Posted on: January 5, 2019

tbrinkley

Games: 4 Reviews: 2

Lands of Lore 1

LOL 1 is one of my favorite games of all time. No co-op modes and victory-dancing characters, but if you're looking for a classic, old school dungeon crawler, you can't top this game. I still remember buying it at a mall software store for $60. I played it through with each of it's 4 characters back in the day, and will play it again, now that it will run on my system. It has a variety of environments, both underground and above, with interesting characters and enemies. Movement is the typical block style, 90 degree turns, with side sliding. It's also loaded with puzzles, traps, and secret areas (thank goodness for automaps). At the time, it was considered to be a leader in graphics for this type of game, even surpassing popular titles like the Eye of the Beholder and Forgotten Realms series. If you've thought about trying this, for the price, you absolutely can't go wrong. As for the game compatibility: I gave up on many old games due to compatibility issues with new hardware and operating systems, and I was hesitant to try this from GOG. I have to admit that I was absolutely amazed at how well these games worked with their Dosbox configuration, running them under Windows 10. Win 10 has enough of it's own issues with hardware support, and to have these games roar back to life with full DOS features and sound was outstanding. The emulation was almost flawless. I say almost, because I have noticed some garbled screens when loading new environments between levels on LOL 1, but it only lasts a couple of seconds, and then it's perfect. On the plus side, in the original CD version, there was always a second or two pause before the characters started to speak. You could hear the CD spinning up for the sound file, and it was slightly annoying. Since this version is all on the hard drive, there is no pause at all. Two thumbs up! Overall, I couldn't ask for more, considering I'm running a 25 year old DOS game in emulation.

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Posted on: October 12, 2013

Drakfyre

Verified owner

Games: 101 Reviews: 1

A voice for LoL 2

I am one of the few folks here who really enjoys Lands of Lore 2 over Lands of Lore 1. I love the voice acting and the live action sequences. It feels like the game development team had a really good time making the game, and it shows through the gameplay. Many surprises and lots of little scene differences depending on how you tackle certain problems. Good real time 3d graphics, despite what other reviews here say. And I love the museum of the Draracle! Even if you buy this just for Lands of Lore 1, don't count out the sequel!

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Posted on: April 2, 2016

SyphiliticHobbit

Games: 0 Reviews: 1

LOL1 is a classic. LOL2 the #1 RPG ever

Lands of Lore, The Throne of Chaos is a wonderful old-school RPG in the old Eye of the Beholder format. There are four characters with many more to pick up along the path. The gameplay is easy to pick up. It's fun! Music is good. Dungeons are great. Story is your typical RPG fluff but it does its job well. HIghly recommended. Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny is, for my money, the greatest game of all time. The story is unbelievably rich and detailed, chronicling a story about Ancient powers and rebirths. Westwood poured their heart and soul into this game. It has my favorite soundtrack of all time. Every time I replay it I find something new. There must be over 3,000 secrets in this game. Every action has consequences. What you do in area X affects your interactions with characters Y and dialogue in scene Z. It is a beautifully melancholic game. Luther is one of the most cynically hilarious characters you'll ever play as -- all the same, his mask does not fully obscure his dark path and his feelings of animosity towards Gladstone, especially Geron. GameZilla said it best when they said "The game is dedicated to the late Robert Richter Parks. In the documentation, the Lands of Lore team states he "put the bar up higher than most of us can reach, but it was an amazing privilege to watch [him] go over it so easily and so frequently." To the Lands of Lore team, I say the same. You have taken RPG/adventures to a new level." I've never seen its equal. LOL1: 10/10 LOL2: 10000000/10

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Posted on: November 21, 2011

Sajakk

Verified owner

Games: 75 Reviews: 1

LoL is a classic!

Lands of Lore was one of the first RPG style games I ever played while growing up. It was insanely difficult and I'm pretty sure my entire family played through it and beat it at least once. Addictive gameplay and story make Throne of Chaos a must have game for any fan of old school RPG's. Guardian of Destiny however, I cannot say the same for. While this game had so much hype for me it did not live up to the expectations. It was riddled with confusing side ventures and the "3d" aspect was poorly done in my opinion. It made for a more dizzing experience rather than an immersive one. But even still the game did hold my interest enough to beat it and it was kinda fun, just annoying at times. Definitely, pick up this package deal for Lands of Lore 1 though. Hopefully they will offer #3 soon too because that one was a major improvement over 2 but still didn't live up to #1.

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Posted on: August 16, 2020

Lookda

Verified owner

Games: 413 Reviews: 53

Classic,polished, interesting, surpassed

Lands of Lore is an old-school, polished and graphical pleasing game with square based dancing and clicking on weapon sprites like Eye of the Beholder, Grimrock and Vaporum. The music reminds of Dune 2, a classic RTS from the same studio, Westwood. The old-school elements are not the best. You get choices like stepping into one of three portals and no clues given. The first leads to instant death (reload), the second transports the party to an already explored map (reload), and the third portal is the way forward. You try every option, of course, because you might miss a key or quest objects if you don’t. Often you forward the story by using a certain object, presenting an object to a NPC or opening a secret door by finding a hidden switch. Back in the days, when I was still a young kid and learning English at school, I missed some subtle hints and got stuck. These days there are online manuals to get you going, but I never liked these kind of puzzles. They are more frustrating blockages, rather than make you feel smart. The game starts with a choice of a pre-made protagonist and an interesting story about a shapeshifting witch and a kingdom of mages and four-arm monster-sized heroes in jeopardy. You fight many orcs and find some interesting loot. The further you progress, the stranger monster become and the more battles are played out by picking up items from the ground or using items from your inventory. I didn’t like levels where you have to remove your armor less they are dissolved by the first connecting hit from a monster, or ghosts that are near-impossible to kill unless you use a cube that does huge damage and you can spam regardless of the condition of your party. In 1993, I would have rated this game higher, but with better games of similar style today and the later levels that seem almost void of anything interesting, except for some weird monsters with rather nasty skills and many annoying traps, it seems only fair to lower my rating somewhat.

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