Just curious if they are worth playing. I like dungeon crawlers, but I heard that Ishar is rather weak. I'll refrain from impulse buying and see what you guys who have actually played the games have got to say.

I haven't, i just bought it out of impulse though. (Im a sucker for the old Dungeon Crawlers) Gonna give it a run later tonight.

These may help.
They are old reviews and based on the Amiga versions but they are pretty much identical.
[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishar_(series]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishar_(series[/url])
http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/DBA1/Ish1.html
http://amr.abime.net/review_8556
http://amigareviews.classicgaming.gamespy.com/ishar1.htm
http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/DBA1/Ish2.html

Aaah, Ishar 2!!! A must-have! Good old games are once again true to their name!

I've only ever heard bad things about it.

Yeah, me too. Which is why I was asking for opinions.
Anyways, I made some digging on my own and watched some Let's Play videos and the game looked quite bad, sadly. Combat is twitchy instead of turn based, there is hardly any dungeon crawling as it takes place mostly in the outside world (forests, etc.) the story is really lacking (not that crawler games ever were famous for stories) and you have to recruit your own party instead of making one yourself (kinda like in Might & Magic). Meh, I've always been more of a Wizardy guy myself. I like making and customizing my party. Still, I can make exceptions, but you can't even customize your own character (from what I've seen, could be wrong, though). It just seems to me that they have taken a sort of "gameplay takes a backseat for the story" approach with the game, which is fine because PlaneScape did it as well, and it was great, but the story (or lack of thereof) hardly justifies it in Ishar. The only good thing I've seen about Ishar that the enviroment looks pretty good. It's not a bad looking game, really.
But still, sadly, it looks like a pass for me. GOG is really lacking in the RPG department, as games like this and Septerra Core aren't really doing it for me. I wish they'd try to bring out some real classic RPGs from the 90-99 era (but not the most obvious ones).

Ishar 3 and Crystals of Arborea aren't included? That sucks :(

I played all 3 when they came out on the atrai falcon. I played them to death. Ishar 2 i must admit is my favourite These games take a long time to complete and Ishar 1 give gold for a save meant you ad to be very liberal with your saves. In some ways this added some fear as you entered a new area and thought should i save here or save to buy a new weapon, what monsters are ahead of me.
Graphics at the time i thought where really good and the mod music on the falcon helped the games atmosphere (seems we got midi on the pc versions in game).
I would recommend this game for rpg of old. The game is hard and unforgiving at times and no real automap so was easy to get lost.

I played them to death in my youth, these where excellent RPGs in their time with good atmosphere (especially Ishar 2) but they're very difficult, if you miss some item in the right moment you're screwed, and you need to know how to build up your team, usually dwarves don't like elves, like evil looking guys will fight good guys etc... pretty classic.
But like Entorwellian said; It's a shame that Crystals of Arborea (first episode) and the third Ishar (last one) aren't in :(. It's like having the middle of a story without the beginning and the end, let's hope that GOG team will solve this "issue" soon.

I played Ishar2 many years ago and it was a very cool game at the time. No idea if they have aged well though.

I completed all 3 on the Atari Falcon 030 also. The games can of course never compare with the games of today, but the atmosphere and the original soundtracks.. ahhh those were the days. There was no map downloading from the web back then.. I remember me and my friends took turns controlling the game and drawing piles of maps. I'm gonna play them all again now that they are available at last. If you decide to try these games.. give them time.. they will definitely grow on you. I'm extremely happy they added them and I hope the will do Ishar 3 aswell.

These games are probably more suitable for the people who played it to death in their youth and want to relive the experience somewhat. If you really love dungeon crawlers (and especially the more hardcore ones like the Wizardry series) you'll find things in Ishar that you'll no doubt like, in time. Like the fact that saving costs gold in Ishar 1. The voting system is a good twist on party management though - you can even have somebody assassinate the person you want to remove from the party if the vote doesn't go through the way you had planned. If you do that however, there's always a chance other characters in the group will get pissed and murder the murderer. You can basically end up wiping out your entire party this way. :)
The combat system is mostly lacking in Ishar 1, it had been overhauled and made a lot better for Ishar 2. Ishar 2 also has more diverse landscapes and a day-night cycle with shops and other buildings that respond to the cycle, for example you won't find the nightclub open by day.
But it will probably be a lot harder to really get into the game if you've never played it before.

Absolutely Stonebro. If you have played those old school rpgs in your youth (such as Ishar, Eye of Beholder, Might and Magic etc...) then you will enjoy to replay them or play the episod(s) you have missed. Even the worst of those old school games are waaaayyyy better than any post 2000 rpg, imo. ;)

Does anyone know about the bug in ishar 3 with the gold key?In EVERY english version there is a bug!In some part of the game, you should get the gold key from the young man in the forest, and some kind of shield from his wife.The shield is there, but he doesn't give you the key.On amiga, everything is normal and you get the key.Some people told me that for pc only french version is correct, and all the others have bug at that part.But I don't have a french version.
I'm interested in buying trilogy but I must know that this bug is fixed!?1Can anyone help?