The graphics enhancements aren't really that much to write home about. I am thinking of asking for a refund. Based on more recent reviews, thought that maybe this was good-to-go, but yeesh.
Unless they fixed the moat issue with Castles 2, i.e. it didn't slow anything down in the version I had, Castles 1 is better than 2. Found myself actually running away from the castle I built in Castles 2, and then easily retaking it later. I can't think of too many castles I successfully defended in Castles 2. Not helped by the fact that you could only commit 50% of your forces to defense.
To use the old Monty Python line: "Run away, run away!!!" I have played LotR I and II. This is garbage compared to those. Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader are much better castle option.
While I prefer the castle style of SH 1, SH Crusader is the last of the SH games that, IMO is really enjoyable. SH2 got fairly deep into micromanagement. Never did quite figure out SH Legends. And, if I could get SH3 to actually run without crashing, it might be interesting. Never got into SHC - Extreme for some of the reasons I didn't like SH Legends. I have yet to find an AI enemy that could not be destroyed purely by arabian horse archers. About 150 of them will take down nearly any castle's defenders, and cripple the workforce through indirect fire. Add some catapults to take a wall portion down, and you speed up the process of killing the lord.
Nothing against GoG, but IWD2 simply is not what even IWD1 was. When it was released, it was massively buggy. Combat isn't all that great, and spell availability for mages is pretty bad. Sorcerers were bugged too, not sure if that was ever fixed. At higher difficulties, AoE is pretty much the only option.
