I can't remember where I saw this but in a discussion about the upcoming Legend of Grimrock game I recall someone mentioning these two old games. I took a look at the game pages for them and they look pretty cool. What's the word on these games? Anyone who's played them have any thoughts to share, good, bad or in between?

I remember when Stonekeep first released that I saw it and thought, "Wow, this looks cool!" and wanted to get it. I don't remember anymore if I was broke or maybe my system didn't meet the requirements at the time or what but for some reason I never did get or play the game.

Anyway, feedback from you on either or both of these two would be most appreciated.

I cant say something informative about Stonekeep, but Lands of Lore is very good game. As I said in other topic it's one of the best dungeon crawlers,

Stonekeep is terrible. the game is Tedious, Shallow, Boring, Terrible story with the most bland and Cliche Hero that gaming has ever produced. The difficulty is poor, the best tactic for dealing with enemies is throwing Arrows through doors or spots that the AI bugs out on and fighting in melee will end up having you wounded and forced to backtrack for 30 minutes to an hour to heal up. The ending is anticlimatic, the acting abysmal, the game is buggy as hell.

Lands of Lore 1 &2 are the opposite, they're really good RPGadventure games. The first one is a bit more RPG and the 2nd more adventure but they're fun and challenging games with an amusing story and a lot of cool stuff. Some of the puzzles can be a little obtuse but in the end they're very fun and unique games.

Yikes! That is disappointing to hear about Stonekeep! :-(

Thank you though for the candid review. This is why I wanted to ask here because the reviews on the game page tend to often be remembrances viewed through nostalgia goggles and don't reflect what it would be to play the game now. Anyway, good thing Legend of Grimrock is coming along soon as a hopefully much better alternative dungeon crawl.

I'm glad to hear the good reviews of the other games though. I missed a lot over the years and want to catch up on some of the classics I passed by. Speaking of which, you may have played these as well and have an opinion: what about Betrayal at Krondor and its followup Return to Krondor? Anyone play those and have some thoughts to share?

I played Stonekeep back in the day and thought it was amazing.

I tried to play it a few years ago and found that throwing arrows and rocks at enemies for the first half of the game was not worth it.

Yeah, it's funny what can happen when the nostalgia glasses come off after years of advancement in game design and technology. Yet there are many games that hold up to the test of time well, having really nailed design and sometimes storytelling a long time ago and so they remain classics today.

The trick is separating the wheat from the chaff when it comes to all these old games. This community can be such a great resource to that end.

LOL 1 is awesome.

Stonekeep is just ok - I stopped playing it half-way through though.

Never played LOL 2, but intend to at some point.

LOL 2 (or LOL-GOD as the old installer wanted the game to be known) has not aged nearly as well as LOL 1. I played LOL 1 for the first time last year (so no nostalgia glasses), and found the game to, overall, be a very pleasant experience. The step based movement required a bit of getting used to, but the game was fun, had a decent enough story, good voice acting and challenging but not unfair gameplay. Just remember to not use your cube until you have beaten the ghosts and things should work out well for you. The last dungeon was also a bit of a pain. So yes, do get Lands of Lore if you are interested in these kinds of games.

LOL 2 on the other hand has a tad bit awkward controls, and its puzzles did not seem to be nearly as well designed. There is nothing seriously wrong with the game, but on the other hand, there is nothing that really makes it stand out either, apart from the whole transformation gimmick and the fun cutscenes.

But as you get both when you buy them here, there is no harm in trying the game in order to form your own opinion. LOL 2 is by the way a game that I bought when it was relatively new, and enjoyed quite a lot back then. My nostalgia glasses seem to be broken.

This probably got missed along the way but I'd asked earlier about these two old RPGs as well:

what about Betrayal at Krondor and its followup Return to Krondor? Anyone play those and have some thoughts to share?

I was thinking those who'd play the ones we are talking about here may also have played one or both of these two.

holy crap, that bad?!? i was actually thinking of picking it up next time it went on sale, considering there's a bit of a revival of the genre going on right now.

but that sounds just horrible. how come it has a 4.5/5 average score, then?

lands of lore was most definatly one of the best games i played as a yound whipper snapper, i never passed it i got stuck at the urbish mines while trying to find the ingredients for roland, only just finished the game not 2 weeks ago, all i needed to do in the urbish mines ( some people will definatley mock me) was to close a door and another opened.. ahhhh good times and finally i had the satisfaction to say f you westwood and your lands of lore i finally beat you HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I have played both fairly recently.

Stonekeep is okay. I was very glad to have a guide for it, I don't think I could have finished it without it.

Lands of Lore is great. IMO it's the best one of the genre and the best one to start with. Definitely buy this.

IMO after Lands of Lore the best RPGs of this type are Might and Magic 3-5. All of them are part of the MM6 pack here on GOG.

Duh! Now you described all dungeon crawlers even Lands od Lore. What stone have stonekeep done to you? Did he touch the wrong parts of ya?

No, really ignore him. Fighting is good, you just dont klik on picture of your weapons, but LMB is for your left hand and RMB for your right, so you can have falchion in one, and staff or rock in the other one. The FMV sekvencions are a little funny/campy, but thats the FMV deal.
It's hard as nails, but yeah, there was few bugs so saving more frequently was good idea.

LoL is also ok dungeon. It's more oldschool, with clicking on weapons fictures, beautiful handdrawn everything and some nice ideas.

Betrayal is little bit different. It's open world, so you travel from city to city and fight in turn-based fights and open chests and... it has some really old vector graphics so it looks like old. But it's still quite good.

Return is different, its more Baldurs gate with turnbased fights and a lot of talking.

My dungeons of choice is Realms of Arkania series. Open- world with cities and dungeons and pirates, bandist and hardcore rpg system. The last one, Shadows over Riva, is the best one. One big city with a lot of dungeons. Also turnbased fights.

So i'd say that every of these games is good, but some are better than others for different "tastes".

Hello,

Stonekeep is not so bad. Its more hardcore then other dungeon crawler of the time. The Edit: backtracking for a healing fountain in the first halve of the game is rather time consuming. At a time you get your waterpouch to heal up during exploration. When you do not abuse the fighting system, it is rather challenging. Throwing rocks at enemies that can't hurt you is not my taste in gaming sorry. You can play games to have fun, or to abuse the game system. But it is not the games fault when you do so, to make your time easier. For its time the video sequences were very good. the dungeon design is excellent and the fighting system with 1 hand for each mouse button is quite a novelity. It has a good automap. Difficulty spikes in the beginning and the end of the game. I did never complete it because of the last level. Stonekeep deserves a 4 of 5.

Land ofs Lore is an absolute classic. The story telling is quite good. The art design is very good. The fights in the beginning are very hard, but later you can relax more. Some very hard climaxes in diffifculty can be found. 5 on 5 for Lands of Lore. A true classic from westwood.

Both games are worth your money, Lol a little more then Stonekeep. To really enjoy Stonekeep you have to be a fan of 3d dungeon crawlers. It is not as lighthearted as Lands of Lore.

Have a nice day.

I only played LoL III, it was a pretty OK game.

Ever try Wizardry 8?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87fuHh2xles