Dungeons & Dragons: Krynn Series

If this were just for Champions of Krynn, it would be 5/5 easily. Unfortunately the sequels had this rather rushed feel to them that detracts from the experience of a sequence as a whole. The plot in Death Knights tends to be hit or miss, and as with most Taladas-based stories, Dark Queen had an interesting setting that they never figured out how to use properly. Still worth the price for the nostalgia value, but I found the trilogy hard to finish due to lack of interest.

If you play these with Gold Box Companion, add one star to my rating. The Gold Box games suffer from the dead weight that is 1980's D&D adapted to the computer instead of coming up with a system that's better suited to the medium. The good ones (maybe two?) figure out how to make a good game despite this, like Pool of Radiance's thrilling low level dungeon hack or the Buck Rogers D20 games making missions that play more to your party's skills and not just their lasers. Krynn could have been good too, but this series tells a baffling story if you don't know the novels, frustrates with obscure rules that ruin characters, and uses just a few enemies repetitively. The games ended up overstaying their welcome for me with each successive game. My rating of the games is mixed: Champions of Krynn: B+, due to its fun low level gameplay and tight dungeons and plot. Worth the price of admission if you're into retro RPGs. Death Knights of Krynn: B-, because of its creative maps and Ravenloft-esque setting, tempered by extremely repetitive enemy selections and grindy mid-level combat. Cool soundtrack though, especially the Japanese PC98 one. Dark Queen of Krynn: D-, because it's a game that upgrades the engine but thinks its combat is way more fun than it is at high level, conjures no treasure you'll pick up, and doubles or triples the size of its dungeons. All pain, no gain.

I never played those games when they were new, so I catched up on them this year. And what can I say, the classics status is well deserved. Sure, it is a pity that the graphics don't show more, sometimes it is rather linear, the stories are often confusing und "Dark Queen of Krynn" annoyed me with some design choices. But then there are battles, magic and equipment. Even when I realized the above-mentioned flaws, the battles were always interesting, very tactical with many options. Also, I found the interface good to handle.

To my recollection, the Dragonlance games were not quite as popular as the Forgotten Realms Gold Box games. Although there were a large number of Dragonlance fans out there, I think they were most likely dwarfed by the tremendous number of people who were attracted to the generic but highly familiar Forgotten Realms setting. If you read the Dragonlance books, you'll definitely be at home here. Being able to adventure in the same world as some of your favorite fantasy characters is great fun! Unlike the Forgotten Realms Gold Box games, these have significantly more story. I still remember some of the quests in Pools of Radiance fondly, but the characters in the Krynn games are memorable. Technically, these games were improved quite a bit over Pool of Radiance. Gameplay is improved in some major ways, too, though you'll have to adjust to the somewhat quirky Dragonlance ruleset if you're more familiar with the Forgotten Realms games. For example, the Knights of Solamnia unsurprisingly are the most prestigious melee fighters -- paladins are relegated to the sidelines. The combats can be brutal at times. I remember becoming enraged at some of these fights back in the early 90s. Some of the enemies have annoying special powers, such as exploding when you kill them or turning to stone (and trapping your sword in them). It's an interesting way to make the battles more tactical and strategic, though it can be tedious and feel like a slog if you're not a fan of challenging turn-based combat. If you're a fan of the Dragonlance Chronicles, and you love turn-based combat, this is the game for you. You will likely thrill in killing draconians, and you'll love meeting Tanis. On the other hand, if you don't know who Tanis Half-Elven is, you'll likely be utterly confused by much of what happens. This series was made by fans for fans. Even so, Gold Box fans should check out the games -- it's likely that they'll appreciate the interesting twists on Gold Box gameplay.

6 of 5 must play. 5 of 5 great story great gameplay. 4 of 5 great story average gameplay. 3 of 5 average story average gameplay. 2 of 5 play only if it's your favorite genre. 1 of 5 play if you have nothing better to do. 0 of 5 play if you're a masochist. -1 of 5 avoid. Champions of Krynn score is -1 of 5. Death Knights of Krynn score is -1 of 5. The Dark Queen of Krynn score is -1 of 5.