Software:The Dark Eye: Memoria

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Short description: 2013 video game
The Dark Eye: Memoria
Developer(s)Daedalic Entertainment
Publisher(s)Daedalic Entertainment
Designer(s)Kevin Mentz
Composer(s)Dominik Morgenroth
Daniel Pharos
SeriesThe Dark Eye
Platform(s)
ReleaseWindows, OS X
30 August 2013
Switch, PS4, Xbox One
27 January 2021
Genre(s)Point-and-click adventure game
Mode(s)Single-player

The Dark Eye: Memoria (German: Das Schwarze Auge: Memoria, also known as Memoria) is a 2013 German point-and-click adventure game, developed and published by Daedalic Entertainment. The game is part of the video game series based on The Dark Eye, and is a direct sequel to Chains of Satinav. The game's story takes place after the events of the previous game, and focus upon Geron's quest to find a way to help his fairy Nuri recover, only to become caught in trying to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of a heroic princess called Sadja and the quest she undertook. Following its release, the game received favourable reviews. The game was released for Windows and OS X on 30 August 2013.[1] The game was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 27 January 2021.[2]

Gameplay

The player views the character on screen as if the player were standing and observing. The player is able to direct the character's actions by clicking on objects in the area. The character interact with the object, usually including dialogue that lets the player know if this action will help them to move forward in the game. The game progresses in a linear fashion with a prologue and eight distinct chapters.

Plot

In The Dark Eye: Memoria, the plot is divided into a story within a story structure. In the present time we follow once again bird catcher Geron where he tries to restore his lover Nuri, a forest fairy, who turned into a raven at the conclusion of the previous game. He meets a merchant named Fahi at the beginning of the game who promises Geron that he has the power to restore Nuri back to her humanoid form; all Geron has to do is to solve the fate of an ancient story about the heroic princess Sadja from the exotic land of Fasar, whom everybody has forgotten during the past 450 years.

Characters

The main characters are:

Geron's time

  • Geron: The protagonist from the previous game, Geron is a birdcatcher with some magical ability. His goal is to restore the fairy Nuri to her original form.
  • Nuri: Geron's love interest from the previous game, Nuri is a fairy who has been transformed into a raven. She is slowly losing her memories of her previous life.
  • Fahi: A Tulamede merchant, Fahi is the secret companion to Halef, who protects him from mobs in return for services. Fahi promises to transform Nuri back into a fairy if Geron can help him solve a riddle. Fahi's ability to see into the past of objects provides the key to the story's resolution.
  • Bryda: An apprentice mage who assists Geron in his attempts to solve the riddle.
  • Owlric: An elderly mage.

Sadja's time

  • Sadja: A young woman living 450 years before Geron's time, Sadja is determined to make a name for herself and leave a great legacy of her exploits. She seeks out the fortress of Drakonia, where she hopes to join the battle against demon hordes of Nether Hells.
  • Halef (Staff): A former servant of Malakkar, Halef was transformed into a magic staff as punishment by his master. He is discovered by Sadja and forms a strong bond with her during her quest to Drakonia. After Sadja's disappearance, Halef waited for centuries to accumulate enough magic to create a body for himself and seek out the truth of her fate.
  • Rachwan: A tribal outcast that acts as guide to Sadja but repeatedly betrays her.
  • Prince Kasim: An arrogant prince who attempts to unlock the secrets of the Djinn of Time to create a kingdom bound to his rule.

Reception

Domestic press

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Gameswelt9.0/10[3]
GameStar85/100[4]
PC Games84%[5]
4Players81/100[6]

Eurogamer.de praised the game, calling it "...what Daedalic was striving for all these years: A fantastical, but at the same time mature, Adventure, well thought-out and a personal experience through and through.".[7] While Game Star praised the title's visual design and style calling it an "...atmospherically dense adventure impresses with its beautifully drawn and lovingly detailed game world."[4]

International reviews

The game received generally favourable reviews achieving an average Metascore of 79 out of 100 based on 43 critic reviews.[8] Ryan Bates at Game Revolution was critical of the games puzzles stating "The puzzles don’t always make sense in Memoria to the point that it repeatedly made me quit in frustration."[9]

Sales

By 2016, Memoria was Daedalic's second-highest-grossing game behind Software:The Dark Eye: Blackguards. The company's Carsten Fichtelmann attributed this success to "a high rate of full price sales", compared to the greater sales quantity but lower revenue of the Deponia series.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Daedalic Entertainment (26 August 2013). "THIS WEEK, 30.08.2013 on STEAM! Release of our new game Memoria for PC/MAC." (in en). https://twitter.com/daedalic/status/371967525572993024. 
  2. ↑ Lafleuriel, Erwan (15 January 2021). "Les point&click The Dark Eye arrivent sur consoles" (in French). Ziff Davis. https://fr.ign.com/ps4/52205/news/les-pointclick-the-dark-eye-arrivent-sur-consoles. 
  3. ↑ Wagener, Sven (29 August 2013). "Test: Das Schwarze Auge: Memoria" (in German). Gameswelt. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171114010104/https://www.gameswelt.de/das-schwarze-auge-memoria/test/daedalic-punktet-erneut,204879. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Forsati, Amir (28 August 2013). "Von der Sehnsucht getrieben" (in German). GameStar. Archived from the original on 15 September 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130915075051/http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/das-schwarze-auge-memoria/test/das_schwarze_auge_memoria,49295,3026574.html. 
  5. ↑ Brehme, Marc (30 August 2013). "Das Schwarze Auge: Memoria im Test - Ab sofort im Handel" (in German). PC Games. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151126023923/http://www.pcgames.de/Das-Schwarze-Auge-Memoria-Spiel-20920/Tests/Das-Schwarze-Auge-Memoria-im-Test-1083262/. 
  6. ↑ Naser, Bodo (5 September 2013). "Test: Das Schwarze Auge: Memoria" (in German). 4Players. Archived from the original on 20 November 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131120005323/http://www.4players.de/4players.php/dispbericht/PC-CDROM/Test/34565/80003/0/Das_Schwarze_Auge_Memoria.html. 
  7. ↑ von Martin Woger (10 February 2015). "Das Schwarze Auge: Memoria - Test •" (in German). Eurogamer.de. http://www.eurogamer.de/articles/2013-08-30-das-schwarze-auge-memoria-test. Retrieved 20 September 2016. 
  8. ↑ "Memoria for PC Reviews". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/memoria/critic-reviews/?platform=pc. Retrieved 20 September 2016. 
  9. ↑ "Memoria Review". Gamerevolution.com. 26 August 2013. http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/memoria. Retrieved 20 September 2016. 
  10. ↑ Karkalemis, Manos (28 February 2016). "Interviews with the Daedalic Entertainment team". Ragequit.gr. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160306033901/https://ragequit.gr/specials/item/ragequit-gr-at-daedalic-days-2016-part-2-interviews-english-text-edition/. 
  • Official website (archived)
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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