Realms of Arkania Remakes vs Originals

[Zatret Voruta]

Hello Codex! Recently I've bought Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny and Star Trail remakes on Steam sale. Was pretty desperate for some kind of "different" approach to crpg, and well, after playing BoD HD for approximately 20 hours, I must say I am having fun. Surprisingly lot of it, actually. I totally dig it being a blend of management/survival and rpg. Despite obviously low budget and some abysmal "artistic" features, it is what I was looking for. First 3 evenings I spent rolling my party while reading original RoA's manual, cluebook and researching internet (fun), then, finally I embarked on my first adventure. Also feels good so far. Now question - how different from the original series are the remakes, especially BoD? I mean, content and mechanic-wise. Did they lose any significant amount of depth? Reading Darth Roxor's review I got an impression that quite a lot have been changed for worse (like dungeons), but it was a long time ago and the game was supposedly fixed. Don't know to what extent though, and I started wondering if maybe I should do the original saga first/instead to get the full experience? Here I rely on you, Aventuria veterans - which ones are better in your opinion, graphics and sound aside (old ones do it better obviously)? I briefly tested both original RoA's, although they seemed quite tedious to navigate, especially BoD, but maybe you will convince me to give them another shot.

 

[Kliwer]

I would advise this:

- In case of the first game (Blade of Destiny) - it is better to play the HD version. Both (the original and the remake) have their weaknesses. However, the HD version has more content and some life-enhancing features (e.g. in-game skills and spells descriptions). The game still looks ugly and clunky, but the content is good. The graphics of the original were so disgusting that it's good to change it.

- In the case of part two (Star Trail) - I personally prefer the original. I really like the graphic style; and the engine has been slightly improved. The original has a much better feel to me. Plus the remake does not introduce any new content here.

 

[Sotomonte]

One of the good things about the remake of Blade of Destiny is that you can attack diagonally with ranged weapons and spells (in the originals, this was added in Star Trail).

 

[Zatret Voruta]

Thanks for the input guys. I'm playing BoD remake on and off and still find it enjoyable. Quality of life improvements make it quite user friendly and the core mechanics and concept of the RoA series are just fuckin amazing. Later I plan to give the original Star Trail a go, should be easier to get into after I learned all the intricacies of the first game. Darth Roxor, did you try BoD HD after all the patches that supposedly fixed most of the release issues?

 

[octavius]

Realms of Arkania HD is the most recommended CRPG on the Codex.

 

[Zatret Voruta]

Well, in all seriousness, it definitely deserves more exposure, if only for a reason there is nothing like it on the market that isn't the original RoAs. BoD remake is a solid game, if one can ignore minor bugs and some of the questionable art direction decisions.

 

[Ladonna]

The HD versions are ok now. When first released, they were total bugfests with all sorts of problems.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Always remember!!!

Realms of Arkania HD

Wait a minute! I thought you promoted playing this game…… and liked it?

This video could explain ROA HD; just replace the text:

Look!
There’s ERYFKRAD!!!

Wait a minute!

Is a good game a remake ever?

Yessir!

Remasters, re-imaginations ever?

Yessir!!

Do spend your money to buy these from Steam and GoG?

ALL THE TIME!

What about Todd?

I like Todd.

What if Realms of Arkania HD is on sale?

Call out for ERYFKRAD!

At the RpgCODEX!