Review of Darklands (DOS)

Review of MicroProse 1992 DOS release of Darklands.
I actually do a short single Let's Play of this game for my Patrons. As a "level 2" Patron, you get to see me play this game (and others) in more detail!
If you want to support my videos (and receive special rewards), I have a Patreon account: / dfortae

[@16Tango]

I skipped my college classes the day this cane out and played it all day, in fact I still have my original game box, disks and such. I got my kid into Darklands 3 years ago or so when he was 14.

[@fartdonkey8290]

I still have the game too. With the manual that should be $1000 alone

[@dragonchaserkev]

Lucky enough to have tracked down and chatted with Arnold Hendrick, he was working on a sort of sequel he said using more modern graphics and based on the 100 year war. Sadly he passed in 2020. Just an amazing game, I need to get into it again, one of the few games I need to own a physical copy of, haha

[@ThatElephantSeal]

That is very sad, God bless him. Did you learn much about the development of this game from him?

[@pilotmacklroy]

I have played video games since I was little. Darklands came out when i was around 12. This game still remains at the top of my list of best games I have ever played. At the time (early 90's) this game was so far ahead of its time it was just mind blowing!

[@raskolnikov6443]

Maybe you would like kingdom come deliverance

[@Telekenesis123]

Btw, horses are useful because they help you travel faster on the wold map, therefore ageing quite a bit slower.

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Thanks for pointing that out. I almost mentioned that in the review, but I never did verify that fact while playing.

[@dragonchaserkev]

I never owned horses in the game I don't think... I need to get into a new game of Darklands I think.

[@maxbischoff3993]

The developers of a game called Serpent in the Staglands said their game was inspired in part by Darklands. I haven't played it myself, so I couldn't say how similar they are. Thanks for sharing your video with us!

[@markbranham6365]

Wow. I'm playing Kingdom Come Deliverance right now and I am seeing in your video a lot of the old ideas that have been resurrected in that game. The inventory system is almost identical except in current gen graphics. The game also takes place in 15th century Europe and just like in Darklands, the Holy Roman Empire can influence the actions and life of your characters. I almost forgot about the whole curfew and traveling at night thing. That is an issue that you contend with in KCD as well. Love your videos. . They really take me back to my old C64 (especially Wasteland) days when imagination had to fill in the gaps for the tech at the time.

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Interesting. I've never played that game. Glad you like the videos, and thanks for sharing!

[@dragonchaserkev]

Thanks for the info. It does sound a lot like Darklands, not sure if they left in the more fantastical elements or removed them to be more realistic... still I'm going to grab it for sure.

[@welfarecrusader6855]

@@dragonchaserkev There isn't any supernatural stuff as far as I've seen. It's a great game especially with some mods

[@raskolnikov6443]

Yes they say it inspired their inventory/ menu.

[@highergroundgaming7202]

Excellent review! One of my favorite RPGs! I believe they had expansions in mind when they created it and it was released with a ton of bugs and a few things like the clothiers and the message board that were intended to be branches to expansions which never came to be due to Microprose's demise. I would really like to see this game remade one day through Kickstarter although I would want it to be a company that would hold true to the charm of the original game. :-)

[@PCGamer77]

Darklands was never going to get expansions or sequels, due to its tragic game-breaking memory leak. Designer Arnold Hendrick explains here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3rPpJimfLqKaZI

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! I would definitely be interested in remaking this game personally, although it would take a ridiculous amount of time. I do have the coding abilities, but definitely not the artistic abilities!

[@dragonchaserkev]

@@dfortaeGameReviews Would you be interested in trying to make a NES version of the game? I will buy you a copy of NESmaker, a project I backed and it came out and some people have made great games with it... I managed to do OK with the music and fine with the art... the program isn't like RPGmaker and still coding skill comes in handy for more complex stuff. Great community to help but I couldn't find anyone to work with, they were all more interested in their own games and just giving advice telling me oh you can do it, follow the tutorials.... well no. Haha. I got a NES map of Germany done though stripped down. I got a number of Saints graphics done but again stripped it down from the dozens and dozens in Darklands. It'd be a RPG choose your own adventure type game and I think something unique. Hell I will pay you if you want to make a NES version.

[@dcbueller]

So just starting the game officially (after a very abbreviated effort back in my college daze of the abandonware and not a manual in site to help with stuff)! Watching this has gotten me even more excited for the playthrough now...although now I wish I redid some of my character builds lol.

[@Flow86767]

I bought that game in a random sale and now I absolutely do not regret my choice and I’ll play that game for sure!

