Adventures through the realms! The challenge of challenges!
Anduin
Member Posts: 5,745
Gog did a great little deal on Neverwinter Nights recently... They gave it away free. No big deal. I already owned it and it worked pretty well already... But... They included all the extra adventures that Bioware released (and I did not own all of them) So I created an account and filled my boots...
But Gog had found my weakness. The Forgotten Realms. The land I was surely birthed in, before I was whisked away by foul smelling harpies as a babe, who then threw me, carelessly, into the reality vortex. I emerged into this dreary negative plane in which I grew, longing to return to the lands that I lost...
And... A portal was opened... A way back! Gog, like Beamdog, had gone over some of the old Forgotten Realm games and made them playable on modern machines (Some from as far back as 1988, to put that into context, the Pyramids were only built a few thousand years before!)
So here is my challenge. To play-through every single Forgotten Realm video game from Pools of Radiance (Released circa 1988) all the way up to Neverwinter Nights 2 (Released 2009).
Although perhaps that honour for the last released game should go to Icewind Dale: EE (2014) or perhaps Siege of Dragonspear (2016) an expansion of such grandeur it could be classed as a game in itself... but for the sake of timeline continuity... I will use the vanilla release date.
The only rules I have set myself are the following:
Rule 1: Play games in sequence, porting characters to the next game wherever possible.
Rule 2: Take one character (In this case moi, Anduin) into (and out of!) each game.
Rule 3: A screenshot of the end sequence needs to be taken to prove that the game has been completed, and/with main character wherever possible, proving that the game has been completed.
A rule imposed on me... But should be mentioned... Is that I will be playing games that are playable on a windows based OS. Games such as Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance are not included in my list.
I do this in part to give reviews for the wonderful fanzine The WildSurge. Hopefully you will be able to read up on reviews later in the year!
...
I must now go... The realms call...
EDIT: Typos and clarifying "The imposed rule."
But Gog had found my weakness. The Forgotten Realms. The land I was surely birthed in, before I was whisked away by foul smelling harpies as a babe, who then threw me, carelessly, into the reality vortex. I emerged into this dreary negative plane in which I grew, longing to return to the lands that I lost...
And... A portal was opened... A way back! Gog, like Beamdog, had gone over some of the old Forgotten Realm games and made them playable on modern machines (Some from as far back as 1988, to put that into context, the Pyramids were only built a few thousand years before!)
So here is my challenge. To play-through every single Forgotten Realm video game from Pools of Radiance (Released circa 1988) all the way up to Neverwinter Nights 2 (Released 2009).
Although perhaps that honour for the last released game should go to Icewind Dale: EE (2014) or perhaps Siege of Dragonspear (2016) an expansion of such grandeur it could be classed as a game in itself... but for the sake of timeline continuity... I will use the vanilla release date.
The only rules I have set myself are the following:
Rule 1: Play games in sequence, porting characters to the next game wherever possible.
Rule 2: Take one character (In this case moi, Anduin) into (and out of!) each game.
Rule 3: A screenshot of the end sequence needs to be taken to prove that the game has been completed, and/with main character wherever possible, proving that the game has been completed.
A rule imposed on me... But should be mentioned... Is that I will be playing games that are playable on a windows based OS. Games such as Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance are not included in my list.
I do this in part to give reviews for the wonderful fanzine The WildSurge. Hopefully you will be able to read up on reviews later in the year!
...
I must now go... The realms call...
EDIT: Typos and clarifying "The imposed rule."
Post edited by Anduin on
16
Comments
Not set in the realms though... But here is a finish screenshot for you as a taster as to what to expect...
This reminds me of a song... I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay!
The game not able to implement mouse input... I thought would be problematic.
It isn't. The lack of possible choices means it is not so bad...
Plus the gold box companion and the pictures actually make it visually okay... just... if you squint...
I suppose the main thing is... I'm enjoying this game.
...
However I was killed in a most unpleasant manner in a tavern brawl...
I'm doing well. Xp is starting to come in thick and fast.
