Temple of Elemental Evil 2003

[asdfen]

I am not sure how it passed me by at the time of original release, but now I am having a blast with this game.

I have also been warned not to play vanila version as it is very buggy. Playing with co8.org mod its just great. No story to speak of but combat is fun. Straight forward dungeon crawling, mostly, with D&D rules.

Just sharing. Its an old game its on gog.com and its cheap if its your type of think and you want to try it. Wish I've heard about it before.

 

[The Madman]

Still the best implementation of D&D combat to date in my opinion. I wish more modern titles trying for the isometric tactical perspective would take inspiration from ToEE, or hell, just rip it off entirely. I'd be fine with that!

In terms of story or characters there's really little to nothing to speak of, but I do also really like how your party would have a different main quest and motivation for being there depending on the groups alignment. A Lawful Good party of adventurer's will have entirely different motivations for invading the temple than a Chaotic Neutral or Lawful Evil party, and the dialogue will often reflect that complete with unique introductions and conclusions.

But really the best thing about the game really is the combat, which is fantastic. Probably the only example of an rpg I've replayed multiple times despite not giving a shit about the story but simply because I loved the gameplay.

Not a super well known game but it does have it's niche and small fandom, and is generally well regarded by PC rpg enthusiasts like myself.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

But really the best thing about the game really is the combat, which is fantastic.

Best thing? It's the ONLY thing!

Like MadMan, it's a game I was willing to re-play (I own it on GOG) solely because of the rich turn based tactical combat. One of the best implementations of a combat system in the history of RPGs, really. Divinity is its closest modern approximate, and I think I slightly prefer TOEE's encounter design and ability load-out.

Aside from the combat though, there is literally nothing to recommend it. And it was unplayable at release, one of the buggiest/most half-baked releases of all time. That, more than anything, cemented its cult status and ensured we never got any follow-ups. And probably contributed to the "Turn Based Strategy is dead" epoch we had to suffer through.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

But really the best thing about the game really is the combat, which is fantastic.

Best thing? It's the ONLY thing!

Like MadMan, it's a game I was willing to re-play (I own it on GOG) solely because of the rich turn based tactical combat. One of the best implementations of a combat system in the history of RPGs, really. Divinity is its closest modern approximate, and I think I slightly prefer TOEE's encounter design and ability load-out.

Aside from the combat though, there is literally nothing to recommend it. And it was unplayable at release, one of the buggiest/most half-baked releases of all time. That, more than anything, cemented its cult status and ensured we never got any follow-ups. And probably contributed to the "Turn Based Strategy is dead" epoch we had to suffer through.

I thought the story was reasonable, dialogue and thievery systems well executed. Besides, if "kill the bad guy" plots are all worthless then 98% of games would suck.

 

[StatusNil]

Looks like the community is not done with fixing the game yet:

http://nichegamer.com/2015/12/fan-mod-updatesfixes-temple-of-elemental-evil/

Guess that speaks for itself. Not that many games that are over a dozen years old get this kind of dedication. Strangely, I don't recall it being all THAT broken whenever it was I played it. It must have been considerably after release, though, since I got it for next to nothing at a clearance sale.

Great game, they should make a sequel. Maybe with more places to go this time.

 

[BaronVH]

Great game, they should make a sequel. Maybe with more places to go this time.

Like other levels through that giant door that is locked and goes nowhere. I am holding out for a legitimate widescreen mod that does not require editing files or trial and error.