Drakensang - Retrospective Review

Talking about my experiences with Drakensang, a crpg from the late 2000's that uses Germany's The Dark Eye TTRPG for it's base systems.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:18 Overview
01:11 Technical State
02:46 Difficulty
03:29 Character Creation
05:45 System Basics
08:56 Progression Systems
15:42 Story Set Up & Thoughts
17:58 Gameplay & World
21:59 Combat
29:05 Steam Deck
30:07 Positives/Negatives
32:12 Conclusion
33:47 Wrap Up
Intro Music By Juan Andrés Matos, www.juanmatosmusic.com/
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#gaming #gamereviews #drakensang #thedarkeye

[@zahreel3103]

I remember playing this one back in the days and being totally engrossed. Good memories... I wish I had the time to replay such classics.

[@Groffili]

There are two very different sides to Drakensang. For the general audience, it's a quite nice, if sometimes clunky, 3D computer role playing game. But for the fans of DSA - "Das Schwarze Auge / The Dark Eye", it was a wonderful new chance to visit the lands of Aventuria in a new and graphically pleasing way. DSA is more limited in acknowledgement, but it _is_ , in the areas where it was published, and especially in the German language region where it originated, a well-known competitor in the RPG scene. It has undergone a development almost as long as Dungeons&Dragons, and the living and continually progressing world, and the deep lore makes it a beloved place to the fans. They have the whole world in mind, the history, the characters... all the things that people who don't know the background are missing. It's a completely different experience.

[@Zanji1234]

:-) it's also was (before D&D 5 i would say) THE biggest RPG in Germany. If you played TTRPGs you definitly have Played the dark eye. It's one of the few games that have a continuing metaplot were players actually get to PLAY the impactful stories and (unlike dnd) don't just read about it. The players can travel with Phileasson to win a race around Aventuria, a few ingame (and outgame) years later they can be the first one to actually witness the "rebirth" of Borbarad the most evil magician / almost god and be branded as "the seven marked ones" which were fortold in several other modules, ingame newspapers (yes the TTRPG has a newsaper that you can get /buy and it has the ongoing metaplot, scenarios and stuff) and novels, they will fight against boarbarad and MAYBE kill him. They can see the forming of the dark lands and see the downfall of the Middenlands. Basically there are NPCs that have been born and are now "adults" ingame and you as a player either met them in official published adventures, read about them in novels or in the "newspaper". King Brin for example.

[@mhjmstultiens]

What's wild is the fact many fans of RPGs don't even know this series exists!

[@blkwng]

You should really play Drakensang 2 the river of time. For me personally, I liked that one better than the this first one.

[@r.kolemaistos7788]

You absolutely must! It's one of the very few cases in which the sequel unambiguously improved on the original, more so thn Baldur's Gate even. It's a shame it received so little recognition (partly due to the rather bland first installment, I gather). The atmosphere and story are top-notch - finally a not-saving-the-world plot done right.

[@bananana5714]

Very few? In most video game series the second one is better than the first one

[@MortismalGaming]

I will, its on my list

[@8wayz2shine]

​@@bananana5714 that is usually not the case. More often than not, the second installment just iterates on the first, or is a sort of a remake. Case in point, Dragon Age 2, Dragon's Dogma 2, The Witcher 2 and so on. Granted there are exceptions to the rule - Baldur's Gate 2 is legendary, Mass Effect 2 also greatly improved on the first game, Divinity Original Sin 2 was a remarkable step forward.

[@bananana5714]

@@8wayz2shine Witcher 2 is a lot better than the first one

[@ThePhyshal]

If you are a fan of seeing more games with the Dark Eye system, I would recommend the Blackguards games. They use the same system but are instead tactical RPGs with a set party.

[@waichungsham1578]

Black guards 2 was really hard😢

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

Blackguards can be a real pain if you don't build it perfectly. And there's a two flights in that game in particular with that giant tree monster that are just ridiculous

[@burningsheep4473]

@@jmmywyf4lyf Iribaar Lillies I presume :D Yeah, they are definitely some of the most difficult encounters in the game. I couldn't beat the first of the two when I first got there, but Chapter 3 is much more open than the other chapters so you have the room to do other things before returning.

