I didn't like the fact that Big Fish made the summary of the game sound so cheesy. "Stop an evil vampire lord from enslaving humanity!" "An evil vampire is poised to take over the world and all of humanity, and only Mel can stop him!"

It sounds very cheesy and cliched, but the game is not like that at all. In fact, Gyendal is becoming less and less important in the series as the Darkthrop prophecy is starting to unravel. I very much prefer the summary put here at Amaranth Games.

I've just played through a couple of times. I have to admit the division into chapters took me by surprise - I must be living under a rock, or something. Late Friday night, after getting sucked in and playing all afternoon and evening, I thought a good stopping place would be after waking the princess in the ice castle. I'd save my game then, and come back Saturday to work on getting a boat and visiting some other locations on the map. But all of a sudden, the game was over! I felt like an idiot who has fallen for a stupid prank.

So I played it through again, trying to get and do everything I possibly could. (Both times on expert difficulty, because I like the occasional puzzle of "How can I best use my resources to get these characters to survive this battle?" ) Playing through the second time, knowing where it was going to end was much better. Here are my thoughts.

I like the story. The previous Aveyond stories seem to follow a formula. There's a somewhat chaotic beginning in which the player figures out what they're supposed to do. Then collect a set of artifacts (pieces of agea, druid souls, nymph blessings) which will lead to a big final showdown. This involves exploration of an increasingly larger world by foot, then by boat, and finally by air. I've always liked puzzling through the beginning parts the best, and that's what Lord of Twilight is all about.

I agree with the criticism that the game is a little too linear though. Part of the fun of arriving in a new city is receiving a whole bunch of new quests and clues, and sorting them all out. Which ones will lead to the next major plot point, which are side quests that can be completed quickly, which must be put aside for later. The problem with Lord of Twilight is, most of the time, the player is told exactly what to do to advance the plot. No wonder people are finishing so quickly. It's hard work even finding the completable side quests. On the other hand, the role of the gossip columnist in advancing the plot, and the fact that there were two possibilities for a good gossipy story... that was very well done. The reward for getting into that last locked chamber in the basement of Darkthrop Keep was also very satisfying.

The different worlds to explore are indeed vast and beautiful, and I loved being able to see places both by day and by night. It's hard to pick favorites, but I think I'll say my favorite scenery is in the Thial Mountains, where the clouds really did give the feeling of height. And for the best contrast between day and night, I'll say Shadow Woods (north) which was positively spooky by night but bright green and friendly by day. The cities seem larger than the ones in previous Aveyond games, and just like when walking into a new city in real life, I was initially lost (which is a good thing, as it adds to the story). In my second play through the game, I found that I hadn't thoroughly explored Thais as well as a large section of Harburg my first time through. The division of cities into districts helped me learn my way around.

I like the subtle change in the role of battle and leveling up in this game. In previous games, it was necessary to battle monsters repeatedly in order to "level up" to be strong enough to survive the next area. In Lord of Twilight, leveling up is not the point, and doing so tends to be rather time consuming. To be strong enough to survive the next area, the player must obtain better equipment, and the puzzle is to find where that better equipment is, and to stay alive long enough to get it. Much more interesting - good job! (The large amount of money available in the game reduces the resource management aspect though.) There is one place I found in Lord of Twilight where leveling up is ridiculously easy, and I'm wondering if it might be unintended. In the Thial Mountain Caves, there are five rats that Mel encounters on her initial flight from Harburg to Thais. She gets 13 experience points for killing each rat, and each inflicts only 1 health point of damage when it bites her. An investment of a mere half hour killing rats had Mel waltzing into Thais at Level 10 with more than 600 gold.

It's also interesting that everyone shares the same money and inventory... some potential for abuse there. It looks like a very patient player could run Te'ijal and Galahad round and round the esper/slime loop outside Ghed'ahre until they could buy all the nice stuff for everyone in the armor store there. I tried getting the skeleton armor for Galahad - it made him pretty much invincible. I don't think I'm patient enough to continue with that strategy though.

I really like the role of the Moo Hatchery. Instead of going to a store and buying 99 bomber bird eggs and 99 spider eggs, because it seems those items are incredibly useful, I have to wait for them one by one. This makes it much more interesting planning where I'm going to use each egg. Good job here too!

