Chances are good that if you’re not from Europe, you’re not familiar with The Dark Eye, a German pen and paper RPG that gives Dungeons & Dragons a run for its money. This is not simply a fantasy spin-off though. The Dark Eye is a fully realized universe with novels and multiple games under its belt. Luckily for us, Daedalic Entertainment saw fit to bring both The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav and its sequel, The Dark Eye: Memoria to North America on the Switch! These are older titles from 2011 and 2013 respectively, but the great thing about point and click adventure games is that they really don’t age all that much.
Memoria is a direct sequel to Chains of Satinav and as such, you might be a little lost at the beginning if you haven’t played the first game. You play Geron, a young mage whose fairy companion Numi has been turned into a raven. Naturally, he’s on a quest to restore her to herself. Don’t expect it’ll be that simple though. Memoria is a story-based game and as such, it’s hard to talk about the plot without ruining things. Suffice it to say you should probably play Chains of Satinav first, but Memoria manages to stand on its own fairly well and still be engaging. It conveniently goes back and forth between Geron’s story and the story of Princess Sadje, a new character who adds depth to the rich history of The Dark Eye. This dual story allows for new players and old alike to enjoy and understand what’s happening. Writing is clever, dialogue can be witty and fun, and the game is in generally quite well written.
This is a point and click adventure, and as such, definitely won’t appeal to everyone. Originally designed for PC, it has been adapted to play via controller. The main controls consist mostly of selecting items and clicking on them, then seeing what is said or done. You can select items, choose to try to interact with them, combine items, and talk to people as well as observing your surroundings. In short, each area is a slow examination followed by experimentation, pretty much par for the entire genre. Memoria has some challenging puzzles that are incorporated well into the game, requiring actual though, careful inspection of areas, and a variety of unique approaches to progress. Each time you do, you’re rewarded with more of the delightful story. Characters have access to spells throughout the game and these are used to help solve the convoluted puzzles you’ll inevitably encounter.
The big issue with Memoria is how it controls on the Switch while docked. On a PC, you can just click and select, and that carries over to the Switch in undocked mode, with full touch screen controls integrated, making Memoria an absolute delight! However, when docked, it’s often difficult to highlight the right item or move your character into the right spot to open up an interaction menu due to the presentation of the game. There’s not a clear explanation of how to use spells either (It’s ZR) and it was definitely a trial and error process to figure out how to interact with the menu system efficiently so that progress in the game was possible. Overall, the Switch controls make for a poor mouse and Memoria is absolutely better off played in portable mode on the Switch!
Voice acting abounds in Memoria as well, with full voice-overs and excellent voice acting throughout the game. You can skip the voices, but if you’re here to play point and click games, you already have patience and why waste such excellent work? The sound in general is quite well-executed and music is used well but sparingly in most areas, leaving you to truly explore the environment rather than guiding you through more active gameplay. Honestly, the soundtrack is probably worth downloading too, especially if you’re a fan. Conveniently, it’s even up on Spotify, so check it out! If AAA titles had this kind of music and voice acting, no one would ever bother with indie again. You rarely see this kind of quality anymore. For best effect, play with headphones, as the game is definitely better in undocked mode!
That quality carries over to the visuals in Memoria as well. While the game might look on the surface like it came straight off of an old IBM 386, it’s done in a modern style that’s smooth and elegant. Keep in mind that if you’re not a fan of this style of gaming, chances are high that you won’t appreciate the art style either, so keep that in mind when reading this review! Characters and environments feel rich and full of detail even though they’re hand-drawn pixels and the entire game has a vintage feel to it that is both dated and modern at the same time. Font choices also look like they’re from the golden age of point and click games, and the backgrounds are legitimately works of art. This is an absolutely gorgeous game.
Now, when you’re looking at Memoria, you might think you’ll wander through, click on a few things, and boom, game over, very fun, move along. That couldn’t be further from the truth though. This is a tough game that will challenge your critical thinking skills and attention to detail, regardless of whether you’re an expert and point and clicks or not. If you’re really spectacular at them, you might finish in around 10 hours or so. If you’re like me and a bit rusty…expect that number to go up fast! Every word that is spoken matters and skipping dialogue by pressing a button will definitely miss key details required for you to progress! Take your time, enjoy the sights, the romance, the drama, and the adventure. It’s worth it. You might spend an hour or more on a single puzzle, but man does it ever feel good when you solve it!
What else can be said about a game like The Dark Eye: Memoria? A truly excellent, well-scripted adventure game that moves between eras for an intertwined story with characters that feel almost lifelike? What’s not to like? This is an obvious labor of love from Daedalic and every bit of it pays off. Don’t hesitate to check The Dark Eye: Memoria out, and if you’re a real point and click fan, it’ll be worth it to grab The Dark Eye: The Chains of Satinav, as it will definitely grab you!
This review was based on a digital copy of The Dark Eye: Memoria provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked modes and was definitely better undocked and with headphones! The Dark Eye: Memoria is also available on PC for Steam and GOG, PS4, Xbox One, and even on Mac! But it’s only portable on the Switch!