Ravenloft I & II were among my favorites when they came out in the 90s, despite their graphics being outdated at release already (only 90 degrees angles, no curves, flat world with no ramps etc. and pixels! Holy moly do closeups look horrible!). The problem with the "smooth scrolling" 3D games is they aged worse than their "step-by-step" cousins (Dungeon Master 2) and this is especially true about Ravenloft. Atmosphere and Sound effects are great however, I love the fantasy horror touch, which saves these titles from mediocrity, part 2 also has the Ancient-Egypt setting going for it. The voice acting is pretty bad though. Gameplay-wise these titles are just average. I preferred the first one despite terrible graphics and a clumsy combat simply because of the Transylvanian Dark Fantasy setting, the high difficulty and the focus of everybody's favorite enemy type, the undead. Both games are combat heavy and feature low puzzle density (which are mostly just finding keys/buttons/teleporters) with some dialogue but overall is pretty linear.
I must admit, I am not an Ultima (Underworld) fan. I got into the franchise rather late, Ultima VIII Pagan when it came out in 1994, Ultima VII and UU 1 & 2 just recently and the two Underworlds have aged really really bad. When Pagan first came out (on 8 floppy disks) I hated it due to its terrible platforming. If there is something I truly hate in games it is platforming. Compared to Ultima VII, part VIII Pagan was a major step backwards: the world size, the world interaction, the choices and oh heavens, the simplified gameplay! Platforming has become a MAJOR part of the game. Fortunately there was a patch - which is the version on GOG - that fixes the platforming, making it easy: where the cursor is, that's where the avatar will jump to (before the patch you could not aim the jump!). Another issue that will never be fixed is that Ultima VIII was rushed out in an incomplete state (which was not Origin's fault, but Electronic Arts'), which results in major plotholes and incomplete quests. What Ultima VIII does get right ist the atmosphere, just the way I like it: grim and dark. Combat and monsters are good, although the controls overall are a bit clunky. The story was not bad either. I liked the color pallet and the theme as well as the world design. I'd give it a 4 out of 5 were ther not two issues: the unfinished feel of the game and the heavy reliance on platforming (hey! Get the avatar a pair of bib overalls and a baseball cap and let him grow a mustache! No seriously, I hate Super Mario!). But 3 out of 5 it is.
If you like fantasy RPGs, this is a must own. This is THE essential must-have game, this is the best game ever made. Sure, you can't create your own character, you can't be female or an elf or a dwarf, you role play as Geralt. BUT, the story is amazing and gripping, the characters are well fleshed out, the world is immersive and all too real. THE ELDER SCROLLS created open world RPGs but THE WITCHER 3 perfected it. The two expansions HEART OF STONE and BLOOD AND WINE are must haves, both stories are far better than the original campaign with very interesting characters throughout. The graphics are outstanding and a major point of bringing the world to life. The series has come very far from THE WITCHER 1. Character models look good, the world looks amazing, there is very much detail to the world. The voice actors, are top notch as well. Doug Cockle has voiced Geralt in both preceding epics as well, this is great for continuity, Jo Wyatt from DRAGON AGE 2 voices Ciri, overall the English voice actors are great! The musical score is brilliant too, with Polish folklore group Parcival performing their version of several traditional folk songs in a very fitting and fantastic score. What is truly amazing though are the characters and the the story with choices that have true consequences that can be tragic and morally deep. Often times the consequences are surprising and cannot be foreseen. There is a great variety of monsters and quests, my favorite being the Witcher contracts. These often require preparation and tactics, Diablo-style hack 'n slash does not work in higher difficulty settings and in the DLCs combat has a touch of DARK SOULS to it. I love the preparation, when you have to learn about the monsters' weaknesses, use the proper potions and oils for your swords, it makes combat so much more than simple button mashing. THE WITCHER 3 is the closest you'll ever get to a great fantasy novel: it sucks you in, you feel it, live it and wish it would never end.
I was very eager for Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, and partially it holds up its promise: Graphics and sound are state of the art and the game world is fantastic, even amazing. I love the combat system and the minimalist controls. There is no inventory, so you don't pick up a bunch of junk and have to manage it, there's no tons of weapons, and there is no real exploration - this is not an open world game. Basically it's walk, walk, walk, then an enemy appears and the game switches to combat mode (the game does this automatically, you cannot use your weapon outside of combat mode, and you cannot enter combat mode manually). You fight an enemy, you exit combat mode. Then comes a puzzle. That's basically the came in a nutshell. Rinse and repeat. And it is this that kind of ruins the immersion. The puzzles are ANNOYING as hell and the game would have been a lot better completely without them, as they only stall the game. They are there to simply enhance gameplay time and it shows. Especially when you have to do the very same puzzle twice, trice. They should have ditched the puzzles and added more enemies to keep the flow. Want puzzles, play Tomb Raider, the puzzles there are creative.
This set contains the best parts in the Might and Magic series, namely III (Isles of Terra), IV (Clouds of Xeen), V (Dark Side of Xeen) - both combined are World of Xeen - and my personal favorite VI (The Mandate of Heaven). It also includes the inferior original and the first sequel. It's definitely worth the money, you'll get A LOT of hours for such a low price. M&M 3-6 are among the best role playing games ever made and still hold up well - although the graphics were very dated even when the games came out. It offers good round-based combat and a big outside world with tons of different monsters.
...right after Black Crypt. Can't get Black Crypt on the PC, so I'll settle for these. They have aged rather well compared to the "smooth scrollers" like Ultima Underworld or Ravenloft, which just look atrocious. EYE OF THE BEHOLDER 1 is a bit dull,I never finished it because it got rather boring but parts 2 (completed several times, the best of the trilogy) and 3 are superb. Definitely among the best of 90s gaming!
I seriously by no means can understand why this was such a huge success back when it came out. The graphics were called "revolutionary", but compared to the "step by step" 90 degrees pseudo-3D RPGs like Eye of the Beholder this looks atrocious. Smoothly scrolling 3D games have aged very badly. Combine this with the horrible sound (best turned off entirely) with very clunky and bad controls. Thanks, but no thanks, I'm sticking with the Beholder Trilogy!!!
Could not get into this at all. It got boring so fast. On a technical level I have no complaints, I prefer the "step by step" scrolling and I love dungeon crawlers, but boy is this one DULL!
