i find hard mode with a new game decently challenged. should give that a try if you feel you breezed through the game.

@Aisling: Yes, I put it in the Collegium, along with my other two, but the others got posted on the forums the night before the release. However, as I'm a bit late, there wasn't an appropriate place to put it out here.

I doubt I'll finish "Gates" any time soon, sadly. Too many other priorities. *sigh*

I was so happy at first because I thought I was really smart, SPOILER--->I thought Spook was the Thief Boss or whatever he was called xD Since he wasn't in the sewers after you met Spook. (Where did he go?) But at the ending, I where REALLY suprised that Spook actually was Gyendal.
I sat on my chair, hyperventilating and laughing at the same time :]
And when I did the side quest where you deliver a note for Marcello, I was looking for Te'ijal everywhere... We'll see her in TDP, i hope?
I loved the game, it was really awesome, CAN'T WAIT UNTIL TDP COMES OUT! (When does it come out? I think we'll have to wait for the summer or more, unfortunately...) SPOILER-->I can't wait to beat Gyendal and Lydia... And to meet Te'ijal and Galahad!
RIGHT, I FORGOT ABOUT LYDIA... I hate her! I thought she liked Edward, at least as much so she would let him stay and rule together with her... GOD, I hate her SO MUCH! She's going down, friends... She's going down.



Please don't post major spoilers out in the open like that, plzkthx!
~Argoyle

Just finished the game, it took me a while this time because of my stupid work..well not stupid cause I earn money and I can buy Aveyond lol

This part is my favorite so far. I just love the new characters. June and Yvette rock. Music was amazing as always. I also love the new places. Maps were huge and rich with things and new monsters and the equipment looked perfect...just the way I like it XD I must admit I felt a bit disappointed about Spook's story. It was very obvious for me how it will turn out..maybe cause I'm reading too many detective novels so I know how things work.

Spoiler(higlight)

I got my first suspicion after Spook appeared in front of Mel. It was after Gyendal was released and after he followed my party to the cave entrance. After that,we never hear anything about him in the game, so there's only one place where he could be and that was right beside Mel in the party.

So yes it wasn't surprising for me

Anyway Spook is one hell of a character, and no matter what happened at the end, he rocks XD And I'm taking him in my harem Like I said I'm his no.1 fan XD

I haven't been able to find any guild quests (shaz mentioned that there'll be 2 of the guild quests in this part)

@Chimikoi: Why don't you look where What's-his-face's Bistro used to be. It's pretty funny.

Finished the game...it was so short and I never did get the Golden Frog or the Bust Quests. I still really like Aveyond 1 & 2 the best...long games and I like the story. Don't get me wrong...this was fun.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Some of the sidequests take a long time to complete.

About the length, remember, Aveyond I and II were full length games, selling for $20 EACH. The Lost oOrb is a CHAPTER in a series, and is longer than half of 1 or 2, for $10 if you buy it here, less if you get it from a portal. So, you're actually getting more for the money.

so is there any more aveyond 3 games after the darkthrop prophacy???

I JUST NOTICED SOMETHING!!!!!! *highlight for spoilers*------->i was reading Gyendal's, uh I mean Spook's, inteerview, and he said something like "let this be a lesson to never judge people for who they appear to be"!!!! LIGHT BULB!!!! If that isn't the biggest "hidden right in front of your nose" hint the world has ever seen, then I'm a chicken! (a talking chicken! ) I CAN'T believe I didn't see the Spook to Gyendal thing coming after reading that! OMG, it's like you guys were TRYING to tell us his true identity! now the only thing I wanna know is what IS that thing shaz is supposed to do to repay him? hopefully it's not joining forces with him!

