The Temple of Elemental Evil

I jumped into this updated 2025 edition expecting a nostalgia trip — and mostly got one. The Circle of Eight and Temple+ touches bring the old Greyhawk module back to life, but the remake-ish label is generous: it’s more a faithful restoration than a full remaster.

This is classic party-based CRPG territory: you control up to five characters plus followers, customize skills, feats and spells, and tackle tactical turn-based combat across multiple story paths and endings. The update focuses on stability and quality-of-life—over a thousand fixes, better AI and widescreen support (capped at 1080p) are the big selling points. Combat still has that crunchy, tabletop feel which will delight old-school D&D fans, but movement, camera panning and some UI flows feel like leftovers from 2003. The re-release comes with many fan mod fixes pre-applied, which saves you the usual mod-hunt, though some players miss having direct access to Temple+’s full config UI. Environments are varied and NPCs react in interesting ways, and the music/atmosphere still hits the right notes. If you like the tactical, slower pace of Baldur’s Gate-era CRPGs, this scratches that itch—just be ready for a learning curve and occasional fiddly controls. The Steam Deck runs it surprisingly well, and the price point makes it an easy impulse buy for the curious.

The Temple of Elemental Evil is a heartfelt preservation of a classic CRPG: excellent bones and atmosphere, improved stability, but still in need of UI and camera TLC. Buy it if you want the old-school D&D experience on modern systems, but don’t expect a full remake.