6. Betrayal At Krondor
Developer: Dynamix As Japanese role playing games were beginning to seep into the gaming consciousness of Western audiences during the early 1990's, the PC gaming market, which was much more niche at the time than it is now, had been enjoying a particularly fertile period of RPG gaming goodness of its own for quite some time. RPG's that were exclusive to the PC (known as Computer role playing games, or CRPG's) were typically much more Tolkien-esque in flavor than their Japanese counterparts, taking more influence from Dungeons & Dragons as opposed to manga. Betrayal At Krondor, developed by Dynamix and coming at the tail end of this particular glorious period of PC gaming history, was one of the best of them. Set in the world of Midkemia, which is the setting for the novels of fantasy author Raymond E. Feist, Betrayal At Krondor was structured much like a traditional fantasy novel. There was a narrator who sounded very much like an audio book reader, the game was broken into chapters, and cut scenes were used at key transitional parts in narrative. The game had an excellent, stand-alone story that eventually became official canon in the world of Midkemia (even though Feist didn't write the game) and the digitized character models really helped convey the sense that this was a work of fantasy literature come to life. Betrayal At Krondor is also notable for its fantastic gameplay, which was allowed to be the game's primary focus due to the wonderfully streamlined user interface (UI). The UI was non-intrusive and very simple to use. Looting dead enemies, leveling up your character's abilities, and managing inventory was simple while never lacking depth. And because you were able to navigate your menus so efficiently and quickly, you were able to spend the majority of the time focusing on what was the best part of the game: combat and exploration. Your party could explore the huge game world either in the first person perspective, or using an overhead view on the game's map. The combat was superb, integrating a grid-based plane organically into the game environment that never felt overly-restrictive despite being very much a turn-based system. Your party was composed of a mix of fast, sneaky fighters, sword-wielding tanks, ranged fighters, and mages, keeping every combat scenario feeling tense and exciting. It was a refined, tight RPG that worked well in putting its strengths on the forefront of the experience. Dynamix remained a prolific developer throughout the 90's before wrapping up their legacy with the awesome Tribes series and being shut down by their parent company Sierra in 2001. As for the Krondor series, fans finally got their wish when the sequel, Return To Krondor, was released in 1998. Development duties were handed off to a different developer, and reviews were mixed upon release. Return To Krondor obviously didn't live up to the original game's stature, but it is the opinion of this author that Return was also quite good despite its flaws. Both games are available on gog.com, and it's Betrayal At Krondor in particular that demonstrates why the CRPG has been so beloved for over 30 years.