The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav

The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav is nothing short of a masterpiece. From the moment the story begins, you're pulled into a beautifully melancholic world where fate, dreams, and sorrow intertwine. The writing is superb, the atmosphere is rich and immersive, and the hand-painted visuals feel like pages torn from a dark fairy tale. But what truly elevates this game is its unforgettable narrative. The journey of Geron and his growing bond with Nuri is filled with heart, magic, and tragedy. And speaking of Nuri—Nuridarinellavanda—how can we ever forget her? She’s more than a character; she’s a feeling, a memory that lingers long after the credits roll. Her innocence, her wonder, and her heartbreaking story haunt you in the best possible way. You don’t just play Chains of Satinav—you feel it. This game is perfect for anyone who loves story-driven adventures and wants a tale that stays with them forever.

This game make me recall why the graphic adventures were and still are great games!

I picked Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav out from library almost at random. I wanted to play a point and click and it was one I hadn't played before. I have to say I've really enjoyed my time with the game. I don't know anything about the Dark Eye universe but that hasn't held me back. The game is beautifully drawn, a huge round of applause to the art team, honestly, I wanted to take so many screenshots during my playthrough. Dadelic have used their experience to make the game less frustrating. For example: you can highlight all interactable objects on the screen with a click of the mouse wheel (though there's an achievement if you don't). The game is also fairly good at preventing you from soft-locking yourself , usually you can't progress if you're missing something. There are achievements and they seemed to unlock without issue for me. Some are designed to require multiple playthroughs. I'm not too fussed about achievements but if you are then it's something to bear in mind. There are SOME puzzles that got me about half-way through as you're in a magical realm, but if you can click your brain into the right-mindset they do make sense in a certain way. If you want to travel to a fantasy world to try and save it, you can do worse than Chains of Satinav. I really enjoyed it.

Chains of Satinav is an old-fashioned tale of adventure through a land of sword and sourcery, heroism and legend. In fact, I found myself vaguely reminded of Legend Entertainment games (Shannara, Death Gate). You'll travel strange lands, see remarkable sights, and ultimately use your wits to save the land from destruction. It's quite an adventure. The scenery is rich in visual detail, all quite stunningly rendered. The locales are inventive (to an extent) and varied. The challenges you face are often elaborate, but almost never frustrating. Moon logic puzzles are kept to a bare minimum. The characters are apparently somewhat polarizing, but in my opinion they are sympathetic and reasonably well sketched. The voice acting isn't perfect, but it's certainly good enough, and often matches the mood of a moment very well. I recommend this (and Memoria, the sequel) quite highly to any fan of adventure games. It's really quite beautifully crafted, and worthy of your time and money.

The game is quite nice, visually. I like the hand-drawn look and the very simple animation style. The artwork sets a tone right from the start. A gritty world with flashes of beauty. But the gameplay is horrible. Laughably bad writing voiced in a mediocre way. A story that barely hangs together even after you know the plot. Combine those with puzzles that only occasionally make any sense and you end up with a mess. I received the game free, so I don't feel cheated. Although I would have preferred not to have wasted the 5 or 6 hours it took me to get to the closing credits.