[b]TL; DR[/b] dungeon crawlers with hours of enjoyment, the games are old, sometimes unfair, and that is part of the charm. It will not appeal to everyone and will take a while to get used to but if you persevere you will find something quite special, an RPG of a style that is lacking from the modern video game industry.
For the sake of some brevity, I will refer to each of the games by their acronym.
[b]Note[/b] [i]tDQoK[/i] adds mouse support for certain actions, but the series plays most naturally with a keyboard.
These games play through DOSBOX, so no need to bother with compatibility. However, the Gold Box Companion offers some QoL like an automap, quick access to the journal &cetera.
[h1]Story[/h1]
Takhisis, the Dark Queen was defeated in the War of the Lance, but evil always threatens to return, and so the forces of good keep a watchful eye to the horizon and their liberated homelands. Such is the task of your group of adventurers, stamping out the last pockets of evil, and bringing peace to Krynn once and for all.
[i]The Krynn Trilogy[/i] takes place after the War of the Lance, which can be experience as a tabletop module, a novel series, or through [i]the Silver Box Classics[/i]. Luckily, there is no required reading, what references they make are quickly expounded upon and are mostly relegated to references and cameos, essentially irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
After all this is a story of Champions, Death Knights, and the Dark Queen herself, the heroes of yesteryears have a part to play, but this adventure calls for a new set of saviours.
However, if you desire the full story of [i]the Krynn Trilogy[/i] you do need to dive into the supplementary documents, as was the style of the time. They include everything from a plot summary to maps, some background histories, correspondences, and of course the actual dialogue of the series. While this is terrible for immersion and an unfortunate symptom of the era, it does show some of the care put into the games which in general a nice bonus.
[h1]Presentation[/h1]
While the [i]the Krynn Trilogy[/i] is lacking in graphical fidelity it does manage a few striking visuals, most notable of these are the cover arts, which I find absolutely gorgeous, and it is such a shame that cover like these have gone out of fashion! Besides these you have various spreads and portraits that typically feature gorgeous pixel art. Eventually you reach [i]tDQoK[/i] and what has been of fairly consistent quality turns to madness you will see highly detailed draconians and then the scribblings of an amateur, it is very jarring.
However, you will spend far more time in combat, and what is rather impressive there is the easy of which you can tell enemies apart from one another. Despite the crude graphics they manage a lot of personality and readability, and this aspect does get an all-round improvement in [i]tDQoK[/i].
(Un)fortunately, there is very little audio of note, you get the title tracks and that is all that is worth talking about. Although, that does offer some possibilities, I did find that [i]Rhapsody of Fire[/i]’s earlier albums offered quite the appropriate soundtrack to [i]the Krynn Trilogy[/i], especially when the series ups the ante and you have dragons fighting overhead.
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
Since [i]the Krynn Trilogy[/i] is based on AD&D it will help if you are already familiar with that or any adjacent RPG-systems, but if you are not there are some tips and tricks in the manuals and the cluebooks. At the very least you should form a party of six and make sure your ability scores are high enough for 9th level magic spells, otherwise [i]tDQoK[/i] will be rougher, I would also advice getting a dispeller, a cleric as they are essential for [i]DKoK[/i] and obviously the [i]Dragonlance[/i] exclusive Solamnic Knights, the latter having some unique equipment, encounters, as well as a special quest in [i]Champions[/i].
Having played this and the other [i]Gold Box[/i] titles I can safely say that there are a lot of similarities and similar issues in the late-game. While [i]Champions[/i] lacks a gentle opening, [i]the Krynn Trilogy[/i] as a whole is easier than the [i]Pool of Radiance[/i] series and is therefore easier to recommend to someone on the fence about trying these early RPGs.
[h2]Adventuring [/h2]
In [i]the Krynn Trilogy[/i] you traverse a series of vast adventure maps in a largely linear order, in [i]Champions[/i] you are assigned specific missions, while its sequels ease up on the reins and lets you figure things out more organically.
You will mainly come across optional areas in [i]DKoK[/i] while they are absent in [i]tDQoK[/i]. The issue being that many of these areas are rather straightforward and strangely balanced. You can enter them at any time, so the difficulty progression is a bit limited, not to mention that they are often straightforward dungeon delves and not e.g. a trial of honour in the tomb of a slain knight, although [i]DKoK[/i] does have some stellar optional encounters.
On the other hand, we have the main campaigns, and they are all killer no filler. There are so many memorable areas, and intense dungeons that it is hard not to enjoy the series. Fighting your way through a city as flying citadels are harassing you from above, fighting through the crypts of your predecessors or why not an underwater section that is enjoyable for once?
I frankly love the variety of challenge, they got especially creative with [i]tDQoK[/i] which has a massive, and complex finale, as well as a number of memorable dungeons throughout. It plays with timers to affect the world (although it only changes an encounter or two) and is quite proficient in making each dungeon feel distinct.
Of course, surplus wealth is a burden, and you are better off being poor than rich, especially when the stores start getting few and far between, the alternative is trying to drag your over-encumbered bodies across the battlefield and being blasted by a fireball a tenth of the way there.
Another issue that shows up now and again is the DRM, it is improperly removed in certain games, forcing you to dive into esoteric documents to find the correct passphrase. It is a minor issue, but it is an annoyance, especially when the list of passwords is listed in a different order than what you would expect from the query! Oh, the horror!
As for [i]Champions[/i], it has one unique problem, randomised loot, do you love getting two dozen magic scrolls in a row instead of upgrades to your equipment? No? Me neither, luckily, they rectified this issue in later titles.
[h2]Combat[/h2]
While adventuring you will happen upon fixed encounters, or random patrols, in the early-game an overworld encounter can be deadly, but eventually they will turn into a breeze, more so meant to drain your resources than to kill you outright. However, random encounters are rarely worth the effort offering miniscule experience, wealth, and loot.
So, yeah, it plays like the [i]Pool of Radiance[/i] series, you make good use of utility spells, and buffs, and then eventually you get a fireball, which is when the true fun begins. Wizards throwing fireballs at one another from across the room, whomever hits the other first earns a decisive victory, and the other is left a charred corpse.
As for differences it is the Draconians, humanoid creatures born from corrupted metallic dragon eggs, they are fierce opponents and even death will not leave them harmless. Some explode, others turn to stone, and if you are unlucky your weapon will catch on their stony scales, disarming you in the middle of combat! I love that fluff, it is a neat detail, although a bit annoying in practice.
All in all, the most serious issue is not the fireball hell, nor the legions of [i]Fire shielded[/i] wizards, no, the most serious issue is that [i]tDQoK[/i] slightly changed the keyboard controls, messing with hundreds of hours of muscle memory and slighting me in the process.
