Drakensang first impressions Options

[stargelman]

Ok, I thought I'd just give you my first impressions of Drakensang, a new RPG that's just been released in Germany. It's based on a game system called Das Schwarze Auge (The Black Eye) which is very popular around these parts and which has served as the basis for Realms of Arkania. I myself used to play it on paper a lot as a teen, so I'm somewhat familiar with it. I think I even still got some of the rulebooks and adventures somewhere...

When I downloaded the almost 500mb sized demo of Drakensang I was not expecting too much. I heard bits and pieces about it when it was developed but didn't really pay attention, I rather wanted to wait until I could try it myself instead of trusting the opinion of others, especially games journalists who have this tendency to praise the mediocre and condemn the worth.

Anyway. Kind of a turnoff: you cannot really create your own character, but rather you have to choose from a number of archetypes that represent specific combinations of race, appearance and profession. In the demo, you also cannot use whatever advanced character editing features are available in the full version, so I cannot comment on that. So all I could do was pick a character and a name. The game comes with a rather funny name generator that creates last names like "carrotlight". Curious.

The game itself features a view on the characters that reminded me of Dungeon Siege. You can center the camera on one of your characters (Did I mention this game is party based?) and rotate it around, and similar to the witcher, you can move by clicking where you want your characters to go or by using WASD.

Combat is pretty straightforward RTwP with the ability to set when the game should pause (never, start of fight, after each round). There are a number of options that can be used during combat like power attacks and the like, but in the two or so hours I have played the demo I haven't really seen too much of that. Magic spells can be used for combat as well, with old favorites such as Ignifaxius and Fulminictus. I was also able to heal my wounds (separate from life energy!) and charm a beast using magic. I didn't play a wizard but a slightly magic elf, so I'm sure there's a hell of a lot more you can do.

There's also lots of skills and talents to explore, but I have to admit I haven't yet found out how to use many of these. I saw that I could make arrows from a number of ingredients (arrow heads, wood, glue and feathers) but I have no idea how to do it. I also saw at least one instance where a skill check was performed in dialog, and this makes me very very happy. I could tell you something about how increasing your attributes and skills work but basically it's not a new concept so I'm not going to waste your time or mine.

The landscape itself - or what I've seen of it - seems nice enough. I especially liked the dungeon in the demo which seemed to have a nice atmosphere to it.

The dialog... well, I'm not yet sure what to make of it. On one hand there seems to be plenty of it, and it doesn't all seem to be voiced which in my opinion is a good thing. And as I mentioned there are skill checks in dialog which is very good. What I'm unsure about is the writing. In places it seems fine, sometimes even bordering on great, but in other places it seems too cliche, too... I don't know. The voiceovers aren't perfect all the time either, often making me feel like I'm listening to junior sunday theater performances. I guess I'll have to try the full version and see what it's like in other places, but I can definitely say I've seen worse.

Concerning quests, you got your standard selection pretty much. You got your fetching, your rescueing, your detective quests and the kind of quest where you have to help resolve an argument between two farmers.


I'm not sure when this game will be released in English, but I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later. What I wonder is how everyone else will like the world of Aventuria, where this game is set in. So far, I can say with some confidence that I'd like to see more of this game and I will probably buy it.

[stargelman]

Update: International versions in English and other (unspecified?) languages have been announced for the first quarter of 2009.

[stargelman]

What do you know, it's actually a great game. If anyone here actually cares, I'll write a real review. Let me know.

[Kiln]

So it will be available in English then? Too late to ask for that review mate?

[Agent Griff]

I would be interested in acquiring this game, if ever I saw it in a store, so yes. Please write a review. I actually quite like them since they are concise and give a good overall message about the quality of said game.

[stargelman]

Alright, will do so when I have the time. Right now is kind of hectic at work, so allow for 2-3 weeks.