Under the radar and underappreciated Drakensang:TRoT is a worthy predecessor Standing tall among the games of its genre.
The basic score of Drakensang is like this. The sound, music, camera, interface, and graphics of this game are all superb (9/10 each). The story is just average. I feel as though there must be many books for a pen and paper type of game like this and there has to be some good literature out there that would make for a better story than the plan and ordinarily cliche' story they have chosen, but the complex and immersive universe in which it is taking place is its only saving grace (7/10). The combat is pretty standard for a "group control" style RPG, but it is nearly without flaw or bugs and some skills/spells have some pretty awesome animations so (8/10).
To start, when I am speaking of Drakensang I am going to be using several absent but associated titles to help you draw your own conclusion as to if you would like to play Drakensang or not. Such absent but associated titles, that I have personally played, are Buldar's Gate 1&2, Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age: Origins, Planescape, and Icewind Dale. All top notch "group control" style RPGs. Group Control RPGs are a type of sub-RPG genre in which the player usually can "stop-time" to manage an entire team's combat orders to be carried-out in unison when the flow of time restarts. Micromanagement, tactical situations, and chess-like thinking are a staple in this genre. Drakensang "nails" these virtues on the head.
Drakensang: TRoT starts off very slow which is different than many of the previously mentioned titles, but at the same time is just like many RPGs tend to do. Unlike many of the other "group control" style RPGs it takes some time before you are in control of more than one character. Sure every once-in-awhile you get people in your party but they're only "guest" characters and you can only interact with them...not control them. Once you have control of your, filled to capacity, four-man team the game really takes off and is extremely enjoyable. Due to an almost complete lack of computer character's AI this game is pretty difficult, at start, and requires you to micromanage your entire party and use tactics to win battles.
Drakensang's environments are atmospheric and beautifully designed. Drakensang's world is not a free-roaming one but the way which they composed the different zones is pretty great. Most "instances" or zone's edges are blocked by mountains or some type of terrain and the only way to get from zone to zone, regardless, is by your Viking-like river boat. Don't get me wrong though some of these instanced zones are enormous...I'd say 3-5x bigger than any city or wilderness type zone in Dragon Age. Each with many monsters to vanquish and tons of side quests which reward the player for exploration because most of these things/places are not required to be fought/found to complete the main story line. At first i was a little bummed that the game didn't have enough "dungeon crawling", because a lot of the beginning content takes place in forested type areas, but later on there is a fair share of crawling through beautifully detailed and excellently crafted imaginative fantasy environments, with fairly decent puzzles to boot.
Drakensang doesn't have the nuances in NPC chat choices that games like Dragon Age or even Mass Effect have but it does include several pivotal story plot points where you decide major story changes depending on your decisions.
The Story of Drakensang is pretty simple and straight-forward. Something has been stolen from some friendly adventurers, whom have saved your life, and you follow leads and help pursue the recovery of an important artifact that these adventurers hold dear. Nothing more complicated than that...the story's not great, and it's not bad...it's fine. The story keeps this fun-to-play game going and that is all it really needs to do. Some of the best parts of the "story" are actually side-quests and are not required to be even found to venture through the main chain of events. So, reward yourself with inspecting the nooks and crannies of the beautifully crafted environments.
Drakensang's character creation is most similar to, but also different than, Neverwinter Nights. You have very slim picking when it comes to the aesthetic looks of your character and you can choose from Male/Female, excluding the dwarf race. There are many, 12-15ish, different archetype classes to pick from. After choosing from the archetypes you have X amount of starting AP, or Adventure Points, which simultaneously work as points for distributing amongst your different skills and a type of XP that level-up your characters. Also, when creating a character you can choose from different advantages/disadvantages which "buff" or weaken your character. A "buff" advantage will use a good amount of your starting AP and a weakening disadvantage will give you more AP for distributing at the start. These dis/advantages stick with your character throughout the entire game and add for a very complex and in depth character creation. When creating your character one may want to keep in mind that certain gear may have restrictions to race, gender, and or class.
I don't know if this will influence the class you make, but when you start to progress through the game your team is going to be comprised a bit something like this. First you pick between a female ranged (bow) elf and a male human mage. Each with the ability to cast spells and they both have the ability to summon a companion to help them for a duration. Only one summoned creature can be maintained amongst all of your companions and your created character at any given time. Then you will get a dwarf that is a warrior archetype and a male human rogue archetype. At the half way point of the game you will receive an additional warrior type character. Both warrior classes have the ability to "tank" or do damage. This is one of the things that differentiates Drakensang from games like Dragon Age...you're only going to get one "left-over" party member after choosing the three companions who will accompany you on your travels. That is it; slim pickings regarding party composition.
As for Drakensang's profession system it is most similar to Dragon Age, but completely different. There are three different professions to choose from; Bowering (traps and bow/crossbows/ballistas) Blacksmithing (Metal components, Sharpening stones, shields/weapons) and Alchemy (mostly an assortment of different potions). These professions feel a bit like Dragon Age's at first but are totally different. For example, in DA: O the professions were just kinda...there. In Drakensang they can create complex items that are not replaceable for lengthy periods of time and it goes so far into depth as to possibly call for the need of you creating something that is hard to craft that is just a single crafting component in an even more precious item. More along the lines and depths of something you might see in World of Warcraft's profession crafting system.
Some of Drakensang's drawbacks are its lack of party options with a small number of 5 total playable characters (including your created character). Taunting is a bit shoddy and combat is just a smiggen too slow. Granted very often I have the game paused to execute my character's skills is the same reason it shouldn't take so long to carry-out the skills. If combat rounds feel as though they're passing too quickly you could just pause the game more often and do it step-by-step. Also, a bit more Melee and Bow/ranged special ability attacks would've been nice.
All in all, Drakensang: The River of Time is a fantastic game. If you really enjoy any of the other titles I have mentioned during this review then you should play Drakensang for sure. It stands to be a title to enter the ranks of being considered a worthy entry into the list of great "group control" style RPGs.