Siege of Avalon: Anthology Review Summary

Engaging Story & Rich Lore: Players consistently praise the game's strong narrative, deep lore, and engaging quests. The story is described as well-written, captivating, and central to the game's appeal, providing a rich and immersive RPG experience.

Strong Nostalgic Appeal: For many, the game evokes strong feelings of nostalgia, often linked to childhood memories. The re-release allows players to revisit a beloved title, and its aged-but-charming graphics and music contribute to this nostalgic appeal.

Modern System Compatibility & Fixes: The Steam re-release significantly improves the game's technical performance on modern systems. Players appreciate the native support for higher resolutions (HD/Full HD) and the resolution of long-standing bugs, making the game much more stable and accessible.

Classic Underrated RPG Gem: The game is widely regarded as a classic and an underrated gem within the isometric RPG genre. Many players consider it a must-play for fans of old-school CRPGs, highlighting its enduring quality and unique charm.

Immersive World & Atmosphere: The game excels in world-building, creating a unique and immersive fantasy setting distinct from typical D&D influences. Players appreciate the detailed environments, atmospheric design, and the sense of adventure it provides.

Critical Technical Issues: Players frequently encounter severe technical issues, including constant crashes, black screens, and game-breaking bugs that prevent progress or cause data loss. Many of these are old, unaddressed bugs, indicating a lack of polish in the re-release.

Dated Design & Mechanics: The game's age is a significant factor, leading to dated graphics, clunky mechanics, and a general lack of modern conveniences like fast travel or voice acting. This makes the game feel slow and less action-oriented compared to contemporary RPGs, potentially disappointing new players.

Problematic Companion AI: Companion AI is consistently poor, making allies more of a hindrance than a help. They exhibit frustrating behaviors like blocking movement, not attacking, and suffering from friendly fire, which can lead to accidental party member deaths.

Unbalanced Difficulty Spikes: The game suffers from inconsistent difficulty, with sudden spikes and unbalanced enemy scaling that can make leveling feel pointless. This leads to frustrating encounters, particularly in later chapters, where players can be instantly killed or find the final boss anticlimactic.

Flawed Loot & Economy: The looting and economy system is flawed; money quickly becomes irrelevant as there are few valuable items to purchase. Players also report inventory bugs, such as items scattering chaotically, which detracts from the gameplay experience.

Extensive Reading and Lore: The game is heavily text-based, requiring extensive reading of dialogues, journal entries, and lore. Players must pay close attention to narrative details and explore thoroughly to progress, as there are no quest markers or hand-holding features.

Old-School Isometric RPG: Siege of Avalon is an old-school isometric CRPG, reminiscent of 90s titles like Baldur's Gate and Ultima. It is story-driven and does not feature an open world or action RPG mechanics like Diablo.

No Hand-Holding, Player Deduction: The game provides minimal hand-holding, lacking quest markers or interaction highlights. Players must actively talk to all NPCs, explore every area, and rely on their own deduction to uncover quests and progress the story.

Class System and Combat: Players choose from three core classes: Fighter, Scout, or Mage, each offering distinct playstyles. Combat is real-time and relatively simple, involving clicking enemies and utilizing class-specific abilities like stealth or spells.

Chapter and Class Structure: The game is structured into six chapters, with three mandatory and three optional class-specific chapters (3, 4, 5). While initial class choice influences specific training and quests, all classes can complete all chapters.

Smooth installation and performance: Players report that the game installs easily and runs well on modern operating systems and hardware without significant issues. This indicates good compatibility for a re-release.

Aged graphics still charming: Despite its age, players find the game's graphics to be well-preserved and aesthetically pleasing. They note that the visual style has aged gracefully and still holds charm.

Convenient auto-save feature: The game features an auto-save function that triggers after each new screen. This is a convenient feature for players, preventing significant loss of progress.

Great music: The game's music is consistently praised by players. This suggests a high-quality and enjoyable soundtrack that enhances the game experience.

Poor ultrawide monitor support: Players with ultrawide monitors report that the game must be played in windowed mode at a specific 1280x720 resolution. This indicates a lack of proper ultrawide support.

Highly Recommended Classic RPG: The game is highly recommended, especially for fans of classic isometric RPGs and those seeking a nostalgic experience. Its strong story and world-building are particular highlights, making it worth the investment of time.

Significant Technical Issues: Despite its classic appeal, the game suffers from significant technical issues and bugs, particularly with AI and followers. This makes it difficult to recommend to new players or those expecting a polished experience, especially on certain operating systems.

Strong Nostalgia Appeal: The game primarily appeals to players driven by nostalgia for older titles. New players who haven't experienced it before may find it less engaging due to its age and limitations.

Consider Purchasing on Sale: While generally recommended, some players suggest waiting for a discount before purchasing, especially for new players who might be cautious about its dated aspects.

Community Patch and Frequent Saves: Players strongly advise downloading the community patch (version 1.09) to improve the game experience. Additionally, frequent permanent saves are recommended to mitigate potential issues.

Rich world and compelling plot: The game features a well-maintained medieval atmosphere, a plot rich with betrayals, and impressive, detailed world-building. The setting, including a lived-in castle and a citadel siege, along with well-developed enemy factions and interesting quests, contributes to a compelling narrative that might appeal to fans of complex fantasy stories.

Excellent music and atmosphere: Players consistently praise the game's audio, specifically its music and soundtracks, for enhancing the atmosphere and overall experience. The quality of the music is highlighted as a significant positive.

Tagline perfectly describes game: The game's tagline, 'Play any good books lately?', is frequently mentioned as an accurate and fitting description of the game's narrative-driven and immersive experience, emphasizing its strong storytelling.

Episodic release history: The game's original release model as an episodic title with a free first chapter is noted. Its later availability on physical media is also mentioned, highlighting its historical distribution methods.

Strong nostalgic appeal: Many players experience a strong sense of nostalgia when playing, often comparing it to classic games like Diablo 2. The visual style also contributes to this charming, old-school feel.