You find yourself searching for an item to continue a quest with great lore and story. You hear the echoes of the deep dungeon that you've delved several levels down into in the process. Along the way, you've already escaped death multiple times as you've witnessed your own salty blood oozing out everywhere around you.

And then as you walk out of a corridor into a small room you see a shimmer in the dark! ..There it is! That artifact that you need and that has brought you across the lands to this very moment. But as you near it, from the shadows that you couldn't see because of a dungeon wall step four deadly enemies, all with ranged weapons! You feel your real life butt cheeks clench and you hear your own lips cry out "not like this!" to anyone who might listen!

Blap! Splook! You feel the hits from several enemy shots pierce both the armor you wear and your skin! Your health drops fast and you know it's over after all these hours! But wait! Suddenly you remember that last unknown artifact you picked up off the last mob you killed right before you descended the stairs down to this floor. You quickly open up your inventory and "examine" that artifact right as you take yet another shot in your left side! OMG! It's a grenade! You have a chance! You carefully aim the grenade evenly between all of those mobs who eye you now with murderous intent!

KER-BLOOOOOOMMMM!!!

Bloody corpses now surround you but one foe remains. You check his health status and see he is "badly wounded" as he angrily hits you again and your health drops to just 1 hp! You desperately pick up a stone just to your right and target him, knowing full well that if you dare miss this shot, your existence is over and you'll need to start a new adventure with a brand new character all over again.

{{{.....Drum-roll......}}}

The above is a very likely scenario you'll experience time and time again should you just give this game a chance. The game will captivate you and make you think like many AAA polished games flashing fancy 3D graphics will never do like this game does so very well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIs0olBBXM8&t=1219s
The descriptions this game gives and the crazy situations you'll find yourself in are something like I've never quite experienced in any game in my entire life... and I've played THOUSANDS of different games of all kinds and genres. The background music is top notch and always seems to fit the moment. The UI is expertly done and the options allow you to customize to your hearts content.

I've barely just started, but it's easy to see an epic game when I witness one. This is a game of games. This is a mastery of digital art combined with unreal levels of unpredictability.

Don't judge this game by it's old school graphics. If you do, you'll be missing out on a real masterpiece. And you'll have nobody else to blame but yourself, especially if you've read this review and this message urging you to take the dive into the "Caves of Qud".


10 out of 10. With a +2 bonus to story writing and a +4 bonus to additive gameplay that will have you playing again and again.



HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. To say "no" to this game gives you a -10 intelligence penalty. You've played all the over-polished 3D games hundreds of times before. Isn't it well past time to try out a game made with real passion & heart and mechanics so deep they make Baldur's Gate 3 look shallow in comparison?