Return to Krondor

fantasic game from my childhood. A true gem this is. I would recommend this game to anyone who loves old school games.

This game is short, but very much a fun RPG.

Pros:
Death in combat allows you to retry instantly, the RNG of each round of combat's buffs causing different outcomes. Keep trying and you generally will succeed.
Multiple Characters, though a brief period of time you play as only one character.
Bookmark saves allow for a quick save experience if just learning the ropes.
Older game, many fine resources exist for gathering information.
Some side quests and secrets, so not just a linear get to the end game.

Cons:
Dated, and not very user friendly on controls.
Sometimes vague directions for the story progression.
No controller support.

Possible Cons, these may not be everyone's cup of tea:
Most items need identified, and the system isn't overly forgiving. You need ot level up after a failed assessment to try again. There is hope, two items WILL be in the beginning chapters that take your analyze skill to 90, making it much easier if you are patient enough to wait.
Only one cheat exists, many people like to blitz these older games in a overpowered manner, that isn't quite possible here.

Altogether a very fun game, please consider buying. You can also read many books about these characters and more in the books that spawned this game and Betrayal in Krondor, by Ramyond E Feist.

I loved this game but the current steam version says there is a problem with .trx file when you try to pick up Jazhara in chapter 0. I've spent a long time trying to trouble shoot this to no avail.
I could also not get the characters nor NPCs to display on a Windows 11 machine. I'm guessing its due to the absence of Direct3D but I didn't test that.

While the game itself is good and worthy of being recommended, I can not in good conscience recommend that you purchase the game on steam. For me the steam version crashes every time I attempt to talk to any of the npcs, making the game unplayable. No workaround to improve stability worked for me.

If you are interested in playing this game, I highly recommend that you buy it on gog.com instead.

The best kept secret in early PC RPGs, this game is a 1998 gem with compelling characters, incredible story plot, & a thrilling but comfy turn-based fighting system. Based on the incredible world created by author Raymond E. Feist, Krondor is a rich & captivating landscape, dark & enchanting, filled with secrets & the greatest adventures.

Ive been playing this game for 20 years and this is what I can tell you. Story 10/10, game play 7/10. there are things the game lacks that were not fully flushed out like most 90's games, hell even games now miss the mark and most of the time in unforgivable ways. This is not one of those games. You are limited to how many fights you can get into overall. Whats that mean? there is actually a total number of fights in the game and after that you just stop getting the random fights. But to the credit of the game they are random. Potion crafting system is fun to use. It is an older style Turn based RPG. But great immersion, great story telling, I love the style of artwork where most of it actually looks like someone drew it at times. Downsides? sometimes the cameria angles in the game can be annoying. most areas you can switch up the cameria angle because you can kill someone and they can fall off screen. Easy to learn game without a steep learning curve, but if youre not paying attention to the story some aspects of the game can become hard. For example, much of it has a kind of sherlock holmes feel to it. there is a story being told and if youre not involved in it you can miss or not understand where to go to next. My Top 5 games of all time - FF10, Ocarina of time (Zelda), Pokemon Red, Final Fantasy : Mystic Quest, and Return to Krondor.

General Thoughts/Overview:


TLDR: This is an amazing game that desperately needs a remake. Sadly in its current form it’s more rage inducing than enjoyable.

Return to Krondor (RtK) is the follow up to betray at krondor. Both are absolute classics and superbly written adventure RPG’s.
RtK sees you put in the shoes of Jimmy the hand, or Squire James, as he is now know (If you haven’t read the books, don’t worry. Most relevant book lore is explained.) Jimmy finds himself inexplicitly drawn into a grand adventure where the fate of the land lies in his hands.
Control Jimmy and the party, breaking into houses, killing random people, and fighting with the game camera as you romp around trying to work out what in hells teeth you’re meant to do next.

Pros:

• Game mechanics are satisfying, though frustrating. (Deets to come).
  
• The story is tightly written, characters remain consistent to the books (where relevant), and everything feels well put together in the world building (though it does lean towards teen drama at points).
  
• Music and voice acting are well done, giving a good dose of atmosphere (though can be a little repetitive.)
  

• Camera is the worst. If it were an animal it’d need putting down. The lack of control, the way it’s angled, and the way it moves… My lord, it was like the person designing this was drunk and had their fingers broken. It’s so bad even cancer would be nervous sharing a cell with it.
  
• Movement is also a chore. Everyone is so slow… SO. SLOOOOOW. I found myself chewing on my desk, face turned to the screen, and tears rolling down my cheeks as I waited for the party to cross a single screen. If there is a mod to speed up the walking, and you’re the sort of person who likes to mod games, find it and use it.
  
