Pool of Radiance

I really wish I could have played the Mac version. I love the black and white line art and cascading windows...at least in theory. I had the DOS version, though, and about two years after release. In hindsight, this game was a strong start to the series, but 9 year old me wasn't going to give up Ultima III on NES until playing Curse of the Azure bonds. PoR is a great interpretation/vidjagamifying of the AD&D rules, Phlan is a fun city to explore, and the tactical combat is excellent. Ugly gfx.

Very good early RPG with a focus on combat and open world exploration. Most of the good loot is hand placed, which was much appreciated. Use of the Gold Box Companion mod is HIGHLY recommended; it greatly improves the UI. The biggest downside is probably the encounter design, which could have done with a bit more challenge and variety; however, the game kept me entertained from start to finish.

The Gold Box engine was a largely successful go at bringing the complexities of DnD to computers, though you eventually run into that CRPG issue where combat soon settles into a samey slog. Also, resting to memorize spells makes much less sense in these computer games where all you do is fight combat after combat.

Damn this was a good game. It opened my world to role-playing, decent computer games, pretty much a whole world of entertainment.