Champions of Krynn

The Good
Champions of Krynn was my first entry into the Dragonlance world. It was also one of my first Gold Box games. Even though I didn't have prior Dragonlance experience, the game got me RIGHT into the world, enough so that when I did get around to reading the Dragonlance novels, I kept thinking "Hey, they took this from Champions of Krynn. Er, wait." The included manual and rulebook were superb.

The real meat of the game is very nicely balanced, I never had a really difficult area where I had to pass in order to progress the game. The characters can be fairly detailed and some parts of the game allow the character to have their own encounters, such as a Knight Of Solomnia meeting the ghost of an ancient knight, or a elven character meeting kin. This adds a lot of character to the game, as well as spark the imagination. Also included is the chance to meet characters from the novels, not just as cardboard-cutouts, but as actors in the same grand quest.

The storyline is quite good, if a little formulaic, and well-fleshed out throughout the entire game - each step (and corresponding city) is original and different from the others, so that each one is a great experience and a joy to play through.

The engine used is fairly powerful, with good menu-driven options in most areas that don't interfere with what you're trying to do at the moment. Combat is, for such a combat-heavy game, surprisingly fun. Even random encounters were resolved fairly quickly and enjoyably.

The Bad
The storyline to follow is rather linear, as opposed to the select-a-quest system in Pool of Radiance. This can be a little restrictive at times, but as I said, the storyline is quite well-rounded.

My only other quibble with Champions of Krynn is that some areas simply threw random encounter after random encounter at the player, which bogged down play and can make one very easily frustrated with trying to make progress in the story.

The Bottom Line
I knew, maybe halfway through Champions of Krynn, that I would love it forever. And I was right. It's the kind of game that immediately becomes a classic, with oodles of character and Dragonlance elements, plus an epic story that kept you guessing, and when you were done, got you to play it all over again.