[@Shot97]

Thanks for diving in deep on this one. I'd never heard of it until now. A very interesting game, indeed. Thanks for bringing it to light, and for shoving so much in!

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

My pleasure Shot97! Thanks!

[@SigmundFred7]

I have spent so many nights in my teenage years playing this game! I still own the game and, most importantly, the amazing manual that not only contains detailled instructions on how to play the game, but a whole section dedicated to the lore of 15th Century Holy Roman Empire. The game can be bought for a few bucks on GoG and is totally worth a look

[@AdventureGameGeek]

I don't play rpgs much but your efforts in making long, in depth videos like this is highly impressive. It would take me ages to make a video of this length!

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Hello there AdventureGameGeek! Thank you for the compliment, I appreciate it. The only thing that keeps me going on super detailed reviews is knowing people enjoy them! By the way, I'm looking forward to checking out your channel on adventure games. ;)

[@arcamemnon9193]

One thing I recall from way back in the day, if you want to survive in this game the first thing you have to do is spend about 6 months to a year in your starting town prowling the back alleys and back streets at night. You get ambushed several times per night by thugs and they are far easier to deal with than the professional thugs on the world map. Kill the back alley guys until your skill in weapons and armor get into the mid-high range and you'll have a much better game overall. Not to mention you earn cash for killing the back street thugs and can build up a nice little nest egg while you train. Bit of an early grind but makes the game far more enjoyable in the long run.

[@brucefelger4015]

One of my favorite parts is the way the character's tap their foot, as if impatient to move on.

[@Xerpes]

Man this video didn't shows up on my youtube, i saw now and like it as always! you make a great job doing this reviews man!

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Thanks Thiago Spinetti!

[@Ksrwilhelm]

When you mentioned the music at 5:40, that track is based on "L'homme Armé", which is a folk song from the middle ages. It seems to have been hugely popular at the time, kind of like an international megahit. A whole bunch of composers wrote catholic masses parodying the melody.

[@Telekenesis123]

Wow you finally did it, thank you so much! First recommended you review this maybe ...5 years ago? But I guess you were interested, and so glad you enjoyed it. Yes it was so much ahead of its time and really nothing much like it has come around since. The setting is totally unique and especially the "spellcasting" aka miracles. The alchemy is very interesting too. I also love its focus on realism, how each city was a kind of autonomous "city state" where you were like a member, had to pay to get in, could be barred unlike today, and kicked out of town if you stayed too long in an inn even though you were paying, the curfews etc. The snobbishness of the church and intellectuals and by obfuscation (use of Latin) withheld knowledge from the masses. The interesting take on traditional German folklore and monsters is great too, for instance dwarves being usually evil and such. Breaking and entering is fun and just developing all the skills. Hiring tutors while resident in the city was cool too. Learning all the myriad of Saints was fun too, and tough; yes it was like Pokemon for Saints. Microprose was utterly brilliant during this time, X-Com, Master of Magic, ect. If you liked this game you really should try Magic the Gathering from Microprose, it's made very much in this style functionally, the "feel" and artistically such as the world map. Hands down the best Magic the Gathering game to date for me. \It has an overworld and dungeons just like Darklands and RPG elements ...really, try it! It's called Magic the Gathering: Duels Of The Planeswalkers and is abandonware now so you can download it for free from many sites if you search the name.

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

My pleasure! Yeah, this one was worth the wait.

[@Shot97]

17:00 - I love the RPGs made after Eye of the Beholder that understood there's a real appeal to turn based combat. There were still a few turn based RPGs like Might and Magic 4/5 after EotB, but quite a few went real time. And it's not like I can't enjoy a real time combat game, but the OPTION, I haven't run into too many that were versatile enough to allow both. That's certainly part of what makes Might and Magic 6 not only my favorite RPG, but my favorite game of all time; You could do both and both had their advantages/disadvantages.

[@manilapcgaming7217]

Great review! I've had this game for years and never touched it. Now I really want to get into it :) subbed to yer channel and I love your voice!

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Thank you MANILA PCGAMING! I'm glad it encouraged you to possibly play the game!

[@vladtepes7539]

like how you deliver also some retro re-view on things by managing being pleased by not having to type commands in a video game.

[@Shot97]

11:15 - Nice that charisma and charm have a use in this one; There were RPGs released long after this that you couldn't say that for.

