I've had that game in my GOG library but haven't gotten around to that.

Have you played Dungeon Master, by any chance? It looks like Lands of Lore is similar to it.

Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos aged better than Dungeon Master, not just because of the more refined VGA pixel art graphics, but mostly because it comes with an automap. Drawing your own maps was a big part of dungeon crawlers like DM and EOB back in the days, but hardly anyone would still have the patience to do it now, and using third party programs for mapping is not the most elegant solution either, IMO. Apart from that though, I'd say DM and the EOB series can still be fun today as well. That is, I don't quite remember the controls of DM - like whether you could also move with the keyboard, because if it's mouse only, that would be a little awkward ...

Here you go, just don't forget to also check the Daggerfall version for the censored part.

I played Dark forces (1995) for the first time in 2018 iirc and it was surprisingly fun. Controls can be a bit of an issue at first (though you can get it pretty close to more modern setups just by changing some keybindings), but the level design is really pretty nice.

Yes, I agree about PoP being more flexible. However, on my personal experience, I remember completing Another World more easily than PoP and I was never able to complete Prince of Persia 2, I always ran out of time. That was a long time ago, though, and while I've kept playing Another World all these years, I have not played the PoP games since those days (wish GOG would sell them), so I don't know how difficult I would find them now.

As for games like Limbo, yes, modern games (in some genres) seem to be more forgiving than what we used to play back then, those old programmers enjoyed torturing us, lol. :D

True. :) I still think the game is solid and may be enjoyed by modern gamers who are into these kind of games, perhaps, as you said, this is just not your cup of tea.

Eye of the Beholder has the drawback of using AD&D rules, which just aren't that good for a CRPG (and may not even be that good for a TTRPG, for that matter); this means that, for example, in low level combat attacks miss too often. It also means that, unlike DM and (I believe) LoL, it uses the boring and overused XP/level system for character growth.

Interestingly enough, Chaos Strikes Back, which is a much harder sequel to Dungeon Master, can feasibly be played mapless; there are enough landmarks in the dungeon to figure out where you are if you get lost, and the game isn't that easy to put into a consistent map anyway. I find it interesting that the game has that property. (This is in contrast to, say, Wizardry 4 and that single floor dungeon in Bard's Tale 1, which are designed in such a way that they're both difficult to map and difficult to do mapless, though at least those games offer DUMAPIC/SCSI, which has no equivalent in Dungeon Master.)

By the way, Dungeon Master only needs one mouse button. That means that the game could reasonably be played on a tablet without having to adapt the game's interface for that purpose.

Too jump into the fray...

Games that I feel still hold up

X-Wing Series: These are still really great games. SW:Squadrons recently came out, and all I could do was to compare them to the X-wing Series...and the X-wing Series won out as being better. It's still a really great game series.

Knights of the Old Republic: The graphics may not be the best of the best, but the RPG itself is still one of the greatest RPGs ever made.

Conquest Frontier Wars: One of the few games that implements the vital importance of keeping your supply lines open. Cut the supply lines off and you suddenly do not die from lack of forces, but lack of bullets. It's an interesting principle that keeps me from coming back.

Games I think are overhyped...

X series: In contrast to the Xwing series, this one simply just bores me these days. Back at the time, the openess seemed awesome, but in comparison to all the open worlds we have today and the various ways they make things available and many various things to keep you occupied, this series just seems droll in comparison.

Star Control: Seemed like such a great premise in the old days, and to a degree it was. Battling it out with alien starships and spacecraft, but even then other games were coming out that had the same idea, but implemented it better. Today, it is one that I might dabble an hour or two in, but quickly move onto some other game.

Men of War: I jumped on this series when I saw it here, bought as many of them as I could. However, the controls are clunky and I quickly found out that I just was not enjoying myself like I thought I would have.

No, I've only looked at gameplays but it looks like a poorer game than LoL to me. Of course it's also 6 years older. What I see is just a very basic and grey dungeon crawler that of course has been influential. Like the original Rogue or so. I'd rather play the Eye of the Beholder series and the likes.

As for Another World, I loved it on the Amiga, I insta-bought and played the 20th anniversary edition and I think it holds up. I might be biased with nostalgia, and I could execute the game perfectly, so I still remembered a lot.

As I mentioned, Eye of the Beholder suffers from using AD&D mechanics, which honestly just aren't that great; Dungeon Master does its own thing with mechanics, which really does work better.

(Apparently, Baldur's Gate 3's telemetry has indicated that some of the big frustrations are related to the game using D&D mechanics, albeit a much more recent edition of the game.)

At least these games don't have that one sexist rule from AD&D 1e, where female characters had lower Strength caps than male ones; the Gold Box actually did implement the rule (and whenever I get around to playing them, I will allow myself to hack in order to get around this sexist rule).

(Unrelated) side note: When looked at from a feminist angle, Dragon Quest 4 is significantly better than Dragon Quest 5.

Definitely agree with your choice for the Thief games! I tend to replay those games every few years lol. Only recently got Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines and I've really enjoyed it, I just need to finish it. I've yet to really spend much time with System Shock 1 and 2, but when I next crave some cyberpunk, I'll definitely get onto it.

