Please be advised that Windows 10 operating system will receive frequent hardware driver and software updates following its release; this may affect game compatibility
Please be advised that Windows 10 operating system will receive frequent hardware driver and software updates following its release; this may affect game compatibility
Posted on: November 15, 2012
Broudo
Verified ownerGames: 1059 Reviews: 18
Hours of Fun
These aren't your usual Role Playing games. There is a different feel to say, The Elder Scroll Series or Diablo. That is their charm. I have had many happy hours playing both Realms 1 and 2 If you haven't played any of these games, start with Realms 1: Blade of Destiny.
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Posted on: October 14, 2011
Supertuft
Verified ownerGames: 77 Reviews: 2
A unique CRPG that makes the same mistakes as others in its genre.
This isn't a review of Realms of Arkania's gameplay as much as it is a review of its character generation system. Let me start by saying that I have not gotten past the character generation screen, but I wanted to give my thoughts on it and warn potential buyers about the complexity of this system. Many people assume that because a system is complex, it's hardcore. They couldn't be more wrong. Realms of Arkania actually has a fairly straight forward, simple system for those of us who are used to pen and paper RPGs and the number crunching involved therein. The problem with complex systems such as these (and Dungeons and Dragons for that matter) is that it doesn't allow the player to fully exercise their creativity. Instead, choices that -should- be left to the player are left to random dice rolls or racial/class stereotypes. For example, why are all Thorwalians better with an axe than a sword? What if I want to play a Thorwalian who's got an affinity for swords? How is that incongruent with a culture that's clearly based on Norse Vikings, who were excellent swordsmen? So because I want to play a Thorwalian, I'm forced to use an axe or I'll forever lag behind a fighter class, who can begin with a score of 7 in Swordsmanship to my Thorwalian's 2? That isn't fair. This sort of thing is prevalent throughout the entire system. A character's identity is shallowly based on cliches and stereotypes, and this is forced on the player by a set of tired, overly complicated rules and dice rolls that do more to kill creativity than to spark it. You cannot reduce a living, breathing person, with a history and a personality, down to a few pages of dice rolls and racial attributes. Initially, I had trouble coming to grips with Realms of Arkania‘s stat system. This is because of a lack of helpful information online, and the manuals being poorly written, uninformative and downright misleading. The Realms of Arkania 1 manual hints that Ice Elf magic is in some way different from other forms of magic, when - at least in the case of Realms of Arkania 2 - it‘s not. The Realms of Arkania 3 manual (more on this later) says the same thing, and it's not true. This comes from the developers trying to make their manuals more interesting by injecting some lore into them, but this just ends up confusing the player, who will look to the manual to explain the rules of the game to them. In manuals, there should always be separate sections for lore and game rules. The player begins the character generation process by rolling 1D6+7 for all of his or her positive attributes. 8 is the lowest a stat can go, and 13 is the highest it can go. After this, stats are rolled for the character's negative attributes, with 2 being the lowest and 8 being the highest. Rolling for the positive and negative attributes happens in one fell swoop. So if the player manages to get exactly the rolls they want for their positive attributes, and ends up with three 7's for their negative attributes, good luck min/maxing your stats - you'll probably do better rerolling, which can sometimes take hours (I'm not joking.) This is made even more frustrating because the manual that comes with Realms of Arkania 2 doesn't even tell you what the stat requirements are for the different classes. The Realms of Arkania 1 manual does, but the requirements are different for the two games. What does this mean? It means that I had to consult the Realms of Arkania 3 manual to figure out the aforementioned stat requirements, and considering that the games are sold separately, this is downright shameful, but not a fault of GOG's so much as it is the fault of the developers' for releasing such an awful manual. I could not find any information about the attribute requirements for the different classes online either - not as a native English speaker. Being a German-made game, I'm sure there's more helpful information in German, and I even found at least one German RoA forum with an English section, but by this time, I had already consulted the RoA 3 manual to find out what I needed to know. I'd like to compare this system to Might and Magic, another fantastic CRPG. Might and Magic has a very simplified stat and skill system, where stats such as Intellect or Personality will determine the amount of spell points that are available to that particular character, but not his or her damage with spells, which is determined separately by their ranks in their magical skills. From a roleplaying perspective, these stats have no real bearing on the character itself and can quite easily be raised to astronomical heights, rendering them meaningless and useful only for determining the character's ability in combat - the way a stat system should be in a CRPG. This simplified stat and skill system allows players to create their party quickly and jump right into a Might and Magic game, never to look back or worry about whether their stats or skills truly represent their characters. Might and Magic's approach was to fill the game with interesting quests and dungeons while relying less on stats and numbers that, for most gamers, will only ever be a means to an end and not the end in itself. Realms of Arkania's character generation system represents everything I hate about RPGs in general. These systems are why I found it impossible to enjoy games like Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate, despite them having such well-written storylines and interesting gameplay. I always felt like these games were telling me, "You can roleplay, but you can only do it -my- way." It’s like having a bad DM. If you're looking for a good CRPG to play, I highly recommend the Might and Magic 6-Pack, also available here on GOG. I rated this game 4 Stars because once I move beyond character creation, I know I’ll enjoy the game. I know what to expect and I know that the simulation elements, although tedious for many gamers, will be fun for me. I just don’t like being told how to play my characters.
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Posted on: May 4, 2012
AnarchyArnt20
Verified ownerGames: 33 Reviews: 1
help
just bought the game and ive finished the first so i started on nr2 but everytime i try to save it comes a popup window saying enter youre realms of arkania manual and enter etch etch i was wondering is it this time everytime i shal save or moore inportant how do i fix it?
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Posted on: November 16, 2013
Syrin
Games: 93 Reviews: 2
Worst ending EVER in a video game
MINOR SPOILER: . . . . . . . . .You build your party up, good gear is hard to come by, then at the end it's all taken away and replaced by garbage. I have never been so mad at a game in my life.
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Posted on: March 20, 2015
Adriansen
Games: 55 Reviews: 1
Oh no, never again!
I own number 2 in this series, and I can't for the life of me understand how this abysmal PoS became a hit in Germany. It's like playing a tabletop RPG, where a completely unhinged GM really wants to kill the party. All the time. The stuff that fans of the series call "complexity" is just really poor game ballance. You find yourself churning against impossible odds, removing anything that is even remotely fun in a CRPG. Random encounters are a mess, rewards are ridiculous, and combat repetitive. Avoid, unless you're a terminal masochist.
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