[img height=250, alt=American box art]http://img.gamefaqs.net/box/3/8/2/48382_front.jpg[/img]
Genre: RPG
System: Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: 1992 (US/EU)
The game's name alone probably called up memories of other games with the Dungeons & Dragons name attached to it: Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate, the Gold Box series, and probably a few others I'm forgetting about while I'm writing this. While a lot of the D&D games were centered on the Forgotten Realms setting, this game stands out for a few more reasons, the largest one being that it's the only game without any attachment to that particular setting. Add to that the fact that for a game using the pre-3.0 mechanics, there's a lot added to it to make the game that much more immersive and a lot less frustrating.
Storyline
The Goblin Wars had been going on for thirteen months. Sensing his imminent defeat, Duke Hector Barrik has begun preparations for what he felt would be annihilation at the goblins' hands, when a rip appears in the sky, pulling everything nearby into another world. This new world appears to be in a large bowl-like area, with a seemingly perpetual daytime. Barrik sends out for four volunteers to explore this new world, and this is where your party comes in. The story is a change of pace from the traditional 'save the world' goal of RPGs of the time period, instead opting for a 'hey, a new world, let's go find out why we're here' plotline.
Gameplay
Like other western RPGs, instead of a set list of heroes, you can create your party from scratch or go with a premade team. The game gives you seven archetypes to choose from:
Fighter: The oldschool weapons-and-heavy-armor class, with no restrictions on weapons or armor. Classic tank/melee character who can't use magic, but can use any weapon, armor or shield.
Cleric: Religious warriors able to use heavy armor, shields, divine magic and can destroy weaker undead enemies. Restricted to blunt weapons and slings to balance it out.
Thief: Can hide and sneak attack enemies for increased damage on a successful hit, and disarms traps the party finds. Restricted to leather armor.
Magic User: Trades physical combat potential for a wide variety of arcane spells. Balanced out by high XP requirements and an inability to use armor or shields.
Dwarf: Sturdier than Fighters, with potential for higher HP. They require more XP to level, though.
Elf: Combines the best aspects of the Fighter and Magic User and is able to find hidden doors, at the cost of the highest XP requirements and inability to use 6th-level spells.
Halfling: Almost an exact copy of the Thief, but with fewer HP.
Cleric: Religious warriors able to use heavy armor, shields, divine magic and can destroy weaker undead enemies. Restricted to blunt weapons and slings to balance it out.
Thief: Can hide and sneak attack enemies for increased damage on a successful hit, and disarms traps the party finds. Restricted to leather armor.
Magic User: Trades physical combat potential for a wide variety of arcane spells. Balanced out by high XP requirements and an inability to use armor or shields.
Dwarf: Sturdier than Fighters, with potential for higher HP. They require more XP to level, though.
Elf: Combines the best aspects of the Fighter and Magic User and is able to find hidden doors, at the cost of the highest XP requirements and inability to use 6th-level spells.
Halfling: Almost an exact copy of the Thief, but with fewer HP.
Exploration takes place in two forms: overworld exploration and maze navigation. Overworld exploration is done in a top-down view, with turn-based combat boiled down to a workable level by allowing relatively free movement (to the extent of your character's ability, anyway) before using a weapon, spell, ability, whatever. Maze navigation is done in a traditional first-person view, with grid-based movement. Unlike overworld exploration, though, combat in a maze is done in almost real-time; it's entirely possible to use an autofire function to pummel enemies to death before they have a clue what's going on.
Party management is extremely simplified and lends a more comfortable approach to the gameplay. Weapons, spells, abilities and usable gear are mapped to either the A or B button depending on what you press when the item is highlighted, while armor, shields and protective gear is considered equipped the moment it enters a character's inventory. Camping using the Start menu will automatically have magic users scribe scrolls they're carrying, and the party rests for a minimum of eight hours; if your Cleric already has access to healing magic, they'll automatically heal other party members, and if given the option, will repeat the process until everyone is at full health.
Graphics
What may turn some players off about the game is the graphics. Not that they're bad, per se; it does have some good designs to it, and you have a decent idea of what's what. They're relatively plain compared to other titles released the same year, though. There's also the level of sprite recycling the game does: while reusing sprites is commonplace in console RPGs of this era, the game reaches points where the sprites are reused without palette swapping. This becomes egregious in the middle third of the game, where you run into around six or seven enemies using the exact same image with the exact same colors.
The character animations are also limited. Walk cycles are the same 1-2-3-2 sprite animations, movement in overworld combat looks to be cardboard cutouts being shifted to and fro, and the attack animations are a single-frame 'lunge', even when using projectile weapons or casting spells.
The game does have its bright points when it comes to its presentation: everything does have its own distinct look to it (for all the points I made when discussing the lack of animation, everything does look like what the label says they are), and your character's portraits will change from neutral to angry to scared as they take damage. An interesting touch for an RPG.
Music and Sound
The music in WotES is surprisingly good. The soundtrack has a rock feel to it, with the Genesis's sound chips doing a passable job of presenting the songs themselves, and during overworld combat, the battle themes do an excellent job of matching the environment the fight's taking place in and act as a compliment for the overworld music itself. And believe me, some battle themes get intense at points.
Sound is incredibly lacking, though. Missed attacks use the same 'swoosh' sound regardless of what kind of weapon's being used, melee and projectile attacks that hit use the same 'shing!' sound, and spells will both use the same flat tones when cast and make the same 'doomf' sound if they hit. There's only two voice samples in the game as well, but they're remarkably crisp: a 'Huaagh!' sound when a player character takes damage, and a 'YEAH!' when they level up. Odd, because the clips are male voices, yet they're used when a female character gains a level as well, but eh.
The one sound that stands out, though, is the sound that plays when a player character dies. It's hard to describe in text, aside from the phrase 'jump scare', as the character's portrait goes greyscale when it plays.
Summary
The game is flawed, sure, but its good points outshine them. The tropes that other D&D titles before it are changed out for a new idea, and it's worth a look. I admit that taking a look at this game so long after I've played it (and trust me, that's a length of time I'd rather not think about) while trying to critique it was a little challenging, but I don't think you'd be disappointed.