Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny HD

Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny HD is a remake of one of the most significant role-playing games of all time, which gave rise to the trilogy that is still remembered to this day. The game was based on the famous paper RPG system Das Schwarze Auge, and was originally released in 1992 for PC, Amiga, and Atari ST. The development of the HD-remake of the game was overwatched by people from Attic Entertainment Software, the creators of the original game.

It is owing to them that you once again have a chance to visit Thorwal, one of the oldest cities of Aventurien, where your adventure begins. You take the lead of a fearless team made up of six adventurers of different races and skills to help them find the legendary blade destiny. It is really the only weapon that can stop the hordes of orcs, threatening the historic alliance of nations.

You explore the game’s world from first-person perspective. Along with your team you perform a series of quests that lead you to fragments of a map with the location of the legendary sword. The experience gained on the way allow you to develop your attributes and skills which, in turn, help you prove victorious in increasingly challenging skirmishes. During combat the camera automatically switches to isometric view, and the fight itself takes place in a turn-based system, in which individual characters use up their movement points.

It is worth noting that in this case refreshing the classic game did not only mean implementing modern HD graphics. Not only visual artists, but also writers and designers worked on the project. In effect, the original story was expanded. Of course, the classic game interface was redesigned, which is now more intuitive and easier to use. Small changes were also implemented into combat mechanics, e.g. allowing heroes to take cover behind rocks, walls, etc. A big help for the less experienced players is an advanced tutorial that explains Das Schwarze Auge system to all those who are not familiar with its rules.

Last updated on 18 December 2019