Aveyond 4: Shadow of the Mist

I love the complexity of the game, with numerous side quests that you have to come back to. Some people might not like this, as it does mean a lot of walking back and forth to locations, and while the mist portals do make this easier it can get tedious. There are lots of little gimmicks and things to find or improve on, and each character has things to find for them. I loved the involvement of the Cheekis in particular, I thought it was very clever to hide them in parts of the scenery, some were really well hidden, but not so hidden that it felt impossible. I found the storyline to be quite funny and fun to play, however it did start to drop in quality as the game went on. The switch from playing a hero to someone who identifies as a villain was a nice departure from the rest of the series. There are a lot of characters and while I do love the options that provides, I feel like there could have been more exploration of the characters, rather than adding more. I loved the towns, minus the Rawvyn (there's not much there), as each of them felt complex and individual, and were fun to explore. Similar thing with the other areas, sometimes it was really hard to keep track of things, and it felt as though they were really big, which as someone who loves exploring is a plus for me, but others might not be so keen on it. However the world map felt really small and cramped. There weren't really many places to explore, but I guess balancing that out the locations available felt really fleshed out. I finished the game wanting to play more, I really enjoyed it. It took me about 40hrs to complete fully, although you could do it a lot quicker if you aren't as fussy about not missing anything, and if you aren't someone who is slow like me.

Perfect, memories bring back again

It took me 294 hours. I kept replaying it because i messed something up or just got to busy to play. But this game is AMAZING. The story is a little all over the place and there's a LOT of grinding if you wanna be able to get through it easier. I didn't even manage to find all the cheekies. But I'd still give it an 8/10. At the time this was made, there was a lot of improvement needed, but as someone who played the other Aveyond games (Lord of Twilight, Gates of Night, The Lost Orb, and The Darkthrop Prophecy) they most definitely made them better and I recommend all of them 10/10 games. The excitement I felt noticing the similarity and references to the other games was absolutely breathtaking and I couldn't help but smile and giggle. I 100% recommend playing this, if not for the game, then for the feeling of "OOH OOH I KNOW THAT CHARACTERRRRR" that makes you incredibly happy.

I am a huge fan of the entire Aveyond series, and each game has its own charm. I've replayed all of them numerous times, I highly recommend this and any other Aveyond game.

Aveyond was right in the heart of the Indy RPG maker craze and Aveyond 4 continues a line of solid games. It's not really special or unique, but it does the usual things well. In Aveyond 4 the hero of your story is "Boyle The Horrible". Boyle is a retired villain living in a dark and spooky community for the former villains. But when his pet wolf is taken captive he embarks on a quest to save his faithful companion. The world may or may not be saved along the way. The story is well-enough told in cartoony way. I laughed and I've smiled and I've really enjoyed my time with the game. It isn't an emotional roller coaster, nor is it a literally classic. It's lighthearted, alot of the jokes landed for me, and theres just enough plot to keep me motivated. Mechanically, if you know RPG maker or classic JRPGs you know what to expect. So I'm not going to go deep into anything but just call out a few stand-out features good and bad. On the good side, every character is a completely unique playstyle. The main character charges special moves with normal attacks, the witch has MP, the white fox has unlimited use of skills, the paladin is all cool downs etc. It's a really cool system that makes each character feel unique and original. On the flip side of that coin, not all of the moves are balanced. I find myself using the same combination of moves battle after battle because they work and the others don't. This wouldn't be a major issue except that the combat is legitimately dangerous (I'm on hard). One bad RNG roll and you'll lose a character... meaning you can't afford to play with weaker options. My healer? She has 3 other moves that will never be used. It's worth noting that while moves aren't balanced, the game is surprisingly decent on the combat front. I've never felt like I've outleveled a challenge. Every combat is dangerous, but this leads to a tactical feeling more than anything negative... at least when you have a party of 3+ people. It can be a little too harsh when Boyle doesn't have a healer to keep him alive. The other major negative on balance is that the gold rewards are absolutely pitiful. The XP is great, but I find myself skipping shops because I can't afford new armor or weapons. I'd need to clear a dungeon 2-3 times to get one piece of equipment at times. I sure as heck am spending my precious gold on consumable items. The economy is just overly harsh for the light comic tone of the world. This is made far worse because MANY quests involve making a cash payment. I can't imagine this game without the respawning enemies that come from hard mode. Oddly though, Boyle's upgrades has the opposite problem. His upgrades are so few and far between that every time I reach a new shop, I have enough to purchase EVERY skill at once. So instead of a slow buildup of strength, its stairs. I don't really play with skills because I just get all of them. Really, this is probably my biggest complaint with Aveyond 4... progression on a power front is just too darn slow. You rarely unlock new skills, you rarely unlock the Metroivania abilities to older areas, you rarely find new stuff. I didn't have even a full party until about 9 hours into the game. The progression just leads to long stretches of sameness followed by brief moments of "Woohoo this is great". If I was to describe the feeling, "It feels like a great 20 hour RPG that takes 40 hours". I assume this comes off sounded really negative, so I want to explicitly say this is a really good indy JRPG. I've enjoyed the vast majority of my time here and I feel more positive about it than negative. This is the kind of game that I would have eaten up 20 years ago when I could afford to spend forever on one big RPG. I'm just old now and vastly prefer short and sweet experiences.

All the Aveyond games are the best!

loved all the Aveyonds.

The entire Aveyond series is wonderful well written, thought out and composed. I have completely enjoyed all of their games. This is what others in this class of games should aspire to be like.