While I’m a die-hard adventure fan at heart, I have to admit
to having the occasional moment of RPG-envy. The graphics are often
hyper-realistic, there’s
a level of freedom you won’t find in the typical point-and-click, and the
potential for battling evil can’t be beat.

Originally created with
Czech dialogue, RA Images’s Daemonica is soon to be released to the North American market, and promises
to fulfill those action-oriented fantasies for adventure lovers such
as myself. The demo version I played certainly delivered. The unusual
top-down 3D view is reminiscent of the classic RPG series, Baldur’s
Gate, and provides stunning views of swaying trees, changing weather
patterns, and beautifully textured background elements. The music
was absolutely captivating; gloomy and moving at once in true movie
score style..

The story line is well
fleshed-out as well: Beast hunter Nicholas Farepoynt is summoned
to a Cavorn, a small Medieval town in England,
to investigate a series of murders. But he’s no ordinary crime
solver. No, he’s Haresh al-Dorem, one who speaks with the dead.
This is no John Edwards type feat, mind you. He gathers plants to
make a potion, which he uses to enter a gateway and retrieve the
souls of the victims. Creepy stuff. To make matters worse, the entire
town is slowly slipping into madness.

Daemonica promises to
be an intriguing hybrid that combines the mystery-solving and story
depth associated with the adventure genre
with elements of its action-oriented cousins. It doesn’t look
as though the fighting will be too in-depth, so adventure fans will
feel right at home, but it may be just enough to provide a nice bridge
for the action crowd as well.

You may want to bookmark
the official site for updates: http://www.daemonica.com. I think
it’s definitely going to be worth the wait.

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