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About the Codex true true
Me!

Hi, I'm Jefklak/Wouter and you're looking at Jefklak's Codex, a dedicated and highly opinionated website about nostalgic games. The word nostalgic should be emphasized here. I grew up with a Game Boy between my hands and PC RPG games burnt into my retina. That healthy cocktail left a lasting impression—and netted me the Codex (and glasses).

If you found this website amusing and/or helpful, you can buy me a coffee via Ko-Fi or via PayPal—if you don't mind I'll use it to drink tea instead. I also like to hear your feedback via e-mail: say hello.

We retro fans have to stick together you know!

About the Rating System

Inspired by the review methodologies of GoodReads and EuroGamer , I award each game a simple and obviously subjective score between 1 (very bad) and 5 (very good). They have the following meaning:

  • ---Bad
    Avoid this game unless you prefer bad ones.
  • ---Mediocre
    For fans only: some strenghts and a lot of weaknesses.
  • ---Good
    Very likable if you can forgive its flaws.
  • ---Great
    A recommended game generally well worth your time.
  • ---Amazing
    An essential game worth the Game of the Year title.

Examples of bad to amazing games can be found while browsing all games and sorting these using the "Rating" button.

Each game platform page contains a Best Of Games list with my personal top 20 games, grouped into four categories A to D to avoid having to effectively rank them, which would be an impossible task. Believe me, I tried. Games in A are (barely) more valued than those in B, but every single entry in the Best Of Games list has a rating of either Great or Amazing.

History

The Codex has a long history, I've always felt the need to proclaim my definitive game of each generation. If you want to have some fun (you should have got some by now), try archive.org's wayback machine:

The number of attempts to constantly reinvent the site dropped dramatically when I got a job (in 2007). The Wordpress migration didn't see much new content and the Codex gradually faded out of my mind. For some strange reason Jefklak.com now is a place where one can buy hunting rifles.

As an integral part of my main 'think tank', Brain Baking, I felt the need to revive the (carefully or carelessly) written articles on the games I still love so much. I might even waste a few more sentences on them in the near future.

You can read my intentions from 2005 down below. I don't really care if it's still relevant. Let's just preserve that text as a part of the nostalgic feel.

Why this website?

This website offers RPG players some in-depth guides and walktroughs on certain character/class choices in both old and new PC roleplaying games. The first purpose of the website is to inform players who are already familiar with those games about techniques or special ways to play trough the games. People who are unsure which class to pick, which path to choose, could check the guides and read my personal experiences with the game. All articles are based upon my personal experience with the games! This means some information may or may not be accurate. Please contact me if you notice any odds. Some tips have been copied over from other persons, with their permission. If you feel I've ruthly copied something without your knowledge, please let me know!

The second purpose of the website is to encourage players who are new to the cRPG genre to enjoy one of the finest, best told and greatest experiences I've ever had with these games. The game reviews mostly include a lot of screenshots and even gameplay movies to further encourage players to pick up the game and actually try it instead of ignoring them. Most games by Troika Games and Sir-Tech did not generally sell well and both companies ended up broke. Those not-so-popular games do not get the wanted attention, and I'll try to change that by adding a few more articles about them.

Why those sucky games and not l33t game x?

Like I said before, most nowadays 'l33t' games (too popular shooters) are published by gigantic companies like EA with enough budget to fully advertise the games. Game development studios who produce smaller budget 'kult' roleplaying games, generally more disliked games, mostly end up dead because of the poor sales rates. Add to that list New World Computing and Black Isle Studios. Blame Interplay... How many of the games in this list are familiar to you? How many of those did you actually try to play?

  • Jagged Alliance 2
  • Fallout
  • Icewind Dale
  • Baldurs Gate 2
  • Might & Magic VII
  • Arcanum
  • Wizardry 8
  • Lionheart
  • Wizards & Warriors
  • ...

Most gamers who tried to play the demo (the bad part of the full game, mostly) despise them because of the 'sucky graphics' and too complicated design. For example, in Arcanum you'll be instantly overwhelmed by the character creation choices. That is, again, one of the reasons why you are here, I hope. By all means, check out my tips & tricks, and hopefully they'll be helpful. If it was not, check out the Links section for a comprehensive list of similar websites and specific game help.