The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav

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"The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav" is a point-and-click adventure game set in the fantasy kingdom of Andergast. Players control Geron, a skilled bird catcher, who is tasked with investigating a plague of aggressive crows causing disturbing nightmares among the citizens. As Geron delves deeper into the mystery, he uncovers a darker conspiracy that threatens the fragile peace between Andergast and Nostria. The game features challenging puzzles, intricate storylines, and a rich, immersive game world.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

84%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,491 reviews

story685 positive mentions

grinding38 negative mentions

Beautiful hand-drawn graphics that create an immersive atmosphere.
Engaging story with interesting characters and emotional depth.
Logical puzzles that provide a satisfying challenge without being overly frustrating.

Some puzzles can be obscure and require trial and error, leading to frustration.
Voice acting quality is inconsistent, with some performances feeling lackluster.
Technical issues such as laggy animations and mouse cursor problems can detract from the experience.

story
1,575 mentions
43 % positive mentions
54 % neutral mentions
2 % negative mentions
The story of "The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav" is generally well-received, characterized by its emotional depth and engaging narrative, though it starts slowly and can feel convoluted at times. Players appreciate the rich world-building and character development, despite some critiques regarding predictability and linearity in choices. Overall, the game offers a captivating fairy-tale experience with dark themes, making it a worthwhile adventure for fans of story-driven games.
- “It has fantastic voice acting and an emotional story.”
- “The story develops well and the ending is quite satisfying.”
- “The story is captivating, the characters are likable, the visuals are beautiful and the gameplay is very good.”
- “One of the only few negatives is that at the beginning the story doesn't make too much sense; why is your mentor Gwinnling so knowledgeable about the seer, and killed for it?”
- “The plot is predictable, characters are one-dimensional, and most of the puzzles can be solved without looking at a walkthrough.”
- “The story itself has an okay concept but was obviously inspired only in the beginning.”
graphics
487 mentions
67 % positive mentions
32 % neutral mentions
1 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning hand-drawn art style, which enhances the overall atmosphere and storytelling. While many reviewers highlight the beauty and detail of the visuals, some note issues with animation quality, describing it as jerky or stiff at times. Overall, the artwork is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's charm and immersive experience.
- “The atmosphere, graphics, and plot are amazing!”
- “One of the most beautiful point and click puzzle games I've ever played, the artwork is truly stunning and intense.”
- “The graphics are beautiful, everything looks like it was painted.”
- “I cannot fathom why you would bankroll so much on visuals and have basic, jerky animations that have one or two frames.”
- “Not sure what was up with the graphics in this game - there was quite a bit of stuttering and from other reviews I see other people have had similar problems.”
- “The gameplay and visuals are quite literally worse than adventure games I played 20 years ago.”
music
239 mentions
67 % positive mentions
31 % neutral mentions
2 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for its pleasantness and fitting atmosphere, enhancing the overall experience with a mix of haunting and moody tracks. While some pieces are memorable and beautifully composed, others are noted as being less impactful or occasionally too quiet, leading to a lack of tension in critical moments. Overall, the soundtrack complements the game's art style and narrative, contributing positively to the immersive fantasy setting.
- “The soundtrack in the game is very pleasant and fits perfectly into the theme of the game itself, and the game itself passes quickly enough, but leaves only positive impressions.”
- “The soundtrack fits the atmosphere and is efficient if you consider that between two gaming sessions, the music was haunting me until I play again.”
- “Beautiful art-style and memorable music create this sorrowful world that will immerse you instantly when you start playing.”
- “The music even when turned down to 25% is often still loud enough to make the dialogue (at 100%) drown out.”
- “The volume for cutscenes is inconsistent with the other settings and is often difficult to hear in general, and the music parts are too loud with barely audible dialogue.”
- “Every scene in the game was beautifully drawn, but the sound effects and music left a lot to be desired.”
gameplay
187 mentions
26 % positive mentions
66 % neutral mentions
7 % negative mentions
The gameplay is primarily a standard point-and-click adventure, featuring a mix of engaging puzzles and a unique break/repair magic mechanic that adds some complexity, though it is often seen as underutilized. While many players appreciate the beautiful visuals and captivating story, some criticize the gameplay for being clunky, tedious, or lacking innovation compared to classic titles in the genre. Overall, the experience is described as enjoyable but can be hindered by pacing issues and occasionally illogical puzzles.
- “The gameplay is smooth, the story is awesome, and the puzzles were creative and challenging.”
- “They perfectly married puzzles and gameplay with great character development and storytelling.”
- “A fun old-school point-and-click adventure with beautiful hand-painted visuals, mostly fun riddles and a well-balanced gameplay - very rarely does one get stuck, but it's still challenging.”
- “It's pretty but the actual gameplay is the equivalent of putting triangle shapes in the triangle shaped hole.”
- “Not a fan of the gameplay, very long and tedious at times.”
- “The gameplay and visuals are quite literally worse than adventure games I played 20 years ago.”
atmosphere
96 mentions
54 % positive mentions