• The game mechanics are the best worst mechanics I think I’ve ever seen. The lock picking minigame would be inspired, if it let you store info better than it does. The combat screen, magic use, item use, and equipment ideas would all be inspired, if they weren’t so rage inducing. The alchemy is really interesting, but is so poorly utilised because of the time and consumption needs, plus the party need never rest, and the skill means nothing thanks to recipes. The million years it takes characters to move to enemies, follow through the attack commands, and generally show action increase desk chewing moments. The combat that has no retreat option, and the inability to set up a formation means sometimes you just get ruined by RNG deciding who stood where. Also you can’t prep for a fight, even if you know it’s imminent, which is SUPER annoying.
  

• Tweak walking speed.
  
• Make potions scrolls, same items etc. stackable in the inv. Keep the weight mechanic that ruined my hoarder arse, but make it so I don’t need to scroll through 19 miles of the same potion.
  
[*] In the lock picking minigame, have each tool show its chance of success if you’ve tried it before Allow investigations to happen once to uncover the mechanics (and possibly miss something for reduced damage), AND once you’ve got the perfect/best combo for opening the boxes, allow the puzzle to be skippable.

Amazing game, just as I remember it. For anyone having trouble getting it to run, I just went into Nvidia GeForce Experience app and turned off the "In Game Overlay" toggle under settings and it kicked right on. Been running for ~3 hrs over 2 days with no issues including loading of a save file. Running Windows 10 Home 64-bit with i7 and RTX 3060. Hope that helps!

As much as I loved this game growing up... DON'T buy it if you are running windows 10. It does not work on newer operating systems, and if you want to play it you have to jump through a lot of hoops to do so.

Constantly crashes in Windows 10, totally unplayable. Why are they selling a game that you can't even play in modern PCs is beyond comprehension.

its one of the coolest games BUT it doesnt work anymore on steam its a file that diesnt get found

One of my favorite rpg's growing up. It really is a shame that saves don't work on this version. It would be perfect if they did but it's pretty much unplayable since you have to start from scratch every time you open the game.

Well...After the fix

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Return to Krondor\RTKRONDOR.INI
TrackDir="C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Return to Krondor\Tracks\"

10/10 really enjoyable game

I purchased and downloaded this classic eariler today looking for a nostalgia trip for a game I played a lot when I was younger. The game installed and launched fine but when I started a new file and tried to save, I recieved an error message that read "invalid character on screen". Further, when I was in the save menu and tried to leave the menu, I recieved the same error message and the only way to exit was to exit the game via hitting ctl, alt, delete and closing the game. I loved the game when I was younger but this version is buggy and does not appear to be working as intended and is reflected by several negative reviews. Dissapointed.

Just does not work. Tried many "fixes" that people suggested on-site and off. nothing helps. My time played is erroneous. Sometimes it has shown itself running on my steam page although not on my task manager. Have to reboot to shut it down.

I played this game many years ago when it was first released. It is a great game to play, unfortunately Steam's version is not playable. I have had multiple issues just getting the game up and running, having to troubleshoot issues which turned out to be simple resolution compatability to unverified files... Easy fixes that the Steam staff could take care of before this game is offered to be sold in their store (or at least give a warning as to what you need to do top get the game to simply open). Now I actually get the game running, and the first click I perform in game I am told files are missing, then the game prompts me to shut down the game until I uninstall and verify the files again. At which point the same issue occurs. A lovely circle... Steam you are truly letting a classic game down by not addressing simple mechanical issues with the game. But I am sure you will keep accepting purchases whether we get to play what we payed for or not...

I love the game, but I don't love the fact that there are fatal mid-game crashes that Steam cannot support (i.e., the "missing .trx file" error) and Activision (the listed game owner) refuses to support due to its age. Why Steam sells a game that has zero support is beyond me. It should either be converted and tested for people using modern operating systems or it should be taken off the store.

Not as good as Betrayal at Krondor, but still an excellent and entertaining old school RPG.
Combat is enjoyable and the story is also interesting, although there is not as much freedom as in BaK.
Must have for Midkemia fans and strongly recommended for anyone who likes RPG games with turn based combat.

I played this game growing up, and when I saw it up here, I snagged that shit like it was a baby drowning in a lake. Honestly, this game is amazing, a bit old, but I really do enjoy the way you get to grow the characters and anything with Alchemy I love.

If you like older RPGs and missed this one, get it, it's a must play IMO.

Is it as good as Betrayal At Krondor?

No, of course not.

But if you are a fan of Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar series then this game is essential.

(P.S. Betrayal at Krondor is available on Steam under "Betrayal Collection".)

Without a doubt one of my favorite computer games from my childhood. It hasn't aged beautifully, and the story might not be the most twisted complicated mess of branches, but still an enjoyable game which is certainly worth investing some time into playing.