RPGWatch Feature - The Aielund Saga Review

Myrthos

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Purpleblob looked into one of the Neverwinter Night mod The Aielund Saga and wrote a review of that game for RPGWatch

The Aielund Saga is an epic adventure comprised of four chapters, with the last chapter divided into three parts. Set in the Kingdom of Aielund, the story unfolds in a small town where you find yourself trapped by seemingly never ending rain. You will quickly find two companions who are also tired of being trapped in the inn, and start to wander around the town looking for errands to be done. As your party work through the list of small favours for the townsfolk, you slowly discover that the cause of troubles around the region may be more than just unnatural weather.

The story builds up slowly in the early game, revealing just enough to get you intrigued and hint at something more ominous in play. Experiencing the modules in order is recommend, as each one chronologically revolves around a major event in the saga and the tight story-telling and unexpected twists leaves the player wanting more at the conclusion of each chapter, despite the linear overarching plot.

The saga spans a number of years and you can truly feel your character becoming part of the community. The story will have you heading back to familiar towns and negotiating alliances with familiar faces, as previous friends may not share your cause as before. You will witness the rise and fall of nations and civilisations as you travel throughout Aielund and its neighbouring regions. In the midst of a power struggle, you may even lose your previous standing, and be reduced to nobody in the new order. You will need to rely on all the skills available to you and your companions to survive and regain your former standing.
More information.
 
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Thanks Purpleblob for sending this in.
 
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One of my favorite NWN-modules - thank you for the review, Purpleblob.

PS:
A book fantasy series exists, too: The Aielund Saga
 
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Played this, think somewhere a little bit and then some, into second module. Is it a slow burner? Not to play a hipster here ( eh? ), but didn't seem extraordinary that far.
Like more smaller, focused modules trying to do something outside of the box with mechanics( Midnight/Twillight, a good example), large mod campaigns have that "too much stretched feel" to it.
Still, this seems interesting from the looks of it.
 
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Great review, purpleblob! :)
 
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Played this, think somewhere a little bit and then some, into second module. Is it a slow burner? Not to play a hipster here ( eh? ), but didn't seem extraordinary that far.
Like more smaller, focused modules trying to do something outside of the box with mechanics( Midnight/Twillight, a good example), large mod campaigns have that "too much stretched feel" to it.
Still, this seems interesting from the looks of it.

Yes, the story progresses a bit slow in the beginning. If you can, try to give it another go, the plot twist at the end of chapter 2 is worthwhile.

The Aielund Saga gets better the deeper you get into - my favourite is part 1 of Chapter 4, the plot twist and quest design is simply superb, I was very impressed. Also, later chapters makes connection to previous ones which really builds the story and lore. I'm itching to share more details but finding it difficult without spoiling too much.

I also loved chapter 1 a lot - it really captures the feeling of humble adventurer doing little errands here and there but without being too repetitive or boring (I usually find low level campaigns boring) - my favourite quest being one that involves a cow.

Ok, I'm going to go away now before revealing too much lol.
 
Excellant review, purpleblob! Thanks! I found the Aielund Saga to be one of the best single player RPG experiences.

I recommend using Tony's henchman AI mod to allow you to control henchmen in the future.
 
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Excellant review, purpleblob! Thanks! I found the Aielund Saga to be one of the best single player RPG experiences.

I recommend using Tony's henchman AI mod to allow you to control henchmen in the future.

Ah, I didn't know there was such mod available. Ok, sounds like a fourth playthrough soon, thanks!! :D
 
Our current DDO group played almost every mod in NWN back when we first got together and this was always one of our favourites. Thanks Purps!!
 
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Refreshing to see, 1) Blobby's reviews, 2) Nwn modules getting reviewed
 
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I would appreciate any feedback on the review. Really hope my review is intriguing enough for all of you to give the Aielund Saga a go - would love to see some discussions around it sometime :) I know NWN1 was released a long time ago but it doesn't mean the module isn't good or worth your time - I found it more enjoyable than most of the games I've played.
 