[@burningsheep4473]

I'd support that. Easily some of the most fun I've ever had with any RPG combat system.

[@Alex-gl2dw]

I recall there were 2 very nice quest games in the same The Dark Eye universe: The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav and its sequel The Dark Eye: Memoria.

[@robinmattheussen2395]

Yeah, both of these games are actually pretty decent IMO.

[@nazgulsenpai]

I bought this game on sale on Steam last year for like $2 and it's been sitting in my library, forgotten. Thanks for the reminder Mort!

[@gibgezr]

Really looking forward to the review of the second game in this series.

[@Bedlam83]

The thing I remember most about this game is its fantastic atmosphere. Really pulled me in. The original Dark Eye trilogy is also totally worth experiencing if you are into old-school crpgs.

[@burningsheep4473]

Very true. While I thought the music was merely fitting, the visuals really are very charming and atmospheric if you don't mind that particular style.

[@axelk.4273]

"The River of Time" is still one of my favorite RPGs of all time. While it's more or less the same game as "Drakensang", the devs made some small changes with quite big effects. I played the pen & paper RPG "DSA" (as it is called here in Germany) in the 80s and early 90s (yes, I'm old). While I can see that the system is a bit irritating for people who have mainly played D&D and Rolemaster-based games, the "flow" of the play sessions was simply great (pen&paper, that is). Later on, they overdid it, unfortunately, and the system became too complicated, at least imho.

[@HatiTheMoonChaser]

This was a really nice review, you really did the game justice :) I really look forward to you playing Drakensang 2

[@derkey1]

Good stuff, I really enjoy you checking out older games.

[@namizo883]

Commenting for the algorithm! Glad you did this, as I said before these two games are my favorite RPGs of all time and I never saw anyone on KZbin reviewing them. Hopefully, you'll also do the 2nd game as it is in my humble opinion much better.

[@egomaster76]

I want to once again ask for a Realms of Arkania trilogy review. They also belong to the The Dark Eye ruleset and they are great cRPGs for the time. Especially Star Trail.

[@cervurion]

The Realms of Arkania trilogy is great and I liked it way more than even Drakensang, but it's much older. The first part is over 30 years old and I don't know how well you can get it to run on modern hardware and os. It is on Steam though, listed as "classic", so it probably will. Given it's age, there is also the issue of the outdated technical state and missing quality of life features from a 2024 perspective. (The release dates were '92, '94 and '97) If all that is not an issue, I would recommend it, too - replayed it multiple times back in the day. It has the perfect crpg party size of six that you fully customize with all of them being "main characters". There are no companions like in more modern rpgs. But an extra seventh companion slot for temporary companions/allies. And you can import your party into the sequels! Great atmosphere and soundtrack, too. There are also remakes from a around 10 years ago, but I've never tried them out. The reviews are mixed and the third and final part is missing.

[@Yithiru]

Great review as always! Back then I bought the game in a nice box including a game guide, physical map and stuff. Still I dropped it a couple of hours in because I didn't understand the mechanics and I wasn't patient enough to figure it out. Maybe that's the reason why to this day I refuse to play The Dark Eye at the table haha. Maybe I should give it another try sometime.

[@patuliangray4402]

Oh, this one is my jam! Hope more people will check out this gem after your review!

[@BrooklynSquirrel]

I love finding these older crpgs I think I might get this game because it feels so similar to dragon age origins

[@Darkholow]

Oldie, but goldie. Are you gonna review River of Time as well? (the prequel game). Thanks for the review Mort!

[@MortismalGaming]

Its on my list yeah

[@stefeeNRG]

I couldn't get into Drakensang when I was a kid, it was just a little bit too complicated since I wasn't familiar with RPGS that much, but when I eventually played it later in life it was just an amazingly charming game, a real gem. I just wish River of Time wasn't region locked...

[@burningsheep4473]

Something weird about the copyright or some such I suspect. On Steam it doesn't even have german language included by default. Thankfully there is a very convenient unofficial patch for that.

[@stefeeNRG]

@burningsheep4473 yea.. i believe i've also read something in those lines. There is a petition on GoG which has solid following. I truly hope that the game will soon become available.

