The Temple of Elemental Evil

Artistically beautiful, with quite possibly the best interpretation of D&D gameplay in video game form. The old Infinity Engine games are cool, but their real-time combat simply doesn't match up to the turn-based gameplay of the actual tabletop game. TOEE delivers on that front. Though the game is buggy in places, it remains fun despite that. It is a true dungeon crawl in all the best ways. In addition, the high fantasy setting of Greyhawk paired with a temple dedicated to a cult worshipping elder evil powers from beyond is a sublime combination.

So I'm not one who used to play DnD as a kid at a table, and earlier this year I had for better or worse never heard of this game before. This game is a gem. It might be "older", but this game provides you with in my opinion some of the absolute best turn-based fighting RPG you can get. The game plays in real-time all of the time except in battles, or if you enable turn-based-mode outside of combat. I play it with something called Circle of 8 mod, or co8 mod which takes away bugs that might exist without it, and adds a whole lot of content post end-game. The game is based on DnD 3.5 ruleset, which I was only vaguely familiar with before, but I had no real issue making my own characters after a quick refresher online regarding attributes and such. You get to choose from a nice selection of races, classes, feats, height even, skin colour and much more. The items are varied and you can develop your character in many different ways, picking up say alchemy, craft wand, craft rod, craft wondrous item, craft magic arms & armor - I had never heard of these before but man they are great! Attacks of opportunity, trip attack, damage reductions, different elements, summoning creatures, multi-classing - it's all here! Tons and tons of fun. I will say this - 1st level can be a pain in the ass. You are very weak, but if you know your partys limits and strengths, getting level 2 isn't too hard. Also with Circle of 8 mod you have options of some new beginners quest of killing some stuff that will give you level 2 fast and easy. The other two options are basically doing either the normal beginners quest in Hommlet, which may not be very fun, or do like I do and rest in some select locations and fight what you come across resting. After level 2 or the initial starting up as characters the game really takes off and becomes an intense, great fun adventure that really puts your pulse up! It feels a lot like DnD Jagged Alliance 2 in battle, or something like that. Great stakes and very great possibility of death, in many ways. I highly recommend this game, for new and old gamers alike! It runs very well and looks beautiful, the biggest drawback I really give it is the occasional terrible pathing (most of the time it's fine).

AT 148 HOURS OF PLAY TIME AND SECOND PASS THROUGH.SO GOOD MAKES OTHER WIZARD OF SWORD COAST GAMES LOOK MUDDY AND LAZY.

There are many useful reviews on here that paint a good picture of what the game has to offer, but not the complete picture. A number of them mention how little content there is: One temple to explore, a couple of small little areas, one and a half towns. This seems quite short compared to Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale, but there is a lot. It can be rather easy to miss. On my first playthrough I missed most of what it had to offer. Playing a good aligned party I felt it was their imperative goal to wipe out anything found in a place called the Temple of Elemental Evil, and that's all there was too it. Upon a second playthrough I decided to go with a mixed neutral/evil party and played them accordingly. Lets just say there is a lot more to the temple than just clearing it out. Quite a lot more. So talk to npcs, and don't listen to the paladin if you want to see the depth this game has to offer (evil can be fun too).

It's a reasonable D&D sim, but not as good as memory'd have it. It may mean more to you if you remember the old rules; probably a lot less, if you don't. Trip attacks. You'll see tough foes dash past your front line fighters, execute flawless trip attacks on the mage, then beat the spellcaster senseless. It's a strategy, sure, but it's one you'll get very tired of. Nulb. Why does it exist? Hommlet has all kinds of things going on and a huge romance quest. Nulb has almost nothing going for it. Why didn't they just ditch Nulb and skip straight on to the Temple? Yes, Nulb's in the original tabletop RPG, but that was written on paper, not in stone. The combat's interesting and occasionally challenging. The fishing quest will drive you nuts until you get the secret. Once you hit about 6th or 7th level, the challenge goes out of it; 8th or 9th, and you'll be Cleaving your way through most of the encounters. Difficulty does not adjust, which also means that, at low level, you'll get murdered time and again. I guess this is why you shouldn't go into these things with great expectations. It was fun for what it was, and if I'd seen this ten years ago I'd have loved it. Time has passed since then and games have improved. Accept it for what it is: a nostalgia trip, but not a world-shattering experience.