In Pictures: A History Of Computer RPGs

That's the title of a new feature on Tom's Hardware that takes a closer look at seventeen of the most influential CRPGs released over the past 30+ years. Some of the titles features include Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Might and Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum, Pool of Radiance, Hero's Quest: So You Want to be a Hero?, Eye of the Beholder, The Elder Scrolls: Arena, Fallout, Baldur's Gate, and Dragon Age: Origins:
The first Hero's Quest was a hybrid of computer role-playing games and the traditional graphical adventure games that Sierra was known for at the time. The combination proved to be successful, with the Quest for Glory series spanning a total of five installments. Many other games have successfully used this combination since, including Sierra's popular Krondor series, the first part of which was published in 1993.

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Baldur's Gate and its sequel, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000), as well as its spin-offs Planescape: Torment (1999), Icewind Dale (2000), and Icewind Dale II (2002), are often considered the second (Gold Box) games. They shared the use of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules (now the Second Edition), the Forgotten Realms setting, and party-based game play. The player only created their own character, though, and the other members of the party were pre-made characters (NPCs) that the player met during the game and could invite to join their party. Many players grew attached to these characters, particularly in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, as they had unique and interesting personalities. The game also featured a hybrid approach to real-time game play. Even though the game was mostly real-time, the player could pause it using the space key to issue commands at any time, providing a fast option for smaller, easier battles, while retaining a tactical option for larger, harder battles. The games are often considered to be the best adaptation of tabletop role-playing game rules to date.