Drakensang: On the river of time

Drakensang: On the river of time
Studio	Radon Labs
Publisher	dtp entertainment
Senior Developer	Bernd Beyreuther (Director) Fabian Rudzinski (Lead Designer) Nicolai Pogoczelski (Lead Programmer) André Weißflog (Lead Technology Programmer) Marcus Koch (Art Director) Silvio Ullrich (Art Director)
Erstveröffent- lichung	February 19, 2010 January 11, 2011
platform	Windows
Game engine	Nebula 3
genre	role playing game
Game mode	Single player
control	Keyboard & mouse
system advantages preconditions	OS : Windows XP with Service Pack  3 & DirectX 9.0c CPU : Pentium 4 2.8 GHz or comparable RAM : 1 GB (Windows XP) , 2 GB (Windows Vista / 7) Graphics card : NVIDIA 6800GT with 256 MB RAM or comparable DirectX 9c compatible sound card Free hard disk space : 7 GB
medium	1 DVD
language	German
Current version	1.1
Age rating	USK PEGI

Drakensang: Am Fluss der Zeit is a computer role-playing game developed by the Berlin studio Radon Labs . It was published on February 19, 2010 and is being marketed by the software publisher dtp entertainment . It's a prequel to The Dark Eye: Drakensang . The basis for the game world by Drakensang: The pen & paper role-playing game Das Schwarze Auge is based on the river of time .

action

background

According to the Aventurian calendar, the plot is set in the year 1009 after Bosparan's fall and is therefore parallel to, but not connected to, the plot of the DSA computer game Das Schwarze Auge: Die Schicksalsklinge . In secret, the disgraced former Imperial Chancellor Answin von Rabenmund prepares the overthrow of Emperor Hal so that he can ascend the throne of the Middle Kingdom himself.

Against this background, the thieves Cuano and Mora engage in a competition to find out who can steal the so-called Raul crown, the imperial crown of the Middle Kingdom. This is located on Castle Rudes Schild in the care of Burgrave Ardo vom Eberstamm. Whoever is in possession of the crown could lay claim to the imperial throne and thus cause serious unrest in the empire. When Cuano enters the castle, he is caught by Ardo and his friend Forgrimm. Together they discover that the crown they guarded is just a duplicate and the real crown has already been stolen by Mora. Ardo, Cuano and Forgrimm now go in search of Mora to regain the crown.

Course of action

The hero travels to Nadoret to finish his education. During the river trip he made the acquaintance of Ardo, Cuano and Forgrimm. They ask him to work with them to find out more about the river pirates who apparently have kidnapped Mora. In Nadoret, the group also meets the agent of the Imperial Garethic Information Agency Gerling, who, on behalf of Count Growin von Ferdok, has to find out why his vassal Baron Dajin is not doing anything about the increasing number of pirate attacks. The group agrees to investigate the incidents for Gerling. They find out that the Thûrstein customs fortress and its commander should work together with the river pirates.

Ardo, Cuano, Forgrimm, a colleague of Gerling and the hero travel with a river boat hired by Ardo on the Great River to the customs fortress and confront its commanders. He admits to making common cause with the pirates. It comes to an argument with the commander and the confrontation with a giant octopus, which finally devours the commander. Before the group of heroes can leave the customs fortress again, Ardo is attacked by an assassin and is dying after a poison attack . Only with the help of the elves of the elven forest is it possible to produce a cure for Ardo after some exertion. After his recovery, the group travels to the hiding place of the river pirates in Hammerberg, which they believe is Mora's whereabouts. The group is admitted to the leader of the pirates. After a coup against her was thwarted, she said that Baron Dajin tolerated the pirates' activities on payment of a "levy". They also took Mora to Dajin's castle in Nadoret. There the group learns from Dajin that he had commissioned Mora with the theft of the crown in order to support Answin von Rabenmund in his plan to usurp the throne. Furthermore, Dajin wants to overthrow Count Growin with an army and as a reward for his services he would like to become ruler of the Kosch himself. The strings, however, are held by the magician Regismund von Kaltenstein, one of von Rabenmunds' partisans. After the group of heroes fought their way through Dajin's castle and defeated Regismund in the final battle, they can secure the crown of rascals. Dajin is arrested.

Game world

Like its predecessor, the game is set in the Kosch province in the game world of the Black Eye. The action comprises four main locations and very few secondary locations. These are all south of Ferdok (setting of the first game) on the Great River and can only be reached by ship. Nadoret is the largest city in the game world and the central point of contact for the game. You can also visit the Thûrstein customs fortress, the Elfenwald and the Hammerberg.

