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Here it is, the game that completely changed my life. Aveyond 1 holds up fairly well, though perhaps not quite as well as I would like it to. This is in many ways the series' weakest installment without nostalgia or the context of its release, but it remains a worthy opener.

Aveyond 1 has some of my favorite mapping in an RPG Maker game to date - the tilesets cohesively combine the typical more pixelated style with art more evocative of paintings. The colors, scale, and parallaxes combine together to make the world feel truly rich and magical. Caverns inexplicably show the night or sunset sky below as you wander through.

The battle scaling is a little ridiculous, but for me it breezes past "works" into enhancing the game - it makes me feel like I really am training for an epic quest, and gives me more time to roll the characters over in my head and get attached.

The plot is simple, straight-forward fantasy fare, but to me that's a pro and not a con. The cast isn't very well fleshed out, but they have strong, charming bones that easily endear players and just beg you to expand on them in your head. Protagonist Rhen feels like the halfway point between a fully realized character and a player insert protagonist, but the level of choice the player is given for her at the end lets it feel cohesive and pay off.