Old-School RPGs Are New Again

Prompted by the recent popularity of such titles as Knights of the Chalice, Eschalon: Book II, Avadon: The Black Fortress, Cthulhu Saves the World, The Battle For Wesnoth, and several others, PC World has kicked up an editorial that seeks to explain why “old-school RPGs are new again”. They also briefly critique the titles mentioned in the game, as you’ll discover in the following snippet:

In general, Eschalon: Book II and Avadon are neck-and-neck in skillfully blending modern gameplay concepts and quality with old-school turn-based tactics, but I found Eschalon slightly more compelling in the “just 5 more minutes” way. Knights of the Chalice is fun, but somewhat simpler in content and graphics. Ultima IV, Part II calls only to fans who were there, man (and it depends on your taste in humor), but if you want satire mixed with good gameplay, Cthulhu Saves the World gives you both–its gentle mockery of console-RPG conventions will amuse even those not up on their Lovecraftian mythology.

Daggerfall is an example of what was truly cutting-edge at the time. Although its mostly random content can quickly become dull, and it has a number of bugs and glitches, many gamers still harbor a soft spot for it due to the scope and freedom it offers. Battle for Wesnoth is a fun tactical game with sprightly graphics and quick play. Dominions 3 is a deeper, more strategic game that can sometimes overwhelm you with detail and suffers some interface issues–but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a game in the genre that offers more stuff to play with.