It's not that easy to make a choice. Over the years quite a few D&D games were released. Every one of those games had their own pros and cons.
Mostly out of Nostalgia I hold the Ravenloft games (Strahd's Possession & The Stone Prophet) dear. They were my first contact with D&D. The settings had their own charm. Memorable NPCs. Never again have I seen such a functional and intuitive and at the same time easy to handle Character and Inventory screen.
Apart from that Baldurs Gate 1 and Planescape Torment compete for my Nr1 position.
Your poll misses Ravenloft series D&D Warriors of the Eternal Sun Menzoberranzan
Planescape: Torment hands down. The Planescape campaign setting is so much more interesting than Dark Sun, Forgotten Realms and Eberron imho.
By the way, another D&D video game amiss in the poll is Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard. Pretty much the only game where one could play as Lizardfolk to my knowledge.
I found the BG series the most enjoyable by far, but would still award an honourable mention to The Temple of Elemental Evil, for its most accurate implementation of the p&p rules. (Unfortunately the engine was sluggish, the story uninteresting, and the few NPC's missed character.)
I liked NWN for its modding potential. The sheer volume of mods was ridiculous, and on top of that anyone who frequents nwvault knows that the quality is not to shabby
It allowed for a level of creativity and imagination that is just not possible with infinity engine games.
Of all the games, I've far and away spent the most hours on Baldur's Gate.
Despite that, no game has ever spoken to me or moved me quite like Planescape: Torment did. Baldur's Gate is the pinnacle of D&D CRPGs, and arguably the pinnacle of CRPGs in general. Planescape is... Well, it's something else entirely. It transcends CRPG. It's more like... Well, I can't really describe it without coming across as absurdly pretentious, but let's just say it is the one game that truly hints at the capacity video games have for becoming a true art form.
Honourable mention to IWD for being the best D&D CRPG for multiplayer... All the goodness of IE and BG-style combat, with huge hordes of enemies, a need for tactics and co-operation by you and your friends, and no story to slow you down.
Honourable mention to IWD for being the best D&D CRPG for multiplayer... All the goodness of IE and BG-style combat, with huge hordes of enemies, a need for tactics and co-operation by you and your friends, and no story to slow you down.
I believe the Black Pits will give IWD some competition in this field.
Comments
Mostly out of Nostalgia I hold the Ravenloft games (Strahd's Possession & The Stone Prophet) dear. They were my first contact with D&D. The settings had their own charm. Memorable NPCs. Never again have I seen such a functional and intuitive and at the same time easy to handle Character and Inventory screen.
Apart from that Baldurs Gate 1 and Planescape Torment compete for my Nr1 position.
Your poll misses
Ravenloft series
D&D Warriors of the Eternal Sun
Menzoberranzan
By the way, another D&D video game amiss in the poll is Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard. Pretty much the only game where one could play as Lizardfolk to my knowledge.
It allowed for a level of creativity and imagination that is just not possible with infinity engine games.
/putsonflameresistarmor/
Despite that, no game has ever spoken to me or moved me quite like Planescape: Torment did. Baldur's Gate is the pinnacle of D&D CRPGs, and arguably the pinnacle of CRPGs in general. Planescape is... Well, it's something else entirely. It transcends CRPG. It's more like... Well, I can't really describe it without coming across as absurdly pretentious, but let's just say it is the one game that truly hints at the capacity video games have for becoming a true art form.
Honourable mention to IWD for being the best D&D CRPG for multiplayer... All the goodness of IE and BG-style combat, with huge hordes of enemies, a need for tactics and co-operation by you and your friends, and no story to slow you down.