Old Ravenloft Computer Games

[Ender]

So I recalled hearing about them on the boards and did a quick Google search and found that there's a bundle pack of Strahd's Possession and Stone Prophet at GOG for $10 USD. I've recently been buying and playing old games (including Planescape: Torment and Baldur's Gate 1 and 2) so I thought I might give these a shot. Are they good/worth it? I've heard there were bugs that have been fixed for this release.

[Skyrock]

I can only speal of Strahd's Possession (although Stone Prophet is very similar).

It uses the same engine as Eye of the Beholder / Menzoberanzan if you have any experience with it. It was a short-ived real-time 3D action RPG engine, one that was ultimately ditched when BG came out and Diablo popularized the current breed of action RPGs. It's playable, but clunky and awkward if you are used to the improvements that BG/Diablo brought like quick keys, mini-maps or automatically approaching enemies you click on.

Combat is initially hard. The first thing you need to do is to change from step-mode to free movement mode, or you will get your behind kicked by the first warm-up enemy you meet.
Missile weapons are more hassle than worth it with their clunky use and the need to re-collect ammo. It is much easier and more effective to operate in 5 minute work days and toss ranged combat spells instead.
After the first warm-up enemy, the difficulty moves up steeply as you get chased by warg wolves and need to secure a safe area for resting first. It becomes more manageable after that, but artificially increases difficulty with cheap shots by placing level-draining enemies directly behind doors and transition points where you can't take them out from afar.

Some of the riddles are very very aggravating, as they consist of finding barely visible buttons and activating them. It's not even hard, it is just bothersome to inspect every piece of wall for buttons (especially if you have missed one and need to backtrack).

Even in the GOG.com version, there are still several bugs that can screw up your game and turn it unwinnable (especially with a certain building in the village of Barovia that you should stay clear of until you know that you are ready for it).

The winning point of the game is its atmosphere and its small touches like the day/night cycle with the night being much more dangerous.

Ultimately, I would only recommend it to collectors, completionists, die-hard Ravenloft fans or retrogamers who need to experience the 3D SSI engine. The game has its charming points, but the awkwardness overweighs it for large sections.

[Resonant Curse]

So I recalled hearing about them on the boards and did a quick Google search and found that there's a bundle pack of Strahd's Possession and Stone Prophet at GOG for $10 USD. I've recently been buying and playing old games (including Planescape: Torment and Baldur's Gate 1 and 2) so I thought I might give these a shot. Are they good/worth it? I've heard there were bugs that have been fixed for this release.

Not Ravenloft related, but Beamdog released "enhanced editions" of Baldur's Gate, BG 2, and Icewind dale that fixed bugs, added quests and npcs . They also released a new expansion to Baldur's Gate that goes between 1 and 2, Siege of Dragonspear.

[alhoon]

I liked the EoB "Search the walls for a button!" thing.
But energy drain?! That's a deal breaker. If there are a couple such enemies, I would obviously save-scum till I didn't lose any levels. If there are many... I would abandon the game.
Energy drain was one of the worse aspects of pre-3e D&D. Stripped your character from achievements you played 20-30 hours to get.

[Skyrock]

If you know in which maps the level drainers horde up, keep your best combat spells ready before opening any doors, turning any corners or entering through any transition areas in those maps and always keep Negative Plane Protection active on the front row, the level drain it is manageable in the overall course of the game (though it leads to very careful play with a lot of five minute workdays to keep enough combat spells at hand to kill drainers before they can close in into melee).

Still, there is a lot of cheap shot level design like this one: https://youtu.be/wfk4dk-Ejlg?t=1607 (warning, LPer isn't exactly using grandma language running into this one unprepared )