GOAT. Played as a kid, I still proudly have this game and it's great sequel (DSII) physical copies on my bookshelf. Took me a while to beat it, ran it start to finish more than a couple times, just to experience it again, fiddling with gear choices, party comp and hand-drawing maps for the caves and swamp mazes so I didn't get lost, after running in circles for some time. I love this game and its sequel, the third instance, not so much, it lost the things that elevated the first two into adoration.

This is a game which does a lot of innovation for its time - for the 3D environment to how you level and many more. However it is really, really bad. Bad story, very bad AI and worst of all the gear. For example when you cast spells you increase your skill in the selected magic school and intelligence. You need both to cast more powerful spells. You see a cool staff dropped? It increases your melee dmg and rarely any magic related.
When you beat the game cool stuff drops...and thats it. You cant transfer your characters. Even in the dlc you start from scratch.
If you are not for the nostalgia, avoid. It is simply a loss of time.

A gem from my childhood and one of my favorite ARPGs ever.