Avernum 3: Ruined World Review: An Ambitious, Expansive, and Sometimes Shallow RPG

As the conclusion to a long-running saga, Avernum 3: Ruined World presents a compelling narrative premise. After generations spent underground, the people of Avernum return to the surface world of Valerim, only to find it beset by monstrous plagues. This establishes a core mission: to investigate the source of these calamities and carve out a new home for the exiles, all while contending with the remnants of the Empire that originally banished them. The stakes are high, creating a sense of urgency as players explore this strange new land.

The experience is defined by its classic party-based CRPG framework, featuring turn-based, tactical combat on a grid. What sets it apart are its ambitious time-based systems. A persistent day counter tracks the passing of time, which directly impacts the world. Plagues spread, towns can be attacked and destroyed, and non-player characters travel between settlements, making the world feel dynamic and reactive to the ticking clock. This open-world structure encourages exploration, but also forces difficult decisions about where to spend valuable time.

While its ambition is commendable, it is also the source of the game's primary weaknesses. The world is vast, but many settlements and locations feel shallow and underdeveloped, serving more as set dressing for the plague mechanic than as places with meaningful content. Some core gameplay elements, like the frequent implementation of mirror-based puzzles, can be more frustrating than engaging due to imprecise controls. Despite these flaws, the game successfully provides a satisfying narrative conclusion to the trilogy, bringing a multi-game story arc to a fulfilling close.