Drakensang: The Dark Eye

Sounds like a great game. I am in the midst of The Witcher right now, but this will be purchased soon. I was sold when someone mentioned spending hours in the character creation screen. I love doing that!

garion333 wrote:

Is this a new trend? Is it because the pound is bottoming out?

I guess the answer to that depends on who you ask, but it has become more noticeable recently. On the other hand, when the dollar was almost 2 to the pound, I didn't seem to notice that the price of games was half of what people were posting about on US-centred boards like this one.

davet010 wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Is this a new trend? Is it because the pound is bottoming out?

I guess the answer to that depends on who you ask, but it has become more noticeable recently. On the other hand, when the dollar was almost 2 to the pound, I didn't seem to notice that the price of games was half of what people were posting about on US-centred boards like this one.

Good point.

The reason I ask is because I saw some article where the Wii will now be more expensive because of the weak pound.

I'd wager they think Europe is a stronger market for this sort of game, so don't have to lure people in with a lower price.

Or they could just have an overwhelming urge to cornhole us yet again.

Well, I'm going to throw in a bone and say that the demo did not impress me. The game didn't do anything that NWN2 didn't do except add a more complicated ruleset. Art style looked generic. Combat felt stale, and controls felt sluggish. Skinning and herbalizing took forever - this isn't WoW, guys! I also ran out of arrows WAY too soon, and then was unpleasently surpised when told I could only make myself more in the full version.

Basically, I don't see why I would buy this game over buying NWN2 Expansions, which actually elaborate and evolve that game forward, rather than feel like an imitation with a different ruleset. Or, better yet, play free user made mods for it.

I get the "warm and snuggly rpg" thing, but I guess I still want my "warm and snuggly" to not be so generic. I'm a fan of the Genre, but this definitely did not do it for me.

I'm really liking this. Not in a "holy sh*t, that's totally awesome" way. More like a "this is just pretty damn fun" sort of way. I just made it out of the first area and into the city. This is the place where The Witcher keeps losing me, so we'll see.

Some thoughts:

1) The camera is whack - just like all other 3rd person 3D RPGs tend to be. I wish the state of the art for party-based RPGs was still isometric, then I wouldn't have times where the camera thinks it's an endoscope.
2) The quests so far are fun, if a little simplistic (of course this could be the tutorial effect).
3) I played a game a long time ago based on this system called Realms of Arkania - had no idea WTF all those abbreviations meant then either. I mean really: CO AV PV EN PDQ.
4) So you can spend experience points at any time to increase your talents - very cool - but I still don't know what leveling does for you.
5) The dialog is well done, skills definitely make a difference in your choices.

So, this ain't no Baldur's Gate. But so far it's fun and I played this over the weekend instead of the Witcher, for whatever that's worth (although, based on hints from the Witcher catch-all, I think I'm at the suckiest point of that game and need to muscle through to get to the fun parts again...)

Leveling allows you to increase the amount you can put into skills.

I've reached a point where I'm at a bit of a loss of what to do. I got my ass kicked by the Rat Queen and those amoebas were a pain. I'm thinking of going back to the amoebas.

Vector wrote:

Leveling allows you to increase the amount you can put into skills.

I've reached a point where I'm at a bit of a loss of what to do. I got my ass kicked by the Rat Queen and those amoebas were a pain. I'm thinking of going back to the amoebas.

Is there a point where you don't know what to do? Or is it you know what to do but it's just really hard? With The Witcher (seemingly my point of reference), I'm at a point where I really don't know what to do and that's just too damn frustrating so I've put it aside for the second time. I don't want to get to that point in Drakensang because there would be little for me to come back to if that were the case.

Nightmare wrote:
Vector wrote:

Leveling allows you to increase the amount you can put into skills.

I've reached a point where I'm at a bit of a loss of what to do. I got my ass kicked by the Rat Queen and those amoebas were a pain. I'm thinking of going back to the amoebas.

Is there a point where you don't know what to do? Or is it you know what to do but it's just really hard? With The Witcher (seemingly my point of reference), I'm at a point where I really don't know what to do and that's just too damn frustrating so I've put it aside for the second time. I don't want to get to that point in Drakensang because there would be little for me to come back to if that were the case.

