Did you ever find the cow level?
All jokes aside the original Diablo and Castle of the Winds were my childhood games. Its very interesting how different yet similar they both are. Almost like Diablo became a real-time 3D version of the turn-based 2D Castle of the Winds.
I found the cows at least... And i hate those jokes ^^
Never heard of castle of the winds, looks fun enough. Yes d1 was fun. Farnham the drunk traumatized me. But d2 was a huge upgrade. The perfect game. Though i played civilization 2 almost as much, if not more. The old games are best. no doubt. List of games i played a lot:
Jagged alliance 2. The quintessential strategy/role playing turnbased/free range game that teaches leadership. Playing on hardest and iron man, it can be unforgiving, but teaches how being systematic in every aspect better the chances of the soldiers' survival. The music, sound effects, attention to detail (like the description of items) is unequaled. There are also many hidden avenues, some more useful than others, that requires either a very ingenuous mind to figure out, or looking up on internet to get the full experience of the game. One minor thing that many may find problematic is the constant micro-management of the mercenaries, but with time, practice and using the keyboard, it becomes second nature.
2) Diablo 2. Not much needed to add here i assume. I stick to old d2lod ladder. From about 2017 i went over to hardcore and never looked back. Much more fun. Recommend everyone else to as well. Just take it slow ^^
3) Civilization 2 + Alpha centauri. You can get stuck for months with these games. Play on the hardest and try to outmanage all the other civs, while keeping the peace, and searching for the perfect start/game, is a fun and never ending challenge.
4) Settlers 3. The best economic/resource management game, in my opinion. Simple, yet advanced. Managing the flow of building order and resources can be an art.
5) Warcraft 2. To me, the best old-style strategy game. The cartoon-style unit images is unique, the music and sound effects are great. May not be the most advanced game, but the graphics and novelty factor outweighs that. Played through both versions (tides of darkness + beyond the dark portal) again about a year ago in adult age and it was a lot of fun. I couldn't get too far at age 12, lol. Cheap to buy and works on modern computers.
6) Starcraft. Doesn't need much explaining, just a damn good strategy game with some of the best music and sound effects in the gaming industry. I recommend watching a few competition matches to learn a few basic strategies, but don't ever expect to play like they do, on a leisure level, lol. Then it becomes more like a job than fun. Playing through the stories in both the original and brood war is a fun experience.
7) Mechcommander + gold. A damn fun old-style strategy/roleplaying game. It is based on more random factors, but there are ways to improve the odds in your favor. The voice acting, graphics and sound effects is really great. And the opening video is perhaps the best i've seen in any video game, it should have been the opening act to a tv series.
8) Age of empires 2. A funny and great game, which can be very advanced and make you work hard.