[@kaidorade1317]

Thanks for the review sir! I have the prequel wishlisted.

[@ashbery76]

I remember enjoying this.Feels like it was 100 years ago.

[@derheadbanger9039]

As a German who played the Dark Eye TTRPG as a kid and all the RPGs on PC from 1994 to 2015, I can't tell you how glad I am you are covering these games and increase the awareness. I prefer the Blackguards games over the Drakensang games tho. I'm suprised how positive your reaction was - back in the day, I was certainly a bit underwhelmed (I think).👍

[@user-ox8iq4wn3r]

For those curious about rules there is a rulebook within game files in pdf format

[@doctorlolchicken7478]

Honestly one of my favorite RPGs. I like how “slow” it plays. For example, when you pick a herb the character bends down and actually picks it. You also have “normal” weapons for a long time. I had no knowledge of “The Dark Eye” but it’s a fantastic system. It felt very intuitive, and more flexible than a lot of others since you don’t have intense class restrictions. My character went armorless, relying on dodging, and it’s rare that a rpg doesn’t push you into plate armor if you’re a fighter. The fact that many English TTRPGs are based on D&D is pretty sad when you see the alternatives.

[@Schlumpsha]

One of the best fantasy CRPG's of all time. Hoping you will do the honor to River of Time as well.

[@MortismalGaming]

Its on my list

[@Scyths1]

One of those games I played back when it just came out but had honestly forgotten about it.

[@armelior4610]

Speaking of Dragon age origins, that was the time of dwarven round cities around lava : Heroes of might & magic 5 also did that. Weird to have something so specific show up 3 times in a few years. The biggest flaw of this game IMO is it felt padded : dungeons are too long, some parts of the main quest feel like irrelevant side quest and too many fights/enemies. Fortunately in the PREquel it's much less of an issue, and you can go also back to any area later. No super-duper set of armor, though.

[@MortismalGaming]

Yeah the dwarven city felt extremely similar to Orzammar

[@burningsheep4473]

@@MortismalGaming Agreed. I suppose it's a rather generic concept, but I personally preferred the implementation of Murolosch. Somehow Orzammar felt never nearly as atmospheric. But it has admittedly been many years that I have played DAO.

[@phtefanphtefan3873]

Great Review, thank you!

[@gerdforster883]

About the hitting enemies from behind: it's not an automatic hit, but you get astronomical modifiers to your attack. And because most enemies you attack from behind are already tied up in melee with another character, they usually don't get a parry. The game pretends to be real time, but it really is just disguised combat rounds. Most chracters or enemies get one attack and one parry per round, so if the parry is already used up, a successful attack will go through automatically. Drakensang is pretty faithful to the TDE rules, except for magic regeneration.

[@MortismalGaming]

Yeah I figured it was something like that, I noticed like once or twice across the whole game those hits to the back did actually miss.

[@raikkuenstler]

I remember playing Shadows over Riva in the 90s (also Dark Eye world), always loved it!

[@Iverald]

Ah... Mother Ratinsky and Papa-Ratzi :D Way back in the day I couldn't decide whether to laugh or focus on not dying.

[@user-zp1lc7zw1t]

The lead game designer of the game was Fabian Rudzinski. Now you can imagine where that name orginated. :D

[@Iverald]

@@user-zp1lc7zw1t papa-Ratzi was also a cheeky reference to the previous pope, Ratzinger. ;)

[@camma12]

I picked this game up waaaaayy back in 2010 and I still been getting around to playing it 😂😅

[@TrejoDuneSea]

That giant rat legit felt like the hardest fight in the entire game, including the final one.

[@MortismalGaming]

There was a fight to avenge your dead friend and I think that one kicked my ass more than any others. Had to just cheese that one.

[@umgssda]

The difficulty for the rat fight mostly depends on how early you go there. Unlike any other boss fight this one can be accessed during different stages of the game.

[@JemyM]

I use DxWnd pretty much by default nowadays whenever I play any older Windows game. Not only do it make them all Windowed, it allows me to resize the window, add bilinear smoothing and a few other things.

[@levinjacquet6628]

Omg thank you for reviewing this random game from my german childhood lol

[@stephenreader2049]

I still have the box version (DVD case) loved the game back then.

