A sequel to 2012’s The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav, Memoria tells the singular tale of two heroes from two ages. A point-and-click graphic adventure with some fantastic lore and characters; this follow-up in The Dark Eye series provides genuine quality in storytelling, to newcomers and returning fans alike.
Memoria picks up more or less where the story of Chains of Satinav left off. Your companion is in need of your help and thus, you go out seeking the aid of Fahi, a traveling merchant. He offers a trade; you solve a riddle and he helps your friend. The riddle turns out to be part of a 450 year old tale. The forgotten story of Sadja, a princess who journeys to find an ancient artifact which may turn the tide of battle against hordes of demons. Classic fantasy plot.
This story, however, does not fall victim to the cliches or narratives we have seen time and time again. Instead it finds its own thread in a fully realised world devoid of exposition dumps and played out plot devices; for this I was truly grateful. I have endured countless films, shows and games which just bombard you with uninspired lore and history. They often give you little or no time to digest what you have learnt before the next dump arrives. In The Dark Eye: Memoria, the world and its people are presented to you naturally. Aspects of the previous entry are presented in an easily digestible way for newcomers to the series, at times simply through implication.
As a point-and-click title, gameplay is of course not the star of the show. Even with that in mind I was still pleasantly surprised at how well crafted some of the puzzles were. None of them were too difficult, which allows for a wider audience to enjoy it without being slowed by overly complicated obstacles. However, there will be a few which try your patience and resolve. A handful of them left me scratching my head for a good 15 minutes. On one or two occasions I gave up on thinking. I just resigned myself to trying every possible combination of item, spell and interactive part of the environment until something gave. In those moments I felt like somewhat of a fraud. Thankfully for my ego, this feeling quickly faded as I found new challenges to overcome using only my evidently limited skills of deduction.
The game does include a hint feature if a helping hand is needed. Otherwise I fear there may be a few instances of deeply infuriating obstacles for some players. A standout possibility is the forest in Chapter 3. The area is a labyrinth, every turn holding as much potential to loop back to where you started, as it does to lead you to your goal. I pray I never find myself lost in the woods IRL.
The game and its areas are a true beauty; this is where the title shines. Like scenes straight out of a painting, every frame is lovingly designed and filled with little details to add an extra layer into this lovingly crafted world. The only area where it fell short visually was in the facial animations of characters as they spoke. Their facial movements never quite matched up to their speech. I couldn’t help but chuckle as their mouths thrashed about during serious dialogue. A small gripe in the grand scheme of things, but highly noticeable when the rest of the game is so gorgeous.
One of the first characters I was introduced to was the child of Fahi, the traveling merchant. Instantly I was a little worried, as more often than not, children’s voice lines sound atrocious in games (I’m looking at you Metro 2033 Redux). Lo and behold, as soon as the child spoke I cringed. This was short lived thankfully, as almost every performance was enjoyable throughout the story. The only exception to this was on one occasion late game, when another pair of children spoke. I especially enjoyed the performances of Sadja and the ensouled staff she comes across. I find myself wishing the voice of the staff could tell me ancient tales around a campfire. Music is not as plentiful or noticeable here, with ambient sounds more prevalent during Memoria’s eight chapters. When music is present, it’s not really anything to write home about unfortunately.
There are two issues I should raise from my playthrough on the PlayStation 4. The first of which is some odd audio distortion in Chapter 3. This is the chapter in which Sadja needs to navigate through a forest; every twist and turn made this distortion worse. The sound would return to normal once I paused and unpaused the game, but eventually returned after I moved through a few more screens.
The second issue was in a couple of instances where I would try and leave an area, a voice line from my character would go off; essentially saying I should complete the objective in my current area first. No problem, but I couldn’t turn around. I would point my analog stick to the direction I wanted to go, but the voice line just repeats again. The only way I could fix this was by reloading a previous save, which is not automatic. Meaning I may have had to go back and redo everything from my last save point in order to return to where I was. This happened twice, once in chapter 1 and again in chapter 8. This problem will most likely be addressed in future console patches. Perhaps the movement didn’t translate as well from the usual method in point-and-click games on PC.
Barring these technical issues, I had a phenomenal time with The Dark Eye: Memoria. The world, characters and story all met and then exceeded whatever expectations I may have had for them. Visually gorgeous and creative obstacles make for a deeply engaging story that I will not soon forget.
