The Forgotten Realm Archives - Collection Two brings a healthy mix of “Gold Box” and nostalgia goodness to your PC, along with a combination of adventure builders, turn-based and real-time role-playing gameplay.
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Languages: English
Engagement
Hours played at review time, across 43 reviews with recorded playtime.
Reviews
Themes across 43 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
Reviews
It may be a classic old series of games - and I LOVED these when they were new - but Pool of Radiance doesn't even have mouse support. There are almost no QoL modifications (automapping aside) and it just doesn't feel fun like it used to. It's just too painful to play in the modern era.
It is so old but quite nostalgic
Forgotten Realms: The Archives – Collection Two is an absolute treasure trove of classic D&D gaming. I started with this volume because it easily packs the most content, and it delivers in a big way. You get a wide range of styles - from party-based CRPGs to more experimental takes on the Forgotten Realms setting - making it feel less like a single collection and more like a full tour of early D&D video game history. There’s a ton of value here, especially if you’re into retro RPGs, with dozens of hours of gameplay spread across multiple titles. Sure, some of it is dated and varies in quality, but the sheer scope and variety more than makes up for it. If you’re looking for a deep dive into classic D&D experiences, this is easily one of the best "bang for your buck" collections out there.
The game has new life to it with the additional tools. I played when it first came out and knew there were mods and addons, but getting them to work were impossible for non-technical players. The simplicity of finding journal entries and monitoring the battles is so amazing I want to play these all over again.. and again.
Original old school D&D RPG gaming, nostalgic. Love the new auto mapping feature. Saves time drawing my own maps on graph paper and easier to read and correct. Can easily tell where I've been and haven't been. Auto mapping also makes it easier to see where in dungeon I'm at, instead of wondering because I can't tell by the immediate view of party (can't see the forest for the trees)
Classic games able to be relived on modern hardware. Games are just like I remember and if you want to speed through them you are provided some great maps and the adventure journals and tip books.
I have fond memories of winning Pools and Azure Bonds way back when. Unfortunately, they're not really ported to a modern PC in a state to actually, play them. An enhanced compatible edition would have my attention. The old decoder ring should be removed.
Return to the age of 5 1/4" floppy disks and all the tricks developers used to get around limitations. You'll find code wheels both for copy protection and multi-lingual support (Dwarvish and Elvish). For all that flavor text that they could not cram onto the disks, there's a journal with entries both true and false. Where physical versions of these are no longer needed, this collection of games leveraged these tools along side the AD&D 1e game rules to tell robust stories of high fantasy. The games are definitely a time capsule of a different time. There's no voice acting or personalized story (Curse of the Azure Bonds cuts the closest), but the Savage Frontier games also include one of the first romances in a cRPG (possibly the first). Also, oof those old Apple II / Tandy controls. Unfortunately, the games are also weighed down by the mechanics of first edition AD&D with its misogynist strength stat. The games also pretty much demand that you mechanically maximize your party, making it more about roll playing that role playing. It can be easy to forget that early D&D was often a tactical experience, but these games serve as a reminder of those times. Despite their flaws and limitations, they manage to deliver an experience with stories that still hold up today. Except Hillsfar; that one's a dud.
This game is only going to appeal to a small number of people nowadays. But, if you are a fan of the older style 2D Turn-based RPGs, or if you are an older gaming looking to revisit these classics, you can't go wrong with this bundle. Sure the 1st edition AD&D ruleset is far different from the current version, but you have to take it for what it is. To me these games are great because they still require some imagination from the player to work. I am having a blast revisiting these classics! Not to mention that the added "Gold Box Companion" makes it so much easier than it was in the past. No more code wheels or mapping your own dungeons. The companion takes care of that for you. Can't wait to finish this bundle (will take awhile) so I can try out more of these classics. You can't beat the price point for how many hours of gaming goodness these bundles can provide, if this is your thing.
[h1]No Cloud Saves At All[/h1] I chose this version over GOG's because of price and some small GBC conveniences. How surprised I was after a few hours discovering that it doesn't have an essential feature such as Cloud Saves. Doesn't matter that it appears "synchronizing" when you open/close the game. Doesn't matter that this feature appears in the Store page. Doesn't matter that there is a Publisher post from 2022 saying that it has. They are just lying, plain and simple. Check the foruns if you want. Now I'm stuck with this version because I already refunded my GOG's one and already surpassed the crappy 2-hour limit from Steam, and here writting the same thing in all six collections I bought. Never going to buy from this publisher (SNEG) again. Even if Cloud Saves aren't relevant for you, it's still baffling how Steam allows such misleading advetising in its Storefront. Sorry GOG, I'll never betray you again (yes, the game has Cloud Saves for real in there).
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