I must admit that the art doesn't do a lot for me, and the specific colour was an odd choice, but I love the rules for the most part.
Combat is still a problem, but the focus of the game is magic, first and foremost, so I can live with that.
I have, however, taken a group of gamers who were pretty much wedded to D&D before and are now happy to be playing something with a bit more meat on the bone. I have played AM since the 2nd edition, but the rest of my group are all neophytes and are loving it. Some of the supplements don't do much for us (
Covenants, for example), but others have become central to our saga ([I]RoP: Infernal[/I is a current favourite].
In the end, it is all a matter of taste. For our money, AM5 is a good book, a great game, and a lot of fun. Graphics? Nah, not important to a game. Layout? Good enough for us? Rules? Spectacular for the most part. And the other parts we can easily work around.
