Today I want to talk about a game that I’ve played in the past and thoroughly enjoyed: Pool of Radiance!
I have previously made mention about this game but this time I will give it the full lowdown about my history with this game.
If, like me, you grew up in the age of the Commodore 64, you would know of a series referred to as the ‘Gold Box’. This series consisted of a series of Dungeons and Dragons-inspired games that took place in the same region of the Moonsea region of Faerun. This titles within this series included Curse of the Azure Bonds, Hillsfar, Secret of the Silver Blades and, of course, Pool of Radiance (there was also Heroes of the Lance, a game inspired by the Dragonlance Chronicles but the less said about that the better). The four games mentioned above all connected together to form a series with a connecting storyline (although Hillsfar was more of a side-step) with Pool of Radiance being the first one in the series.
Pool of Radiance was made in 1988 and showed a lot of ambition for the time. For starters, the entire game was built around the rules of Dungeons and Dragons meaning that matters like alignment, Thaco, and encumbrance had to be taken into account when playing. And when the game started, the player had to build a complete party of six warriors and guide them all throughout the entire game (and beyond…more on that later).
And once the game began, much of it was spent moving the party around environments in a first-person perspective. And when combat arose, the view changed to an isometric interface where the party of PCs could move and fight the enemies encountered.
Plotwise, the party found itself in the city of Phlan, a ruined city whose glory days were long gone and was overrun with monsters. One civilised area remained and it was ruled by the City Council who handed out quests and provided payment to party upon returning from a successful quest. It was therefore up to the party to take back the city of Phlan, block by block, and claim it for the council. And quests weren’t confined completely to the city area –later quests required the party head out into the wilderness to find allies or face down a particular threat.
For me Pool of Radiance was my gateway drug to Dungeons and Dragons (and dungeon crawlers). Whilst Pool Radiance may not have been the first attempt to replicate DnD in an electronic form, it was however one that made a large splash, introducing many people to it. Indeed, I recall spending many hours in front of my computer invested in this 8-bit game. Now I hear today about how many people have got into RPGs through the likes of World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy 7 and subsequently invested countless hours into it - but for me, such a similar experience came from Pool of Radiance and it fills a place in my heart that no other game can dislodge (seriously where else you defeat 100 kobolds with a single fireball?!).
The game wasn’t perfect however. There were only four classes, there was no level cap and combat required everyone involved to take a turn - meaning if you faced a horde of foes, each and every one in it had to take a turn making it very tedious very quickly. And the game’s economy was catastrophic, as in later levels the party found themselves weighed down with so much gold and little to spend it on. But ultimately the game had plenty of very good writing (for its day) and certainly had a whole lot of personality that many other 8-bit games can only dream of.
But one thing of particular interest was the character export feature. The sequel, Curse of the Azure Bonds, allowed characters from parties that had beaten the game to be imported over into this new game. This allowed the same party to be used against some tougher monsters. Now whilst this did allow for a head start and subsequently reduce the challenge offered, it was nice to see the same group of characters you’d grown attached to and show that they’re still being quite capable of kicking all kinds of arse. It was a great idea and one that no one has managed to replicate, or even better, since.
Recently, as in back in 2009, I managed to revisit Pool of Radiance with the DOS version. And this time I managed to complete it all the way through. I will admit it certainly has some appeal twenty one years since it’s first release and it was fun to see quests and areas that I was unable to see when I was a kid. I did take the same party into Curse of the Azure Bonds but sadly I wasn’t able to progress any further due to a software failure. It is indeed s shame and I hope, in future, the Gold Box series gets a proper reworking (are you reading this GoG?!).
So yeah Pool of Radiance was my first RPG I played and my first step into DnD. Since then I’ve played other RPGs but honestly it is hard to think any of them existing without Pool of Radiance (mind you there was that sequel/remake but the less said of that the better…). It was a game I loved and one day I hope to sit and play the series all the way through using the same characters.
And one last thought in parting: I recall many times playing Pool of Radiance in front my Commodore 64 in my bedroom whilst across the hallway my sister played Pearl Jam’s Ten album on her stereo. That may sound like a strange combination but whenever I hear Ten now I still recall, years later, fighting my way through a dungeon of monsters.