I'm not very far along but past where you are. I have a list of quests and I've gone through parts of most of them. I know what to do next but parts of the quests ramp up in difficulty to the point of absurdity. Spy is has played more than me so he can answer the question better.

I never reached a point in The Witcher where I didn't know what to do. At least, I don't remember that being the case. It's also fair to compare to the two games. Playing Drakensang reminds me of The Witcher.

The Amoebas below the temple are a trick because they regenerate - use the spell caster girl and the spell that highlights damage - cast it and run her back - the Amoeba will chase her and your other guys will kill the amoeba. Do your best to pull one amoeba at a time - otherwise run until they give up the chase.

SpyNavy wrote:

The Amoebas below the temple are a trick because they regenerate - use the spell caster girl and the spell that highlights damage - cast it and run her back - the Amoeba will chase her and your other guys will kill the amoeba. Do your best to pull one amoeba at a time - otherwise run until they give up the chase.

That's what I was thinking of doing. I think they are the only quest I can complete at this point.

Vector wrote:
SpyNavy wrote:

The Amoebas below the temple are a trick because they regenerate - use the spell caster girl and the spell that highlights damage - cast it and run her back - the Amoeba will chase her and your other guys will kill the amoeba. Do your best to pull one amoeba at a time - otherwise run until they give up the chase.

That's what I was thinking of doing. I think they are the only quest I can complete at this point.

My character is a *far* better charlatan, so I don't use the girl. I stand back with the amazon/archer until I run out of MP, then I close in to help the dwarf/tank and the rouge. Once you know they regenerate it's easier, but those rat things suck, it's hit or miss whether or not I'll make it through a mob. Last time I got the game over screen while 3 of my people still had at least half their life bar left- Too many wounds.

Nightmare was right in the assertion that the underlying system leaves a little to be desired. That's what happens when a fantasy P&PRPG tries to differentiate it's self from D&D- They end up differentiating themselves from what works.

I just picked this game up last week and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I ever did the NWN games. I actually like the weird little PnP mechanics under the hood because it reminds me of the old days when everyone had a big, crunchy rule system, like Rolemaster or Top Secret.

Captain_Arrrg wrote:

Nightmare was right in the assertion that the underlying system leaves a little to be desired. That's what happens when a fantasy P&PRPG tries to differentiate it's self from D&D- They end up differentiating themselves from what works.

And now for the littlest of nitpicks: I'd hate to think D&D is the gold standard of RPGs. I don't think there is anything special about that system other than a cultural familiarity among American game players. The Dark Eye would have the same familiarity to its original audience.

Well, I don't think I harshed on the system so much as all the acronyms and terminology that are new to me (and therefore strange and therefore evil ). Or worse, those that are the same or very similar to a D&D-esque RPG but don't mean the same thing. The tooltips over the terms on the character sheet help quite a bit, though, as does playing the game and figuring out what works.

So far it's been fun, but I'm still way early into it. But anything that will get me to play it for an hour after I quit TF2 to go to bed has to be doing something right.

Edit: Oh yeah, I'm also having more fun with this than I did with NWN2 or the first expansion and part of that may be the newness of how everything works. On the down-side, every time I see Aventuria I wince a little bit inside.

I guess what I latched onto was how leveling works. I want a little more than the ability to put a few more points into a spell... level 3 should be more than slightly different than level 2. It's almost as though they put levels in as an arbitrary mile-marker, because a RPG has to have levels right?

The rest of the system is competent, the levels were my real nit-pick (that and it's claustrophobic nature at times), and the game is worth picking up.

As for D&D being a gold standard: For better or worse that's how it is. IMO, this seaming apprehension toward D&D leads to silly design choices. Chances are that D&D wasn't the first implement any given rule or mechanic... Chances are also good that The Dark Eye people just did what felt right to them and I'm just blowing smoke. The leveling still seems jacked to me, and some D&D style level restrictions could make it seem more interesting.

Captain_Arrrg wrote:

The leveling still seems jacked to me, and some D&D style level restrictions could make it seem more interesting.

