The Dark Eye: Book of Heroes

Other games
#1

So I was recently debating with myself if I was indeed the only one on this site looking forward to the release of The Dark Eye: Book of Heroes.

Chances are folks probably never heard of this upcoming RTwP cRPG that soon releases in Q2 2020 on Steam. It being developed by a small, 11 people strong Finnish indie studio and all.

But The Dark Eye TTRPG should at least ring a bell or two. Given it’s a pretty famous PnP game over here in Europe. Yeah, the good ol’ Drakensang video game franchise is also part of this IP. :stuck_out_tongue:

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#2

Thanks to point me to this game. I don’t know that is in development. I played the two Drasengan game, Dark eye and The river of Time and they was great game. Look into it.

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#3

Hope I would have money to buy this. It seems like my type of the game.

#4

There’s been some exciting news on this one!

Its release date has been confirmed to be the 9th of June 2020, coming at a price of €29.99. Although there will also be a Book of Heroes: Collector’s Edition available on amazon for €69.99, which may be of interest to some.

#5

The problem is how they will adapt the rules of the Dark Eye. If it’s à la Realms Of Arkania, it will be horrible. If they do it à la Blackguards, it’s interesting.

#6

I hope you know that this game is nothing like Pathfinder or even Drakensang. It’s a coop game where you only control one party member the others are either players or AI.

#7

Indeed, I do. :slight_smile:

Singleplayers will be able to adventure alone, or with up to three AI controlled mercenaries. Which the player can hire at the tavern hub for a fee. There are both cheap ones and expensive ones to choose from. Basically you will get what you pay for here. Each such AI controlled merc will show different behavior both inside and outside of combat. Making them already far more interesting than the usual henchmen in my book. Gotta say I welcome the fact that I don’t need to micromanage my party for once. And instead am able to focus on roleplaying my character. Also of note is that co-op players will be unable to hire mercs if they already have a friend in the party. So mixed parties will not be a thing in Book of Heroes.

In other news:
There will be an AMA tomorrow at 5 PM (cest) / 11 AM (edt). People who have questions about the soon released title can feel free tuning in during that time. I certainly do. :wink:

Do you play pen-and-paper Pathfinder? Do you DM?
#8

Here’s a short summary of the AMA from yesterday:

  • The game uses Unity Engine.
  • The game takes place in the Middenrealm of Aventuria, around 1040 FB.
  • Players will encounter many types of creatures. Some of which have different variants and even sub-variants.
  • Console releases and post-release content are being discussed with the producer. But all will depend on how well Book of Heroes will sell from today onwards.
  • The team’s favourite professions are Blessed One of Rondra, White Mage, Rogue, Assassin and Gray Mage respectively. Also interesting of note is that both Hesinde (Goddess of Magic) and Praois (Godking of the Sun) nearly got a Blessed One on their own as well. But were later replaced with Boron and Rondra.
  • No pointy wizard hats or winged “Asterix” helmets for our characters to wear, sadly.
  • As of now, none of the books/notes/pamphlets the players find inside dungeons are readable. But Arto Koistinen (Game Designer) mentioned that this is something they can definitely add (via updates) later on.
  • The Dark Eye edition used inside the Book of Heroes (5e) was decided by Ulisses Spiele. Random Potion did, for the most part, stay true to that ruleset. Things that changed were obviously the game being RTwP (singleplayer) / RT (co-op) instead of TB. As well as a handful of spells working a tad different than in PnP, but with similar effects.
  • It is possible that the Blessed One’s deity may play a bigger role down the line. That’s something the devs are looking to add in the future.
  • Both players and henchmen can “provoke” enemies.
  • Players can choose to play a female dwarf! In Drakensang and other TDE adaptions it was only possible to play as a male shorty.
  • Players can give their henchmen commands: “Explore that room”, “listen by the Door”, ect. It is also possible to use the map to leave markers for the henchment to respond.
  • There are currently over 15 Missions. Or “Adventures”, as the devs call them. They range from combat oriented dungeons, to puzzle oriented ones. Once unlocked, the players can keep replaying them.
  • Here’s a list of some of the most memoriable Missions for the team: For Arto Koistinen (Game Designer) it’s “Forge of Agromoth”, “Armillary of Angrella”, “Goblin Raiders” and “Supply Burn”. Saara Korhonen (Game Programmer) answered with “Shrouded Society”, as it was her first quest for the company in 2018. Teppo Hyttinen (Environment Artist) on the other hand has a soft spot for “Hesinde Heist”, it being the first forest Mission in the game.
#9

The game looks and sounds like shovelware trash, no idea why anyone would play this in 2020.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N552feErCSA&feature=emb_logo
forgot the “amazing” trailer :rofl:

#10

It’s harsh thing to say and rude on top of that, but it does scream “warning”

#11

Because some people like things other than “looks”, in video games as in other things, and especially from games by little companies/publishers.
And tastes differ widely as to what is “trash” and what is beautiful.
The same goes about behaviour, actually.

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#12

this isn’t beautiful by any standards
grafik
I don’t care about modern graphics but if a game looks this bad it’s clear that the devs are either lazy or have no talent.

#15

Just released and already at mostly negative on Steam, if only someone told you that the game will be garbage. :rofl:

#17

I played around for three hours now. In its current state Book of Hereos is… “okay”… if you’re looking for quick dungeon crawling action inside a traditional medieval fantasy campaign setting. But people who are looking forward to a deep, overarching plot without knowing what the game is all about will be less than thrilled by it.

Is it perfect? Certainly not. But being somewhat active on their discord, I can tell that the devs are currently hard at work addressing numerous bugs. From what I saw the update is pretty much focused on ironing out gameplay issues. Although I do hope that they will make the game run a lot smoother. The optimization isn’t the best you can find under the sun…

That said, I do not regret purchasing Book of Heroes. I adore the environmental design of the various dungeon tilesets and find the music to be both pleasing and fitting for the Middenrealm. But I can do without hiring the mercenaries… solo is where the fun for me is. Others might be more at home with co-op instead.

It was also a very nice gesture of both the developer and publisher to lower the price on release date. Initially it was priced at 29.99 EUR after all. Imagine my surprise to see that this was reduced to 24.99 EUR. Things like that make the devs really sympathetic in my eyes. :slight_smile:

What I would like to see from Random Potion in the future are more crafting blueprints, refining the gameplay, bug fixes and improved performance. Also: a level editior for creating our own dungeons would pretty much guarantee its success. At the very least inside the humongous TDE community. For the casual RPG crowd on the other hand… not so much.