The Dark Eye: Demonicon
Review
AKA The Open Eye
by Preston Dozsa
reviewed on PC
The Open Eye (cntd)
As Cairon explores the world, he has a few methods with which he can dispatch his enemies. Attacking with your weapon and using whatever physical skills you have is the first method, alongside throwing weapons which he can use to attack enemies at a distance. And then there is magic, which is comprised of four spells with multiple unlockable variations for each spell. Both play well, and I used a mixture of the magic and the mundane as I journeyed through the game. The options are frankly limited and it shows when you end up using the same rotation of attacks throughout the game as I did. It is a shame that there isn’t more variety when you engage enemies. In the end, I believe every “Cairon” will play at least somewhat similarly.
Alongside your combat skills are your non-combat skills such as lock-picking and legend lore, which are used to acquire and unlock additional opportunities. If you upgrade your fast talking ability for example, you will be able to obtain greater rewards for quests or avoid fights entirely in some cases. But a key detail to all of this is the way in which you use experience, or in Demonicon, AP and GP. AP is used for physical oriented skills, non combat skills and primary stats, while GP is used to upgrade your magic abilities. This is an interesting feature, as you now have to choose between upgrading your skills and upgrading your stats when you obtain experience. In theory you could turn Cairon into the least capable warrior in all existence, but in practice you will have increased everything at least moderately by the end of the game. You’ll want to level up everything at least somewhat equally, but the non-traditional character progression forces one to make careful decisions as you progress through the game.
Technicalities
If there is one major problem that I can pinpoint in Demonicon, it would be the technical issues that pop up time and again. I mentioned the spinning some characters partake in earlier, and while it is somewhat funny the first time it occurs, it becomes even funnier when it happens at the end of the game. Seriously, people spinned so often that I stopped wishing for it to end because it appeared in the most inappropriate moments. Beyond the spinning disease, textures would pop in and out when I entered conversations, the camera would often move by itself to the worst possible place imaginable during a battle and plenty of other technical glitches and bugs occurred during the 20+ hours I spent with the game.
With Demonicon being far from flawless, I found myself wondering whether or not I enjoyed it enough to give it a positive recommendation. Honestly, I did. For every spinning boss, for every limitation in skills and character improvement and for every unblinking pair of eyes I looked at, I enjoyed my time with the game. Despite its issues, The Dark Eye: Demonicon remains a fun adventure that, while lacking polish, is an enjoyable journey through The Dark Eye setting.
7.3
fun score
Pros
Interesting story, intriguing world.
Cons
Unnatural eyes, spinning people, lack of variety in combat.
