If you so allow me, let me start by using an example. Picture this with me: Your 5 man party have just entered a cave rumored to be inhabited by a tribe of cannibal magic-thirsty goblins. You know that they are used to trap invaders, using the many tunnels you, however, are too small to enter. You come to a narrow and long corridor, that reeks of an ambush. Any worried leader would pretty much decide to prepare the front and the back against attacks, while readying everyone on the middle to start blasting both ways with anything that fires, freezes or explodes targets. Now, in most real time strategy games you'd be expected to pause and move everyone at the same time, select spells and struggle to hold your formation against the AI of your characters who desperately charge against the enemies that might come. In ToEE you don't. With a simple right click you so much decide your fighter to stay his ground and automatically strike any incoming creature, as choose the target for your wizard's magic bolts. Every action of the game takes in consideration the real P&P rules, and does this in a way that feels not only easy to experienced users and beginners alike, but on a way that actually feels natural. While the mechanic of the game really is its own pearl, the history also holds it ground. Having excellent variations of itself - each one depending on your party's alignment - and intelligent dialogues and quests, it actually doesn't feels that heavy to read all the lines. And trust me when I say there ain't much to read if you don't want to - fighting is pretty much a click away of any action packed scene on the game. Now, you might be asking me, luc, you gave this game four stars out of five. Where are it's flaws? The answer? Length. The game is extremely short. Anyone used to Baldur's Gate or the infinite expansions of Never Winter Nights will notice how the game progresses too fast for it's own good, as it rushes to the final scenes. Doubling the game length - or even tripling it - would pretty much be what I'd be looking for. Conclusions? A real master piece of it's time. ToEE makes an excellent addition to any RPG fan's shelf. The party setup, the spells, feats, equipment, story, side-quests... Everything that matters is there. And, if you don't really mind, the game's so addictive that it's length actually awards it with an extreme high replay rating.
