Buy Demonicon - The Dark Eye

Actually a pretty decent RPG.

I got this game in a bundle that I bought a few months back. When I first bought the bundle, I kind of ignored this game, instead concentrating on the centerpieces of the bundles. I thought it nothing but a throw-in, and because of the ratings, threw it to the side. However, once I had beaten/gotten bored of the rest of the games in the bundle, I finally "Eh, why the hell not" and installed this game. After a story that took me about 13 hours to complete, I found that the game pleasantly surprised me.

As you can probably see from the videos and screenshots of this game, it's not a AAA game. It's not gonna blow you away. But it's not meant to do that, but instead draw you into the story/roleplaying elements of the game.

The game takes place in the Dark Eye Universe, a spin-off of the D&D universe. It's akin to other games set in the same universe, such as the Blackguards Series, or the Drakensang series, and lore from those two, though unneeded, would possibly help you appreciate this game. But unlike those two this is an action-RPG, whereas those are turn-based. However, I can't say that's necessarily for the better. The combat in this game primarily consists of button-mashing, trying to get combos, which in turn you can use to activate powers/magic. It is very clunky, but you get used to it eventually.

The story is probably the best feature of this game. Although it is flawed, it does have a fairly unique plot, along with semi-interesting characters. The quests aren't bad either. One aspect I did like was that you have a choice in a lot of the major plot points in the game. Although the choices don't really affect the ending, they do affect the characters you interact with, turning them for or against you. As for side-quests, they're your run-of-the-mill type quests. "Go here, get this, come back" or "Kill this, come back", but you do get some solid rewards from them, so there is SOME incentive in doing them.

Lastly, don't expect this game to be open-world. Although you do have partial free reign to explore the mission areas, your choices are pretty limited to either trading with merchants or looking for ingredients/treasure chests. There is a skills portion to the game, but it isn't very fleshed out either. It includes the standard RPG skills: Herblore, Lockpicking, speech, etc. But don't expect there to be a flasy minigame associated with them like the Elderscrolls Series. Also as a sidenote, don't let the Blacksmith skill decieve you, it's purely used to disarm traps (odd I know) and apply upgrades to armor/weapons. There is no actual crafting.

Overall I would give this game a 7/10. I wouldn't buy it full price, but if it's ever on sale, I'd strongly recommend grabbing it.

Is the game worth $40? Hell no? Is the game worth around $10? Well that depends. Many gamers today aren't willing to invest into games that provide a mediocre experience. They only want to play games that are highly recieved. Gone are the days of going to the store and just picking out a game because the cover art looked cool. With reviews everywhere, gamers are more wary of their purchases. So I will say this, the game will not woo you. It will most likely be a forgettable experience. The controls are somewhat clunky and the animations are subpar. But is it worth your time? I say yes. Games like this reach towards the stars and fail poetically due to a lack of budget. IF you are looking for a decent Action RPG with an OK story to pass time, then I reccommend this game. If you only concern yourself with the highest quality of game out there, then I suggest you move along.

I've given this game a 'Yes' recommendation, but only if you can find it going really cheap in a deal or a sale somewhere.

So - Demonicon. It's not the worst game you'll ever play, but it's not terribly well designed, and it's kind of 'obvious' that it worked to a budget, which is a shame because it's got some nice visuals and as an RPG it manages to hit some of the right notes. It's got a lot of obvious bugs and half-finished elements, it's kind of clunky, and the story isn't amazing, and isn't really developed entirely well. I think the game tries to rely too much on the background The Dark Eye lore, which will appeal only to fans of that pen & paper RPG. The first couple of areas as well are a bit cumbersome, and it's not really that enjoyable a game to begin with.

But eventually, after about 10 hours or so, maybe? Towards the latter half of the second hub, suddenly you get a sense of... moorishness. By this time Cairon should have some better abilities & equipment, and should be levelled up to a point where he's actually slightly ahead of the curve for that area. This makes the fighting easier (but not boring), which stops some of the sluggish battles you may have had before this. Keep on top of things and this advantage can last you the rest of the game, and all in all it makes you feel like a little bit of a badass.

As an example, in a later hub section, I found myself confronted by three or four demons in armour, wielding some pretty nasty looking weapons. I was preparing myself mentally for long and difficult fight, and I ran at the first one and did that stabby move that's kind of like what Brad Pitt does in the movie Troy. The demon knight fell instantly - recovering from my momentary surprise, I repeated the move on the others, and then the fight was over. I felt like a total BOSS, and that's something that this game is kind of good at, especially in the later half.

So – all in all, if you find it cheap and are willing to put up with a rather poor start, this is one of those one-shots that can entertain you for a while. I finished the game in 26 hours, so it’s not short by any means, but it’s fairly linear for an ‘RPG’ so the story can only go on for so long.