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

I agree! It was so refreshing to see Charisma that ACTUALLY WORKED. Almost every other RPG I've played doesn't utilize Charisma at all (or very little). Nice that there's so many alternatives to just fighting!

[@SlavestoArmok]

Great review as always man! I need to try this one out sometime.

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Thanks! Yeah, amazing game for sure!

[@deavonw]

Can you imagine a game like this today? Maybe based off of Kingdom Come deliverance?

[@markbranham6365]

I thought the exact same thing! Especially the inventory system where you can essentially play "dress up" with your character.

[@jacobitewiseman3696]

Well kingdom come deliverance doesn't have monsters though.

[@donaldubh5994]

I was just talking about some of my favorite old games and this one came to mind - glad I found your review. This could be remade and updated and I bet it would be popular. I enjoyed playing it back when - some old alchemist and a middle-aged cleric and a couple of young bruisers - classic configuration. But how old do you make the alchemist? sure he is better at making potions and whatever but is he travel-worthy? same with cleric. Some of those fights could take a long time too... the big witch rituals in the woods were good... attacking a robber-baron's keep... the backstreet skirmishes with hoodlums… I'd love to see how this could work in multiplayer.

[@4kdemoscene]

I had no idea this game ever existed... I liked 95% of Microprose games when they were in business. I'll have to check Darklands out on GOG. I like the graphics, for 1992 it looks pretty nice. Great DOS game review once again dfortae, I enjoyed it... Peace.

[@helpfulrainbow]

Thanks a lot for this very very interesting and well made video. Excellent channel, deserves a lot more subs. cheers!!!

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

My pleasure DecrepitHermit, and thank you for the kind words!

[@GAMERLONN]

This game reminds me of pirates. Pirates dealt with swashbuckling on the Caribbean. Darklands deals with swashbuckling in medieval Europe. Darklands could be considered a pirates clone. If you buy Darklands from Gog you get a cluebook and a map. Good indepth review of the game.

[@Godaikun]

@17:41 Darrell sacrificed himself to show the audience how leveling backwards works.

[@usulordo]

Not much quality content for this gem that I still play nowadays, thanks for adding some.

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

You're welcome usulordo!

[@usulordo]

@@dfortaeGameReviews you Seen to know the game well, do you know If Per, Int or SpkL is more important in the Universities? Or what the read/write Skill actually is used for? Cheers Actually watching your review of Wiz6 right now.

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

@@usulordo Read and write is used to read posted notices and to request studying about saints (although you also need Speak Latin at the same time for that I think). In general, I think Speak Latin is the most important for the Universities.

[@usulordo]

@@dfortaeGameReviews thanks a lot! So the cleric should be the Scholar and have SpkL and read/write while the alchemist should also be the face of the party, because SpkC is the Skill you need when interacting with alchemists in addition to charisma.

[@usulordo]

Another quick question...when interacting with monasteries do you put the most intelligent char as leader or the one with Most virtue or the one with most latin skill?

[@ttvv88]

1:02:03 That letter puzzle is just pure ass. For those of you who were wondering, the sequence of letters basically just stood for *O*ne, *T*wo, *T*hree, *F*our, *F*ive, *S*ix, *S*even, and then it asks you what's the *E*ighth letter. Don't waste half an hour converting the letters to numbers and trying to figure out a sequence like I did just now.

[@christians.7599]

Your review does this game justice. Well done!

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Thanks! This game deserved a thorough review for sure!

[@djcomputron5885]

I'm late to the party but I just got this game on GOG for $1.49 and it looks like I definitely got a good deal.

[@Shot97]

1:03:25 - I agree that Battletech lacked diversity in combat, which is why I said Computer Gaming World was wrong when they said it was all about the combat... I skipped most of the combat because although the tactical system is nice, there's just not enough enemies! However, I just wanted more mechs really, could there have been non human enemies? I'm not familiar enough with the Battletech universe to understand if aliens are a thing.. If they are than I'm with you, but if they're not I'd have to point to constraints on the license there.

[@jonathanwessner3456]

They need to remake this with new graphics and such. Such a fun game. i still play it sometimes. I wonder if anyone else ever found my favorite exploit....

[@jacobitewiseman3696]

I know what a knocker is, its a hobbit/dwarf like creature that loves mining.

[@danpats1]

I wish I could still play this game, it was awesome.

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

You can through DOSBox.

[@fartdonkey8290]

It's also on steam

[@mrqmrq-cr2hq]

What an awesome game. Thanks for the review.

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Indeed it is! You're welcome!

