$9.99Drakensang Old-school fantasy, four heroes deep
Drakensang is a party-based RPG built on The Dark Eye, Germany's classic pen and paper system. Lead up to four adventurers through a detailed fantasy world, fight with real-time-with-pause tactics, and shape characters from dozens of spells, talents and abilities. Slow, thoughtful and full of old-school charm.
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Combat that rewards a plan
Fights play out in real time, but the pause button is always there. Stop the action, line up your four adventurers, assign spells and commands, then let it run and watch the plan hold or fall apart. There is no difficulty setting: the game is hard, and several bosses simply cannot be beaten head-on. You will need unusual tactics, buffs, healing items and a party where everyone has a job. Wounds matter too: a badly hurt fighter gets worse at everything, so patch people up before they bleed out. When a fight goes right, it feels earned.
A ruleset with real depth
Behind every lockpick attempt, spell and swing sits a hidden dice roll, which is why your character sheet is worth reading. There are more than 40 spells, over 30 talents and almost 40 special abilities, plus an expert creation mode for people who already know the system. Experience points can be spent whenever you like, so you can hold onto them until you are sure what kind of hero you are building. Fair warning: the system is unusual and takes a few hours to click.