[@SpecShadow]

Early quest about hunting rats turning into hunting bigger rats? Reminds me of Bard's Tale (2004) which was really cool

[@SebastianSkadisson]

Yay, one of my old favorites. I love the mood of this game and how while it follows all CRPG tropes, mechanics and quest designs, the story, character design and writing is outstanding, like reading a very immersive book. Alongside Project Nomands definately one of Radon Labs' two greatest games while they still existed. Sadly Project Nomads never made it into any emulator i know of and the GoG vote on taking it on board is still pending after such a long time.

[@SaHaRaSquad]

2:20 Regarding the memory limit/issues: older games designed for 32bit systems were only able to use 2GB of memory, or in the best case not more than 4GB. Especially games that can theoretically scale very far in terms of the number of units etc suffer from this and cannot be fixed by throwing more memory at them as they simply can't make use of it.

[@robinmattheussen2395]

Two points here: 1 ) I think a better comparison than DA:O would be NWN2. It was pretty obvious at the time that the developers closely modeled this game on Obsidian's game. 2 ) I thought this was a decent game at the time (released during a bit of an RPG drought), but the sequel, The River of Time, is a clear step up IMO. I still recommend playing this one first, because it makes the more polished feel of the sequel all the more satisfying.

[@r3v4n21]

I used to love this game and its sequel as a child. They were the fitst cRPGs I played (I also had access to Baldurs Gate but never got too far in it) but I never managed to finish either of them. The final boss always broke me lol I'm suprised I even got that far because I never really understood the systems. For Drakensang the strategy guidebook probably carried me. Up until the point where it crashed and messed up something in the registry of my families pc which permanently broke the game lol I highly recommend you to check out the sequel and its expansion. They're also really charming games and bring some nice improvements as well as cool story locations. The expansion takes you into what I can only describe as high elf egypt to fight demon hordes.

[@deprofundis442]

I just bought this game on GoG, so the tips from this video came at a very good time!

[@gatonegro1813]

Me sorpende que este video te.ga tantas visitas por un juego tan viejo pero para mi fue el descubrimiento de los juegos de rpg, su calidad de imagen y sonido era impresionante. Te recomiendo que jueges los DLC como dark eye y River of time. Su diseño de escenarios , su calidad grafica y los vien diseñado de sus misiones incluso las secundarias fue impresionante. Ni siquiera Skyrim se le puede comparar para mi . Le tengo un gran cariño ❤ y no tienen nada que ver con el online que no me importa.

[@SB-qm5wg]

Thanks for this vid. I've head about this game but never played.

[@sandrajohansson1516]

I had forgot this game. it was my favo game of all time back in the days

[@alderic]

I recommend one day, give a try to Realms of Arkania trilogy, it all on gog, it can be a lot, specially during character creation, but with the manuals (and a guide or two) is doable, the franchise is a fascinating crpg series that was trying a lot of things of ahead of time, even it was a bit confusing.

[@Stefan-xt5sk]

Ah, the nostalgia of seeing the fireball opener for combats. xD I often threw 2 fireballs in rapid succession from max range, sometimes in the very lategame even 3. The cast time is very long, but as long as nobody can attack yet, rounds move quickly and let you essentially skip that time. It's a great way to thin enemy lines before engaging them directly. I'm curious about your opinion regarding the prequel - River of Time.

[@guyinapandasuit2691]

I just finished the summer games video and there i was worried about your health, now im REALLY concerned haha. No but seriously i hope youre taking good care of yourself. Your content is great. Your ability to thoroughly complete games and get reviews together is impressive. That said, Im looking forward to watching this. I had a friend play this game when we were kids i think. Very nostalgic

[@Grey_Area]

Perfect algorithm. Literally just got sent here from first impressions 😂

[@Dyarven]

Hopefully you can get to run the prequel and the dlc which story wise improves a lot and has the companions a lot more fleshed out as well! Btw there is a cool easter egg if you buy the rock goblin for your house from the chicken guy

[@markusbarten455]

About the companion quests or lack there off, I think that originally there were supposed to be quests for your companions but they were scrapped due to time limitations. Although the only one where that really feels relevant is the depressed mage (I forgot his name).

