The Wheel of Dubious RPGs Episode 022-023: Septerra Core and Drakensang

Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator

So it's the 90s and the Final Fantasy is popular, but you don't own a Playstation.

Developer: Valkyrie Studios

Release Date: October 31, 1999

Time Played: About Two Hours

Dubiosity: 2 out of 5

Final Fantastosity: VII out of VII

Would I play more? Would not be opposed, but I’d prefer a turbo mode kthx

Septerra Core occupies a similar space to Dubious RPG Hall of Famer Sudeki, in that it’s a western-developed RPG intentionally trying to imitate their Japanese counterparts. Even more specifically, Septerra Core *really* wants to be like Final Fantasy VII with some of its initial worldbuilding choices, although its visuals and general aesthetic reminded me more of Fallout 1 and 2. Technologically advanced empire? Sure. Sassy protagonist from hardscrabble, vaguely Midgar-looking dirt town? Yeah. Does said protagonist get her call to adventure after being accused of a crime she didn’t commit? Sure did! There’s a robot dog, so that’s cool, and uh…

The combat is less "Active Time" and more "actively wasting my time" amirite

Okay, so here’s the thing: If there’s an actual crime in Septerra Core, it seems like it might imitate its JRPG influences a little too faithfully, which is why I spent most of my two hours with the game doing the game’s take on slow, active-time battles when I wasn’t listening to reams of overwrought exposition and clunky worldbuilding. It’s actually not dissimilar from how Final Fantasy XIII handles its ATB gauge, with each character having three segments they can use one at a time or bank for more powerful attacks. There’s also a magic system involved with combining cards? Anyway, the game itself seems totally fine, but also I sure didn’t get past the inciting incident because I was too busy slowly grinding my way through enemy encounters.

Ultimately, I think the biggest take-away from Septerra Core’s slow start is that it seems like it might be an entirely okay time but also I ain’t got time for that shit. RPGs in general are a genre that aren’t known for respecting the player’s time, but at some point I felt like I needed to cut my losses before the game began in earnest. If I’m going to spend my time playing a game with lengthy JRPG battles… there might be other candidates more worthy of consideration.

Drakensang: The Dark Eye

Boy, THQ published this thing in the states? Gee I wonder how they ever went out of business.

Developer: Radon Labs

Release Date: February 18, 2009

Time Played: About two and a half hours

Dubiosity: 3 out of 5

Still more coherent than: any of the Realms of Arkania games

Would I play more? This seems fine, but there are so many other, way more immediately interesting CRPGs vaguely hovering around my backlog.

The Dark Eye, or Das Schwarze Auge, is Germany’s premiere RPG system, occupying a similar cultural cache to Dungeons and Dragons in its homeland. Unsurprisingly, it’s been host to many video game adaptations over the years, from the inscruitably hardcore Realms of Arkania series to adventure games like Quick Look hall of famer Chains of Satinav. The best of the bunch are probably Blackguards and its sequel, which toe the line between intelligent tactics games with bespoke, hand-crafted missions, and a trial-and-error sadism fests depending on how the developers were feeling that day. They’re pretty neat, and being reminded of their existence has made me want to give either of them another look one of these days. I remember the second one being a little better on that front.

It wouldn't be a RPG out of Germany if you didn't spend the first few hours getting your teeth kicked in by local wildlife

Alas, Drakensang is not either of those, but it had the fortunate (or perhaps unfortunate) timing to be one of the few games of its type to come out in 2009. While Dragon Age Origins is probably the mean comparison I could make, Drakensang is probably better compared to the likes of Neverwinter Nights 2 (which we'll get to,) both for its intimidating suite of character building options and adherence to an established pen-and-paper RPG system. There are indeed a frightening abundance of options in Drakensang’s very freeform character building system and you’d better believe they all scared me to death. This is very much a personal preference, but having skill, stat, and spell increases all draw from the same pool of experience points rather than being separate leads to a lot of analysis paralysis. Do I bank points to increase my stats, or do I focus on smaller increases on crucial skills? I’m suffering Arcanum flashbacks over here.

Now, to be clear, I think there’s probably a solid, if unspectacular CRPG underneath the eurojank NWN veneer. The real-time with pause combat seems manageable, the camera isn’t a horrible nightmare, and there does seem to be some thought put into the mechanics. It’s just unfortunate that instead of giving any sort of strong first impression, my time spent in the initial opening act of Drakensang mostly involved slowly killing wolves, dealing with a weirdly punishing “wound” system, and interacting with writing that I’d generously describe as “quaint, extremely Germanic mid-fantasy.” It might eventually blossom into something more interesting (or not) but the two and a half hours I spent were, point blank, a mediocre slog.

That's the weird trend with both of this week's games, actually. Both of them feel like they might be alright, but they sure didn't pass the "first few hours" test that more-or-less summarizes this feature. Now obviously, a game is more than just its first few hours, and I can think of more than a few of my favorite games that give off less-than-great first impressions. No one is going to be enchanted by the first few hours of Temple of Elemental Evil, either spent doing fedex quests in Hommlet or slowly getting worked at the moathouse, nor is anyone going to speak highly of the first act of The Witcher. Ultimately I hope this feature isn't taken as any rigorous critical discourse or serious recommendation to play or purchase any of these games (except Wizards and Warriors, which I genuinely think is a weird, rough gem) but also I fully invoke Wolpaw's Law here. I am under no obligation to give a game a second chance if it doesn't put its best foot forward... but also let's be honest some of this shit might actually get revisited for charity-related purposes.

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