Game News Drakensang RoT Expansion Pack announced

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Drakensang

Radon Labs <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/97268-drakensang-phileassons-secret-announced.html">officially</a> announced their expansion to Drakensang: The River of Time. It's called Phileasson’s Secret.
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<p style="margin-left:50px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;border-top-color:#ffffff;padding:5px;border-right-color:#bbbbbb;border-left-color:#ffffff;border-bottom-color:#bbbbbb;">Drakensang: Phileasson’s Secret adds a new chapter to “The Phileasson Saga” as well to the PC game Drakensang: The River of Time itself. This epilogue is going to be directly connected to the current revision of the pen & paper campaign.
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Thus, a new story about Asleif Phileasson, one of TDE’s best-known characters, unfolds. Having placed a bet, he must surround the continent of Aventuria. On his journey, he has to survive numerous adventures in which he discoveres new creatures and cultures, treasures and items.Drakensang: The River of Time – Phileasson’s Secret allows CRPG players to learn more about the backgrounds and history of Aventuria and The Dark Eye itself and satisfies the long-cherished wish of TDE players of continuing “The Phileasson Saga”.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/97268-drakensang-phileassons-secret-announced.html">GB</A>

 

[Phelot]

WHen is this game going to be released in Americaca

 

[Clockwork Knight]

he must surround the continent of Aventuria.

I'll bet there will be lots of adventures

On his journey, he has to survive numerous adventures

Yay!

 

[Droog White Smile]

he must surround the continent of Aventuria.

I'll bet there will be lots of adventures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Eye

 

[Gosling]

So what is the german-speaking codex consensus on the RoT? Earlier threads mentioned it was better than the first part, but not a lot of people had finished the game by that time.

 

[Cenobyte]

For me, it's better than the first part, but still has some issues. The combat system is largely unchanged from the first game and the amount of available team members is rather low (only 4 in the whole game). But you have much better storytelling, pacing and world design. Additionally, you now have some real decisions and alternative quest solutions. The bossfights are also quite good.

 

[dragonfk]

Should I bother with the first part?

 

[Gosling]

Should I bother with the first part?

Depends on your tolerance for mediocre games.

The game is a simple linear adventure romp with a tacked on charachter system that is rather deep and interesting but rarely taken full advantage of.
The visuals are very nice, the world has some kind of an old-skoolish atmosphere to it, and the game while having a quasi-epic plot does not take itself too seriously.
Combat system is simplistic, but if you could bear the Witcher's combat, you'll probably have the patience for Drakensang as well.
There are lots of generic uninspired quests, but some are non-trivial; there are stealth missions with stealth approach being rewarded; there are even choices and (minor) consequences, though they are few and far between. There are also occasional skill checks, and particularly dialogue skill checks, but most of them don't have any impact whatsoever.
The game's curse are literally thousands of chests and barrels that you have to smash only to get some very minor loot. And hundreds of rats to kill.
There are also huge boobs, but I didn't complain too much.

Despite its numerous faults and the end-game tedium I ended up really liking it (for what it is) and am looking forward to playing the sequel. Give it a try - it has its own charm, just don't expect second BG or something extraordinary.
My standards are much lower than Skyway's though.

 

[Texas Red]

For me, it's better than the first part, but still has some issues. The combat system is largely unchanged from the first game and the amount of available team members is rather low (only 4 in the whole game). But you have much better storytelling, pacing and world design. Additionally, you now have some real decisions and alternative quest solutions. The bossfights are also quite good.

What about the dialogs and skill checks?

Also, do the classes still feel exactly the same?

 

[Monocause]

Wait guys, I'm a bit out of the loop. So there was a Drakensang expansion/sequel already? And is it standalone, can I ignore the reportedly lacklustre first installment?

 

[Sceptic]

River of Time is a standalone prequel to Drakensang. Now they're talking about an expansion to RoT.

Not sure how lacklustre the original was. Reception seemed to be very mixed, though apparently RoT is better.

 

[Monocause]

Ah, there's no English version for the RoT yet anyway. Guess I'll have to wait.

Got three very positive reviews from ze German sites though, whatever any reviews are worth:

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platfor ... iveroftime

 

[Cenobyte]

For me, it's better than the first part, but still has some issues. The combat system is largely unchanged from the first game and the amount of available team members is rather low (only 4 in the whole game). But you have much better storytelling, pacing and world design. Additionally, you now have some real decisions and alternative quest solutions. The bossfights are also quite good.

What about the dialogs and skill checks?

Also, do the classes still feel exactly the same?

Skill checks are more common. Some quests require an intelligent selection of dialogue choices, you can fail the quest if you select the wrong option (but that's pretty obvious in these cases).

Classes are more or less the same as in the original game. You get sometimes different dialogues and elves cannot use most advanced combat spells, but that's it. Additionally, you can now play a dwarven spellcaster (Geode) and get the ability to cast miracles with rogue classes.

 

[Marquess Cornwallis]

A question to German codexers: is there a German digital download store that sells to (EU) customers outside Germany/Austria/Switzerland? I only know of gamesload.de and they don't.