[@burningsheep4473]

They did the smart thing for the prequel and reduced the number of companions to the absolute minimum. But the development cost still killed the company unfortunately.

[@purgedome2386]

Can't really remember much of the game BUT i did enjoy it.. trying to keep my NPC's close was fun.. remember them keep on running off. Hope I'm talking about the same game.. cause i can't remember the plot even after watching your review. Maybe something to replay.. Hehe.. I do remember this game took a half day(or more) to download for me. Only had a 1.5 Mbps connection back then and no Steam yet.

[@Sengial]

Oh my god I used to play drakensang online 13 years ago. Good times

[@civ-fanboy2137]

Sorry for the bad english localisation, because the german one ist really good. Even better in the prequel, where the german voices of Brad Pitt and Leonardo di Caprio are Ardo and Cuano

[@burningsheep4473]

I did play both of them in German, but from what I've listened to it's somewhat subjective. Seemed more hit-and-miss in both languages. Perhaps the english voice acting is a little worse in places.

[@whatistruth101]

I love both drakensang games

[@NightmareSluagh]

The Dark Eye/Das Schwarze Auge TTRPG setting is one of the most lore heavy and interesting fantasy world that has been created. Surprisingly though this game looks high fantasy and high magic and my understanding is the original TTRPG is actually quite low fantasy and low magic. Anyways, it's definitely Germany's Dungeons and Dragons but as far as the setting and the lore goes, one could compare it more to Warhammer 40,000. It's that detailed and involved.

[@coconutologist]

Thanks for the video. Mandatory stealth in a game like this seems pretty bad. I could be mistaken, but the idea with titles like these is that you approach any challenge in the manner of your choosing, so anything mandatory kills that. But stealth is worse, because it kills the combat. Onward to 400k. All glory to the algorithm.

[@MortismalGaming]

Its not mandatory, there's just a couple occasions where it's suggested.

[@niceman3706]

If you have etiquette you can farm xp at the very beginning btw

[@backpackingtony1779]

How so?

[@niceman3706]

@@backpackingtony1779 at the very start of the game you will be approached by guard and if you have etiquette there will be extra dialogue option you can keep on repeating for 5 or 15 xp

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

I don't know if you've played Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic part 1 and 2, but I cannot recommend those enough. They too are becoming quite difficult to get to run on Modern hardware, but are some amazing games. Moreso, if you like Star Wars!

[@MortismalGaming]

Yeah I played and reviewed both a couple years ago

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

@@MortismalGaming lol oops.. I see I already have both watched, and liked..

[@TheSauronchik]

I barely remember the game it self, but I remember that I liked it :) I think I went full crit/wound route and it worked well (question mark?).

[@MortismalGaming]

Theres a few bosses immune to wounds but otherwise its pretty effective yeah

[@ELSuperJake]

I remember really liking Drakensang but I havent been able to get it working on modern systems

[@minze202]

I rembember this game. I played this as a kid and I remember it being good but unfortunately didn't leave that big of an impression after playing neverwinter Nights 2.

[@Uv3Harman]

Still waiting for you to take a look at Gujian 3. It is truly fantastic experience

[@AvrengostGames]

It's nice you can have Gimli in your party 😂

[@Schlumpsha]

Another TDE RPG available on steam is Demonicon. Demonicon is to Drakensang what is WotR is to Kingmaker. In tone and atmosphere I mean. The system is a pretty big departure tho.

[@hasibreza5426]

You should definately try Drakensan 2, a superior version in every aspect except for the story/companion (imo, dark eye storytelling is much more compelling than river of time). P.S. I could not get my hands on the english version of the game at release, so i had to use google translate and play the german version, that's how much crazy i was for this game.

[@galotta8475]

@27:25 - Lore: Magic is granted through the goddess of Mada, but it`s very rare. Only 5% of the population are capable of using magic. Therefore, every service of a mage is expensive. In addition, the magical ingredients are rare and therefore expensive, which makes the service even more expensive. Evil tongues claim that “The Dark Eye” is a medieval simulation instead of a pen & paper roleplaying game.

