I absolutely loved this game. For its time it was the absolute best in much the same way Betrayal at Krondor was the best for its time. Whilst this isn't a turn-based game, it plays very well and methodically. If you like Wizardry 8, you'll love this (even though Wizardry 8 is newer than this, I think this is a much better game). Loved the music, loved the whole world you can explore. Loved the way that you can kill the dragon at the start of the game if you have enough patience and skill! :)
There are a great many good RPGs out there, but in my experience Betrayal At Krondor can't be beaten. Some say that Planescape Torment or Baldurs Gate are better, but there are certain aspects of this game that make it shine above any I've ever played. It's an open world - really - you can go anywhere you like. It has turn-based combat so that you can work out strategies on how to defeat the opponent rather than hack and slash. For those that played games like Shining Force when they were younger or Advance Wars today, you'll know how addictive these battles can then become. Because of Raymond E. Feist, a great writer, there is such detail in the world, and I don't mean brilliant graphics. In most games, a health potion is just a health potion. However, the weird and wonderful detail to many items in this world which add to the richness of the world come through. The music is excellent and some of the tunes really stick with you. It is truely the best RPG of all time. And its great that its all packaged into a DOSBox for you so that there is no hassles whatsoever. Go get it!!!!
Betrayal at Krondor (BaK) was an original story-telling based RPG with a huge open free world to explore. It was a great success. Later on Return To Krondor (RtK) was released with up-to-date graphics (I'll not go into the politics of Betrayal In Antara and how RtK moved back to Sierra and the issues with Raymond E. Feist). This game is a great game although most prefer BaK a little better because for its time it was a much bigger game and had so many more features. For someone playing now, its harder getting into BaK because the graphics are so old. So RtK is a good choice. Like BaK, it the game is very story driven, the music immersive and lots of interesting places to see and explore. The turn-based combat system is retained and I enjoyed the game such that I played it until the end. The problem with RtK is that the camera angles are sometimes a bit poor, the character you are controlling moving across the screen is a little slow and that some of the in-game mini-games you need to play to beat the game are time-sensitive like playing an action game. But there is a strong 'feel' to the game like BaK when you play, e.g. when you walk down the side streets late at night and being attacked. Overall a great game and well worth getting. I sold my original copy and could not find a copy for a long time. Then they are being sold through online retailers a few weeks before appearing on GOG and I bought a copy thinking that it was my last chance to get a copy. Now its on GOG I am gutted as I really rather have a GOG version, but at the moment I can't justify buying another copy after having bought one only a month ago.
Okay, we can forget about 9, but where is 7 & 8? I played 7 - For Blood & Honour, and it was fantastic. I really want to play 6 & 8. 6 was meant to have an enormously huge map to explore. Are we likely to see the other games in a complete bundle? If so, I think I'll wait.