Finally, coming back to the idea of dividing a game like this into chapters. Nope, sorry, I don't like it. I'd be more than happy to pay whatever it costs to buy the whole game in one piece. Many other posters above have explained why they don't like the chapter idea, so I won't repeat all that. For me, the toughest thing about the division into chapters is that it spoils many of the puzzles. In previous Aveyond games, if I was thorough and observant (and sometimes if I started over and made different decisions), I could find a solution to each side quest and a use for every clue. It was fun figuring all that out myself. In Lord of Twilight, there are things that can't be done until Chapter 2. I could be running around in circles trying and trying and trying to find or do something that isn't even possible in Chapter 1. Incredibly frustrating. There is the pirate problem in Stormbend, the secret part of the dwarf mines, the golden egg, the missing death certificate, the purportedly vicious orcs, some sort of plot involving Lord Wallace, I've found 7 of 10 Barnaby's misquotations... I know I can come here and have someone tell me what's possible in Chapter 1 and what will have to wait, but it's not fun to have someone else tell me. I'd like to be able to solve the quests myself.

I absolutely love the game. I love the graphics, the music, the controls, the story. The only thing I don't like is how it is split into two separate chapters. I would rather pay more for one big game then having to wait for the second chapter. But in the upside of things at least I will be well leveled up by the time the second chapter comes out. I can't stop playing. Haven't been able to find the Goodie Caves yet so it gives me something to do in the meanwhile!

@Rabbit: Yup, I believe that LoT is a bit linear, but it's because it's just the beginning. Believe me, you all are going to love Gates of Night. I'm not joking, really. I was quite surprised when they split LoT so early. I think they should've put the splitting point at the ship.

I just finished the game, and I really liked it. The game is beautiful, and the characters are interesting. Some things disappointed me about it though, the main one being the chapters thing (for basically the same reasons others have stated). Sorry, gave it a try and I'm not a fan of it, I have to say. I still like the game, but the chapters takes something away from it. Also, just a minor complaint other people have commented on as well, is the order of the menu, and items being in a different place than it has been before kinda threw me off a little bit.

Other than that, the game was fun... really looking forward to the second part

I think that people should wait until they've fully experenced the chapters idea, like until after they've played the 2nd chapter or the game after Gates of Night, then they should judge whether the chapters are a blow-out or not. I understand Amanda's position and why she had to compromise whole, large games for a sieries. I'm okay with it, because waiting for the game will build up the suspence, and when it comes out, I highly doubt I will be the least bit disappointed, as none of the games by Amaranth have ever disappointed me. In summary, all of the waiting and the shorter games pay off really well with the quality of the games.

I really hope that those people here who were disappointed at LoT would at least give GoN a try, because it's going to be amazing and have a lot more twists and turns than ever. Like for example, (mods please remove this if you believe that it is too spoilerish) it's not going to be just you get the four quarter keys, get to Naylith, get the Orb of Light, stop Gyendal with it and The End - in fact, the moment you get the Orb of Light, you'll be in for a horrible shock and the game will get more complicated than you have ever imagined.

I liked the fact that(hope this isn't a spoiler) there was a brotherhood guild in thais. Will this have any role in the next chapter?

The brotherhood guild and the W&W guild was just something for the guilds on Amaranth.

It's a great game. I love the story, and the music and graphics were already awesome but they still improved. It's great that the Aveyond series is improving, and not the other way around. Kudos to Amanda, Shaz, Aaron Walz, and the others who made this game possible. Looking forward to Chapter 2.

This is my favorite of all the Aveyond games. Unfortunately, I haven't finished it yet. (Just got to Stormbend)

Quote:

1. I am also fond of using the keyboard, and there is actually a shortcut for opening the Items window. You can open it by pressing D.

2. I think you are not allowed to escape (and therefore use the green warp egg) during boss battles or fights that are in the storyline (like other RPG games.)

The guilds WILL all have quests for you to complete. I'm not sure if these will be added to GoN, or if it will be a later chapter.

"If I could purchase a bunch of them at a store and they were random, well, that's OK. But randomness and rareness just don't go together."

You can buy Green Warp Eggs at Moo Hatchery. They're rare in chests, but you can buy them.

Whatever happens next, I hope to be there to see it. This new game is well worth the anxious wait. I am loving this game!

@Rabbit: I know this is a bit late for me to tell you this, but despite all the hints, we still have people coming to the AV forums and say "HOW DO YOU SOLVE THIS THING??? THERE AREN'T CLUES!!!"

I guess what I'm saying is on the one hand, we need to supply enough; on the other hand, just how much is enough?

Now that I've had a chance to really spend some time with the game (and get thoroughly trounced during the finaly battle, LOL), I'm going to comment on the regeneration of enemies.

