Drakensang 2: The River of Time - Radon Labs - PC

[Goreschach]

Back a few years ago, the small German development studio Radon Labs released Drakensang, an rpg based on the German DSA tabletop system. The title was given the dubious honor of being awarded 'The best German RPG of 2008'. Although there is a history of old-school RPG's from Germany, given the current stigma of videogames there and the current domination of more western rpgs from the likes of Bioware and the approximate 700 small eastern studios still trying to ride the semi-decomposed tail of Square-Enix, this honor still amounts to little more than being a few steps beyond being voted 'the best restaurant in Darfur'. Drakensang sold moderately in its country of origin, and after spending half a year in translation, was released to little fanfare in the rest of the world. It was briefly popular on F13 and a few were excited to hear of plans for a sequel.

While this was a few years ago, the prequel to the original, Drakensang 2: The River of Time, was produced and released natively in a short period. Radon Labs then received the less dubious dishonor of going bankrupt. For several months it was unknown if the game would even be released elsewhere, however the studio was purchased and well over a year after completion Drakensang 2 popped up on Steam literally without warning. Originally slated to be a trilogy, the new owners now plan to use the lisense to release a casual, browser-based mmo. In other words, Drakensang 2 is the last game in the series.

Reviewing the prequel is a fairly simple task, as it is purely more of the same and so I will neglect to go over the basic details of the game. Most people here will already be familiar with the original, but if not the review is here. The fact that the game was produced on a short budget and timescale is evident. The engine appears untouched, huge amounts of art assets are reused, and gameplay is essentially the same. For those not familiar with the original, the setting is typical DnD fare. You have humans as the primary race, along with snooty elves and surly dwarves joining you as you go out to battle bandits and monsters for fabulous prizes. In defiance of typical trends, however, the prequel is smaller in scope than the original. Instead of being the chosen one out to save the world, the pc is actually more a lackey to one of your groupmates and is merely assisting him out of gratitude in order to retrieve a crown and stop a national conflict. Why is this necessary? Apparently a wizard did it. I don't really know. The main storyline becomes rather disjoint, and I'm not sure if this is because the game was rushed, or if it's simply another thing lost in translation.

It is obvious while playing the game that troubles were had during localization. Occasional mistakes are to be found, descriptions are often incomplete or inaccurate, dialogue is sometimes stilted, and the voiceovers mostly range from 'bad' to 'campy'. But beyond these problems, like the original, Drakensang 2 is a solid game. Everything feels well connected. The feel and tone of the game, much lighter than the grimdark fare currently being released, is consistent and is nostalgic for those familiar with older rpgs. While not possessing as much impact as before, the graphics, virtually unchanged from the original, still work well and fit the world. The program itself is rock-solid and at no point throughout the entire game did I feel it was even considering crashing. To my recollection, the only real problem was a major performance drop near the end of the game in an encounter where you mow through around a hundred pirates.

Although being so similar to the original, there are a few improvements. Drakensang was often considered a return to 'hardcore' gameplay style, but this was, more than anything else, just the result of unfamiliarity with the DSA system. A basic familiarity with how the game system works allowed the player to essentially steamroll the game. One of the reasons is that, unlike DnD, the DSA system is based around much lower power encounters. Characters beyond level 10 are uncommon, and past this point the combat system is essentially broken. Not in the 'DnD broken epic levels' way, but in the 'don't even bother rolling the dice' way. Drakensang 2 helps rectify this with the use of a difficulty setting, but the more important factor is that the limited scope of the campaign will only take you up to around level 13 at most, as opposed to the near 20 of the original. Still, with properly built characters the game is not all that difficult, even on the hardest setting.

Other problems have been corrected, at least somewhat. Although the main storyline is much shorter than in the original, and still completely linear, it feels much less on-rails, as you can now return to all major areas after completing the main quest chain there. Side quests are now more numerous and more involved. You can even return to the main city and continue to play after beating the game, although no new content is introduced. One problem that inexplicably remains is the slow un-modified movement speed, although this is alleviated somewhat due to tighter level design and fewer trash mob runs. Mods are recommended to fix this.

