I've mixed feelings about this, to be honest. Although it is a very faithful conversion of the old module (Which I've run about 6 times for different groups), the game engine seems far too dated nowadays. Sure, it's very pretty, but it's in the old Baldurs Gate style, and Neverwinter Nights has spoiled me now.
Systemwise, it's almost perfect d20 Dungeons and Dragons, v 3.5. And it works. It's just a pity some of the game is pretty dull. It suffers a little from the problem the last Pool of Radiance did, that of having to click your way travelling through cleared out areas, and the combat can be massively frustrating at times. I near had a screaming fit when fighting a group of gnolls at one point, because each and every one of them charged past my line of fighters to get at my cleric, which usually resulted in him being swarmed and killed, and nothing I could do to stop it. Much reloading happened there
It's a fun enough game, but it's not one of the best. I'm having lots of nostalgia for the old module, but it also means I'm not being surprised by a lot of the 'surprises' in the game. I know who every NPC is, who are the spies and who are the good guys in disguise, and it does wreck the fun a little bit. Also, it has a relatively low level cap for this style of game. 10th level is not enough.
On playing further, I've had to restart several times. It suffers quite badly from some 'wasted' feats and things. I discovered around reaching lvl 6 that 3 of my characters had 'wasted' feat picks. My fighter was in bad trouble because I'd specialised in the Dwarven Waraxe, an exotic weapon, which meant that I wasn't going to find any magic versions of it. I had kind of figured this, and had my cleric take 'Craft Magic Arms and Armour' to counteract this. Enter the second wasted feat. I found that in order to craft magic weapons and armour, I required some masterwork armour or weapon to enchant. And in the two towns the game has, I've found only one place that sells masterwork stuff, and that's all 'standard' gear, the stuff I've found magic variants of already.
And the third wasted feat, Craft Wondrous Item. The list available is very limited, and unless you have every spell available in the game, very few of that limited list is available for making. So, I really want to restart the game, changing my Dwarf Fighter to specialising in longsword so he can have a magic weapon, and removing Craft Arms and Armour from my Cleric, and Craft Wondrous from my Wizard. But I'm 7th level, quite far in. I don't want to have to restart.
Overall, it's not a game I'd recommend apart from hardcore RPG players, especially if you loved Baldurs Gate and bemoan the fact Bioware switched to the Neverwinter Nights style game. If you're not, then I wouldn't really bother with TOEE.
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