The Dark Eye: Memoria

The Good
I have to admit that I downloaded this game from GOG.com last week and what I liked most about it was the promise of a decent adventure game with a good story all for the price of £2.59. That's less than the price of a pint of beer and around what I pay for a supermarket sandwich neither of which last more than half an hour at most. So, for a tight Yorkshireman like me this scores very well in the value-for-money stakes.

The game itself weaves two stories together, Geron in the present and Sadja in the past. It's an interesting way to tell a tale and overall it works pretty well though I was a bit confused at the start which begins with the hero and the injured and enchanted Nuri, it felt as though I'd missed something and had started in the middle of the game.
For me the puzzles were OK but not exceptional. There's not one I can look back on and say 'Yes - I was pleased to have cracked that' whereas I can clearly remember solving some puzzles in some of LucasArt's and Sierra's classic adventures that I played maybe twenty years ago because solving them really felt like an achievement. That's not to say these weren't hard in places, I had to use a walkthrough a couple of times but whether that's me losing my touch or the nature of the puzzle I cannot tell.

The game plays well to. The characters move well and both they and the scenery are very well drawn. The voice acting is very good too, so is the simple but effective music.

There are ample save game slots, an autosave feature, it plays in a window as well as full screen, plenty of screen resolution options and other configuration tweaks which all helps make the game feel like a well thought out, quality production.
There are bonus items but they didn't really do anything for me as they consist of the cut scenes from the game that, once unlocked, can be watched again. They were good in the game but I didn't see the point of making them bonus items. There are also 'achievements' that are awarded during the game. Most are unlocked as the player progresses but to get them all the player must perform certain specific actions. Again, this is a feature that's for the perfectionist who wants to experience all the game has to offer but as there doesn't seem to be any reward other than ticking all the boxes I personally didn't see the point.

The Bad
So it looks good, has a decent story that's interestingly told, sounds good and has good content. The game mechanics show that thought has been put into the game's construction, I especially liked the 'Skip' feature in the maze section, so why do I say it's "good and not great"?

Well I think that's down to the pacing of the game, it never became really exciting. Though the story was a good one it was told with little drama and flair consequently, for me, there were no high's and lows. I was never immersed in the story so I never 'became' Geron or Sadja and lived the tale, it was always me playing a game and trying out all options until something worked.

The Bottom Line
Good value and worth playing.
You'll enjoy it but probably won't replay it.