Betrayal at Krondor

From thecrankyhermit

Betrayal at Krondor
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Companies Dynamix, Sierra Entertainment
First release date June 22, 1993
Original platform(s) DOS
Current official platform(s) GOG, Steam
Optimization notes General MIDI

Open party CRPG

Betrayal at Krondor
The only RPG by Dynamix is a hugely successful blend of Ultima-style world building, and tightly structured plot without the pitfalls of excessive hand-holding or railroaded linearity. Although the main plot is quite linear and heavily scripted, you have freedom to explore the world right from the start. Before reaching your first objective, you could easily spend hours meandering, visiting half a dozen cities, bumping into NPCs in the middle of the road (and being forced to make decisions), finding dungeons and solving quests, each one of them related to the main plot in some way. Every single encounter, fight, NPC, shop, dungeon, trap, and treasure chest is placed by design, complete with a unique bit of narration and/or dialog for every single one of them. Many RPGs have you routinely strip dead enemies for supplies; only BAK would also monologue on how your characters feel about it. Reportedly, Raymond E. Feist had very little to do with the game's multiple volumes worth of writing, and it's for the best.
Key people John Cutter, Neal Hallford