Avalom: Ancestral Heroes Review Summary

This game offers a huge open world with great exploration and an active developer, but poor optimization, UI bugs, and an unfinished feel hold it back.

Developer is very active: Frequent updates and active developer communication on Discord are highlighted as major positives. The developer is responsive to bugs and feedback, fostering a supportive community.

Game has great potential: Reviewers consistently praise the game's potential, with many noting it has a strong foundation and future promise. This feedback is broad but frequent, indicating general optimism about the game's direction.

Great exploration and discovery: Exploration is a key theme, with many reviewers enjoying the freedom to discover secrets, face dangerous creatures, and navigate without hand-holding. The world feels immersive and rewarding to explore.

No hand-holding, requires navigation: The lack of hand-holding (no quest markers) is considered a positive feature, requiring players to use landmarks, maps, and road navigation. This old-school approach is appreciated by many.

Huge open world: A vast open world with dynamic difficulty (harder enemies in certain areas) and exploration mechanics like mounts and stealth modes is praised. The map is large and encourages thorough exploration.

Poor optimization causes lag: The game suffers from severe performance issues, including low FPS (often below 20), stuttering, and overheating even on high-end hardware. Disabling shadows or lowering settings does not fix the problem.

UI and menu bugs block controls: Multiple UI bugs prevent changing settings, using back buttons, closing menus, or setting custom key bindings. Menus layer underneath each other and the cursor disappears, making navigation impossible.

Map and navigation are poor: The map is repetitive, lacks variety, and does not indicate objectives. Characters are hard to differentiate from far away. No proper map (only compass) and no quest direction at the start, making navigation confusing.

Game feels unfinished and buggy: The game is described as unclear, full of bugs, almost unplayable, and feels like an alpha rather than a beta. It clearly needs major polish and improvement.

Poor tutorial and early game: The beginning of the game is hard due to lack of tutorial, quest direction, and poor balance (beginner quests labeled 'heroic'). Basic actions like equipping a weapon are not explained, leaving players confused.

No clear guidance: The game drops players into a town with no clues or quest markers, forcing exploration and trial-and-error. This lack of hand-holding is praised by some but frustrates others.

Positive exploration focus: Exploration is a core mechanic, with Skyrim-like nostalgia and a world full of giants and fantastic creatures. The game rewards discovery without quest markers.

Combat and AI: Combat is fluid with varied elemental weaknesses and good monster AI. Stance changing and skill combinations add depth.

High difficulty: The game is intentionally challenging with hard start, tough enemies, and Souls-like difficulty. Dungeons are intense with traps and strong foes.

Cumbersome basic actions: Basic actions like equipping a weapon are difficult to learn, and looting requires picking up bags individually. The weapon draw mechanic is too cumbersome.

Critical error freeze: A critical error message appears and causes the game to freeze, requiring a force quit.

Low FPS on mid-range: On a mid-range PC with RX480 and Ryzen 3600, the game runs at 40fps on Epic and High settings, indicating performance issues.

General recommendation to play: Several reviews urge others to play the game, highlighting its potential as an early access title. Feedback ranges from recommending a few hours of play to general positivity.

Recommended for exploration fans: Some players highly recommend the game for those who enjoy deep exploration and challenge, comparing it to experiences like Skyrim.

Game is worth buying: Multiple players recommend purchasing the game due to its low price and growing project status. A few users explicitly state it is worth buying.

Needs major improvements: A few players believe the game requires significant work to become polished. They advise developers to go back to the drawing board.

Advise waiting before purchase: A few users suggest not buying the game currently due to its price or early state, recommending waiting for improvement.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00.

Game completion: 500.0h.

Session length: 1.0h.

The game's appeal is compromised by a missing interactive tutorial, causing early confusion that some players overcome via external guides, while others appreciate its old-school ambition. No single point of breakthrough enjoyment is consistently reported.

Friction: confusing combat controls with redundant buttons; lack of an interactive in-game tutorial; reliance on external video guides.

Unlock drivers: use of an external video guide; player adaptation to old-school RPG expectations.

Indie Dev Supporter: Open-minded, forgiving, and actively engaging with the developer. Motivation: Supporting an indie developer and experiencing a personal connection. Stance: buy.

Old School RPG Enthusiast: Exploratory, patient, and focused on character building. Motivation: Re-living old-school RPG mechanics and exploration. Stance: buy.

Disappointed Early Access Critic: Critical, comparing to other games, valuing quality and fairness. Motivation: Seeking a complete, polished experience without pay-to-win or technical issues. Stance: no buy.