[@nutherefurlong]

Like with a lot of wandering games, I haven't actually beaten that main quest at all. I just start up, play until I get exhausted and then pick up the game and start again later on. It's too bad about some of the fiddly stuff because yeah, so much of it still feels fresh. The manual is one of my favorite manuals for a computer game, and it really gives you insight into their design decisions. You got up to a lot more mischief than I tended to, so it was good to see what sorts of consequences there are to some of your choices. I mostly just tried to get as many saints as I could and do a bit of hybrid build with characters, like have one fighter be decent at saints too, and if I play it again any time soon I'll try to get someone who can chuck potions other than the alchemist (but does the skill matter if you always hit? Does it affect distance or something?) Furthest I got was raising my status to where I was getting more important missions, and I'd reached a point where storming baron castles was fairly routine, but not much further than that. I think part of the problem with the initial release was a pretty bad bug that erased stuff on certain OSes, otherwise I think it might have been a bit more popular. The text choice thing makes the game feel breezy where so many other games have you wander to market stalls etc, it helps you hurry back to adventuring, and I love the downtime system, the saints system... I could go on. Not sure if you all are on Steam, but in the forums for the game the lead designer actually had a Q&A a bit ago. Thanks for the review, was a treat to watch!

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Glad you enjoyed the review! To answer your question(s), throwing potions NEVER miss as a player character. I've seen NPCs miss, but your character's throwing doesn't matter for the potions hitting targets. It's interesting though that it does increase your throwing. Kind of encourages switching to thrown missile weapons instead of bows/crossbows/guns.

[@PCGamer77]

@nutherefurlong Steam Discussion with Darklands designer Arnold Hendrick: steamcommunity.com/app/327930/discussions/0/343788552550787364/

[@viperswhip]

You have to kill a Rober Knight and steal his gear lol

[@nikolavetnic3088]

Great review, I enjoy watching your stuff! Btw, pf - Pfening, 1/100 of German Mark.

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Glad you enjoyed the review Nikola!

[@NikoChristianWallenberg]

Great video for a great game!

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Thank you Niko!

[@submariner1984]

This is one of my favourite games of all time. I wonder how I could play this now 😃

[@CameronAB122]

It’s on GOG for like $7!

[@submariner1984]

@@CameronAB122 I have no idea what that means lol

[@chrisr7597]

Would anyone know about adjusting Steam version via DosBox to improve resolution? Running Linux Mint but I don't know what dosbox line within file (i.e. 4 of them total.... but which one) do I text edit exactly??? Any tips appreciated... thanks.

[@bfiorella]

I loved this game!! It came on 10 floppy disks to install. I still have the game manual as it's incredibly nostalgic for me. Unfortunately my copy would crash every time I fought a demon under any circumstances. I was also only about 8 so I was very bad at it. ^_^;; Where/how can I play it now?

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

You can just buy it on gog.com and it should run fine!

[@bfiorella]

@@dfortaeGameReviews I got it and am now reliving my childhood. And thanks to your tips of taking on bandits in town early on I'm actually making legitimate progress! Thank you!!

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

@@bfiorella Awesome! Glad to hear it Betsy! My pleasure.

[@SuperMoleRetro]

I have this game. I played it for about an hour and could not figure out what to do and gave up on it. I should have given it a bit more effort.

[@PCGamer77]

Anyone interested in Darklands should watch Matt Barton's excellent three-part interview with game designer Arnold Hendrick: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f2STla2tnrOrgs0

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Wow, thanks for sharing this link. I didn't know this interview existed!

[@zmajbosna4270]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHrTYWp8ac6DlaM How do you manage to scroll over the battlefield? I am playing the game for years and still have not figured out how to do it.

[@Sybato]

Did I just stumble across Strongsad's youtube channel

[@ljp1942]

Why is this game not free as abandonware ?

[@dfortaeGameReviews]

Not sure. It was not too long ago. Could be because someone bought the rights. It is an awesome game, and worth the money!

[@Dropbearded]

"The story really makes this game in-depth", what? Did we play the same game? I can't remember a single character in the game, and the quests etc. felt like the standard randomly generated gibberish. The game has other redeeming qualities though, for sure. "Most games nowdays are filled with so many special effects and action the may not care about this too much" isn't really fair imho. If you play only modern action games then sure, but I'd say storytelling in games has improved greatly (as it should in any relatively new medium). It's not just about dumping walls of text at you anymore, because that doesn't take advantage of being a game at all & you might as well read a book instead.

[@raziel3099]

Even for a 90s game, the font is trash.....