I don't really get the level system in this game either, other than as a mile marker for progress. Other skill based games (like the Elder Scrolls) throw levels on top as well. Of course, I don't like it in those games either. The level concept must be too insidious to give up.

AnjinM wrote:
Captain_Arrrg wrote:

The leveling still seems jacked to me, and some D&D style level restrictions could make it seem more interesting.

I don't really get the level system in this game either, other than as a mile marker for progress. Other skill based games (like the Elder Scrolls) throw levels on top as well. Of course, I don't like it in those games either. The level concept must be too insidious to give up.

If I remember correctly, when you level in TES, your max HP and MP increases... And you increase in level by increasing in skill.

Another aspect of the leveling system that I think is a little annoying is when I do gain a level, the character screen icon flashes like there is something I need to do. Usually I click it, see that I don't have enough points to up my spells, then continue doing what I was doing.

None of this means Drakensang is a bad game, just that levels don't mean much- Unless I'm missing something.

Leveling up means you can toss more points into specialties. For instance, my warrior was maxed on swords until I hit level 2, then I could put more into swords, 5 more points I think. I haven't played a spell-wielding class yet, so not sure how leveling ties into the magic system, but would guess it's similar.

Now off to go and play....

Leveling is kind of strange. I'm also not familiar with the acronyms but I'm also not familiar with D&Ds acronyms.

I'm enjoying myself. I never get lost or stuck. I like the characters in my party and battles have a nice feel to them. The pirate class is very strange and is basically a weird tank. Just finishing up in Moorbridge and the main quest has me headed back to Ferdok.

Anyone still playing Drakensang or finished it yet? I'd love to read more GWJer Drakensang stories / impressions now that a bit of time has passed.

I'd pick it up, but my experience with STEAM shows that I tend to buy something about a week before the winds of fate put it on sale. I'm a bit trigger shy at this point.

Does combat have that MMO mob pulling type mechanic to clear areas?

Irongut wrote:

Anyone still playing Drakensang or finished it yet? I'd love to read more GWJer Drakensang stories / impressions now that a bit of time has passed.

I'd pick it up, but my experience with STEAM shows that I tend to buy something about a week before the winds of fate put it on sale. I'm a bit trigger shy at this point.

Does combat have that MMO mob pulling type mechanic to clear areas?

It's very much like a single player MMO... Which can be a bad thing. I think it would benefit greatly from some sort of online co-op, because I have some trouble motivating myself to keep playing.

Maybe you would be better off waiting for the "Drakensang 50% off" sale on Steam, or for Dragon Age.

Captain_Arrrg wrote:

It's very much like a single player MMO... Which can be a bad thing. I think it would benefit greatly from some sort of online co-op, because I have some trouble motivating myself to keep playing.

Maybe you would be better off waiting for the "Drakensang 50% off" sale on Steam, or for Dragon Age.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "a bad thing"? I'm really interested in this game as I usually enjoy crunchy stat-based single player RPGs such as the Baldur's gate series. If the gameplay is similar I think I'd be happy with this game. If it's more akin to Diablo I'd be better off staying away.

I would describe the game as The Witcher done by Bioware. The story is told almost exactly like that in The Witcher. Without giving out any real spoilers, I started in a small village in front of the town. I could not get into town because there was some sort of a problem in there. I had to curry favour with just the right people to be able to get in. Including killing some pesky wildlife, being introduced to some magical ne'er-do-gooders that will clearly be the driving force behind my game, and a finding a missing magical person. Once inside the town, I had to solve some murders and other assorted investigative tasks. When done, I left the town for a swamp. And so it goes on and on.

Unlike The Witcher, the game actually plays like KotOR. Lots of elements are reminiscent: level designs, loot, companions with their comments, etc.

If you liked KotOR and/or you liked The Witcher, and hated neither, you'll probably like this game. I am yet to encounter something that would annoy me about this game. That is to say, I quite enjoy playing it. It's not some sort of an earth shattering, but rather a solid gaming experience.

At $30 it's definitely worth it.

