Dungeons & Dragons Bundle

Genre: Compilation / RPG

Players: 1-64 Co-Op / Competitive (Online)

.

Review:

Dungeons & Dragons Bundle, released on the Nintendo Switch in 2023, is a Compilation of three RPGs and RPG bundles that all previously released on Nintendo Switch in 2019: Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Editions, Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Editions, and Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition, all together making for five individual games included in this package. These are all games that were released much earlier on PC, and are remastered in this current release.

I have previously reviewed all of these games. Here is what I thought of each of the individual parts of this collection:

Game	Genre	# of Players	Score
Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Editions	Compilation / RPG	1	C-
tl;dr Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Editions are two classic Western RPGs from 1998 and 2000 that are finally playable on a console for the first time in this release. Unfortunately, the awkward controls in this release make it seem like the game was a poor fit for consoles in the first place, and this problem is made worse by horribly dated graphics that make the game an eyesore. On top of that, the basic game design here is very user-unfriendly, even for those who can get used to the odd controls. The story and voice acting in both of these games is still excellent, but only the most patient players will find it worth suffering through this archaic mess to enjoy that story.
Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Editions	Compilation / RPG	1	C
tl;dr Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Editions are two classic Western RPGs from 1999 and 2000 that are finally playable on a console for the first time in this release. Unfortunately, the awkward controls in this release make it seem like the game was a poor fit for consoles in the first place, and this problem is made worse by horribly dated graphics. On top of that, the basic game design here is very user-unfriendly, even for those who can get used to the odd controls. The story and voice acting in both of these games is still excellent, but only the most patient players will find it worth suffering through this archaic mess to enjoy that story.
Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition	RPG	1-64 Co-Op / Competitive (Online)	C+
tl;dr Neverwinter Nights is a remastered port of a 2002 Western RPG originally released on PC, and while this game made the transition to console better than the other games in this series, it is still extremely dated in its graphics and controls, and the story feels lacking compared to the prior games. There’s a lot of quality RPG content here if you’re willing to overlook the many, many ways this game has aged poorly, but most would be better off sticking to more modern games.

In short, these are all games that I feel are a poor fit for consoles, or at least these ports do a poor job of ensuring the game’s controls transition well to consoles, and that’s a shame, because many of these games were epic, groundbreaking PC RPGs back in the day. Neverwinter Nights being a 3D game means that it fares a bit better than the other games and has aged the best of the lot, but I found its story bland compared to the prior games in this series. And I think Planescape: Torment may have one of the more interesting stories here, but you really have to have a lot of patience to play through this version of the game.

Okay, so clearly I don’t think these games play well on Nintendo Switch, but if you still want to buy them, there’s also the question of how good a value this all-encompassing bundle is, and the answer there is… very, very well, although this is probably more due to the original releases of these games on Nintendo Switch being overpriced at $50 each. By comparison, this package’s $100 price tag still seems a bit steep, but shaves a full $50 off the total price.

In the end, make no mistake, these are absolutely not bad games, although some of the older games are certainly a bit dated by today’s standards. But the story, voice acting, and RPG mechanics present in this Compilation are an absolute treasure trove… that is unfortunately difficult to appreciate because these games simply do not play well with a traditional controller. If at all possible, play these games on a PC. But if you must get them on Nintendo Switch, this bundle is definitely a better value than buying the games separately.

tl;dr – Dungeons & Dragons Bundle is a Compilation that includes Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Editions, Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Editions, and Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition. These are all legendary PC RPGs, that sadly just do not play well at all on a console using a controller. However, if you are determined to get these games on Nintendo Switch, this package will save you $50 compared to the cost of buying these games separately. I highly encourage you to play these games on PC instead, but if you absolutely need to play them on Nintendo Switch, this package is definitely the way to go.

Grade: C+

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}