The position of the elven forest is known only to a few. There the elves live in an elven tree, which they inhabit on several levels. The rest of the elven forest is almost entirely traversed by swamp and ruins. Hammerberg is the hideout of the river pirates. The climate there is very cold and snow falls continuously. The center of the city is the tavern. In the north there is also a dwarf ring .

In addition, there are smaller secondary scenes such as the cave of the water dragon, which you have to conquer during a quest. By installing the add-on Phileasson's Secret, the globe city Tie'Shianna is added as the main location.

Game mechanics

See also : The Black Eye: Drakensang

The River of Time is designed exclusively for single players. It uses a 3D view. Similar to Baldur's Gate , the fights are based on a round system that is implemented and displayed in real time. The game can be paused at any time using a pause function.

In contrast to its predecessor, the hero travels by ship instead of on foot. It is possible to learn new skills from time to time.

After the outro , the player can continue to travel to the game world and finish a previously unfulfilled side quest . The only exception is the globe city Tie'Shianna from the Phileasson's Secret expansion. Due to the action, it remains locked after completion.

The boat trips are used to update the cities even more than in the predecessor. New quests or new quest sections are usually initiated or activated with a boat trip to another location.

Versions

In addition to the first version, Drakensang: Am Fluss der Zeit has been published in a Collector's Edition (' Collector's Edition ') and a Personal Edition ('Personalized Edition').

In addition to the game, the Collector's Edition contains a canvas-like book cover, the original soundtrack on CD, a DIN A2 fabric card of Aventuria, a DIN A3 poster, an item that can be unlocked exclusively in the game, the DSA set of rules in PDF format and a Certificate of Authenticity.

The Personal Edition was only offered in advance in cooperation with the online mail order company Amazon. The packaging in book form and the supplied certificate of authenticity were provided with the first and last name of the recipient. In addition to the contents of the Collector's Edition, the Personal Edition contained a so-called Inrah card deck, a card game borrowed from the game world of the Black Eye. The buyers were also allowed to give the exclusive game item a name of their own choosing.

reception

The average rating of German-language magazines was given at critify.de based on 24 ratings with 83 percent.

From GameRadio.de received Drakensang: The River of Time a total score of 88%. In contrast to the competitors Dragon Age: Origins or Neverwinter Nights , the game world is designed "far friendlier and nowhere near as gloomy". Gameradio.de particularly praises the game by giving it the GameRadio awards in the areas of “atmosphere” and “gameplay”.

The sales figures remained below expectations, so that the otherwise troubled developer Radon Labs had to file for bankruptcy after the exit of an investor before the announced add-on Phileasson's secret was published .

Phileasson's Secret (add-on)

Phileasson's secret
Studio	Radon Labs
Publisher	dtp entertainment
Senior Developer	Bernd Beyreuther (Director) , Fabian Rudzinski (Lead Designer)
Erstveröffent- lichung	August 20, 2010
platform	Windows
Game engine	Nebula 3
genre	role playing game
Game mode	Single player
control	Keyboard & mouse
system advantages preconditions	OS : Windows XP with Service Pack  3 & DirectX 9.0c CPU : Pentium 4 2.8 GHz or comparable RAM : 1 GB (Windows XP) , 2 GB (Windows Vista / 7) Graphics card : NVIDIA 6800GT with 256 MB RAM or comparable DirectX 9c compatible sound card Free hard disk space : 2 GB
medium	1 DVD
language	German
Age rating	USK PEGI

Phileasson's Secret is an expansion for Drakensang: The River of Time and was released on August 20, 2010. It is integrated into the main game, the content is unlocked after reaching certain locations in the main game. The focus of the plot is the well-known DSA character Asleif "Foggwulff" Phileasson and his mission to bring the High Elf Princess Amariel to the so-called Islands in the Fog.

action

The high elf king Fenvarien asks Phileasson to free his daughter Amariel from the world of globules, an illusory world created by the king himself, and to bring her to him on the islands in the mist. Fenvarien created this world when he went to war in defense of the city of Tie'Shianna. Amariel, however, did not want to leave the city, which is why Fenvarien created the globe world, in which the day of Fenvarien's departure is repeated over and over again. An oblivion spell prevents Amariel from noticing this. Only three inhabitants of the globe world are real high elves.

