Temple of Elemental Evil

[sirdilznik]

Frankly I never heard of this game when it first came out but I guess it had a lot of bugs from what I hear. Anyway when it became available on GOG I scooped it up and I'm definitely not regretting the purchase. This is the video game form of a classic pencil & paper D&D Greyhawk Adventure module. The game is turn based and quite hack & slash heavy and it's also been quite enjoyable so far. It's a party based adventure where you may make a party of up to 5 members plus up to 3 NPC companions, so you can have a rather large group (8) if you so choose. The game utilizes the D&D 3.5 ruleset and may well be the closest any video game has ever come to pencil & paper D&D. I've never ever seen the plethora of skills and feats and rules not only packed into a video game but actually utilized. The sheer amount of choices is overwhelming. I spent damn near two hours just creating my party of 5. I wound up with a male Half-Orc Barbarian (tank, primary damage dealer), a female Human Ranger (archer, mage/priest-killer, secondary tank), a female Half-Elf Cleric (primary healer, undead destroyer, secondary tank), a male Elf Wizard (primary damage dealer, crowd control), and a male Human Druid (secondary healer, secondary damage dealer, support fighter).

Anyway I'm really enjoying the game so far. I've picked up a gypsy (rogue) and a bard along the way to complement my party (bards make superb support characters) and I'm saving my last NPC slot for a kick-ass warrior to provide another tank. I'm really impressed at how well they managed to implement such a plethora of pencil & paper rules into a video game.

Anyone else play this game?

[KarlXII]

Sure, I´ve completed the game when it came out around 2003 I believe. It was quite a good game. Good graphics and a true RPG. Classic 2d-isometric perspective as well.

Unfortunately there are very few of these games made anymore. The one I remember that came not long before this was Pool of Radiance. Also quite good but with too repetitive dungeons and combats. I do feel Temple of Elemental Evil was better.

[sirdilznik]

Sure, I´ve completed the game when it came out around 2003 I believe. It was quite a good game. Good graphics and a true RPG. Classic 2d-isometric perspective as well.

Unfortunately there are very few of these games made anymore. The one I remember that came not long before this was Pool of Radiance. Also quite good but with too repetitive dungeons and combats. I do feel Temple of Elemental Evil was better.

I never played the new Pools of Radiance but I played the bejesus out of the original gold box classic and all the follow-ups (Secret of the Silver Blades was my favorite even if saving throws were totally broken [everyone ALWAYS failed saving throws so spells like Hold Person and Hold Monster were GOD-LIKE]). I always wondered if the new Pools of Radiance was essentially a HD remake of the original game or a different game altogether.

[KarlXII]

I´ve also played all old SSI RPG Classics like Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silverblades, Champions of Krynn, Deathknights of Krynn and whatever the name of the rest was.

Very good games indeed! Especially Champions of Krynn was a favourite.

The new Pool of Radiance is not bad. It has nothing to do with the original story though. And presents som pretty graphics. I just found Temple of Elemental Evil more true to the old school.

[llew silverhand]

I was thinking about picking this up but I don't think I have the time/energy to commit to such a possibly great but challenging game. I'll hold off for now, but I appreciate your views on it!

[Evnissyen]

I was just going to ask about this game.

It looks nice, and I suppose I'll get it even if it is hack&loot, and even if I do have a ton of games I still have to finish, plus Avadon coming out in a few months. The Witcher II is coming out in late March, but I'll wait a year for the price to come down and the major bugs to be fixed. Same with Dragon Age II which is coming out early March.

It's $6 now, if I wait too long I expect it'll revert to $10 . . . better to get it now, I suppose.

Any reasons I shouldn't? No, I guess not... .

[KarlXII]

It's $6 now, if I wait too long I expect it'll revert to $10 . . . better to get it now, I suppose..

I strongly recommend you to get it for that price. ToEE is very truthful to Ad&D 3.5 rules and a good story with lots of tactical battles.

[Evnissyen]

I've been trying to play the demo... for some reason, it doesn't work. On either XP or W7. I get a window asking if I want to buy the game; when I click PLAY DEMO it does nothing.

Anyone else familiar with this? Yes? No? Yes?

I worry that if I do actually buy it, blindly, it won't work, for some reason I don't know about.

[CrazyBernie]

Have you tried using any compatability settings? Or are we talking about some internet shortcut?

[Evnissyen]

No, I tried applying different compatibility settings on W7, both XP and 2000, but there I still get nothing. On XP, I get the window asking buy or play demo, but when I click on play demo I get nothing.

When I click on buy, it goes to a website but doesn't get very far, I get a message saying I'm out of their sell range.

I can't say how the demo corresponds, date-wise, with the game. But TEE was released in 2003, according to GOG.

I'm guessing that if the game works for others it must work for me as well, but I'm sort of puzzled why the demo doesn't work. I downloaded from two different locations... I don't know. I suppose it's just a fluke.

At any rate... I don't like buying games without playing a demo first.

[Evnissyen]

Well, subject officially moot'nized. I went ahead and bought the game, been playing it for the past hour. Man, this game is nice. There really is a certain magic to it. Even the music is kind of nice, kind of softly spooky -- and I tend to hate the vast majority of game music. ToEE's is nice. And whereas with most games the complication of management tends to be annoying... here, for some reason, I feel this real desire to get down into details and micromanage the characters -- something I did not feel the urge to do with Baldur's Gate.

What manner of sorcery is this?

[sirdilznik]

Yeah I agree. There are party based RPGs where I like to control just one character and let the AI control all my companions for better or worse then there are games where I like to micromanage the entire party. This is definitely one of those games where I enjoy managing the entire party myself. I guess ToEE being turn-based has a lot to do with it.

[Lightzy]

No real wonder, it's been made by the best RPG makers on the planet.

The same ones who made Arcanum.

Who also made fallout1/2




the true genius they have is the ability to make a setting.

Most RPGs (eschalon sadly included) just have no atmosphere.
That's because the writers attempt to put a '3d' story into a flat '2d' world and everything just stands out wrong kind of.

Now compare that to games like fallout2, Arcanum and PS: Torment..
And even Darksun (one of my fav. rpgs ever. golden box oldie in the incredibly brutal darksun setting)

[ttomm46]

I wouldn't buy it till you try the demo...Lots of folks having trouble getting the game to run..just check the GOG forums...I can't get the demo to work either..tried everything

[realmzmaster]

Temple of Elemental Evil is an excellent game. If you have any trouble running the people at Circle of Eight (www.co8.org) are a great resource. They also have added content available and lots of bug squashes.

The initial release had many bug problems. TOEE was released far sooner than it should have been. It had game balance problems also. But it was still an excellent game.