Darklands

My ownership of this game was via the original floppies, not GOG's version. I played it until it wouldn't load off the worn-out discs anymore. Sent them a letter asking how much to purchase replacement media. They sent replacement floppies as a response. Played using those for a very long time, too. This game lasted me longer than pretty much any other RPG title of that decade. As others have said, it is fairly unforgiving and mostly based on non-fantasy weaponry and lore. It's great fun in a way nothing made this decade has even come close to, and for far more game time than any other RPG I've played in two decades.

Since Darklands is DOS only I missed it back in the days when I had an Amiga, so I only played it recently. So unlike many other reviews on GOG, this is not based on nostalgia. The good: Excellent, fat manual. One of the best character generation systems ever. I recommend trying the game with the pregenerated party first and then if decide you like the game, roll new characters. The setting: a mix of Greater German/Holy Roman Empire as it was in the 15th century, but where all kinds of things people believed in back then excists, like saints, dwarves, dragons, witches and demons. Open, go-anywhere-you-like world. Lots of different ways to solve most problems. Most encounters can be solved peacefully or with trickery, by for example calling on a saint for aid, use an alchemical potions, or stealth or other skills. The writing is good. The so-so: Combat is real time with pause; the first ever in a CRPG, I think. It works pretty well once you get used to it, and is certainly better than simple turn based systems, but not as good as the RTwP system of the Infinity Engine games, or the more advanced turn based systems of for example the Gold Box games. But it's fast, and your characters can usually handle themselves without babysitting once they get decent armour. But in more difficult combats the lack of proper control can be annoying. Tactics is limited to use of choke points in dungeons, and the use of potions, and avoiding potions from enemy alchemists. Encounter design: a good mix of wildlife, human enemies and supernatural ones. None of them uses missiles weapons (except potions) even if they have them, though; they all rush into melee. The Wild Hunt was rather disappointing, with just one hunter, which makes something that is portrayed as terrifying to easy to combat. He should have been backed up by minions. All cities look the same, and could have used to be more distinct. But I like the menu system; it beats having to walk back and forth in huge, mostly empty cities (I rage quit both Disciples of Steel and Magic Candle 2 due to this). The bad: Graphics is pretty bad compared to other games of the same era. Monster animations are pretty good, though. Earning local reputation by breaking curfew and prowling the streets at night, to find robbers to kill, felt rather contrived. And you are always killing the same band of four or five bandits, so this aspect of the game gets old real fast. You get quests to find the same items over and over again. I lost count of how many Tarnhelms and Silver Maces I found. And you can't even equip these quest items. The NPCs are clones of each other, and have much better stats than your own characters, despire being 5-15 years younger. Also, having an NPC means 20% more enemies in most encounters, so on the balance I'd say they are not worth dragging along.

A great RPG and a great geography lesson to boot! Just be aware of certain bugs. The largest I've noticed is that no party member can hold more than 64 different kinds of items. Anything more than this will be deleted silently!

The character generation system alone is a better game than many I've played. Many choices with characters that evolve in age and skill with each new phase of their life selected. You can have young characters in their prime, aging ones with many skills, or anything in between. In most games a lack of education and people skills is no problem, or easily corrected at worst. Darklands is so brutal and deep that those are major hurdles. It is difficult to get many services without education (literacy, language skills, and/or some knowledge about the subject). Being uneducated is a hard, though not impossible, hole to climb out of. It is very difficult to get tutors if you are uneducated as the elite don't like dealing with bumpkins. And even when one agrees to teach you for a while literacy influences how quickly you could learn. Simply finding an alchemist is nearly impossible without moderate knowledge, and even then they are egotistical and easy to anger so you'd better have people skills. Universities and especially doctors are easier to find. However universities are very picky and refuse to even deal with you using the common tongue. Most doctors have poor skill, and you need medical knowledge to avoid finding out the guinea pig way. Want to bust through the game using magic? You can't, at least not easily. There are two low fantasy magic-like systems. You can expend "divine favor" (MP) to pray to a saint. What saints do is generally subtle, so don't expect them to do direct damage or healing. They might allow you to walk on water, end battle, or get money. Or they just might not answer if your virtue is low. The other is alchemy. This is far more direct, but requires getting lots of ingredients and spending time making potions. Making potions successfully is heavily dependent on alchemy skill, intelligence, and more so it is not something just anyone can do. Events with menu choices are used brilliantly, and this is what truly sets this game apart. Want to enter a city? You cannot just walk in, but must pass the gate. You can pay the toll, try to sneak in, or convince the guard to let you in without paying. Trying to leave allows such options as climbing the walls, swimming, or simply walking past the guards. There is almost always a saint or potion that can help, though you often won't have it. Death is permanent, and events can kill or permanently injure. Thankfully it has oldschool wherever-you-want saving, so this is only as nasty as you want it to be. The worst I can say about it is there are too few character graphics to choose from, and gritty low fantasy where characters age is not to everyone's taste.

Darklands is a great sandbox RPG set in Medieval Germany. When I use the word "set", I don't mean it's a typical fantasy RPG with good window dressings. From top to bottom, the game is based on historical information or on the sort of things people believed in at the time. A good example is "Magic", which consists of a pious member of your party invoking the name of a Saint to perform a miracle, like boosting a stat. Other examples include the enemies, who are mostly humans but mixed in with wild animals and the sort of supernatural beasts thought to exist at the time, including demons. Yes, defeating Old Scratch is a prominent part of the main plot. Which is completely optional. That alone is a great reason to play. Other reviews can touch on the best parts of the gameplay but I do want to add that I've taken off a star for this area. While the combat itself is pretty good, I thought it was a little lacking in depth. Understandable, given the game's age. I also found the interface clumsy, both considered on its own and compared to later games.