To second MoonDragon, it's a fun game. It's not earth-shattering by any means, but it's fun. A couple of items of note:

- It does tend to lead you around by the nose (at least as far as I have gotten), which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd like to be able to explore more and quest less
- Not being a D&D clone is a good thing and a bad thing: good, because the system feels different and fresh, bad because they use a lot of the same terms as a D&D-esque game, just not in the same way, so it took me a bit to "get in the groove" so to speak. Plus, all your stats are inscrutable acronyms, which for me is annoying...
- It follows RPG trope #124 in that, if you should talk to someone, they have a name, otherwise they have a generic title, like "Townsperson" or "Traveller". Not bad, just a little formulaic. Random people do chatter in the streets, which is kind of cool.
- The quests are interesting for the most part; there is some FedEx stuff, but not too much
- It seems pretty easy until it isn't, then it's just damn tough. Example, I'm going from the city to the next point in the game. I hit a random encounter and kill them, pretty easily. The game gives you the option to continue fast travel or let's you walk further. I decide to walk and explore a bit and I come across a giant crab. "Cool" I think. "I like crab meat." Whereupon, the damn thing just takes my party apart. TPD.
- If you like crafting, there's a lot of it you can do. Make bows, arrows, traps, lockpicks, potions, salves, etc. You buy recipes and, if you have a character that has the skill and you have the ingredients, you can make stuff.
-While a lot of comparisons have been made with the Witcher and there are a lot of similarities, this is not the Witcher. You have a party. There doesn't seem to be a lot of moral anything in this game. The fighting is strictly mathematical in nature - no mouse clicking for combos. The world is less grim in Drakensang vs. The Witcher.

All-in-all, I'm very satisfied with my purchase.

Nightmare wrote:

-While a lot of comparisons have been made with the Witcher and there are a lot of similarities, this is not the Witcher. You have a party. There doesn't seem to be a lot of moral anything in this game. The fighting is strictly mathematical in nature - no mouse clicking for combos. The world is less grim in Drakensang vs. The Witcher.

I feel I should clarify as I'm not sure I made my original point clear.

Only the story and atmosphere aspects are Witcheresque. The actual gameplay is very KotORish. In other words, the game plays like a KotOR mod that implements The Witcher-like story and setting.

Only the story and atmosphere aspects are Witcheresque. The actual gameplay is very KotORish. In other words, the game plays like a KotOR mod that implements The Witcher-like story and setting.

There is next to no similarity between this and The Witcher as far as story and setting goes. They're both fantasy-based, but Drakensang is much more shallow, poorly written and has very few actual story changing decisions to make in the game. Not to say Drakensang is bad, but I don't think the games have much in common at all.

I agree, I am not sure where the comparison came from but I don't feel Drakensang is anything like The Witcher.

I don't think I will get through the entire game. I can't put my finger on why but after a few hours playing I just don't feel like playing it anymore

Are some of the battles quite epic in feel? Do you see a good mix of enemies numbers versus large scale enemies like dragons, giants etc?

You can sense it right? I'm at the precipice of another Steam purchase and slowly teetering over....

imbiginjapan wrote:
Captain_Arrrg wrote:

It's very much like a single player MMO... Which can be a bad thing. I think it would benefit greatly from some sort of online co-op, because I have some trouble motivating myself to keep playing.

Maybe you would be better off waiting for the "Drakensang 50% off" sale on Steam, or for Dragon Age.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "a bad thing"? I'm really interested in this game as I usually enjoy crunchy stat-based single player RPGs such as the Baldur's gate series. If the gameplay is similar I think I'd be happy with this game. If it's more akin to Diablo I'd be better off staying away.

Some people don't go for it. They figure that they could just play WOW.

It does sort of have "crawl" feel to it.

Irongut wrote:

Are some of the battles quite epic in feel? Do you see a good mix of enemies numbers versus large scale enemies like dragons, giants etc?

You can sense it right? I'm at the precipice of another Steam purchase and slowly teetering over....

I killed an Ogre whilst traveling once.... There is a giant rat that keeps kicking my ace though. That gets a

Captain_Arrrg wrote:

There is a giant rat that keeps kicking my ace though. That gets a

I'm stuck on the stupid rat now. How the hell do you kill her?