Immortals of Aveum (2023)

Couldn't do it. I'm usually someone who pushes through a game and I just couldn't do it. I was hyped when I saw this game and almost bought it at launch. When it fortunately came to Game Pass I downloaded it and started what I thought would be a game that'd suck me in.

I think I got around 10 hours in and the gameplay just wasn't doing it for me. I found it clunky and unintuitive. A magic-based FPS sounds like fun but I think there's a fine balance with managing the feel and power of magic while providing movement and challenge to an FPS framework. The puzzles were also obtuse, un-fun and slowed down the gameplay. I think making this more linear and more fast-paced (I think the game is a 15-20 hour run) for runtime would have helped this game out a lot.

Rarely do I ever just decide to stop with a game. This game was one of those times. Life is too short to persevere with a game that just doesn't do it for you.

This honestly turned out to be not bad game even though it was wildly ignored and prob not pushed marketing wise enough by EA.

Its a decent fps shooter with magic spells and with paced linear progression but still open enough to do side quests in if interested.

Its a great example of a game that would/should have had a sequel to really take off though similar to assassins creed for example where the jump from 1 to 2 pretty much consolidated its place as a big franchise.

Combat is overall satisfying i did feel like i preferred the green magic/machine gun alot more than the others though and the special power torrent than what the red/blue magic offered. But overall if you like doom-esque/HeXen combat you would prob enjoy this.

Character dialogue in cutscenes are pretty well made and overall have good realistic facial expressions that fit the also well done lip sync of characters for the most part. There are a few actors i recognized from irl tv shows and movies aswell and i think it quite elevates this game quite alot.

Theres quite alot of meat if youre into the story, i never really found it engaging personally aside from the good vs evil but there is quite alot of lore and bestiary diaries for people interested in diving deeper into it.

The OST albeit didnt seem so huge to me has yo be one of the biggest standouts the music/score in this game is actually really good and its quite sad to see that it might never be noticed there are some really great atmosphere and setting fitting music for nearly every location in the game.

With that said some negatives i would point out is the inconsistent writing. The game never becomes filled with annoying characters that you dislike too much to turn you off from the game but there is alot of jarring moments in the game that takes away from its fantasy universe. I think the main problem is that the game wants to have this universe combined with everyday or online/meme dialogue it was quite bizarre to see stuff like “Oorah” and “ ‘sup” being used. Im not sure what time this takes place in but seeing lines like these put me quite out of the games universe.

Overall: 7/10

I think this is a good game to pick up if you want a fps fix with some good attempt at world creating and environment variety, it doesnt really stand out in any areas aside from a good OST but its a game that didnt deserve the ignoring it got imo after playing through it and needed/needs a sequel to really simmer.

First impressions:

• Not well optimized for console
• Clunky mechanics with prioritization of style over substance.
• Predictable plot and character elements
• Generic and uninteresting fantasy tropes grafted on top of even more generic “soldier in war” FPS tropes.
• Generic FPS combat prettied up to look like magic.
• Prioritization of visual fidelity over compelling artistic design.

Immortals of Aveum feels squarely like a game only worth playing on a subscription model, and nothing more. I think it would be a mistake to pay real dollars for this.

I’m also finding it very hard to get excited by the current AAA output machine in a post-BG3 world.

Immortals of Aveum studio lays off nearly half of staff weeks after release

Immortals of Aveum creator Ascendant Studios has laid off nearly half of its staff, according to three people at the studio. Workers estimated that before the layoffs the studio employed 80 to 100 people; around 40 people were laid off. Ascendant CEO Bret Robbins announced the layoffs in a meeting on Thursday.

Immortals of Aveum peaked at just under 800 Steam players shortly after launch, according to SteamDB. Just under one month since its launch, the game has peaked at 74 players over the past 24 hours, per the database’s numbers. This could be, in part, due to Immortals of Aveum’s intense technical requirements — according to The Verge, less than 9% of PCs may have qualified to run the game.

For a big budget first-person shooter, those Steam numbers do not paint a profitable picture. One former worker told Polygon that Immortals of Aveum is likely one of Electronic Arts’ worst selling Originals. Several other people were laid off in the weeks since release, too, one former worker said.