For more information, especially about the specific mechanics of the game, check out my full review at Strategy Informer: http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/darkeyedemonicon/reviews.html

Demonicon reminded me a bit of Dragon Age 2 because of its repetitive and dull environments. But it's a game that's understandable, a game that anyone can play. It's actually fairly good for an action RPG. Until it becomes very repetitive as far as the quests are concerned.

The character and skill upgrade systems are refreshing. They aren't perfect, but at least they allow for a lot of customization, even if half of these upgrades aren't used all that much. You earn AP by finishing quests, killing enemies, you name it. These points can then be spend on upgrades. Each skill requires 4 blocks of points before it is entirely upgraded and there are about 10 skills in total. You can also spend these points on stats like strength and you also unlock a magic system early on that uses GP which can be earned pretty much the same way, but you have to use magic while doing things.

Quests consist of kill and fetch quests and halfway through the game this becomes rather repetitive. This is also thanks to the not-all-that-exciting combat, which is real-time, by the way.
The graphics are sharp and pretty good, but the framerate drops in villages and I have no idea why. The villages aren't overly crowded and there aren't any spectacular visual effects in it either. Weird. Otherwise, the game runs well.

The voice acting isn't all that bad, even if some of the voices don't match the personalities of the characters. But then again, this is no AAA title so if we take that into account it isn't all that bad.
Demonicon didn't disappoint me because I didn't really have any expectations so if you feel the same way give it a try. But if you want a quality RPG that isn't too repetitive look further.

[Rating: 74/100]

I bought this game at a pretty hefty discount before it was released after watching trailers and reading previews. I like the game quite a bit, not at all disappointed with the purchase. I played it pretty consistently until I finished it. Overall I'd rate it a 80/100

The story is dark, set in a world plagued by demons and monsters after some sort of cataclysmic magical apocalypse. The decisions you make have very real consequences both for those close to your character and for the city where you spend most of your time.

The game system works well - clearly heavily influenced by the Witcher 2. The combat is pretty good, but slightly rough around the edges.

So should you buy this game? Depends on how much you like RPG's with dark stories, and whether or not you are willing to excuse the combat for not being as good as Witcher 2, Skyrim, Dragon Age or KOTOR 1&2.

Finally I'd like to address the "incest" thing. Clearly people were not paying attention as your character is not actually a blood relative of the possible romantic interest.

The Dark Eye Demonicon is a third person action-RPG set within The Dark Eye series, a German tabletop role-playing game that outsells Dungeons & Dragons in the German market. You play as Cairon, a young man who suddenly acquires demonic powers when his blood is mixed with the blood of his sister. Some people begin to take an interest in you, and events unfold from there. It is a fairly straightforward tale, with plenty of twists and turns that are less than shocking along the way. But it is an interesting story, and it features one of the most often used tropes in role-playing games today: moral choices.At certain points throughout the story, you have to make choices that will affect how others will view you. Standard stuff, but the best part is that you will often have no idea how your choices will impact you in the future.As Cairon explores the world, he has a few methods with which he can dispatch his enemies. Attacking with your weapon and using whatever physical skills you have is the first method, alongside throwing weapons which he can use to attack enemies at a distance. And then there is magic, which is comprised of four spells with multiple unlockable variations for each spell. Both play well, and I used a mixture of the magic and the mundane as I journeyed through the game.Alongside your combat skills are your non-combat skills such as lock-picking and legend lore, which are used to acquire and unlock additional opportunities. If you upgrade your fast talking ability for example, you will be able to obtain greater rewards for quests or avoid fights entirely in some cases. But a key detail to all of this is the way in which you use experience, or in Demonicon, AP and GP. AP is used for physical oriented skills, non combat skills and primary stats, while GP is used to upgrade your magic abilities. This is an interesting feature, as you now have to choose between upgrading your skills and upgrading your stats when you obtain experience. In theory you could turn Cairon into the least capable warrior in all existence, but in practice you will have increased everything at least moderately by the end of the game. You’ll want to level up everything at least somewhat equally, but the non-traditional character progression forces one to make careful decisions as you progress through the game.If there is one major problem that I can pinpoint in Demonicon, it would be the technical issues that pop up time and again.Textures would pop in and out when I entered conversations, the camera would often move by itself to the worst possible place imaginable during a battle and plenty of other technical glitches and bugs occurred during the 19 hours I spent with the game.With Demonicon being far from flawless, I found myself wondering whether or not I enjoyed it enough to give it a positive recommendation. Honestly, I did. Despite its issues, The Dark Eye: Demonicon remains a fun adventure that, while lacking polish, is an enjoyable journey through The Dark Eye setting.

Neither a Triple A rpg nor does it have top notch gameplay but extremely well done game nevertheless.

