DOS Role-Playing Games
Rogue (1984) is the ASCII RPG that started an entire subgenre back in the day, called the "roguelike" ones. They may have primitive graphics and no sound, but they're still quite enjoyable. People love Roguelikes because they're so indepth and different every time you play them. Here's the PDF manual. Check out this one to see a piece of gaming history!
Wasteland (1988) is a post-apocalyptic open-ended, strategic turn-based combat RPG. Thematically an early predecessor of the famous Fallout series, it is set in the middle of the 21st century after a nuclear war between the USA and the Soviet Union. Large parts of the earth have been transformed into a wasteland in which it is necessary to survive. Players control a group of four Desert Rangers, tasked with restoring order and investigating disturbances. The full squad, however, can count seven members. Wasteland was an impressive game in its time: It offers an overhead Ultima-style navigation, an expansive, persistent world with unique locations, an actual plot, a detailed setting, decent graphics and animated encounter portraits. Here are the indispensable manual and a kind of walkthrough!
Don't go Alone (1989), the one and only RPG from Accolade, is a refreshing game set in a modern-day haunted house. Control a party of four intrepid adventurers as they battle over 100 spooks in a multi-level maze. Innovative touches include making alchemical formulae (the equivalent of spellcasting in this game), which is done with an actual periodic table, and a good variety of ghosts. Overall, an above-average RPG that does what it does well. And here's the manual...
Eye of the Beholder 2: The Legend of Darkmoon (1991) remains today one of the best real-time RPGs ever produced. It features great graphics for its time, tons of cool weapons and devious real-time puzzles that mysteriously make you come back for more traps and pressure plates to push. You control four adventurers which you can build to your liking. You have to choose from different races (Elf, Human, Dwarf, Halfling) and professions (Warrior, Mage, Cleric, Thief) or combinations thereof. The plot is typical kill-the-big-foozle fare, but the game is so well implemented that you'll be glued to the screen for hours on end. The graphics and animations are top-notch, and excellent sound effects add to an incredibly immersive atmosphere that was rarely achieved in RPGs of that time. Here's the manual.
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (1992) is a 1st-person 3D RPG and considered one of the pioneering titles in the genre. It built upon Ultima VI's gameplay and added in the first-person perspective, predating Wolfenstein 3D by a few months. The game is set in the Ultima universe, a fictional world, where the protagonist is tasked with rescuing a baron's kidnapped daughter from the depths of the eponymous Abyss. Ultima Underworld was groundbreaking and its influence can be seen in later games of the immersive sim genre popularized by titles like Deus Ex or System Shock. Here are manual and walkthrough!
Dungeon Master (1992) is an epic RPG masterpiece that revolutionized and rejuvenated the genre. You control a party of up to four adventurers of various races who must find their way through a 12-level dungeon and defeat its owner (an evil wizard, of course). Sheer playability, fiendish riddles, ingenious puzzles and an incredible atmosphere wait for you. Dungeon Master is one of the most addictive RPGs. For an in-depth dungeon crawl, there's no better game in town. However, you must download the manual for a proper entry. Dungeon Master was the beginning of it all, folks. It set the gold standard and shaped computer games into what they've now become.
Betrayal at Krondor (1993) is an outstanding medieval fantasy-themed 1st-person 3D RPG, divided into nine levels called chapters. Each chapter has a goal to achieve before moving on to the next one, but the player is given considerable freedom to explore the vast world of the game and undertake side quests. Two character classes are present in the game: fighters and magicians. Fighters use swords or crossbows; magicians can fight with staves, or cast spells. Each character has a set of skills, ranging from weapon proficiencies to abilities such as bartering or stealth. The entire role-playing system of the game relies on individual skills. Mount the *.BIN file with WinCDEmu as a CD-Rom and install it under DOSBox. Here is the manual!
Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep (1994) is the even greater sequel to the famous fantasy dungeon crawler RPG Dungeon Master. The game that started it all returns to set a new standard in interactive dungeon adventures. From the dungeons of treacherous Skullkeep Castle to the storm-tossed villages above, you'll have a gameplay experience with unprecedented challenges. With its completely redesigned version of the interface that was instrumental in the development of point-and-click, and its breathtakingly vivid game world, Dungeon Master II represents the ultimate adventure full of magic, dungeons and monsters. Here is the indispensable manual!
The Elder Scrolls II - Daggerfall (1996) is an incredibly huge open-world single-player action RPG by Bethesda Softworks. The game takes place in the middle ages on Tamriel, a fictional continent of a whopping 161,600 square kilometers and 750,000 NPCs! Daggerfall is open-ended and you can use one of the premade characters or create your own from a plethora of features. The sheer amount of things to do, dungeons to explore, quests to accomplish and people to interact with, ensures that you never get bored. Here's the PDF-manual. Download already includes a complete DOSBox installation, so no further action is necessary. You start it with the *.bat file.