle disputes and solve mysteries while also trying to quell uprisings and generally uphold Avadon's interests. As with all good CRPGs though, not everything is as it seems. Along the way, you'll get to know your companions and build either resentment or alliances with the people you are policing.
It should go without saying, but there is a ton of reading in this game, and you are advised to actually read the stuff presented rather than click your way through it. You will need to read everything if you hope to solve any of the puzzles and generally advance the story. So, make sure you do so. Fortunately, this is a very well written game with a lot of thought that went into all the dialogue, so that shouldn't be a problem for anybody.
There are some branching paths based on how you choose to deal with things. This is kind of the devs own take on a morality system, and there are a lot of scenarios where it's less about good and evil and more about what is most practical or inevitable regardless of how you might feel. But you aren't powerless and out in the world, a Hand's word is law.
Anyway, it took me about 55 hours to complete this run on normal difficulty. There were two obvious endings. The first is all dialogue driven. The second is combat driven. And the final boss fight for the combat ending. I had to knock the difficulty down to easy for that after having my a$$ handed to me repeatedly. Which normally wouldn't be a big deal, but this boss fight literally takes about two to four actual hours +/- to playthrough, and I only had so much patience for redoing it. Even on easy, it took me right at two hours to get through the boss battle lol. And it was far from certain if I'd manage it. I read in the forum some complaints about this boss battle, and I kind of echo that sentiment. On one hand, it makes sense that if you go the combat route for the ending, it is going to be difficult. But holy hell, lol. That said, I did manage it and was glad to have seen both endings.
There were some moments during my playthrough where there was a bit of control lag between when I pressed a key and when it did what it was supposed to. This game also does not have some basic QoL stuff like highlighting interactable objects on screen. And on occasion, the actual mouse movement could feel a bit wonky and you might end up clicking something you really didn't mean to click. Which generally led to a character missing out on an available attack because they ended up moving instead, lol. Pathfinding was actually superior to that in the Geneforge games despite still having some issues moving around obstacles to attack without you holding your character's hands. And the journal is not super informative, although that is balanced by the ability to record conversations in game to access as needed.
If you are a CRPG fan, I feel like you should definitely play this game. But you need to be okay with non-modernized graphics and gameplay. It's a really cool game with a fun story and engaging gameplay if you can look past the rough edges.
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Solid RPG! You're not playing for the graphics or sound but the story, which is really well done.
That said, you can bump up the graphics to 4K using an app called Lossless Scaling on Steam. I set the in-game graphics to 1920 x 1024 and then set Lossless Scaling's Scaling Mode to custom with a scale factor of 2. Looks perfect in 4K.

The Avadon trilogy, starting off with Avadon: The Black Fortress, is another gem by Spiderweb Software. It's not my favorite by them, but it's still a very solid one where you play an enforcer part of a larger ruling system called Avadon and are given quite a lot of power to make choices and tough calls. It follows the Spiderweb Software formula to a tee being another retro-style RPG with plenty of turn-based combat but there's still a lot of cool fun and charm to be had here.

old graphics, great gameplay and story. hidden gem!

Bit of mixed feelings with this. There's too much traversing same areas, boss dialogues are not visible always (immunity changes for example), way too long story to my taste. On good side, story was good, albeit bit confusing. And constant "can't see enemy" promt was annoying, since had to manually move character in view, and there wasn't any indicator where ranged attacks may hit. Also hit% in dialog would have been nice. Rune bonuses were'nt visible before augmenting. Also bit of quesswork of enemies resistances. Bit of quality of life issues here and there.

Avadon is a good game, and sadly overshadowed by its older siblings, Avernum and Geneforge. While Avadon cannot match the highs of either of those games, it is still an incredible time. Jeff Vogel's writing is consistently high quality, and the storytelling found in this game is extremely impressive in comparison to the games out there that don't even try to say something interesting.
Your party is full of interesting people, people you can relate to and want to work with. There are several great twists and turns, and I enjoyed most of my time with Avadon.
The issues that I would bring up is that the ending is a little sudden (at least the ending that I got, dunno if there is any secret ones besides the obvious work for Avadon ending or go against it.). It doesn't really even culminate in a final boss fight, even after getting your entire party together for the first and last time in the game.
I would also say that a lot of the combat encounters in the mid to late game felt like padding. I was rarely in any real danger from common enemies, yet they still took some significant time to cut down, I do wish the common rabble were a bit more easily deposed of.
All in all, Avadon is a story worth telling, with fun and memorable characters, and is a pinnacle of the CRPG genre. Spiderweb Software really does provide a very specific experience you can't find anywhere else.

The storyline is good but this is a very old school RPG which lacks much of the quality of life features. What shines is its good storyline and the moral choices to be made. It is trying to tell you what you see or hear may not always be the whole truth. Anyway i do enjoy it till the last area where all the enemies got haste? Thats a bit ridiculous. I give it a 7/10 rating.