Welcome to the world of Arkania from the same company responsible for the Ultima titles, Sir-tech Software, Inc.. You and a party of adventurers have the fate of the kingdom squarely on your collective shoulders in this role-playing excursion into a fantasy-based realm filled with a powerful army of Orcs aiming to devastate Arkania. As the title suggests, the main objective is to find the legendary artifact that may just turn the tide in your favor, the sword known as the Blade of Destiny, lost for ages deep in Orcish territory.
Blade of Destiny features a massive world with gameplay incorporating all of the tried and true aspects of fantasy role-playing. Combat is turn-based (rounds) and the game contains both pre-generated characters and the opportunity to build your party from the ground up. More than 70 towns, villages, ruins and dungeons await the intrepid adventurers who must explore the land fully to find the revered sword.
As a member of the Thorwalian race, you'll have resources, a unique monetary system and the elements of physical combat as well as magic at your disposal. From the beginning of the game with it's unusual character generation options (there are four possible procedures) to the vast arsenal of weapons and spells to wield during gameplay, Blade of Destiny offers an immense and diversified game world.
In a numbers rundown of Blade of Destiny, the game has two difficulty settings and 12 possible Archetypes (warlock/witch, warrior/she-warrior, hunter/huntress, etc.) from which to choose. Each character has 14 attributes, both positive and negative (seven of each), money is a 10-based system using copper bits, silver crowns and gold ducats, 12 deities who impact gameplay, more than 75 spells divided into a dozen categories, seven groupings of skills encompassing 50 unique capabilities, 23 herbs and potions, 12 options during combat and seven diseases.
The game features a point-and-click interface, a multiple choice dialog system, automapping, NPCs and an isometric viewpoint during combat. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny is based (c.1993) on the top role-playing system in Germany, namely, Das Schwarze Auge.
This is the first part of a computer trilogy of Germany´s most popular and successful P&P-RPG "Das Schwarze Auge".
You can create a party of six characters to explore a lovely crafted world called Aventurien. Each player is represented by a very detailed skill and attribute system, which is as complex as the well known AD&D game system.
In the first part of the trilogy, it is your task to stop Orkish hordes from plundering human settlements in the borderlands of Aventurien. Therefore you´ll have to recover a mysterious sword forged by cyclops, called "Die Schicksalsklinge (=Blade of Destiny)". Little is known about this sword and it will take a while to discover it and its secrets.
The first game in the Realms of Arkania trilogy was the Blade of Destiny. It combines all the best characteristics of that times RPG's, like an extensive story line, first person view mode, cave exploring, scenery and (of course) freedom over your own actions. This game was an immediate hit when it was first released, forcing the producers to make a new English version almost over night! (The game was originally intended only for Germany). This delayed the sequel to the game, Star Trail, for a whole year.
The game is incredibly huge for the time it was made. A lot of work was put into creating the world, including history, geography, folklore, races and NPC's (non-player characters).
The story is epic, as all RPG's... You play the role of six different people; all looking for adventure and fame that arrives in the city of Thorwal. After a while, you are sent to the real quest of the game: hunt for the sword of legendary warlord Hetman Hyggelik. In order to find it, you will have to travel the world in search for pieces of a map, drawn by one of Hyggelik's warriors. This map, naturally, shows the location of the sword.
This game partially relies on its manual. You will need the manual if you want to make your own characters (recommended), as it holds the minimum requirements in the attribute values of each type of hero.
The reason for the game getting a four is due to the music that can sometimes get on your nerves, and the ranged combat system. (You can only fire in a straight line. This goes for magic as well). Another thing that is confusing is the fact that all the shops, inns, taverns and weaponsmiths look exactly the same from the outside.
Apart from this... the game is good, and a nice way to start off the trilogy. Have fun!
How to run this game on modern Windows PC?
People who downloaded Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny have also downloaded:
Realms of Arkania: Star Trail, Realms of Arkania 3: Shadows over Riva, Planescape: Torment, Return to Krondor, Rage of Mages, Stonekeep, Rage of Mages 2: Necromancer, Silver
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