To those who say TLO is short, I don’t know what game you were playing Even speeding through it, there is a lot of ground to cover. My play time for TLO is nearly equal to my first play time through LOT and GON combined. Unless of course your complaint is that TLO is too short because you would like the game to continue for ever and ever, in which case I agree. I don’t think it would be that feasible for Amanda though…

As for Spook…

I wasn’t surprised at all that he was Gyendal. I thought both Amanda and Shaz laid out pretty good clues to his identity throughout the character interviews and the story itself. Granted, after Spook’s interview I didn’t realize at first he was Gyendal, but he clearly had his own agenda. For instance, he said Mel was “capable of much more than they give her credit for,” and that “she and I could do great things together.” It suggested to me that Spook was going to be pushing her to fulfill the Darkthrop prophecy.

Like MoonPrincess mentioned, I first thought Gyendal would become Spook when he “disappeared” from the story after Nox recommended he try another path to persuade Mel, or something to that affect. The character interactions through the course of the story confirmed it, for instance when June says to Spook that she had never seen him around Peliad—I believe this conversation takes place at the costume party, with June as the leader, but I could be mistaken.

I thought it was kind of fun that Shaz and Amanda set out lots of hints without explicitly saying anything. I would be excited if they do something that sneaky again

Anyway, as always I loved the interactions of the characters in the party. I loved the letters from Te’ijal, and I cracked up over… Edward’s conversation with Nox at the costume party. I was hoping he would then go joke with Mel about “hiring” someone to play her imaginary friend lol. The ending was cute and made me very excited for TDP. Great job on the game!

According to shaz, there are two more games planned, and a sixth chapter possible. So yes, there are more.

@OP: If you look at LoT, GoN, and TLO as one game (which technically they are) you get about the content of AV1 and AV2 combined, perhaps a bit less, for $30 and they still came out in less time than it took for either of those to come out. Overall, it's better value for the money, longer game, and it takes less time for the game(s) to come out. Plus it has a superior story to the second one (and as good a story as the first one). So it's a win-win-win-(win?) situation.

There's an interview with Amanda I found on Facebook. The length of the original Aveyond ended up meaning so much development time that the company was suffering. She made smaller games to keep the company afloat (and keep Aveyond coming to the rest of us!) If you approach it like a trilogy instead of a stand alone game, it's getting to be a huge game and the world keeps getting larger. Each piece well developed too, better than I found with stand alone games. Check out the interview before you complain about the length of time you spent.

In the other games, I needed a walkthrough because I didn't know how to communicate with the game, not because I didn't know what to do (I spent a huge amount of time trying to get the guard at the merchant pass to see I had a pass in the original Aveyond.) Here, the communication is very straight forward. The maps are amazing. This is a great game, and I've played it for three days (not constantly) and I'm still not finished. This is a great game and a great effort on the part of Amaranth.

I enjoyed the game immensely!

What I liked about the game:
The enhancements in the quests where it lists the city associated with the person who gave you the quest. I found it was very helpful. In the past, I would forgot to write down where I got the quest or for what person the quest was for and I had to search the forum for clues.

The new battle system was awesome. There was one feature that I did not try - "switch" button which I'm guessing is to switch characters?

The story line was awesome - can't wait for the next chapter especially with Mel's new skills.

The ending blew me away! I was stunned, but after thinking back on some comments made earlier in the game, it makes sense.

I did enjoy the hints during the game - example is at the bistro. Without the hint, it definitely would have take me longer to figure it out.

The only thing that I missed was none of the characters were healers. I played on easy mode first and didn't have a problem at all. Since money was not an issue in this chapter, I went ahead and stocked up on healing supplies.

Great job! This was game was definetly worth the wait! Cannot wait until the next Chapter

I knew there was something wrong with Spook. I just didn't know exactly what it was. Of course, I felt so stupid when it happened. I had even connected that Spook showed up after Gyendal left, thought about the saying "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" after Nox showed up for Gyendal, and even registered how he kept trying to get Mel away from her friends. And his totally awkward romance. I noticed that too. I kept trying to figure out who Spook was even after all of that. Then you-know-what happened and I wanted to /facedesk. Oh gosh. I felt SO STUPID.

i didn't see anything at first, but after it happened, and i read all these forums, i realized just how much was out there to clue you in, and that's when i felt idiotic. although i do think ALL of us were gaping at out computers, no matter what they thought. it was well thought out.

