Of course it's an old game now, but classics will always be classics. Nostalgia comes to a great obstacle to review this game without being partial, but the magic and world immersion I experience when I play this game is something have never experienced in any other one.

After 17 years and tons of RPG that surely have better presentation and even better story/quests/features I'm still waiting to a game that can absorve you as much as this one does. Can't say what is it, probably the amount of time you spend in it walking around the city, talking to everybody, suffering with and for your characters or maybe the care that was put to make each one of them human and unique (those positve/negative skills and that journal....); but sure that you end loving each one of the characters you created and feel that you shared the most amazing adventure ever with them in a world that you can believe and makes you feel that there's even much more than what you see in the game.

Also difficult to not notice the amazing soundtrack. Sounds a bit midi nowadays, but it is still extremely effective. Prepare to beautiful melodies in woods, scary ones at dungeons, nostalgic songs at inns and some creepy tracks for that creepy levels where you just don't dare to keep walking and only think about going home.

Here we go, third part of the Arkania tales.Your party of heroes arrived in a big city, Riva , from the first steps you will be pulled in the great adventure, the darkest mystery hides here and now only you can drop light upon it.No more miles of traveling, surviving in dry deserts or cold mountains, it is only city and surroundings, but dont think that crossing a street is easier then crossing a raging stream. If your heroes ready for new adventure Riva is open for you.


A bit late , but i reccomend to edit - dosboxrealms3.conf - this file can be found in the game directory, few lines have to be changed: scaler=advmame2x ; cycles=18000 . scaler makes picture a bit softer and 18000 cycles looks like the optimal speed.

To anyone who wrote a bad review: This game was made over 17 years ago. It is a sophisticated and complicated game, with lots to do and explore.

The last of the Realms of Arkania trilogy, this time playing in the city of Riva. If you enjoyed the first 2, this is a must have. If you haven't heared about this serie and love RPGs, but still don't know if you should give it a shot, let me ask you one question: What other game allows your character to learn dancing or becoming a jester? Yes, the character development is THAT much extraordinarily involving, so no CRPG-player worth it's salt is allowed to pass these by.
If you're not that much into RPGs, be warned though: all 3 games come with a deep, complex and rather uncommon system that needs dedication and time to learn and enjoy it. If you're looking for action oriented RPGs, you might be better off with other games, as all 3 RoA titles are leaning towards the hardcore crowd.
As with the predecessors, Attic implemented the complete "Das schwarze Auge" rulesystem into the game. This leaves you to play with 10 different classes, nearly 100 spells and numerous talents. The gameplay itself is based on a real-time, first-person exploration and a turn-based isometric combat mode. The enemies are challenging, but never unfair. The storytelling is among the finest you can get and where the game really shows, that it's coming from a grown pen & paper system.
You're looking for a RPG that captivates you, where your characters will grow to your heart and the story keeps you going that extra hour even though you should have stopped playing already? Look no further, as you have found it.

Excellent game! Such good memories...
For best picture and sound quality change this parameters in dosboxrealms3.conf :

fullresolution=desktop
output=opengl
cycles=80000

Because default video settings distorts pixels a bit, and there was some problems with CD Audio playback, when cycles=max...

Many years ago, when I was but a kid, one of my game CDs didn't work. So you could bring it back to the shop to exchange it for four other really old retro CD games that no one wants anymore. They were not originals of course, no one could ever afford them in my country.

That was how I stumbled upon Shadows Over Riva.

This was possibly the most complex game I've ever played at the time. Words like tinderbox or whetstone were not in my vocabulary. But somehow I had some fun making my party spend all day at the bathhouse and improving their swimming. Here I am now, after many years, reading through manuals and embarking on this journey from the first game.

Of the three games, Shadows Over Riva is the one shining above them. What previous games has done faithful to the tabletop experience is abandoned for a deeper, more engaging story. Gone is the overworld travel of the previous games for a more linear story, which is actually better. You do not venture far out of the city of Riva, in fact you do not visit any other towns at all. It does make the city full of surprises and you don't feel as if you are noble heroes saving the world but instead just so happen to be in a bustling city with all their dirt, grime and sinister things waiting to happen.

Learning to play Realms of Arkania is hard. It has a steep learning curve, weird names for spells, and sometimes very boring fights. However, what you will find is something very unique that lots of CRPG do not have, such as negative attributes. In this game you learn things the hard way, through trial and error. Like how I discovered having a witch in my party is totally useless and created a new character halfway through the second game. How weapons break and you should have a spare for each character. How some monsters can only be killed by magic or magic weapons. This game expects you to be smart, and it expects you to act so. If something doesn't work, try, try something else.

The visuals in this game have definitely improved by strides compared to the predecessors. As I suspect that a lot of NPC art have been converted from a photo or directly traced. Pierce Brosnan, or Björk makes a cameo. A bit of a pop culture 'time capsule', so to say. Generally it was a nice experience talking to NPCs and getting tidbits of information about the comings and goings in the city. Strange events, mysterious developments, are abound in the city of Riva and it's up to your party to find out how each are inexplicably linked. Even if the story is not a masterpiece, seeing two of my fighters raiding and killing scores of orcs was still enjoyable.

Overall, if you have the time, and the patience; because you will need some for progressing in the quest sometimes - You will find SoR not just a challenging RPG, but a very satisfying one. Read the manuals before you play, and if you get stuck, just look up online for a guide!

Classic old-school RPG game ever. It is a game that driven only by story. If you are boring with hack and slash games, this one will help you for sure.

For what reasons I love Realms of Arkania trilogy? For many; atmospheric music, great battles, really comprehensive development of the characters, great plot and climate of the nineties, when really great role-playing games were done.

The game of my childhood..that I could never complete when I was small because of issues with my translated copy. Now I was really excited to finally see the full story, everything was going well...until the game started crashing before the final fight (silent cry). I couldn't finish the game properly but I still recommend it because of the stories, characters, good exploration, humour, good game for fantasy rpg fans!

i LOVED this game back in the days - couldnt make it to the end because of the well known bug in the queens hive. Watched the ending in 2016 and its glorious.

Thank you for this game, its one of my nicest childhood memories.