Realms of Arkania (trilogy)

Realms of Arkania: Classic RPG Trilogy

Classic 1990s RPG trilogy set in a fantasy world with intricate character system, open world exploration, and challenging tactical combat.

What is Realms of Arkania (trilogy)?

Realms of Arkania is a trilogy of classic computer role-playing games developed by Attic Entertainment Software in the early to mid 1990s. The games take place in the fictional fantasy setting of Arkania, which is based on the popular German pen & paper RPG system The Dark Eye.

The trilogy consists of Blade of Destiny (1992), Star Trail (1994), and Shadows over Riva (1996). They pioneered many RPG concepts focusing on open world exploration, challenging turn-based tactical combat, and an intricate character system with deep customization through skills and attributes.

Players create a party of up to six adventurers, choosing from 12 races and various classes/professions, including humans, dwarves, elves, and orcs. The games are open-ended and allow free exploration of the world through top-down travel on a hex-based map. Key gameplay involves dangerous wilderness and dungeons, with challenging fights that require positioning and use of skills/spells.

The story follows the adventuring party on an epic quest across Arkania, filled with danger and intrigue. Their journey takes them to varied locations like dwarven mines, abandoned castles, dark forests and more. The trilogy is connected by an overarching storyline but each game stands on its own.

Upon release, the games were praised for their expansive open worlds, tactical depth, and faithfulness to the aforementioned pen & paper system. They have retained a cult following over the decades and are considered seminal early exemplars of open world RPGs. The Realms of Arkania trilogy provides an immersive old-school RPG experience emphasizing exploration, strategy and party customization.

Realms of Arkania (trilogy) Features

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