Many of the monsters simply flee (no xp or loot) or surrender (no xp some loot)
But with the higher levels I can kill the critters with impunity. Plus my fighters have gained the ability to sweep... They charge in and kill everyone around them... Plus my wizard can now cast TWO spells...
The loot screen... Whilst different... is very, very familiar...
Plus I encountered some old friends!
I also think the aged styling made the whole experience a little more chilling than more modern games... The lack of sound... The flickering screen...
I also visited Zhentil Keep. I always wanted to go... I left sadly, leaving everyone dead, including the guy with extreme geek chique...
But all good things must come to an end... My characters were stocked up with +3 rings of protection, Bracers of ac2 or Platemale +3, wands galore and even a cloak of displacement. My character was packing a +5 Long sword for astral planes sake.
I was quite shocked by the end... It reminded me slightly of the end of ToB, Basically the big bad Tyranthraxus, asked each member of my party to join him... Oh and he was a bronze dragon... A good dragon gone bad?
Then... Of course... A possessed bronze dragon. Having played the soultaker quest from TotSC, I actually thought I would have to fight my own party members anyway...
But then Bane basically saved the day and pulled his soul back into hell (Early influences for Irenicus's fate?)
All that was left to do was go back to the sour faced office clerk in shining armour to collect my reward (She did not crack a smile once...) which was a few gems and a whopping amount of xp...
I DID IT! Yay!
...
Never again... It was supposed to be a short game... It was made in the 1980's for Bhaal's sake! Took me AGES! In my defence, the lack of a mouse and having to press the 1 key to scroll through everything really became burdensome in the end... Especially if you scrolled past something and had to go through the whole list again...
Onward to Hillsfar!
Anduin is to be ported over! The adventure continues!
Okay... My thoughts on the game, Hillsfar (ahem...) so far... With a twist...
I honestly cannot say if this is a gem of a game or just a pants game. I think I will say that this is a fantastic set of sparkly pants kind of game...
It really is...
First of all it is all a little bit cheap arcade kind of stuff. After transferring Anduin across from Pools of Radiance. I went on a horse ride. A HORSE RIDE!
For a Baldur's Gate fan, this is a novelty. You had to jump over stuff, dodge arrows and birds, your horse would randomly slow down or refuse to jump... The novelty faded quick...
On reaching my destination you basically had a map, a 3D HUD and your character information. I wandered around meeting quite interesting people... As you do late at night... Some of the ladies were a little tooo friendly and the humour hit me. The writing for this game is great.
You basically go into pubs, listen for gossip and clues then basically head out to do your stuff. One clue led me to my guild, the Fighters guild (I also had access to the thieves guild, but decided to go the fighter route... Yep, you heard me ROUTES)
On finding places to go you either talked to a character, overhear gossip, or break in and rob the place. When breaking into a place you would then have a limited amount of time before guards would run in, track you down and throw you out (if your lucky), take your gold (if your lucky) or cart you off to the arena (your dead)
There is no combat, unless you go to the arena... There you can enjoy clunky and awful combat where the person who can hit the spacebar the fastest wins...
Also, gnomes are as tall as orcs. There is an archery area, which is a better, but still darn hard to do.
But I prevailed... And the quests are pretty straight forward to do with a little brain power and thought.
However, I was hooked. Just follow that clue... Search this area of the map... I did get a little frustrated and I was forced to look on the internet for some advice (and you need this advice to complete the game) Bump into walls on the left to find secret doors. It is not a spoiler. This advice stops spoiling the game. I GOT SO FRUSTRATED. Nearly threw the computer out of the window. Cut a long story short...
I completed the game. Yay!
...
Hillsfar is a pretty clunky kind of game but is far more narratively led than Pools of Radiance. More text on screen meant more meaningful conversations and plot development. Plus large parts of the game, for me, are left unexplored. I did not even enter the mage guild.... You need to be a mage... I am actually looking forward to playing Hillsfar again. It has that special replayability quality that many RPGs simply don't have.
...
Onwards! Like the man with the pointy sword says as he shamelessly plugs the next game in the series... Onwards, to the Curse of the Azure bonds!