Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny

Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny is a computer adaptation of the German tabletop system Das Schwarze Auge (The Dark Eye) and ranks among the most detailed RPGs ever released on DOS. A party of six adventurers must find a legendary axe on the northern island of Thorwal before the unified orc tribes crush the local settlements. The main plot is simple, but the road to it is not: it's a long expedition across dozens of towns and villages, where you ask for directions, hire guides, and wait out the weather. The sense of an actual journey matters here more than narrative momentum, and the game makes no secret of it.

The system's level of detail is both the main attraction and the main obstacle. Characters have a wide range of attributes and skills, and rolls are made for practically everything, from swimming and climbing to cooking and haggling, while on the road you have to keep track of food, water, illness, broken bones, and whether the party has anywhere to sleep. Random events during travel are written as short text scenes with several choices, and they can delay the expedition just as easily as help it. Combat is turn-based on a grid and slow, but it's faithfully tied to the source rulebook's rules, including the harsh consequences of injury. Individual characters can also have their own personality quirks that complicate dealings with others at inopportune moments.

Technically, the game combines a world map, first-person dungeon views, and drawn town screens; the overall impression is rather sober and cold, which suits the northern setting well. At the time it was praised for its depth and faithfulness to the source material, but criticized for its pacing and for bugs that, for this first entry in the series, only got patched afterward. Today it's a game for the patient: anyone who enjoys a travel simulation where the real protagonists are logistics, supplies, and bad weather will find here one of the few titles that takes this completely seriously. Blade of Destiny was followed by two more sequels that expanded the system further, and the first installment eventually received a modern remake years later.