I FINALLY FINISHED! And you know what that means? I can finally focus on my homework and studying

I completed it after a little more than 13 hrs (although, I did not complete a couple of side quests). I took longer because I got lost a lot (took me forever to remember where Witchwood and Ghed'ahre were...with help, too), and I got into the habit of selling my equipment before I realized you needed some of the older stuff for Acropolis >_< This was, of course, after I had spent most of my money on stuff, so I had to go kill a bunch of monsters to get back some cash so I could buy back my older equipment D:

Anyway, I liked mara's "Pros" and "Cons" list, so here are my summed up thoughts in neat lists!

Pros:
- I loved the new areas and exploring all of them. Is it me or are the graphics getting better? xD Harakauna was probably my favourite, just because it was so quirky!
- Thank goodness for the MME! There was lots of walking, and it saved me from my own impatience.
- I liked the new options during battle (party swapping, equipping). Didn't use them a whole lot, but they were good to have.
- Te'ijal's letters. Very definitely LOL-worthy. I hope to see her (and Galahad) in the next game!
- Lots and lots of side quests to keep you busy!
- The journal system was well done and I liked having the location names beside the characters (because I always forget where everyone is, LOL)
- Although it caused me some (*cough*plenty*cough*) of grief, I rather liked the idea that older equipment could be used later on in the game. I know it's nothing new in RPGs in general, but it was a nice touch in TLO.
- Plot-wise, I thought it was solid and kept me interested enough to want to complete it ASAP. As I said, there was lots to do and each major quest was linked directly to the main plot (through the Stonetooth Caves). I quite enjoyed the twist at the end!

Cons:
- It's been mentioned already, but I really missed having a playable healer. I've always preferred using healing spells over restoratives. I kept chatting to Stella, hoping against hope that she'd give in someday and come along xD
- LOTS of walking. I realize from what's already been said that there was more of it in the alpha/beta releases, but I still felt it was a lot.
- Closely related to above, I loved exploring the larger cities, but there were times when I felt they were large for the sake of being large. For example, probably half of Acropolis's doors were inaccessible and so were essentially there for decoration.
- I felt it was missing some important character interaction and development, and instead, the game focused more on advancing the plot and completing quests. I thought a lot more could have been done with Yvette and June and a LOT more with Spook (especially given his role in providing tension within the group, or rather, between Mel and Edward)
- I think this was mentioned in earlier posts, but I do agree that sometimes, the answers to the clues were made too obvious, so it kind of ruined the fun in figuring out what was needed to solve certain quests.

Anyway! I'm very much looking forward to TDP! I mean, we're heading back to the Arishta Isles/Veldarah! Ohh, it brings back fond memories of Aveyond 1 xD. Excited!!

EDIT: What is this costume party people are mentioning? I think I missed something along the way. It seems like it was a great chance that I missed to see the characters interact more.

I LOVED this installment. I think it is the best yet (it had so many funny twists).

The only pet peeves I had were that some of the towns were big and had a similar design to Harburg with the walls blocking things all over the place. I always get so confused with the walls on both sides.

I also did several side quests, but it felt like the rewards weren't that worthwhile in some of them.

Overall, it was a well written game with some very endearing characters ^__^

All of the towns were big..Peliad, Tyobi, Acropolis, maybe except Harakauna.
walls blocking things? not sure i get it,lol.

Harakuna was big, but it didnt have walls all over the place. It was probably my favorite town.

Peliad was like a maze for me. I remember following one really long walkway only to discover it lead to a dead end.

I know! I went along that path too when it should have been the straight path,hoping there was some treasure chest along the end.I really love the music that plays when ur in peliad though.
My favorite town was Underfall xD