E3 2013: Memoria preview

E3 2013: Memoria preview

Daedalic Entertainment are making a return to the Dark Eye Universe in more ways than one with two titles from the German developers on show at E3 2013 that take place in the renowned European dark fantasy world, but one is a story that some of you may already be familiar with, one that you will very much want to return to.

The dynamic duo of the innocent birdcatcher Geron, and the young elf spirit Nuridarinellavanda return in Memoria, and if you know where their travels ended them both up in The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav, then you’ll want to find out the culmination of their journey in the latest game. Now whilst this isn't specifically a sequel as such to the dark goings-on in Chains of Satinav it simply another tale of the two characters that we grew to care for.

However Geron and Nuri are not the only protagonists in this new story, and the game is divided in half with a focus on the mysterious Princess Sadja who disappeared 500 years ago, and most from the present day have never seen or heard of her, except for one enigmatic merchant.

We were shown a section very close to the beginning of the game that introduces to us the Princess Sadja whom we play as 500 years in the past, and she is by no means your typical damsel in distress; far from it in fact, as the Princess’ goal is to be the greatest hero of all time, she hopes to gain this title by travelling to the far away desert where she hopes to fight in a huge battle against a demon army that has risen. Unfortunately for the Princess we already know that in 500 years she is not even a speck in the books of history, so things aren’t looking too good for her success right now.

Those that played The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav may remember Geron’s very simple destroy and fix magic that was used for a few particularly ingenious puzzles, Princess Sadja holds a very similar magical power that allows her to activate and deactivate any and all magical objects. This power was shown in use with some truly great puzzle solving as the Princess finds herself stuck behind a specially locked door in the middle of some ruins. Whilst she does not hold the power or strength to open this door, awakening the mythical golem creatures long-since asleep in these ruins holds the key to this conundrum, and makes for some pretty impressive magical feats.

However the Princess is not alone on her travels, and joining her is a talking magical staff who does not know who he himself is, however his off-hand commentary makes for some pretty humorous outcomes as the two bounce off of each other. The Princess’ journey is one full of epic proportions, after all you can’t simply try and become the greatest hero that ever lived by just standing around.

In contrast, Geron’s story is still very personal, and you will find yourself switching between the two stories when each new chapter comes around, that is until both stories intertwine across 500 years in what is promised as yet another ground-breaking, and beautifully hand drawn adventure from the developers that are without a doubt bringing the point-and-click back to life since 2008.

Memoria is scheduled for a release during the Fall of 2013, if you enjoyed Chains of Satinav, Memoria looks and feels as though it will reach the same heights of storytelling, here’s hoping that the ending is not quite so bitter-sweet this time around!