The Plot:
The plot is quite interesting but may put off some people, personally i love it. Its not very deep and has a few plot holes but manages to pull through. The areas in the game also ain't that big. Standard RPG formula, main plot brings the player to different places where he/she can choose to clear side quests(basically made up of kill this, collect that). Within the main plot there are crossroads where you will have to make choices and side with either faction. Without spoiling much, these choices affect that portion or area of the story but not much towards the ending. I've completed the game on my first playthrough within roughly 20hrs, minus all the afk and crash and completed almost all side quests.

Combat/Skills/Stats/Crafting:
Combat is action based not very fluid and flashy(it is a bit dull) but still passable and entertaining. Quite a limited Skill/Magic and Stats system, a far cry from other Dark Eye games and other "single character" RPGs. Again, nothing that really impressed me. Technically you can almost max them if you do grind the side quests. Crafting is very simple but kinda pointless, you don't really need the potions/buffs unless on higher difficulty.

Graphics/Soundtrack:
Looks more like a pre-2010 graphics, it looks somewhat dated therefore do not expect much on the looks of the surroudings, characters and world itself. Soundtrack is decent.

Overall, i'd give it a 7/10. Plot and the backstory premise mainly the reason i play this game for.

I`m and RPG fan, even though this one lacks manual saving, there is no open world, side quests are very limited and there arent many items or reasons to buy wares this is a quite good game. Every other aspect is rock solid, the plot, character upgrades, skills, etc. I got it in a bundle and paid a small amount for it. This one of the best $ per gameplay value I`ve ever had.

It's a WRPG without manual saving. What more do I gotta say?

Wait wait wait. Okay. If I had to put it simply, it's more or less if you made Witcher 2's combat very stiff and awkward, then mixed it with the one track mind of Dragon Age 2. Now that may sound horrible, but it's not for a lack of trying. Whatever miniscuile budget they had, the developers tried their best to tell a (mostly) coherent story that sprinkles around lore like it's going out of season. Beyond that though, there would be a LOT of reasons to hate it... if not for the fact that most of the sins that it commits were first perpetrated by Bioware, specifically Dragon Age 2. Which mind you, was critically acclaimed by hack journalists.

So let's begin

A dialogue wheel that doesn't actually show you what you're gonna say? Yup.
Consoley design and controls? Yup.
Linear as hell and a slave to its main plot? Yup.
Bad character models and downright horrible animation? Yup.
Enemies that kind of just, pop in out of nowhere? Yup.
Two choices rather than a third option you'd want to sensibly make? Yup.
Characters that stand around making idle threats rather than actually doing anything? Yup.
Inability to interact with the game world such as killing people, stealing from people, etc unless it's specifically involving the story in some way? Yup.
Reusing old areas? Yup. (Although Demonicon justifies it by writing the plots around the areas, rather than just copying and pasting old areas and telling you they're new.)

In terms of its own sins, Demonicon lacks a party system. I understand however, that it is a smaller adventure, so to have a second or third character that can level or change would be pointless, but I'd have been happy with a generic hireable that dies easily - at least then I'd have something to do with all the money I had, but more than anything, it just feels so weird to not have anybody allied with you for a segment despite it being clear that if it were any other kind of RPG, they'd be in your party or at least along for the ride.

Speaking of adventure... there isn't any. As mentioned, it lacks any kind of interactivity with the world, so it feels more or less like a static environment that you're running through, and boy oh boy does this game pack on the giant areas filled with nothing that just eats up your time, specifically, the giant empty monastery that you have to waste time running around in that reeks of not only filler, but running out of money. All you can really do besides following quest markers is go down a corridor that you can see on your map and maybe find a chest filled with junk that you sell at a vendor. It has exploration in terms of maybe finding a chest in the corner, but there are no side quests to find or anything of note besides maybe lore.

Side quests. Another big problem. You find them on dart boards akin to MMORPGs and slap them to your dashboard with the markers to tell you where to get the seven pearls of Uranus or some garbage. Just take them all, there's no penalty either way, as they're all pointless fetch quests with nothing to offer and no choices to make. It's busy work.

So the main systems to the game - the role playing, the combat - has to at least make up for all that stuff, right? Well... Even on hard my first time, I found the combat rather trivial even despite not knowing how to parry. I seriously beat the game never parrying. I did end up doing a lot of combat rolls as a result, but even so, with just one combat skill and a few magic spells, I was able to trounce most of the game not using anything beyond my sword. In this regard, I can see what they were going for in terms of the replay value as an RPG, as there are a variety of combat skills and levels to the magic spells that you can't necessarily reach in one play through. I just felt I would have never had a use for any of it, especially when you only have 4 slots (4 for magic, 4 for skills, 4 for items) to put every ability. It is fun, don't get me wrong, and it is exactly the kind of action game I was expecting from that dog Dragon Age 2. Mixing and matching everything and doing the right commands in tandem with enemy animations works and it has a meaty feel to when you're slicing and dicing.

