Getting started with oldschool CRPGs
 

Yo AB!

I must admit, that old CRPGs such as the Bard's Tale series or the AD&D Goldbox games always fascinated me, but I never got too far in any of these due to the lack of a proper manual and their grueling difficulty compared to what qualifies as an RPG nowadays. So, my question for now would be:

Which CRPG from olden times would you recommend for starters?

Umm... It depends on how deep you want to go, and how user-friendly game you expect. :)

Speaking on above, Bard's Tale and Might and Magic are quite user-friendly series, if you are ready to draw endless mazes and remember some (not very much) spells. Dungeon Master seems in the same vein, but I am not sure, I didn't play it. Unlike Wizardry that totally not recommended, as it have a lot of everything, from loot to class synergy and special spells.

On the other hand, if you are want more eye-candy, you can skip year or two, and went right to 1990-91, where choices are multiple:

- Dark Spyre - simple but addictive dungeon crawler with a lot of options. Funny, but this type of gameplay after start of 90s on PC was repeated first time only in Diablo - and with heavy weighted to loot and random gameplay, it became totally different. :(

- Ideas of Dark Spyre was developed in two more Event Horizon games: Dusk of the Gods and The Summoning. Both are "puzzle-dungeons", similar to Dark Spyre, but more advanced and with heavier plot. Unfortunately, third game with the same engine, Veil of Darkness failed to get my attention. It's too plot-related, and too unforgiven for errors. Not my thing.

- The Legacy. Interesting horror-RPG hybrid, but demanding sometimes in action sequences.

Hmm, actually, in this time frame I cannot found nothing more. :( Well, there is always Nethack and Rogue, and I heard that all Ultimas are great... but I never tried any.

Well, after checking Moby, I can name several more, but they are somewhat not exactly what you need:

- Dark Heart of Uukrul. Spell reference is heavy needed, but you have automap!

- Darklands. Again, heavy depends on manual, but intuitive in many other places.

- HeroQuest. It's more strategy than RPG. Fun, but different. :)

Hmm, that's all for me. More fun games in later years though. ;)

I was hoping to start off with something more user-friendly at first, yeah... Pool of Radiance totally wasn't that, especially after I apprehended a pickpocket in a bar and got sandwiched inside a 20v20 fight between the tavern-goers just case. :rolleyes:

I actually enjoyed Wizardry, during the time I wrote a review for it - that is, Wizardry I - Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. Major distracting factors: Poor graphics, no saving, no checkpoints, (think of Diablo 1 or 2), lack of music. Otherwise it plays quite well, and, dude, it's the father (or mother) of most RPGs! :) It worths a try, at least.
I also recommend Eye of the Beholder, it has nice graphics, nice music, user-friendly interface, and a quite good combat system.
Nethack: Definitely recommended, maybe with a graphics engine - it has it's own vibe and the user interface is not friendly, but there are quite good remakes. Look for Roguelikes.

Aha, did you notice that I didn't mentioned any Goldbox games? That's because of that. :D They can be fun, but lack of interface (check paragraph 3 for description of encounter) and frendliness (see this window with 5x5 color squares? It's your overhead map!) scares me every time. "My" games are more friendly. :D If they haven't something, gameplay doesn't need it (except some manual fiddling here and there to understand what's happening, maybe, and almost unevitable hand-drawn maps). :)

http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/48...d+Of+Xeen.html

is very user-friendly and quite easy to get into

The first Lands of Lore is pretty user-friendly, that is, not as complex as some other RPGs. Though it would be more of an exception. Classic RPGs usually are complex, that's what made them so interesting.
Also Al Qadim might be on the user-friendly side, it appeared to me simple enough though I never played it past the beginning.

Well, if going beyond 1992, there are lot of options. I am in Lands of Lore, for example, too. But is it still counts "classic"? :)

Anyone suggested the early Ultima games yet? They're relatively easy to get into, since there's not a lot of stats/skills etc. to learn and fairly simple systems and combat.

Also, Quest for Glory. It's a great bridging point between adventure games and RPGs.

It seems that you have sort of misunderstood Tomekk - which can be attributed to the fact that most of you might not know he's actually an experienced RPG player, pen-and-paper and CRPGs alike - it's just that he wants to play hardcore RPGs, and looks for the easiest among them. Not a beginner of RPGs, only of hardcore stuff. :) Tomekk, correct me if I am wrong, and sorry for answering instead of you.