[@SebastianSkadisson]

I couldn't find it online, but i believe there is a Linux version of this game. That's what people might be refering to when they say "it runs great on Steam Deck".

[@gkkk2735]

Are you it isnt using proton?

[@lolasdm6959]

You should review freedom fighters

[@Alex-gl2dw]

Hey, if you're onto covering old games how about Nox from the year 2000?

[@Tartonka]

Drakensang and River of Time were 2 of the best Pen&Paper Style Rpgs i played back then. Sure limited in some ways but if you like The Dark Eye overall, it was just magical. Sadly it was never succesful enough to spawn more games like this because the Franchise was just to small outside of germany i guess. Because one thing i definitly see.. without an overall liking of The Dark Eye it is much harder to get the same enjoyment out of it. But i definitly agree with someone else here, The River of Time is even better in nearly all aspects. The only thing i didn't like about it, is the extremly limited pool of party members.

[@timmyburch6501]

❤

[@finnfeaver1196]

I cant buy this in New Zealand! What a shame, its right up my alley. Time for a replay of Tyranny

[@Baraz_Red]

Large address memory error and crashes (LAA) : so it truly is similar to Dragon Age Origins :P Anyhow, there is a mod/fix for this, like there is one also for DAO. It is accessible on the Gaming PC Wiki.

[@Baraz_Red]

I cannot include the link without KZbin hiding it.

[@TheGronkus]

Gronk!

[@grey_wulf]

Are there mods to reduce the number of enemies?

[@tylerlamb4108]

havent played that game in ages...

[@SuperDeadbones]

wow... the memberries. i really liked it back in the day... but wont touch in nowadays.

[@ryandavid1277]

Any Steamdeck issues, Mort?

[@MortismalGaming]

Well like I mentioned in the video I couldn't get it to work at all personally, but some people claim they have so eh.

[@ryandavid1277]

@@MortismalGaming Oh you covered it, didn't hear. Thanks. Bummer though.

[@burningsheep4473]

I did really enjoy it some years ago. Surprisingly much so. As far as the enemy spam is concerned I didn't perceive it quite as negatively, but I think that might just be because Dragon Age - Origins has showed me how bad it can get. Even NWN 2 and Drakensang at their worst are never nearly as bad. Or at least that's how I remember it.

[@erdrickx784]

I played this back in the day and had to set it down after the rogue character leaves the party leaving you with no way to pick locks. Why do all these old games take your damn rogue? Looking at you BG2.

[@MortismalGaming]

They give you a replacement like 3 quests later

[@karayaziband]

looks like discount dragon age origins

[@MortismalGaming]

A crude comparison for my taste, but yeah you're not far off.

[@Rainhartt]

Yes Morti! Finally Drakensang :D The best boring Game ever made!

[@jetnavigator]

I'm in my 50s and have been gaming since I was a child and I have never heard the term "CRPG" before...

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

Computer rpg, (some might say classic rpg).. It refers to these top down style rpgs.. they tend to be the closest depiction of a tabletop RPG in computer format that we have available. .Baldurs Gate, Pathfinder, Drakensang, Pillars of Eternity, Divinity, Wasteland, Fallout 1 & 2, Geneforge, Witcher 1, stuff like this.. This should give you a good idea of the genre. Im surprised youre unaware of this genre.. Im 41, and this has been a known descriptor of the genre since the 1990s

[@tahnadana5435]

its as good as dragon age 1

[@EerieV23]

Lighting Find You 😂

[@thequestion210]

Why did I struggle with this game? Was it because I am lazy and didn't want to read the manual?

[@alex-uw4mm]

i hope you understand that you will have to play drakensang 2 now

[@MortismalGaming]

Its on my list

[@RexCogitans]

What would be your dream system / developer combo? I'd personally love to see Larian take on Pathfinder 2e.

[@MortismalGaming]

Oh I'd love to see Owlcat do a VTM crpg

[@chikeonyiahchinonsoemmanue67]

dins legacy

[@R2r_1337]

It kinda looks like WoW lol xd

[@onatgz]

free comment. yes.

[@mrskibum885]

my god they make these games complicated

[@diego59260]

first (edit: nvm i was second....)