All things considered, in this day and age, I don't recommend that you play this game.

It's one of the old-school isometric RPGs, like Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 or Planescape Torment. The thing is that the other games focus much more on writing, which can be timeless. The focus of Icewind Dale is the combat, which at this point is extremely dated and clunky. When it came out, it was (probably) meant to be played by D&D nerds who read through the entire game manual, but now it's too much to ask me to dive deep into the details of the mechanics to prepare my party optimally for the upcoming dungeon. And don't get me started on my struggles with the UI.

And I mean, yeah, I did enjoy the story (nevermind how linear it is) and the environments are indeed beautifully rendered. But these positives just can't carry the game to an overall positive review, when the chaotic clunky combat is the main focus.

Not at all worth playing past Dragon's Eye, unless you hate-play games. The rest of the game is more of the same. In fact, this was my first time going past the crypt, and I chose a Fighter, Cleric, Thief, and Mage for my party. I don't care about kits, and I don't dual or multi-class. The zanny interplay writing doesn't elevate the dungeoneering, which defeats the point of having towns or a story. When I crawl back out of a dungeon, I want refreshment before going back. I don't want a "your princess is in another castle" style of plot, where you just prepare yourself for more endless hallways. I want some minor quest diversions, or leaving my party at the inn, to get some class specific quests. This game should have been a single dungeon and a city with quests to do between chapters, not counting time playing in chargen or backtracking. No, it should have been a game where you play as a riot cop squad in a fallen city, because that's how it plays and how the story and npcs feel.

One of my all time favourite game.