SEE YOU IN A SECOND MOMENT
To my great satisfaction, I came to tell you about the sequel to one of the most beautiful RPGs ever released in recent years. I'm talking about the Drakensang series, taken from the books of the same name in the series of "A look into the dark" which had a huge (yes, with a capital E) success in Germany and also in other European countries including our beautiful peninsula. Drakensang The River of Time is the second chapter of a saga that should consist of three games (even if the third job is currently uncertain due to the bankruptcy of the software house ... black curse) and of which this second chapter is a prequel and not a sequel. Who has already played the first Drakensang, will know that the title in question is a fantasy focused on the party game and those hard and pure RPGs that are certainly not within everyone's reach... well, forget Oblivion and company, because here it is not enough to press the mouse button madly to take down an enemy.
There are many news and improvements in this second chapter but let's go in order. First of all, as written in the introduction of the review, one of the novelties of the game is the possibility of immediately encountering creatures that will know how to make us the stars and stripes deck: for Aventuria we will find creatures of all sorts and sometimes much stronger than our bunch of characters. The possibilities when you meet a much stronger Orc, Werewolf or Sorcerer are essentially two: either you pause the game and think perfectly about the fighting or try to escape the fury and return to the place later.. This choice of programmers is absolutely perfect and adds that level of tenacity to "level" even more the characters in other situations and then go back in some damn complicated quest or to take down that opponent that was previously impossible to eliminate. Having said that, I can assure you that the difficulty level of the game is, albeit slightly lower than the first Drakensang, quite complicated to manage for beginners to this genre. of titles where every move must be performed perfectly because the loss of only one member of the group will be a bad thing to peel maybe in other situations.
Even if I point out how the actions of the game or the choices in the dialogues, they affect relatively little with the situations that will unfold as you continue to Aventuria, just as the end of the game is absolutely not affected by the death of any member of the group. It is still useful, spend a few moments of concentration to level each component to perfection and try to reason in the clashes as a group of people rather than as an individual.
Like other RPGs on the market, including in The River of Time, we will be able to choose a class of belonging among Dwarves, Humans and Elves and then vary with experience points and adventure points: the former are used for all basic character attributes (class, life, strength, armor etc), while the latter will be used substantially to increase the passage of level. There is also the possibility to go and change your skills thanks to the twenty-sided die but I would leave this feature only to experienced players who have perhaps lived most of their life playing. to Dungeon & Dragons or other games with similar sets and who therefore have a clear set of hard and pure RPG rules.
Among the new mechanics of the game, I also point out the moderation of all those sequences concerning the hack'n slash that had strangled the first chapter. Here it will seldom happen to fight hard against monsters that pop up everywhere but they will be situations anyway present in the dungeons or in the advanced stages of the title where you have to "grind" as much as possible to increase the level of the players in view of the final confrontation.
EMOTIONS FROM AVENTURIA
The River of Time in addition to improving many aspects of the gameplay of the previous title, adds a truly excellent and well crafted level of quality. Shaders and textures are unlikely to make people accustomed to visual impact turn up their noses. Some landscapes are excellent and will take your breath away with the beauty of the visual elements: luxuriant forests and luxuriant meadows perfectly contrast with more spartan environments but not without charm. Even in terms of indoor environments I can only be satisfied with the work done by Radon Labs although in the latter case we do not get to the graphic and stylistic tests had with a Dragon Age or with the more recent and spectacular Divinity 2. Unfortunately, between the painful if not very painful notes, I have to report an interpenetration of polygons really annoying in the most excited situations e a (damned) drop in frame rates in some (inexplicable) areas of the game where the effects of light or particle elements will make the loud voice. Even with a computer equipped with 4GB of ram and a 1GB video card, by lowering the graphics and eliminating the more muscular effects, the situation changes little. But don't let that scare you from what you have just read, the game remains excellent in every respect and these little problems they will not in any way damage the more than positive judgment of this masterpiece.
THE AUDIO CLASS
In a few titles it happens to talk about audio and perhaps, given today's music, too often, this feature is overshadowed: well ... in The River of Time you will stop and listen to everything that surrounds you but you will also rejoice hearing the full-bodied soundtrack that is the background to your actions. Epic battles or moments of calm are rendered perfectly by the title's totally instrumental soundtrack but if that's not enough, I point out how the excellent localization totally in español makes the game even more grandiose.
Drakensang The River of Time is, ultimately, one of the best games of this summer. There are no real weaknesses apart from the two technical flaws mentioned above - just as the title presents one of the funniest (but complex) gameplay that can be found in a work of this kind. Finally, I point out that the game, which will give you a hard time for about sixty hours (perhaps more) is sold for the hefty sum of 19,99 euros (FX Interactive) so who if you miss it, is really a Troll.
Final grade: 91 / 100
