Champions of Krynn

"Low-Level D&D Gaming With Tactics"

This game and its series are the single biggest reason I still own a DOS 6.0 computer. It was also the first Dungeons & Dragons game I've ever played.

The strengths of this game are an intricate, almost flawless class system and its tactical, turn-based combat system which requires you to use different strengths in your multitalented party in different situations. It also presents a decent plot and a memorable and challenging cast of villainous foot soldiers you'll be facing in combat again and again--not just in the lone boss battle after the dungeon full of unrelated monsters. This game is among the best in the Gold Box series of D&D games.


Story

This game is based on the best-selling "Chronicles" and "Legends" trilogies that debuted the Dragonlance game world of D&D, but you don't need to read the books to enjoy the game (and besides it's a non-canon sequel). The basic premise is that the Dark Goddess Takhisis has just been defeated in the War of the Lance, but evil still remains in the formely occupied lands, and its up to your novice party of adventurers, under the leadership of the courageous and wise Sir Karl of the Rose, to stop an evil plot. The game manual brings you up to date on what happend and what the impending rumors are, but the plot unfolds very slowly. As typical for games of this time, much of the story is told in random "Journal Entries" that are only written out in the ame manual. I especially like how the evil plot is actually woven into the combats you fight. Unlike most RPGs where you chase the conspirators through a dungeon full of completely unrelated monsters before fighting the boss, in this one most of the random encounters are actual enemy grunts. It's just one evil plot, but the way it's told to you throughout is well-delivered.

The plot is fairly original in my view, except that it recycles cliches from the books. You'll like it better if you haven't read them.


Gameplay

This game emphasizes combat much more than exploration or, heaven forbid, NPC dialogue, with frequent random and fixed encounters ranging from easy to easily lost. Combats take place on a 2D grid in turns. You can easily move your character to backstab enemies, pepper enemies with arrows from 20 squares away, or target fireballs in the middle of a cluster of foes. You'll fight a large cast of hostile and evil monsters, a smaller recurring group of slightly stronger foot-soldiers (the manual helpfully informs you that Baaz Draconians grab weapons out of your hands when they're killed), and what would Dungeons & Dragons be without a few dragons, or Dragonlance without the eponymous dragon-killing weapon? The enemy AI is pretty mindless and predictable but it's not easy to abuse it. Like man good grid-based RPGs, much of the strategy revolves around protecting your magicians while disabling the enemy's: it takes time to cast spells, and if a magician is damaged at all he can't use magic for the rest of the round. This sounds like standard fare, but not all RPGs are good enough to pull it off. Exploration is from the first person view, and as I said, it's not a highlight, but hte game does pretty good at making detailed towns and dungeons out of the generic 16X16 (or whatever) square grid.

What I like best about this game is how your balanced party of player-generated magicians and warriors comes together in combat. Each class or multi-class has a use and a weakness, few of them are useless or overpowering. Different combats really do require different strengths to win. There are a few odd balance issues. Low-level D&D combat often devolves into swish-fests rather than slug-fests. Despite your weakness this game throws challenging encounters against you right away that are winnable but you have to know what you're doing. Certain spells are very overpowered--and the game designers loaded the enemy magicians with them--making many battles excessively easy, but most battles with any enemy magicians are very dangerous. Fortunately you can save anywhere, and you can set up camp and rest almost anywhere, with clerics healing the party and spellcasters recovering their spells in a few hours of game time, so long as no wandering monsters interrupt.


Control

The game is mainly menu/keyboard driven, and it's a confusing array. Most of it is self-explanatory, but you'll need a bit of trial and error for the combat rules. The most difficult part is aiming spells so they don't take out your own guys. It'll take a while to learn all their ranges of effect. Once you pick it up, it's very user-friendly, no loading times or anything.


Graphics

This is not the reason Final Fantasy Tactics reminds me of this game. In exploration the first-person view is about as good as some NES games, say the first Super Mario Brothers. Combat however is a little closer to Atari 2600. All the characters and enemies are icons with only two frames, and the combat field is generic, gray, and sparsely detailed, especially indoors. There is almost no animation for magic. Your own character icons are customizable, but very often I wind up with two characters who look alike and I confuse them.


Sound/Music

There's little music during the game, only sound effects from the PC speaker. It's quite minimal and sometimes odd but at least it doesn't try to do something and fail.


Story: 8/10
Gameplay: 7.5/10
Control: 7.5/10
Graphics: 5/10
Sound/Music: 3/10

Final Score: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/27/09

Game Release: Champions of Krynn (US, 1990)