I have mixed feelings about the partial regeneration of enemies on easy and normal modes. On one hand, it makes it easier to get around, especially through the lower-level areas where you're obliterating each enemy without even trying. On the other hand, it makes leveling up slightly more difficult, because I sometimes have to go hunting for something to slay.

I don't know if it's possible, but a feature for future episodes/games might be to have enemies vanish from areas once your party has attained a level that pretty much makes the enemies pure hassle rather than a way to earn experience points. That way, you could move through those lower level areas without spending your time battling monsters that don't give you anything worth your while. Leaving the enemies in harder areas intact would make it easier to level up and gain experience. I know I could use the transport system to get around instead, but sometimes that's not an option (and sometimes I just like walking through the maps, because they are so pretty). Just a thought.

In Book 2, there is an item, one of several possible items from a boss fight, which will make monsters avoid you.

My thoughts on the game... my thoughts on the game.... my thoughts on the game.....

AWESOME

Totally awesome. But what else did I exspect from an Aveyond game? The only game I have been disapointed with was Ahriman's Prophecy, and that was because I already knew what happened, no shock, since I played Aveyond 1 & 2 alreasy and I didn't like the battle system.

Anyways.....

Negative Feedback-

Blue Bomber Bird Egg- Blew up the boards with out hatching it. Am I now entirely messed up, or can I find another, or will Lydia be helpful at the same places the egg was? (other then hatching eggs of course.)

Eston- Eston annoyed me. Sorry. I had the eye drops, and had done EVERYTHING I could think of. Took me about, half an hour to give him the drops.

Apartment 2B- No matter who you talk to, they say the same thing. Sorry, but I loved how in Aveyond 1 & 2 most of the characters said different things depending who they were talking to. In Lord of Twilight, they said the same thing and the other person never answered back.

Positive Feedback-

Darkthrop Prophecy- The prophecy of a Darkthrop ruling the world hasn't been mentioned since the introduction, which leaves me wondering how Mel and Stella play their parts in THAT.

Chapters- Love it. I love the chapters, it leaves me waiting for what will happen next. The only bad part is my mind will wander of and start getting some crazy ideas to what the surprise at the end will be, etc.

Characters- The new characters are great, and Te'ijal and Galahad seem to be keeping their old personalities but yet they seem a bit different. Like how Galahad calls Te'ijal 'wife'. For the new characters, they'e great. Edward is annoying, I hate how he says "You know what I'm leaving" then a few minutes later he's back. That's just what it seemed like to me. Mel isn't the perfect character, but she's not bad. I find her greedy and a bit selfish, but in a way that doesn't get on my nerves like I thought it might when I first began the game. Stella is deffinately my favoite character other then Te'ijal. She's sweet but in an annoying way, and seems to always be getting the party into trouble. I love how Mel says, "I'm not fighting that thing." and Stella replies with "Too late!". She seems more like a little kid then twenty, but I don't imgaine Galahad being three-hundred-thrity-seven or Te'ijal eight-hundred-thirty-one. The fact that Stella lost her memory and survived that fall makes me wonder A LOT about her, and I can't wait to find out more.

Cutscenes- I liked the scenes where suddenly I wasn't playing Mel anymore. I wasn't exspecting them everytime they came up. They added a bit more to the game, but Mel never knew what was happening. Poor her, then she might not have wasted her entire supply of holy water.

Day and Night- I like how it changed from day to night sometimes.

Leader- I love how the leader doesn't have to be battling. That allows me to have all the stronger characters in the party, but still walk around as Stella!

Inactive Get EXP- Great, I really like it. It's extremely helpful for me.

OVERALL VIEW:
Hmmm... if I had to do 1 to 10 I would chose 10.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 . That's still a 10, by the way. But barely.

Aveyondgirl:
Bomber Bird Egg: hatching the eggs for more eggs is totally optional. Nothing in the boarded up caves is important to the game. They just contain a bit of loot.

Apartment 2B - You'll get more character interaction when you buy your next residence

Eston - Er... you must have had spoken to Heppy about Beauty before Mel will give it to Eston.

Ummo: Thanks for the keyboard shortcut for the Items menu. Will be helpful.

Kirroha: I hadn't gotten far enough into the game to have found the Hatchery yet, but once I did arrive, I noticed the option. However, the tutorial led me to believe they were a very rare commodity (which would mean non-purchasable).

tiniponi: Thank you for the teaser on the monster-avoidance item. Curious: if I have the item, will it always work or can I activate/deactivate it as needed? (I'm assuming it's an on-off type of thing, but wanting to confirm).

My favorite thing is when Te'ijal calls Galahad "Crumpet." Makes me giggle every time.