The great strength of the The Aielund Saga is that the story is based on a interesting novel series. Characters really develop and the plot has a lot of exciting twists.
 
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I still remember playing this back in the day and having lots of fun with it. Its great to see people are still enjoying it despite the dated look of NWN.

Good review purpleblob and you should do more reviews. :)
 
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Great review, Purpleblob! NWN's great strength was its modding. I played some of the multiplayer mods with friends back in the days, and enjoyed them. I had a lot more trouble with the single player experience. After playing BG2, I disliked having a 3 player party with little control over my companions, the building block look of the graphics, and was very unimpressed with the actual story of the original campaign. I do remember at some point buying Hordes of the Underdark on sale during the lean years when there were very few new rpgs and enjoying it though. My current computer has passed 4 years of age now, and can't really run any AAA games anymore, and I couldn't get Torment up and running either, so since I am a miser and will probably keep this pc as long as its running decently, I might eventually go back to Neverwinter Nights mods at some point.
 
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I still remember playing this back in the day and having lots of fun with it. Its great to see people are still enjoying it despite the dated look of NWN.

Good review purpleblob and you should do more reviews. :)

Thanks for the encouragement! :) I shall try to write more reviews in the future.

Great review, Purpleblob! NWN's great strength was its modding. I played some of the multiplayer mods with friends back in the days, and enjoyed them. I had a lot more trouble with the single player experience. After playing BG2, I disliked having a 3 player party with little control over my companions, the building block look of the graphics, and was very unimpressed with the actual story of the original campaign. I do remember at some point buying Hordes of the Underdark on sale during the lean years when there were very few new rpgs and enjoying it though. My current computer has passed 4 years of age now, and can't really run any AAA games anymore, and I couldn't get Torment up and running either, so since I am a miser and will probably keep this pc as long as its running decently, I might eventually go back to Neverwinter Nights mods at some point.

I was also massively disappointed with NWN1 when it was first released due to reasons you've pointed out. I think graphics look better now, not because it received update or anything but because it looks less block-y in higher resolution.

Yes, HotU is very enjoyable but I would say The Aielund Saga is head and shoulders above it :) Please do give it a try when you are in a mood - you can even play The Aielund Saga with your friends if you prefer MP over SP.
 
I played a ton of NWN mods back in the day but this one eluded me... time to give it a spin!
 
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I started this yesterday because of this review and am having fun so far although I´m a bit concerned about my build so far I´m a lvl 4 rouge but I don´t know hove viable that is and how I should branch out

I´m not familiar with the version of d&d used so any tips would be greatly appreciated
 
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I started this yesterday because of this review and am having fun so far although I´m a bit concerned about my build so far I´m a lvl 4 rouge but I don´t know hove viable that is and how I should branch out

I´m not familiar with the version of d&d used so any tips would be greatly appreciated

Hey there! Glad to hear you are enjoying it :)

I played a rogue in my first playthrough (I am not well versed with combat and class build either) and actually had to abandon the playthrough close to the end game (mainly due to low HP, I couldn't withstand too much damage).

In the review, the bug I encountered only happened with my rogue which I suspect is due to too low HP at that point of the game - for my second playthrough with the cleric, my HP was correctly reduced to 1 rather than dying

I think the run was more difficult because I didn't do my research and tried out a random build of rogue/shadowdancer/assassin.

You can have a look at class build suggestions on the web:

http://nwn.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Character_builds

Second time I tried out cleric/champion of torm build which worked out very nicely:

https://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/188666-neverwinter-nights/faqs/33072
 
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I don't know why I never played this. Maybe I did and I couldn't get past the intro module.

I'll have to try it again. I usually played monks but I had a theoretical build Half-Orc/Red Dragon Disciple - I think it was a Barbarian - some crazy combination of of flying fear mongers. I also did a Dwarf/RDD combo of sorts where it had ridiculous constitution.
 
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