Realms of Arkania
Realms of arkania is a game that is based on a German RPG series calles ‘Das Schwarze Auge’ which literally means the black eye. The game itself has various different elements as it has a nice and large 3D view of your surroundings but fights are done in turnbased 3rd person view. Travel between towns can be done on an overhead map where you only have to click on the destination and you will go there as long as you don’t encounter any nasties along the way. This is the first part of a trilogy and the plot involves you trying to stop plundering orcs and to do this you need to find sword caleld the blade of destiny.
Once you start the game you can choose to start with a preset group or you can create your own characters. If you choose to make them yourself you will find that the game has a whole lot more stats than most other RPG’s. There are the standard things like strength, charisma, dexterity and wisdom but there are others like superstition, curiosity and even claustrofobia! The character classes are just as varied as the stats and you can choose from predetermined classed like warriors and rogues but you can create entirely unique ones as well.
Once you create all your characters which will take some time you start in a temple in the city of Corwal. Here you can explore the town and maybe get some equipment. You’ll soon find that the town isn’t very large and you cannot go much further so you’ll have to leave town to go to the next one. You cannot leave the bounderies of the town but you can only travel near a signpost where it will take you to the overhead map and you can select a new location to travel to. Setting up camp is not just sleeping but you can do things like gather herbs and use magic to heal or protect youself. If any enemy characters wake you in your sleep you will go to the combat screen which is viewed from a third person 3D mode and you have to do turnbased combat where you have to select from a menu what action to undertake.
Realms of Arkania is very large in scope but there is such a thing as overcomplicating things, there are a bit too many options and statistics for my tastes. The fact that you cannot walk past the bounderies of a town is also a downer as you simply run into an invisable wall and you must travel at the signpost at the edge of town. The graphics are a plus though and dispite the fact that lots of buildings look a bit samey they are quite detailed. For me the game is somewhat overcomplicated but if you don’t mind lots of stats and micromanagement then you should give it a go.
Overal rating: 6.5/10
This game was released for three different systems here are some notes:
| DOS | Released in 1992. Game has been tested but not completed on a DOS and Win2k PC. The mouse had some problems on my windows systems but otherwise runs ok. |
| Others | These versions are not available. Amiga released in 1993. Atari ST re;eased in 1993. |
| Date added | Aug-13-2005 21:07 |
| Name | Realms of Arkania |
| Developer | Attic entertainment |
| Publisher | Fantasy productions |
| First released | 1992 |
| Genre | RPG |
