Temple of Apshai Trilogy

The Good
Temple of Apshai Trilogy does a good job of adapting the classic Epyx Dunjonquest games into a slightly more accessible format, presenting them with clearer visuals, considerably enhanced speed and some great sound.

Gameplay is simple by modern standards, essentially boiling down to something of a hack-and-slash dungeon crawl with a bit of treasure-gathering on the side, but when you consider how early the original Apshai trilogy came out -- and how ill-defined the computer role-playing game was at that point -- there's still a lot to enjoy.

A particular highlight of the experience that will appeal to fans of tabletop roleplaying is the "Book of Apshai", which is intended to be read alongside the on-screen experience. Look up the number the game says you're in, read the text description and suddenly things become a lot more interesting and atmospheric than if you were just trudging through the dungeon.

The Bad
Without that manual by your side, the game loses some of its appeal, since the visuals are abstract and lacking in detail, even with the enhancements the Trilogy release brought.

The ruleset on which the game is based is also somewhat obtuse about certain details -- while you gain experience points for defeating monsters, for example, there's no explicit "level" system, so no indication of exactly what those experience points are getting you, if anything.

Some may also find the game a tad directionless, even with the Book of Apshai; there's no real "end goal" to the game besides fully exploring all the dungeons and amassing as much wealth/experience as possible -- but some, equally, may find the purity of that appealing.

The Bottom Line
Temple of Apshai Trilogy is a historically significant game that helped to define what computer role-playing games would be moving forward. While there were better, more complex CRPGs around by 1985, the simple purity of Apshai's dungeon crawling remains appealing and enjoyable to this day -- particularly if you have the Book of Apshai by your side to enhance the experience.