Gorakion Demo

Great role-playing games rely on a smooth blend of gameplay elements, story, and atmosphere in order to create something memorable. Planescape: Torment used death as an essential part of the gameplay, Baldur’s Gate told the players an unforgettable tale, while gems like Arcanum always managed to imbue the air with a scent of steam and hot iron.

Gorakion is certainly not in the same league with the titles mentioned above, but it tries pretty hard to fit in with the rest of the crowd. As such, the role-playing mechanics are rather similar, but much more crude and unpolished. The top-down perspective helps a lot with the atmosphere, on the other hand, because it allows you to use your imagination to fill in the blanks.

Story-wise, the plot is childish and the characters are simple, sometimes even way too silly to take seriously. As such, you play the role of a random mage who’s tasked with recovering the lost pieces of an ancient artifact, in order to use them to save the world. Your guide through all of this is a tiger by the name of Spelltiger, says a lot about the level of commitment from the writers.

The game is basically a series of small and somewhat barren maps, sporting a tree or two, plus a character you can talk to in order to advance the story, as well as an enemy that needs to be defeated. During combat, you have to repeatedly press the appropriate keys in order to cast the desired spells. However, you must also ‘meditate’ to recover your mana, which can then be used to heal yourself. The system is pretty faulty and boring repetition is the result every time.

Your character gains experience as he manages to defeat the monsters standing in his way, which in turn rewards you with new spells and abilities. In this regard, the game does quite well, although you shouldn't expect anything like a skill tree. You sometimes get the chance to choose between this or that, but things are usually pretty straightforward and set in stone.

All things considered, Gorakion is way too simple, childish, and empty to make anyone experience some kind of feeling while playing it. However, if you want to waste a few hours in a rainy afternoon, this may very well do the trick, with the added benefit of erasing itself from memory almost immediately.