I can only speak for the first Lands of Lore, but it was a graphically stunning game for its time, with clever animations and excellent sprite artwork. It succeeded "Eye of the Beholder", providing a much more varied assortment of settings, party arrangements and storyline. The closest thing we have in modern times is the Etrian Odyssey series on the Nintendo DS (which are also excellent).
I still have my original install discs for this, and it's still loaded on my hard drive. Even nine years on, it amazes me how good this game looks on a modern system. Independence War 2 did a better job of making outer space feel like outer space - as opposed to a giant, zero-gravity encounter area - than any other game I've found. It isn't perfect. For one, the combat can be quite punishing if you're accustomed to other space sims. Don't bite off more than you can chew, and you can't chew much at all to start with. But it's good, and very much worth playing.
