14 DAY TRIAL // 
German games developer Daedalic Entertaiment is back with yet another point & click adventure game in The Dark Eye universe, Memoria. Dubbed as a sequel to the Chains of Satinav adventure game that was launched back in 2011, Memoria offers similar hand drawn graphics that made Daedalic famous among fans of the genre.
For those wondering if they should play Chains of Satinav before getting into Memoria, my advise is to try and play the former first if possible. While Memoria offers a self-contained story, some of the dialogs will offer spoilers about Chains of Satinav story.
Not to mention some of the characters appear in both games and you will get several references to other Daedalic games, including Chains of Satinav and The Night of the Rabbit.
Playing Chains of Satinav first will enhance your experience in Memoria's world, but it's not required in order to have a good time playing Daedalic's latest point & click adventure game.
Memoria's story is self-contained and picks it up from where Chains of Satinav left it, so there's no need to play the latter if you don't want to. I should also mention Memoria tells two different stories that occasionally intertwine over the course of the game.
The story of Geron and his quest to find a cure for his girlfriend Nuri somewhat continues the adventures of the duo in the Chains of Satinav, and the story of princess Sadja, which is completely new and doesn't have any spoilers for previous adventure games in The Dark Eye universe.
In Memoria you will be playing two main characters in two different time periods, so you will have two stories unfolding before you as you progress into the game.The prologue of the game offers some tips on the game's mechanics, but once you step into the first chapter things become really difficult if you don't have any experience in playing Daedalic's point & click adventure games.
Aside from the usual item combinations, in Memoria players have access to magic, which adds another variable to every puzzle into the game. Fortunately, this doesn't make the game harder but more fun. Fans of Daedalic's adventure games who already played Chains of Satinav know this magic system very well.
Moreover, Memoria offers a very useful hint system, so whenever you get stuck with a puzzle simply open the Inventory and click on the Questlog option which is in the bottom right corner of the screen.
These is where your current quest is listed and clicking on it will offer you clues on what you have to do to progress further. Each important character, location or artifact is listed here as well, and as you progress into the game their descriptions become more detailed to give you more insight on the story.
You will start the prologue with Geron,but after solving a pretty easy puzzle you will be sent 450 years back in time at the beginning of the first chapter where you will impersonate Sadja, a Southern princess with a strong desire to become one of the greatest heroes in history.
Sadja is searching for powerful artifact called the Mask of Malakkar, which will help her defeat demon lord Borbarad. Unfortunately, no one knows what exactly this mask does, nor how to activate the powerful artifact.
There's big spoiler here for those who did not play Chains of Satinav, which I cannot avoid if I want to offer some details on Geron's story in Memoria's world, so you may want to skip this part if you intend to play the prequel the first game.
Back to Geron, also known as the “bird catcher,” and his quest to find a way to lift an evil curse that befell on his girlfriend Nuri and turned her into a raven. Wondering the world of Aventuria in search for a cure, Geron approached by a mysterious merchant by the name of Fahi, who pretends he has the power to give Nuri back her human form.
However, Fahi asks Geron to solve a puzzle that he and his daughter have seen in their dreams and is related to princess Sadja and her attempt to uncover the powerful Mask of Malakkar.
This is how the two stories intertwine, so every chapter brings new characters, new locations, as well as powerful magic.
Speaking of locations, some environments in Chains of Satinav were carried over onto Memoria, but they have been altered to reflect the passing of the time.
Graphics-wise, Memoria is much better than Chains of Satinav. All the environments are gorgeous and animations are much better than in the first game. I remember everyone was complaining animations in Chains of Satinav were close to terrible, but Memoria is a major improvement.
I have mixed feelings about voice-acting. Some characters I like, but others sound terrible. Overall however, I'd say voice-acting is okish.
The unique magic skill and the brain-focused puzzles, along with a amazing graphics are the main strong points of Memoria, so if you are into this kind of point & click adventures this one should not be overlooked.
There are some negative aspects that I hope developers will address in the near future, like the bad memory management. Even though it's an adventure game, thus it should not require too many resources I have experienced hiccups and stuttering each time I travel from one location to another, even though my rig far exceeds the recommended requirements.I should also warn you that some of the puzzles are terribly unintuitive and without consulting a walkthrough it will be a pain to progress into the game.
Memoria is a fabulous journey into the old and new Aventuria, which kind of reminded me of Scheherazade's fairy tales in One Thousand and One Nights. Definitely the best point & click adventure game in The Dark Eye universe developed by Daedalic.
