Something sinister is happening in the seaside town of Riva. Brave and honoured warriors refuse to fight the horde of Orcs attacking the city. An evil force preys on their minds and souls. Can your small band of heroes defeat it in time?
The object of the game is to unmask the men behind the scenes, to unriddle secrets and to never fall for the enticements and allures of Evil. Only those who see through truth and lies will survive this adventure.
Full games title- Realms of Arkania III: Shadows over Riva
Minimum system requirements: Windows XP or Windows Vista, 1 GHz Processor (1.4 GHz recommended), 256MB RAM (512 recommended), 3D graphics card compatible with DirectX 7 (compatible with DirectX 9 recommended), Mouse, Keyboard.
Average customer rating 4.5 out of 5.0
Great crowning of the trilogy
(by
ConayR)
Shadows over Riva is third and arguably the best of the Northlands Trilogy. Like its predecessors, this cRPG is set on the continent of Aventuria (also known as Arkania), this time focusing solely on the mysterious seaport city of Riva. And it is your task to discover the evil lurking inside and save the city.
To do that, you need a group of heroes willing to fight the cause.... full review You start by creating a troupe of six unique and detailed characters. Bringing them to life is an intricate and fun experience by itself. The Dark Eye system this game is based on allows you to customize your characters in a way no other game at the time did. You think your party needs a jester? No problem, The Dark Eye has it covered.
You will spend plenty of time customizing your party, having fun in the process. Mechanics employed take what was fun in RPG in the late nineties and grow it without turning it into a chore. This assortment of characters combined with the varying attitudes of the people populating the world, will make you come back to play this game again.
Especially since the gameplay stands on its own merit. Exploration in 3D combined with the conversation screens featuring highly detailed non-player characters may seem slightly dated today - as you get tossed between different experiences - back in the nineties however left nothing to complain about.
Beautiful portraits of the townsfolk let you get immersed in the experience and even likenesses of Jane Seymour or Sean Connery simply spice up the experience instead of distracting. Story is being revealed with both pre-rendered 3D cut scenes as well as lush, high resolution stills featuring main plot points.
But what would be and RPG without combat? Shadows over Riva transports your party into a grid based, isometric view, there tactics play role equal to the abilities and equipment of your heroes. For those of you who’d rather soak in the story disregarding the combat portions, there is an automated combat feature to release you of your battle duties.
Deep characters, interesting story and intricate mechanics are accompanied by the quality soundtrack. Slightly repetitive at times but worth mentioning nevertheless, and by no means distracting from the overall fun and exciting experience.
If you’re a fan of European-style cRPGs, if you want to experience captivating adventure in a fantasy setting, this game is for you. It’s worth every minute of your time, just like its prequels. And if you’ve tried both prequels and want more, there’s always a pen-and-paper RPG this game is based on. Realms of Arkania : Shadows over Riva is strongly recommended to all RPG fans out there.
Great and deep RPG, although not for novice players
(by
Siannah)
The last of the Realms of Arkania trilogy, this time playing in the city of Riva. If you enjoyed the first 2, this is a must have. If you haven't heared about this serie and love RPGs, but still don't know if you should give it a shot, let me ask you one question:
What other game allows your character to learn dancing or becoming a jester?
Yes, the character development... full review is THAT much extraordinarily involving, so no CRPG-player worth it's salt is allowed to pass these by.
If you're not that much into RPGs, be warned though: all 3 games come with a deep, complex and rather uncommon system that needs dedication and time to learn and enjoy it. If you're looking for action oriented RPGs, you might be better off with other games, as all 3 RoA titles are leaning towards the hardcore crowd.
As with the predecessors, Attic implemented the complete "Das schwarze Auge" rulesystem into the game. This leaves you to play with 10 different classes, nearly 100 spells and numerous talents. The gameplay itself is based on a real-time, first-person exploration and a turn-based isometric combat mode. The enemies are challenging, but never unfair.
The storytelling is among the finest you can get and where the game really shows, that it's coming from a grown pen & paper system.
You're looking for a RPG that captivates you, where your characters will grow to your heart and the story keeps you going that extra hour even though you should have stopped playing already?
Look no further, as you have found it.
Another delight for the hard-core RPG fan
(by
Pardoz)
This one wraps up the trilogy, again based on the (quite detailed) German PnP game 'The Dark Eye', which was also the basis for the much more recent Drakensang. This is hardcore, old-school RPG fun, not to be missed if you're a fan of the genre.
ConayR)
Siannah)
Pardoz)