DUNGEONCRAWL! This is completely an old-school dungeoncrawl! Über kühl! Reminds me of Telengard....
PROS
Kill 'em and take their stuff!
The game set-out to be old school and truly succeeded.
The graphics are spiffy Shadowgate quality or you can switch to b/w graphics. Few would probably care to play it that way, but it is a cool retro option.
AC gets better as it becomes more negative...ha!
Human/Dwarf/Elf/Halfling options....
Fighter/Cleric/Mage/Thief options....
As you get higher level, you can specialize (e.g., the fighter can become a paladin).
There are different attack choices and spell casting options.
Five of the 24 soundtracks were good. (You can turn off the poor music.)
A very basic RPG.
Telengard...Bard's Tale...Wizardy...Eye of the Beholder...yeah....
CONS
The lion's share of the music missed the mark (19 of 24). It was NOT captivating (like Arcanum or Warlords Battlecry III), inspiring (like Final Fantasy III or ChronoTrigger), or medieval (like Majesty). For those of you who know your music: It sounded like acid loops! Mostly repetitive.... If they had just removed the drums, the music would have be radically better. In turn, I just shut the BGM off. This music belongs, for the most part, in a sci-fi game (it would, however, still be repetitive). The game failed to be a 9.5 or 10 due to the music.
PRO/CON (your choice)
I am extremely patient and willingly go through building up characters (some would call this call the skill level for this game hard). I ,however, LIKE that route. Still, some may prefer a faster game (andthis will not be for you!). If you recall Gygax D&D, your first level mage was likely to be snuffed out. This game plays that way. In short, you have to decide if this is a pro or a con for you.
There is not a lot of storyline (hence, missing endless cut scenes). You need to decide if that is for you. I like such for the novelty/old school approach. Do you remember when storylines were 100 words of reading to get you going and 100 words when you finished?
SUMMARY
If you like old school RPGs, this is for you. If not (or your attention span is too short), then try Strawberry Shortcake 2...my eight year old daughter likes such....