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The Best Game No One Played in 2023: Immortals of Aveum

ManaByte

ManaByte

Gold Member
Immortals-of-Aveum-Key-Art.jpg



This game fell victim to several things, which caused people to overlook it and mock it. But it's one of the best games of 2023 and actually something ORIGINAL and not a sequel or licensed game.

People skipped it because:
  • It's EA.
  • It was released at a bad time between big hyped releases.
  • UE5 performance as spotty at launch - it's better now.
  • The marketing really failed to show what it really was.
That last one was a death blow for it, because if people knew this was basically a next-generation Metroid Prime they'd jump on it. But the marketing just made it look like a fantasy FPS while not highlighting the Metroid elements of the exploration and gameplay.

But that's what it is. Take a fantasy FPS setting like Heretic/Hexen, but build out the levels with Metroid style progression and backtracking once abilities are unlocked and that's what Immortals is.

The patch they did after launch also helped the resolution scaling, and it seriously looks really impressive now.

It should be hitting EA Play soon, so when it does download it.
 
Topher

Topher

Gold Member
ManaByte said:
Immortals-of-Aveum-Key-Art.jpg



This game fell victim to several things, which caused people to overlook it and mock it. But it's one of the best games of 2023 and actually something ORIGINAL and not a sequel or licensed game.

People skipped it because:
  • It's EA.
  • It was released at a bad time between big hyped releases.
  • UE5 performance as spotty at launch - it's better now.
  • The marketing really failed to show what it really was.
That last one was a death blow for it, because if people knew this was basically a next-generation Metroid Prime they'd jump on it. But the marketing just made it look like a fantasy FPS while not highlighting the Metroid elements of the exploration and gameplay.

But that's what it is. Take a fantasy FPS setting like Heretic/Hexen, but build out the levels with Metroid style progression and backtracking once abilities are unlocked and that's what Immortals is.

The patch they did after launch also helped the resolution scaling, and it seriously looks really impressive now.

It should be hitting EA Play soon, so when it does download it.
Click to expand...

Nah, this was the "death blow"....

9pC8o1M.png


Deserved or not, that's going to kill many a AAA game especially in a year as stacked as this one.
 
IFireflyl

IFireflyl

Gold Member
I bought it on a Steam sale, although I still haven't played it. I'll give it a shot sometime in the next couple of weeks.
 
Duchess

Duchess

Member
I think we need a "Most overlooked / underappreciated games of 2023, according to NeoGAF" thread, if anyone can be bothered to make one :)
 
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Guilty_AI

Guilty_AI

Member
Duchess said:
I think we need a "Most overlooked / underappreciated games of 2023, according to NeoGAF" thread, if anyone can be bothered to make one :)
Click to expand...
i made one dedicated to FPS

www.neogaf.com

Community - The single player FPSs of 2023

Just giving a shoutout to all the great FPSs released this year that might have gone under people's radar due to incredible number of great releases Not quite shooters but worthy of mention
www.neogaf.com www.neogaf.com
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
Will try it out when it inevitably hits Ps+ at some point next year.
The idea itself seemed nice but personally I was put off by the art direction, character design and overall vibe. All the trailers seem very Marvel-esque
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Oh I played it, I don't think it comes anywhere near the 'best' of anything, personally.
 
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StereoVsn

StereoVsn

Member
Thick Thighs Save Lives said:
This game has me intrigued but not enough to spend €40 on it. Will def give it a shot once it drops on Ea Play / Game Pass.
Click to expand...
Is there a physical release? If so it will probably drop to like $10-15 soonish considering how the game tanked.

Edit: If it’s EA performance won’t be fixed. Look at Survivor and Dead Space Remake. Both are still shit especially on PC , but console isn’t that much better.
 
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Beer Baelly

Beer Baelly

Al Pachinko, Konami President
That female warrior in the intro was terrible, she was supposed to be a teenager but looked and acted like a mature woman lol. Still runs like shit on console performance wise.
 
Topher

Topher

Gold Member
Kenpachii said:
Add way to expensive towards the list.
Click to expand...