In regards to building the character, it's similar to The Witcher, where you're stuck as a single character with no customization per-se, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you're able to build them to how you feel. So once again, the problem of a single person RPG comes into play, because Cairon is essentially a multiclasser. I maxed out the passive skills, so I was a top notch haggler and charismatic. I was a knower of medicines and could open any lock or disarm any trap. So on top of doing all that, I was brute in combat and could freeze you in place with magic. Huh? I don't feel like I role played as anybody, I just feel like I went on Theme Park RPG #361.

So let's say if they balanced the games stats properly, and you could actually miss out on a few things here and there and would need to replay the game to see them. Well, you could be potentially boned. Like lock picking. It's completely useless and a dump stat. You never find anything actually of worth in chests, even the few that actually require you to use rank 6 or 7. Whereas haggle for example, could be used to get a ton of points to spend by using it at several vendors at once, then upgrading it and doing it all over again. The problem arises in that some of the seventh mastery passives are never actually tested, because I assume the developers ran out of time and couldn't rejigger and balance things like they should have. There should have been several 5-7 rank chests that you couldn't open that had cool stuff in both early and later parts of the game, so you'd WANT TO invest in lockpicking, so I'd be Cairon the Rogue, rather than Cairon "Who Can Do Everything"

Despite all that, and the fact that the game ending requires you going back to an old area THE THIRD TIME, I was intrigued overall with the story. Characters never truly ring of good or evil, instead, seeming far more gray than I was expecting. It was seldom anyone was ever an outright jerk. The few choices you make actually made me feel confilcted, because they never offered you a clear conscience one way or the other.

"Sure, you did X, but Y happened."

Despite railroading you the whole way, those few snippets felt refreshing, whereas other RPGs would have made it very clear cut one way or the other of what my deed would wrought. I just wish it had more characters to meet, more stories to see and a far more satisfying ending.

Still, I can't recommend it. It's no lost gem or even an unpolished one, it's a game that had a lot of aspirations, but had no feasible way to deliver them. I definitely don't dislike it, but hey, I actually put in the time to beat this game unlike Dragon Age 2, and considering the money EA/Bioware put into that turd - that's worth something.

The Pro's:

+Surprisingly decent writing here and there

+Choices that leave the player scratching their head (in a good way)

+Fun junk food combat

+Voice acting that was never embarrassing or truly bad

The Con's:

-No real depth to the role playing

-As linear as lines on a paper

-The base price is asking a little too much

-Certain combat mechanics don't actually seem to work or aren't worth using

-Reused areas

-Poorly designed filler content

-Cairon is no Geralt

7.5/10

At first I was really excited for this game to come out, then shortly after I read the reviews, I saw the game and my initial excitement waned. However, for some reason this game still called to me, the world of The Dark Eye just seemed so interesting and so when I found it on sale for dirt cheap I had to satisfy my curiosity and i'm glad I did.

Demonicon, without a doubt has it's flaws, but buried beneath these flaws is a game that could've easily been 9/10 had Kalypso taking their time and fleshed things out just a little more. The story, which is slightly cliche, is told wonderfully. The characters feel real and not like some extreme virtue of either good or evil. The decisions that are made throughout the game remind me of that of The Witcher Series in that no one choice represents true right or wrong necesarrily, but instead leaves it open for you to decide what is right and that puts you in some difficult spots. My only complaint with the story is the lack of an epilogue, which leaves the ending feeling lackluster and meak.

Probably one of the best things done in Demonicon is the lore. From a city's history to the different demons of the world, the amount of detail put into the lore is outstanding and truly gives you insight into the happenings of the world. On the other hand some might consider the combat to be the worst. While it's true the combat is clunky and the stop-and-go fighting can be rather annoying, I found the combat to be enjoyable. Again another feature that is reminiscient of The Witcher 2 with and emphasis on parrying and thinking about your moves instead of just hacking away. It isn't as polished as The Witcher 2, but I didn't find it as bad as some say.

For me the worst aspects of this game are the bugs, the graphics, and the overall "lifeless" world.
Most of the bugs are minor, such as your father randomly taking a knee throughout your conversation, but for a game that's been out for awhile now you expect most of these bugs to be gone. The graphics, while not terrible, certaintly don't look like the other realeases at the time. Demonicon looks like an early xbox 360 realeased game. The characters convey no emotions on their faces and if it weren't for the voices you'd proabbaly just assume they were tranquil with everything. The world also seems dead, sure there are people who inhabit it, but they all just stand around gazing emptily maybe talking to another citizen and it makes the city feel dead.

Overall, I do recommend this game to RPG fans if they can find it on sale. The story and the world will entrance you, just don't expect too much else from the game.