I eagerly anticipated the coming of Icewind Dale 2 to GOG, as I had heard many good things about it, and I prefer the 3e ruleset over 2e any day. I have been playing the game avidly over the past few days, and, unfortunately, have come close to the end of the game. From the first goblins I killed in Targos, I have been pleased with the battle mechanics, though they were of little difference from previous IE games. The quests were fairly fleshed out, considering this game's focus on combat. My favorite part of the game, however, has been the huge amount of spells available. Five out of the six members of my party are casters, and every time I leveled up, I was eager to see what spells they could now cast. My sorcerer learned to fling fireballs and ice storms around to weaken the enemies for the others, my bard learned to debuff enemies and support the party with spells like Emotion: Hope, my druid learned to set things on fire when she could not deal with an enemy with her mighty spear, and my cleric could buff the party for dealing with tough bosses. I have just been enchanted with the game the whole time through, and it has never gotten old. The one minor annoyance I have found is the lack of 3D acceleration, which causes some slowdown when lots of spell effects are onscreen. Aside from that minor issue, I heartily recommend this game to any hack'n'slash fan.
Master of Magic was my first purchase from GOG, bought on a whim because I had heard it was so good. I was not disappointed. MoM brings out all the things I liked about Civilization, while removing one particular element I disliked: the random combat. MoM features full tactical combat, and I feel it works well. Spells can be cast by either the player or his heroes, various features of units affect attacks, and overall the combat adds an element of player skill other than judging if your five hellhounds can take down the enemy's archers. The map movement works well, with various spells that can affect the layout of the map. There are a variety of races to control, each of which have certain useful features and building restrictions. This game has gotten me into the turn-based strategy genre for real this time, and I hope to continue enjoying the game as many others have.