Recommendation is simple. The game is simply more of the original. In fact, it's so similar that it feels more like an old-school expansion pack, the kind that you'd pay 20 to 30 dollars for, getting you a new storyline in an old engine. I do not know what Drakensang 2 originally released for, but when it hit steam it came at a discount cost of 20 dollars. Admittedly, at typical new box price it would have been a ripoff, but as is it's a worthwhile purchase for those who already played and enjoyed the original. Those who weren't interested in the original will find nothing new to entice them and should skip it.

[Strazos]

Thanks - this just reminds me of my need to play through the original, which I didn't get very far in.

Since you seem to be very familiar with the system, any suggestions if one chose to play as a charlatan in the first game? The early combat seemed...hard.

[Der Helm]

Thanks - this just reminds me of my need to play through the original, which I didn't get very far in.

Since you seem to be very familiar with the system, any suggestions if one chose to play as a charlatan in the first game? The early combat seemed...hard.

I played the pen and paper version in my youth, would a charlatan be a jester-based magic user ? (not sure about the translation from German)

If so, I think the character is a bit of a gimick, a bit like the goblin teams in BB, really. Not sure if you can make him decent at combat.

[Strazos]

More like a fencer with a splash of illusionist.

[Der Helm]

More like a fencer with a splash of illusionist.

Ah, ok, then that class got changed drastically since I played in the 90s.  /

[Goreschach]

Thanks - this just reminds me of my need to play through the original, which I didn't get very far in.

Since you seem to be very familiar with the system, any suggestions if one chose to play as a charlatan in the first game? The early combat seemed...hard.

The charlatan is described as a magic school dropout, which makes sense. They're probably the most 'jack of all trades' class in the game, being moderately capable of fencing, social skills, and thievery. They are also classified as half-mage, which means they aren't able to learn some of the most powerful spells. This, however, ends up meaning little, as in these games melee is supreme. Spellcasting is very slow, with stronger spells sometimes taking several rounds to cast, their damage is not impressive, and mana regen is slow. Spellcasting is best used in an assistance role. You really only need one mage in your party, and a charlatan can still learn all the really useful spells, barring any form of pet. While pets are nice, they aren't necessary. Important spells are Fastness of Body, which will increase a leather-wearing mage's armor value to that of platemail, the Attributio Strength buff, and the stone/sleep crowd control spells. Heal is also nice, and even first level Clarum Pulrum will fix all poison.

In Drakensang 1 all the hybrid casters are especially nice choices since the main storyline has you collecting a set of pc-only platemail that doesn't restrict casting. This, along with Fastness of Body will yield a huge armor value. Rapier and shield can be a very effective combination for the first half of the game, and you find a few nice rapiers that have a chance to wound on hit. Since 5 wounds kills anything, and the top tier rapier skill does 2 wounds, this will give you a decisive advantage against powerful mundane enemies, like ogres. Later in the game, however, all of the significant enemies become immune to wounds.

You'll be best off taking three tanks with you, once available. Because of the extremely high level you reach, you'll end up with more than enough xp to max out your tanks' strength which, along with a maxed out str buff from your caster, will yield huge damage. For the first two thirds or so of the game stick with shields, until you can buy a recipe for 14/1 strength bonus 2h hammers. These, in combination with the top tier axe/hammer skill that does triple damage, will end the game as your tanks run around one-shotting common enemies.

Anyone who isn't a tank can have a bit of trouble at the start of the game. Therefore, the first thing you should do is pick up Rhulana at the inn. Second, go out and rescue Dranor. Third, boost Dranor's pickpocket skill as much as possible, steal from everyone in town, and use the money to supplement your meager starting equipment. After this you shouldn't have much trouble.

[Sky]

That reminds me I need to finish this game. Though I'll definitely need a change of scene from eurorpg fantasy settings after 70 hours or whatever it'll end up at with Divinity 2.

I don't know how some of the steam folks put in that much time in a week or two!

[Rasix]

Maybe Sjofn can enlighten us.  I'm assuming it includes the words "sugar daddy".