That's the thing. I can't blame anyone for passing on a $70 game with a 69 metacritic. Not saying review scores are never wrong. I've played 7/10 games that I've liked better than some 9/10 games. But when it comes to giving up my hard earned dollar, I'm going to take every bit of info I can get to make a decision in whether to buy or not. And those 7/10 games typically are not going to stay at $70 for very long, as we see here.
 
Kenpachii

Kenpachii

Member
Topher said:
That's the thing. I can't blame anyone for passing on a $70 game with a 69 metacritic. Not saying review scores are never wrong. I've played 7/10 games that I've liked better than some 9/10 games. But when it comes to giving up my hard earned dollar, I'm going to take every bit of info I can get to make a decision in whether to buy or not. And those 7/10 games typically are not going to stay at $70 for very long, as we see here.
Click to expand...

70 dollar game is instant pass to me no matter what. unless it gives me 100's of hours of content such as anno 1800 and gets years of free support ( which anno didn't get ) like witcher 3.

This is a no name title, looks generic and boring as fuck, has insane requirements, is build on unreal engine that has loads of shit performance on PC in general so bad stigma etc etc.
 
Guilty_AI

Guilty_AI

Member
rofif said:
yeah I could agree but I still have not played it (I did bought it on release though). Forspoken is the best game nobody played this year though
Click to expand...
Truth be told, i'd play forspoken before Immortals. At least i'd be laughing at mind-moving-shit girl instead of bored out of my mind.
 
tommib

tommib

Member
Atrocious trial. Non-stop dialogue, following your tutorial character for an eternity, constant cutscenes with terrible art direction and just pure boredom, waypoints galore, endless monologues about what to do, game is constantly taking control over from you… More like the worst game no one played.

If people need a FPS with magic abilities and an actual atmosphere and impeccable art direction, try Ghostwire Tokyo.
 
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Drizzlehell

Drizzlehell

Banned
I think many people were also put off by the writing and presentation. Feels too much like Marvel in trailers, with characters speaking in contemporary dialect even though it was presented as a traditional fantasy setting. I can understand someone looking at this and going: "Oh god, it's Forspoken all over again."

But you start playing and it's hardly even the same game that was shown in trailers. This is where the failure of marketing comes in, because yes, the dialogue does feel fairly contemporary but then again, it's not a very traditional fantasy setting either. It has a lot of sci-fi elements to it too and the overall feel of the setting is far removed from your usual Tolkien-esque generic fantasy so the writing doesn't feel as jarring here. Besides, it's nowhere near the level of badness that we saw in Forspoken. The story and characters are pretty generic but at no point have I cringed at anything when playing the game. It's just fine.

The gameplay and visuals are its biggest strength anyway. I remember that it was a surprise to many, including myself, to learn that this game is a lot like Metroidvania because all the previews sold it as Doom Eternal with magic, which is completely wrong. I would hope for this game to get a sequel that would allow the devs to stretch their wings and iron out some of the kinks because overall it was a damn fun game. It reminded me of a console launch title that would probably make a bigger splash in the PS3/X360 days and then get a much-improved sequel. It's not that different from the original inFAMOUS, to be honest.
 
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Drizzlehell

Drizzlehell

Banned
tommib said:
Atrocious trial. Non-stop dialogue, following your tutorial character for an eternity, constant cutscenes with terrible art direction and just pure boredom, waypoints galore, endless monologues about what to do, game is constantly taking control over from you… More like the worst game no one played.

If people need a FPS with magic abilities and an actual atmosphere and impeccable art direction, try Ghostwire Tokyo.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you barely made it 20 minutes into the game because it's nothing like you're describing.
 
xrnzaaas

xrnzaaas

Member
You forgot to mention it was full priced (80 euros here in Europe). Games like this one can think about succeeding only when they're cheaper and if that's not possible because of the budget then it already failed during the concept phase.

And yeah, from what I've read the trial absolutely failed at showcasing the best elements of the game.
 
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lughnasadh123

lughnasadh123

Member
I'll second the opinion on not listening too close to others on what game to pick. I'd have missed out on so many games by listening to critics and forum dwellers. Sometimes it seems people get off more on shitting on a game rather than playing it.
 
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