Curse of the Azure Bonds (CotAB) is the sequel to Pools of Radiance (PoR), the original Gold-Box AD&D game. The game continues after the defeat of Tyrantharaxus at the conclusion of PoR where your band of adventurers wake up in the town of Tilverton, seemingly suffering from amnesia. From there, the band of adventurers learn of the Azure Bonds seared in their arms and what they must do to free themselves of the unseen powers.
The basic game is built on the old AD&D class and race systems which give the player nearly unlimited choices on how their party makeup is built.
Curse of the Azure Bonds (CotAB) is the sequel to Pools of Radiance (PoR), the original Gold-Box AD&D game. The game continues after the defeat of Tyrantharaxus at the conclusion of PoR where your band of adventurers wake up in the town of Tilverton, seemingly suffering from amnesia. From there, the band of adventurers learn of the Azure Bonds seared in their arms and what they must do to free themselves of the unseen powers.
The basic game is built on the old AD&D class and race systems which give the player nearly unlimited choices on how their party makeup is built. Races include: human, dwarf, elf, half-elf, and hafling. Classes include: fighter, thief, cleric, mage, and the two classes not found in PoR: paladin and ranger.
CotAB also allows players to "dual-class" allowing players even more freedom in how their party is built. This game, like its predecessor, is built on a 2D turn-based combat engine where the heroes, NPCS, and enemies take turns attacking with various options: attacking with a melee weapon, shooting/throw a ranged missile, casting a spell, waiting, defending, or simply ending the turn.
The normal movement of the characters outside of the combat engine is what is usually called a "labyrinth" system, where the player can see the space ahead of where the party is. Overall, the game mechanics are a bit unwieldy at first but when you understand how it works, it becomes rather simple and easy to use.
Curse of the Azure Bonds is the second of four in the Forgotten Realms line. The predecessor being Pools of Radiance and the two sequels being Secret of the Silver Blades and Pools of Darkness. While all four games have their bright spots, I consider CotAB to be the best of the foursome. PoR is a bit too basic in its story, classes, and game-play to be the best regardless of its groundbreaking status. Secret of the Silver Blades is basically set in an enormous dungeon leaving little room for the player to explore the world around him, only different levels of the dungeon so the game feels repetitive the entire time.
Pools of Darkness is the closest to CotAB because it allows the player to adventure the world on his own (as opposed to a linear progression) but the complexity of the game can be difficult to manage at times. CotAB has the perfect balance of giving players freedom to choose their own routes but also linear and simple enough for the player never to really fall behind.
