RoA: Blade of Destiny HD - Pulled Off Steam

Kordanor brought to my attention that Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny has been pulled off Steam due to the developer stopping their publishing deal with UIG.

The reason for the pull from steam is that we as a developer ceased our publishing cooperation with UIG for good. There are some legal issues to be resolved, and as soon as they are, I will come back with an update. This has of course no effect whatsoever to your already bought game, you can play it regardless of whether it is available to be bought on Steam at the moment.

Check out the thread linked above for information from Kordanor.

More information.

Unfortunately the game is in such a sorry state currently - after many patches - that this was a good choice. Will only make you experience a "Gnashing of Teeth", not a leisure entertainment at all..

This should have been lots of fun and exciting adventure. Nothing could be further from the truth as it turned out.

I don't think my hopes could have been higher for this game, or had so far to fall when they were dashed.

Remember Earthbound for SNES? Remember that house north of Onett that you could buy if you had enough money? It looked all nice on the outside, but the guy didn't let you in till you bought it. When you got in, it looked like a crack house.

That house is an amazing metaphor for this Realms of Arkania remake.

I'm still shocked at the legal troubles and the removal from Steam though…

Over a year late. This game should have been pulled from Steam the same week it was released.

On Metacritic, it still has one of the lowest scores (both reviewers and users) ever achieved by any PC game.

It should never have been approved for release there due to its dreadful state.

It's now back on steam. But no comment from the developers yet.

This was a good game, and the further patches just made it better. Only for fans of hardcore RPGs!

At this point Fluent looks more and more like a joke account, he seems to like everything and think even the most horrible game of the year is great.

He just happens to enjoy playing games, and apparently it's something most old timers on this site have forgotten how to. They rather complain about games instead.

Originally Posted by Kordanor
It's now back on steam. But no comment from the developers yet.

Thanks for the information Kordanor. I wonder if they settled their legal issues?

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
He just happens to enjoy playing games, and apparently it's something most old timers on this site have forgotten how to. They rather complain about games instead.

Complaining takes less time. But seriously, who likes *everything*?

The thing is that for anyone interested in this, there is not a single reason to pick this remake over the original. There are still horrible problems and flaws with the remake with all the patches in, too many to list. This whole remake was just a sad joke. It borders on absurd.

Yeah, I was also very disappointed … not since Dungeon Lords has a game failed so hard …

I tried, honestly I did.
This remake is simply not fun. One of those rare games I fire up, but everything feels so disastrous and designed completely wrong I can't finish the game but uninstall it and never look back.
It's so bad at one point I wished the lead designer of this remake was Uwe Boll - even he'd make a better product than this.

Well, my hope is that they do a couple of more patches now that the legal stuff seems to be settled. For me the combat doesn't feel fluent enough to be fun atm.

Who plays an RPG for combat, anyways?

The combat was a bit rough, I'll admit, but it was fun enough for me to pour some 25 hours into the game. You play this game for the awesome Dark Eye RPG systems that are in tact, not the combat.

Originally Posted by Fluent
Who plays an RPG for combat, anyways?

The combat was a bit rough, I'll admit, but it was fun enough for me to pour some 25 hours into the game. You play this game for the awesome Dark Eye RPG systems that are in tact, not the combat.

I'll stick to Drakensang for THAT awesomeness, thanks

I am not a big fan of the old TDE System to be honest.
The randomness of this system is horrible imho. But that isn't exactly the developers fault.
I already played through the original games. Similar to what "humanity has risen" said, if I play Blade of Destiny again, there needs to be some good reason to use the New Game instead of the old version. And for now the combat would be the thing which makes me chose the old over the new one.

Does Drakensang have an awesome inventory system where every mundane item can be used in situations/encounters?

For example, in RoA, you have to have blankets in your inventory to survive the harsh winter. Traveling over mountain paths in the winter is extremely dangerous, and you're likely to die to the elements just as much as you are to die from enemy attacks.

Keep a rope in your inventory and you may be able to use it to descend into a pit. Keep a rope ladder as well for tricky situations. There is so much brilliant depth to the inventory system, it makes it a joy to play.

And yes, I know these things are present in the original game, but the remake at least has some worth of bringing the visuals to another level. Not that I'm particularly a graphics whore, but I know many are, so that is one reason to play the remake over the originals.

I had some really special moments in the game that you just don't find in other RPGs. I really hope Crafty Studios are able to make the other 2 games in the trilogy.