The 2001 Dungeons & Dragons RPG Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor, once considered one of the buggiest releases in gaming history, has been rereleased and is now playable without its infamous technical issues. The original launch was plagued by problems including save file corruption, disappearing quest items, and a particularly egregious bug that deleted system files upon uninstallation. PC Gamer's review at the time described the game as containing "a multitude of outrageous bugs."
SNEG's new version, available on Steam and GOG, addresses these long-standing problems. The rerelease adds features such as widescreen support, controller compatibility, adjustable combat speed, tooltips, an action bar, and improved visuals. These enhancements make the game a smooth and problem-free experience, a stark contrast to its original troubled debut.
While the original release was marred by technical faults, the game itself was a simplistic turn-based dungeon crawl notable for being a spiritual successor to the first Gold Box D&D game and for adapting the then-new third edition of D&D's rules. This ruleset introduced significant changes, such as allowing any character to choose any class and reversing the Armor Class system so that higher numbers were better. Many of these core mechanics are recognizable in the later 5th edition of D&D.
However, the adaptation of the 3.0 rules in Ruins of Myth Drannor was rudimentary compared to later games like The Temple of Elemental Evil, which more fully implemented the 3.5 update. Player character customization was limited, with options like playing a wizard or specific races restricted, and skill point allocation and feat selection were not player-driven. The narrative is also fairly standard: set 10 years after the original Pool of Radiance, players must stop an evil sorceress and dracolich in the ruined city of Myth Drannor. A minor twist reveals the player party is a backup team sent after the initial A-team failed.
Despite its limitations and slow pacing, particularly in its early hours, the game offers simple pleasures that some players may find enjoyable. The author of the PC Gamer article notes finding enjoyment in the game's undemanding nature, likening it to "junk food D&D" that serves as a low-stakes guilty pleasure between more demanding titles. The rerelease finally allows players to experience the game as intended, free from the technical hurdles that defined its initial launch.