I fell in love with AVWW. I think it's the pinnacle of Metroidvania. A big randomized continent with randomized areas in which you could interact with so much. Creating logs from telephone polls to then be used in crafting? That was amazing. Then, when you thought it was all over, a whole world full of continents opened up for you to explore. Each continent (for the first few, anyway) even offered brand new things to experience. I was genuinely in awe and the game still holds the top spot on my Steam list as the game I've put the most hours in to.



I liked the idea of multiple game types but didn't think it was executed well. It was a bit ambitious. Still the fluid (if offbeat) mouse controls made up for it. I also really loved the idea of not just functionally but also aesthetically building up your towns with both structures and people.



The story was done very well, too. I wish it went a little further than it did but it was awesome to go find pieces of the narrative among the rubble of a wasteland. What's more, the setting itself really lent itself to enhancing the story. It was really cool to enter any building and find stuff lying about. In a house, I could imagine the family that may have lived there. The different eras also spoke to the (d)evolution of a world.



...and having your ghosts haunt an area? How cool what that?



The only real weak point was the "strategic" map. It was little more than an overworld map but the core game was just so good that it didn't matter so much. That was the one thing I was looking forward to most in AVWW2.



AVWW2 went in an entirely different direction with its core gameplay. It was much more Castlevania and much less Metroid. That's okay and it was a great game in its own right but I really had my heart set on a bigger, better, and "more" version of AVWW. The strategic game was, of course, fleshed out much more and I appreciated that. The time limit was a nice twist on typical strategic building games. Often, you're trying to build up. In AVWW 2, you were trying your best to keep from being torn down. That was pretty great.



Still, if there were to be a AVWW3, I would really like to see detailed exploration and crafting akin to AVWW with a detailed strategy game.