The heroes meet Phileasson at the Thûrstein customs festival. Then they follow Phileasson through a rupture of the spheres into the globe world of Tie'Shianna. They try in vain to get the daughter Amariel to leave the city. The horde of the nameless god is now attacking the city. The heroes are involuntarily teleported out of the city. After they are back in town, Phileasson believes that he is the High Elf King and is crowned to be and receives a piece of the star stone from the priestess Mhayana. He steps through a portal to fight the Nameless Horde. The heroes follow him and finally find him. With Phileasson they kill the leader of the Horde Kazak. Phileasson becomes himself again, but loses part of the star stone. Tharkath, Amariel's bodyguard, takes him. The heroes and Phileasson are then also involuntarily teleported out of the city. After they are back in town, they learn that Tharkath loves Amariel and had arranged an exchange with the Nameless One. The nameless one receives the star stone and Tharkath the love of Amariel. Tharkath, Amariel, and Mhayana each had part of the star piece. Tharkath now has two pieces. He persuades Amariel to hand over the third part to him. The heroes kill Tharkath before he can complete the trade. With the death of Tarkath the globe world breaks apart. Amariel, the Heroes and Phileasson return to the real world and Phileasson and Amariel set course for the islands in the mist.

reception

In the reporting, the enlargement was largely described as disappointing. Among other things, the small size and the impression of a hasty action, which were attributed to the economic situation of Radon Labs, were criticized.

• 4Players: 57%
• Computer Picture Games: Note 2.46
• Eurogamer: 6/10
• Gamestar: 55%
• Gamona: 6/10
• Looki: 59%
• PC Games: 76%

continuation

In June 2010, before Phileasson's secret was published , Radon Labs had to file for bankruptcy. The Hamburg developer Bigpoint took over large parts of the development studio , including the naming rights to Drakensang . In August 2011, Bigpoint released a browser-playable MMORPG entitled Drakensang Online in the style of the action role-playing game Diablo . Bigpoint decided not to purchase a DSA license and instead designed its own game world and its own set of rules. In terms of content and play, the game therefore has no relation to its predecessor titles.

→ Main article : Drakensang Online

Pen & Paper

Since 2008 are published by Ulisses Games Pen - & - Paper - role-playing adventure .

• D1 The cult of the golden masks (2008) ISBN 978-3-940424-30-3
• D2 Eilif's Treasure (2010, solo adventure) ISBN 978-3-86889-034-1
• D3 Hort in der Tief (2010) ISBN 978-3-86889-037-2

Web links

• Drakensang: On the River of Time at MobyGames (English)
• Drakensang: Phileassons secret at MobyGames (English)
• Drakensang At the River of Time Wiki
• Phileasson's Secret Wiki

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Brian "Dhruin" Turner: Drakensang: Trot - NA Digital Releases Next Week ( English ) RPGWatch.com. January 6, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2011.
2. ↑ [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Found on: drakensang2.wikia.com . September 20, 2010. Links to official publisher download  
3. ↑ Amazon Message
4. ↑ Announcement in the forum of the publisher dtp
5. ↑ Drakensang: At the river of time at critify.de ; As of April 16, 2010.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Drakensang: On the river of time. Review . In: GameRadio.de , March 1, 2010.
7. ↑ Radon Labs combative despite bankruptcy: "Drakensang add-on is on schedule." Retrieved September 16, 2016 . 
8. ↑ [2] On http://www.dtp-entertainment.com/ from August 20, 2010. Retrieved September 21, 2010
9. ↑ Drakensang: Phileasson's secret - test, role-playing game - 4Players.de. Retrieved September 16, 2016 . 
10. ↑ Drakensang - Phileasson's Secret: Comprehensive add-on. Retrieved September 16, 2016 . 
11. ↑ Drakensang: Phileasson's Secret. Retrieved September 16, 2016 . 
12. ↑ Drakensang: On the River of Time - Phileasson's Secret Test (PC) - Time Rift! The result is a stupid addon - GameStar. Retrieved September 16, 2016 . 
13. ↑ Drakensang: The River of Time - Phileasson's Secret - Test - PC. In: www.gamona.de. Retrieved September 16, 2016 . 
14. ↑ DSA: Drakensang - Phileassons Secret - Test. Retrieved September 16, 2016 . 
15. ↑ Drakensang: Phileasson's secret in the test: Too little content for a real addon. Retrieved September 16, 2016 . 
16. ↑ Takeover: Bigpoint saves Radon Labs - Golem.de. Retrieved September 16, 2016 . 
17. ↑ Drakensang Online: Like Diablo 3 - but in the browser - Golem.de. Retrieved September 16, 2016 . 
18. ↑ Drakensang Online: In the browser, without DSA license - 4Players.de. Retrieved September 16, 2016 . 
19. ↑ Drakensang Online: Fantasy Adventure Without The Dark Eye - Golem.de. Retrieved September 16, 2016 .