Off the top of my head, my picks would be:

Good Old Games today:

1. Broken Sword 1, 2, 3

Always wanted to play these when I was younger at my friend's house but they never wanted to boot them up because they were difficult. I bought them myself and then bought them again more recently on GOG, and my opinion of these games, specifically the first three, is that they're such enjoyable, light, humorous little adventures. Really comfortable to play on a quiet afternoon in with a cup of coffee. I share this view for quite a lot of classic point and click games honestly, but Broken Sword is a favourite of mine.

2. Deus Ex

Holds up brilliantly. I used to play this and replay this a lot as a kid, and few games scratched that cyberpunk itch for me the way Deus Ex did. Although some of the voice acting is a bit wonky, overall the game is so exciting. Plenty of different ways to play each level, multiple ways of upgrading your character, an exciting (albeit ridiculous, but kind of the point) story, and I'm a sucker for that late 90s/early 00s angular polygonal graphic style. It just feels so industrial, which really fits with a game like Deus Ex.

3. Planescape: Torment

I don't mean to be contrarian, OP, I really don't! I respect what you said about this game because it definitely leaves up a lot to reading. I found that quite refreshing though. Combat wasn't the key aspect to the game. I recently finished this game and I'd consider it a new personal favourite of mine. The art style is gorgeous, the storylines and how they branch off are beautifully structured, the ways you can organise your party, the combat, the side-missions, the looting, the different ways you can do certain missions, and even areas/lore that you can completely miss on a first playthrough. Maybe I'm crazy, but I actually really enjoyed drawing out a map for the modron maze too lol. Really loved this game, I never had the chance to play it when I was younger but I feel it must hold up rather well if a new player to it such as myself can get to grips with it.

Shoutout to Heroes of Might & Magic III which I was close to putting in this section. Love that game too! I'd also like to show my respect to the Myst franchise which just feels truly timeless.

Games that haven't aged so well:

1. Hitman: Codename 47

I was really looking forward to playing this as I love the Hitman series, and this one was only available on PC (the other games have been ported to console numerous times). While I like certain aspects of it (managing your money/resources for each mission, some missions restricted to a time limit - I feel this definitely adds to the tension the game is aiming for), I felt it just wasn't very fun to play. The controls felt awkward and whenever you died, the level doesn't quite restart fully. It's more like that Agent 47 is restarted, but your progress/damage done is still apparent as the enemies might still be shooting at you. It just felt like a headache to me.

2. Silent Hill 4: The Room

I bought this recently on GOG but I also played it not too long ago on my PS2, and this game feels like the turning point for when the Silent Hill series was going sour. It's not necessarily bad, and it's not really an issue with controls, but there's a point in SH4 where you stop visiting new locations and just revisit the old locations doing tedious tasks. It becomes quite repetitive, and I don't care about the characters enough in this one to feel motivated to finishing it again. It just feels like the second half of the game is padding. Saying that, I'm glad to have bought it again on GOG, and I do hope the rest of the franchise comes to GOG eventually (specifically 1, 2, and 3) but maybe that's just wishful thinking lol.

3. Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee.

I love this franchise so much, and I really do quite like this game, but they perfected the 3D controls with Stranger's Wrath. This one feels like they were trying to find their feet within a 3D world, and it's successful at times (I love the new additions, new creatures, new settings, etc) but it doesn't always work. Sometimes you have to fight the game camera to get a proper darn look at something; sometimes you run when you mean to walk, which can mean falling off a high ledge and having to walk all around again to where you once were; sometimes the actions are unresponsive or you get stuck doing a completely different action than what you intended (want to pick up a modokon? Don't be near anything or anyone else); etc. It's a flawed game that I don't think has aged as well as the other games in the franchise. Saying that, it's not necessarily aged badly either. I'd just like to warn that it tries to recreate the gameplay of the first two games within a 3d environment, and it feels as awkward as you might expect.

I didn't even think of that, but you may be right. EOB 2+3 and Lands of Lore have outdoor areas, and even EOB has a greater variety in dungeon walls, but with Dungeon Master, I'm not even sure if the background ever changes. Then again, I only played the first 4-6 levels, I think. DM2 had outdoor areas, too.

Yes, Dungeon Master 2 does have outdoor areas; however, it's still dark. Also, there's thunderstorms some of the time, and I've heard it's possible to be struck by lightning.

LoL has a developing story, interesting characters with personality and dubbed speech, a detailed world. By the way I'm replaying the Legend of Kyrandia Book 1 with German subs. From the same devs and it shares a lot in common as rich art style and music. I can't say it aged well though. It's stll some sort of King's Quest-like with instadeaths for the wrong click, unpausable dialogues and trial, letting you drop necessary items becoming unwinnable, and error illogical "puzzles". So much inferior to MI 2 from the previous year and the same years' Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis (that was flawed and didn't age well too).

I'm giving up. I remember after passing the fireberries labirynth the first time I said to myself I'd never put me thought that again. I've been wandering there looking for a rock for hours now. Goodbye fover. I've never finished the second LoL, I was stuck in the jungle.