Lands of Lore - Retrospective Review

[HiddenX]

Kordanor looks back at Lands of Lore - The Throne of Chaos:

Lands of Lore (1993) - Better than Eye of the Beholder? - Review [EN] by Kordanor

After Westwood was bought by Virgin, they split from SSI with whom they had released the Dungeoncrawlers Eye of the Beholder 1 and 2. While SSI now worked on a successor on their own, Westwood created a competitor, which should offer even more in terms of spectacle and also be easier to get into.
Did that work out? And can you still enjoy Lands of Lore today? That’s what this review is all about:

More information.

 

[Kordanor]

Thanks for posting!
I still remember playing that game as a kid for the first time with a pirated copy.
That copy had a bug which made it crash each time you clicked on camp I think. So it was basically unplayable, but I still spent some time with it, and just had my characters regenerate over time. Later on I then got the "10 years of Westwood" collection and finally was able to play it and finished it two times back then (with the help of a walkthrough)
A year ago it was time to give it another spin via a Let's Play before doing this review, which then took me far too long.

 

[Carnifex]

Another one of those great classic games that gets put on the computer the moment I upgrade. I can always replay this great series, though it's action it gives me a singular joy that's difficult to capture elsewhere.

 

[JDR13]

I have the series on GOG but haven't played them. I imagine they're probably a little hard to get into now without the nostalgia of having played them in the past.

Westwood worked on quite a few RPGs back in the day. Most people only think of Command & Conquer though when they hear their name.

 

[Kordanor]

I have the series on GOG but haven't played them. I imagine they're probably a little hard to get into now without the nostalgia of having played them in the past.

Westwood worked on quite a few RPGs back in the day. Most people only think of Command & Conquer though when they hear their name.

I think it's relatively easy to get into, even if you didn't play it back then.
I go in more detail about some aspects in the video, but the advantages of Lands of Lore to other (older) games is having transitions on movement, which drastically changes the first impression if you are not familiar with these games at all. Also the big focus of Lands of Lore on the story while having a very shallow character system. In addition "modern" features like an automap. So you can basically just jump into the game. No reading of a manual or something similar like additional external tools required. So it's significantly easier to get into than EOTB, Might and Magic, Wizardry, Realms of Arkania and so on.

 

[Carnifex]

I would agree, Kordanor, no matter how long it's been since I've played, every time I revisit it's like picking up with a cherished mate. We just start clicking again.

 

[Andrew23]

Loved emphasis on the storytelling, at first it felt like great blend of adventure game and RPG.
On second sight, RPG part felt bit shallow, but I had lots of fun with it nonetheless. Unfortunately,
the insane amount of respawning enemies at some areas was much bigger fun killer for me, I think
I never finished it actually.

Oh, and I totally loved intro, Westwood were real masters of pixel graphic at that time.

 

[mercy]

MEGAFANTASTIC GAME! Absolutely amazing graphics animations and my SoundBlaster Pro gave total immersion in the LoL universe! I especially liked the smooth magic fluid animation on the spellbook and the whispering sound how the new spells got inscribed. Strong nostalgia. How it aged so well shows genius art director and team at work!! This is a GOD-level game! You'll never beat Lands of Lore with anemic remasters!

 

[Pessimeister]

I beat it with all the characters back in the day and still have my boxed edition. An excellent dungeon crawler which I liked more than EOB3 at the time. It's quite accessible and mainstream I think, even today. My younger sister even beat it and she isn't an RPG player by any means. There were a couple of respawn sections which were pretty nasty from memory, one in the white tower I recall causing some minor problems. I never did give the sequels a proper good go despite having them for years but I didn't especially like the direction Westwood went with them. I have them on GOG though so never say never.

 

[HiddenX]

Like Pessimeister said, Lands of Lore is a very good RPG for beginners.

 

[Carnifex]

Nod, I remember hoping for sheer goodness from EOB three, sadly it wasn't meant to be.

 

[Kordanor]

Nod, I remember hoping for sheer goodness from EOB three, sadly it wasn't meant to be.

I am currently replaying EOTB3 as a Let's Play and while I am maybe half way or 2/3 through, I do think that it's reputation is worse than the actual game.
We need to take into account though that it was released 2 years after EOTB1 and EOTB2 and even after Lands of Lore. And while the technical advancements 1991-1993 weren't huge, if you expected an upgrade like Lands of Lore was an upgrade, then ofc you would be disappointed.
But from todays perspective, playing EOTB3 side by side to EOTB1+2, EOTB3 isn't much worse than EOTB1+2, if at all. Unfortunately the immediate thing you will notice is, that the sound got actually worse.

 

[Carnifex]

Perhaps I'll give EoB another shot the next time I run through those games, as I respect your opinion, Kordanor. And to be truly fair I never replayed it so another go seems only fair.