Drakensang: The Dark Eye

Quotation forthcoming.

Drakensang offers around 40-50 hours of gameplay depending on how many side quests you tackle, meaning there's plenty to be getting on with, and with a well written storyline and surprisingly good visuals, it really is a noteworthy all round package.

The quests are interesting. [May 2009, p.97]

The sum of its parts does not always equal the end score. This is a good, quality title that has few bugs, an engaging story and maybe more than a few cliches.

You can compare playing Drakensang with reading of a good old classic book. Old-fashioned RPG acquired new graphics but its heart remains the same. Prepare to enter a lively and believable world filled with a plethora of quests and catching stories. [Mar 2009]

The developers put a lot of effort in the classic fantasy world of Aventuria. It literally makes you wanna dive into it. Weak point: You have to play ten hours minimum to really understand what’s going on about your character and the story.

But for my money, it's time well spent, as it succeeds more often than not in recapturing the spirit of some of the more highly regarded CRPG titles of the earlier part of the decade.

In many ways Drakensang is a throwback, a swansong to the party-based RPGs of yesteryear, yet somehow it doesn’t feel dated.

Despite some flaws and a none to friendly learning curve, Drakensang: The Dark Eye is still an enjoyable RPG that's packed with plenty to do and a combat system that eventually grows into something special.

A charmingly traditional and well-polished role-playing game that suffers of an uninspired script and a tactically shallow combat system. [Apr 2009]

The epic world of The Dark Eye arrives ten years later to our PC. Based on a board RPG game, Drakensang features some interesting ideas that bring back to life some of the best moments of the classic. Featuring ideas from Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights franchise, the game packs a good set of rules with good-looking graphics and nice sound. At the end, it doesn't get to be a high budget production, but still gives the player great moments and great value that is worth the money.

It doesn't have a surprising story nor innovates anything in gameplay, but the development team well done work achieves that more than 80 hours of a very satisfying experience.

Drakensang is a good roleplaying game: classic style, deep and with a nice plot. It has several problems with the management of the party but it's a surprise for those searching for an interesting game with a low price.

A very solid role playing game, capable of even winning in some aspects to major videogames from this genre like The Witcher or Neverwinter Nights 2. The worst problem, though, it's a subpar storyline.

Drakensang is one of the best classic-rpg adventure released this year. Perfect for D&D lovers, even if a little bit too difficult for new gamers.

A solid role playing game with challenging combat and an entertaining fantasy tale.

A huge role-playing game in its purest form, and you won't find any simplifications typical of today's games.

The combat benefits from great visuals and animations but you lose some of the appeal there if you're constantly having to start and stop the action for tactical convenience.

While I won’t try and tell you this game serves as a replacement for Mass Effect or Fallout 3, it is pretty well done on the whole. I hope this means Radon Labs will be working on further RPGs, as Drakensang is a series with great potential.

For the $29.99 price tag, The Dark Eye: Drakensang, offers you a full 40 hours of well-written story filled with missions and side quests to complete.

It's a solid localization effort, and there is deep character customization, challenging combat and an entertaining, if riskless, fantasy tale.

Drakensang is interesting and can keep you glued to your seat, but its replay value isn’t quite as high as it could have been and the sometimes overzealous difficulty can be a turn-off for newcomers.

Drakensang: The Dark Eye is a rare breed these days. It's not a hardcore RPG, but it still offers a lot of complexity. The beauty of the game is the way in which the developers tailored the gameplay to include newbies without dumbing-down the genre. Don't miss a chance to play a game marinated in the classic RPG tradition.

A solid, squishy eyeful of Germanic RPG charm. [Apr 2009, p.81]

Drakensang is ultimately a rich and polished experience, and fans of the old party-based PC RPG design will find the same virtues and flaws that come with this type of game.

This epic role-playing game has great depth, but is hampered by a number of significant design flaws.

As far as reasonable-budget party-based RPGs go, it's detailed enough to fill the months until we see whether Dragon Age is going to live up to BioWare's legacy.

Drakensang's best not when it's being played, but when it's being tinkered with. It's an old-fashioned, sometimes archaic, other times deeply engrossing game that rewards and satisfies according to how much effort you're willing to put in.

Drakensang is a must buy for every fantasy and RPG fanatic. Don't except a revolution or a GOTY, but except a game that has charisma and can be picked up very easily. There are some tiny flaws, but the moment that you venture into Avonturia, your troubles will be over.

Colorful vistas and ear-pleasing music are the few things that bring Drakensang closer to its eminent North American brethren. Alas, it is not enough for a good game, especially the one that wants to become the RPG of the year and gain a cult following. One would need talented writers and interesting game design for that.

While Drakensang easily exceeds any expectations regarding presentation and scope, the finer points of RPG design - notably combat and player-driven interactions with the game world - are lost on the game. [Mar 2009, p.92]

A solid game, but one that suffers somewhat from stilted gameplay and a cliched plot. [May 2009, p.74]

Die-hard RPG fans will appreciate the backstory, but no-one else will pay attention.