@adept: though can't the same be said for all the games?

AP: everyone tag along with talia.
AV2: ean/iya and everyone follows.
AV3: mel has a tagalong group.

the leads are getting a pretty sizable "harem" in every game lol.

Lars seemed to be holding his own IMO... couldn't care less about personalities when I'm actually playing the game, and went nuts pulling out random characterizations outta my head for fanstuff.

@theAdept_Rogue IMO AV1 is the only AV so far where the characters have they own "I" and you can see that. I mean even Mag Marge have some character :3 If you see her interactions in Sedona you'll know what I mean..which I can't say for AV2 and especially not AV3

AV2 was most dissapointing when talking about characters. Iya was whining little teen girl and Ean a heroic nerd teen boy. Still I've played the game several times. Ava and Gavin were the spice

In AV1 I hated Galahad so that's why I made Te'ijal feed on him Now in AV3 chapters he's much MUCH more interesting. Te'ijal I loved from the beginning in AV1. I couldn't imagine anything else so beautiful *.*

In AV3 I couldn't stand Stella, because she's just... well she reminds me of Iya "Bohoo I can't live anymore my wings are gone!!!" ...

wow, you guys are mean. I thought Iya and Stella were my favorite characters because you felt so sorry for them and you wanted to help them. and i also have a soft spot for people who are not sure where they belong (story of my life!), like dameon. *coughs and glares at dameon-haters*

Wow, it's really interesting to read the different views on these games. I pretty much agree with everything Moony said, though I've never played AP. I have played all the others, though, and AV1 is by far my favorite.

I've played through AV2 twice and hardly remember anything.. so that tells you what I thought about it, lol.

AV3 was really interesting to me at first, though I didn't like Edward from the start. Mel and Edward just completely clash.. I can't get into that relationship. And I know, I know, I am a RhenxLars fan, and they clashed big time, but at least there was development there. Lars changed for the better because of Rhen. Mel and Edward seem stagnant.

@kiko: though lars/rhen clashes were a lot more...energetic? passionate? than eddy/mel which might be contributing since mel/eddy's fights were not erm hated fueled? i think.

not sure if i'm getting my point across, but lars/rhen are more RAWR than mel/eddy when it comes to clashing.

@pink: why are you call people who have differing opinions 'mean'?

oh, sorry. that was my obnoxious mouth speaking.

Interesting thread!

I have to say that I agree with the others when they say that AV2 had the weakest characters. I remember only liking Ava, and on the side, I liked to hate Nicholas xD I found everyone else rather...boring and forgettable. Heck, I can barely remember their names.

AV1 was a bit of a mixed bag. I thought Rhen was a bit too generic, and the likes of Pirate John and Mad Marge were hardly explored. I enjoyed Lars, Elini, and Te'ijal, though. I was neutral about Dameon and Galahad, but was happy to see them be a part of the plot (unlike PJ and MM, who were really only there as extras, it seemed).

I have to say that I've enjoyed the characters of AV3 the best. Mel seems to suffer a bit from inconsistent characterization (she swings from nice, to sarcastic, to temperamental, to patient, etc.), but overall, I like her as a heroine. I like how Ed contrasts her in that he seems a bit steadier in personality, although I agree that their relationship is somewhat stagnant.

Te'ijal and Galahad were, of course, gems in AV3. I never tire of their quirky relationship xD Lydia is another character you love to hate. However, I found myself not caring much about Stella and Ulf - I don't find them very exciting.

In TLO, I adored Yvette and she was definitely my run-away favourite in the game. I thought more could have been done with June, though, since I felt she was largely there just to have a spellcaster in the party. Throughout the whole game, she was always saying something along the lines of, "I want my magician's certificate! Let's get going!"

What I would definitely LOVE to see is more developed villains. All the villains we've seen so far are pretty much simple and with world domination or some sort in mind. The reasons or complexities of planning such plots are never explored at all.

I agree about the villains. I always love it when villains have all sorts of twisted weird agendas.

ditto agas/aeternus: would like to see more of the villains and what they plan to do if they win.

EX:
I'm still trying to figure out Gyendal's plan: If he puts the world in complete darkness, than how would the vampires get a steady supply of food? Casting the world in darkness = bye bye most species with lotsa blood.

Hm? Casting the world into darkness = no sun?

it's from AV3: Gyendal a vamp planned to cast the world into darkness so it'll be suitable for vampires. I'm guessing that means destroying the sun and/or creating some type of 'cloud' to keep the sun's rays out somehow.

Either way, the results would be the same if we look at it from our world's perspective. Anytime the sun was blot out for a period of time due to ash or earth thrown into the air by a meteorite, or volcano it had pretty extreme consequences on life on earth ranging from temperature lowering to mass extinctions.

my nitpick is what would the vamps survive on if/when the blood source goes dry?

Why would humans die out just because of no sun?

Lack of heat, for starters. Can you imagine living in freezing cold temperatures all the time? It just wouldn't work and climates would be thrown out of whack.

Moreover, the earth would lack solar energy. This means no plants would be able to grow, and without plants, all animals would die....including humans.

... and yet the party can still walk through Istir Forest/Ice Caverns/Spire Mountains etc. without thick fur coats.

they're tough

@kirroha: the game never makes sense when it comes to the group. For example, when Ulf takes a day off in TLO, I can travel from underfall to stormbend and back forever yet that still counts as one day. And that's with no mme services.

Or if we want to get into pack mule stuff: My richest group is carrying over 800000gp, a bunch of equipment, and even more miscellaneous stuff. Yet they are still able to speed around with sandals.

But, ignoring standard rpg 'logic' (cuz in "Return to arms" my girl can fight in a literal bra and underwear set and still kicks all monsters butt while looking very sexy) the rest would be as aeternus said.

RPGs never make too much sense huh?

*points to my girl fighting in only lingerie on a snowy mountain or in a volcano*

nope, not really lol. (though it sometimes makes for good eye candy while beating up baddies.)