42 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of "The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav" is widely praised for its gothic and fairy-tale elements, enhanced by stunning hand-painted graphics and a fitting soundtrack. Players appreciate the immersive dark fantasy setting, though some find the overall energy of the game lacking or the pacing slow. Despite mixed feelings about the plot and character engagement, the game's art and atmospheric design create a memorable experience.
- “The game's atmosphere is a mix between old fairy tales and more modern fantasy.”
- “The storyline is really charming and has a strong 'dark European medieval fantasy' feel to it, and the backdrops are breathtakingly beautiful, each scene working towards creating a memorable atmosphere of the whole game.”
- “It is very atmospheric due to the incredible hand-drawn backgrounds, some of which are beautiful, and some are moody or even downright scary, but never bland or boring.”
- “It's difficult to explain, but I didn't like the atmosphere, the 'energy' of the game.”
- “The characters and plot really failed to draw me in at all, there's a serious lack of good music to set the appropriate ambience and atmosphere of the locations I saw, and I found myself pretty distracted by the bad voice acting (the messenger girl in the bath-house was amazingly bad).”
- “The atmosphere in the game is ... weird.”
humor
66 mentions
97 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
3 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as a mix of light-hearted moments and darker themes, with some players appreciating the snide character comments and charming animation. However, many reviewers noted a lack of the over-the-top humor typical of classic point-and-click adventures, feeling that the game leans more towards a serious narrative with occasional humor rather than a consistently funny experience. Overall, while there are humorous elements, they are often overshadowed by the game's darker tones and serious storytelling.
- “The writing is lovely and humorous, the story bittersweet, and the voice acting quite a pleasure.”
- “Good story, but Geron is hilariously toxic to Nuri, to the point of self-parody.”
- “Mostly light and humorous at first, but there are definitely some darker moments.”
- “Some gothic games manage to handle those two mindsets well enough, but in The Dark Eye, it's more of a mess; it comes out as unfunny and uncaring.”
emotional
50 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its touching story and well-developed characters, particularly the romance between the protagonists, which resonates deeply with players. While many found the narrative to be heartwarming and capable of eliciting strong emotional responses, some criticized the voice acting and pacing, suggesting that it occasionally fell short of its potential for emotional impact. Overall, the game is praised for its ability to engage players emotionally, making it a memorable experience despite some flaws.
- “With that said, the overall experience was positive and the romance between the main characters was touching enough to engrave itself in my memory.”
- “The story really hit me at the end; I didn't expect to be emotionally affected by a point-and-click game, but here we are.”
- “It's really heartwarming and sad at the same time.”
grinding
38 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and repetitive, with many players finding the gameplay slow and unengaging. Achievements and puzzles are often described as annoying and unnecessarily complicated, leading to a frustrating experience that detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game. While some players appreciate the story, the overwhelming sentiment is that the grinding elements significantly hinder the gameplay experience.
- “Then it gets more and more complicated, unintuitive, tedious, and boring.”
- “I found it tedious in the extreme.”
- “Not a fan of the gameplay, very long and tedious at times.”
optimization
34 mentions
6 % positive mentions
47 % neutral mentions
47 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting frequent frame rate drops, stuttering, and choppy animations, which detract from the overall experience. Despite some solid performances and a compelling story, the technical issues create a jarring disconnect, leaving many feeling that the game is poorly optimized, even on systems that exceed the recommended requirements. Overall, while the narrative holds promise, the inconsistent performance significantly undermines the gameplay experience.
- “Although the game should be more than able to run smoothly on almost any computer you could find today, it often slows down and feels sluggish between important actions and in scenes where the main character has to move from one side of the screen to the other.”
- “Performance was an issue, which is strange because the computer I played the game on far exceeds the recommended requirements.”
- “The performance is very weird; the game plays and never gave me a problem, but the frame rate is all over the place. Sometimes it's 90, sometimes it's 70, making it feel very janky.”
- “It's poorly optimized, and I saw frame rate drops, stuttering, and choppy animations while I was playing it.”
- “Performance was an issue, which is weird because the computer I played the game on far exceeds the recommended requirements.”
character development
26 mentions
38 % positive mentions
38 % neutral mentions
23 % negative mentions
Character development in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its solid pacing and integration into the storytelling, while others criticize it for being rushed or lacking depth. Although there are moments of character evolution and humor, many players feel that character development is overshadowed by the main quest and puzzle-solving elements. Overall, while some aspects of character growth are appreciated, there are significant concerns about the depth and quality of character interactions and design.
- “Great pacing, solid character development, and often funny.”
- “They perfectly married puzzles and gameplay with great character development and storytelling.”
- “Character development is certainly second fiddle to the story, but they do a decent job of showing Geron's evolution throughout, along with the response choices you get to make along the way.”
- “We are rushed through introductions of them because the game has a quest it needs to get to and character development is interspersed via the cutscenes between locations.”
- “The main character is a wimp, his protégé is a complete helpless lady and there is no character development - oh, and the evil guy wants to destroy the world because he is evil.”
- “The non-existent character development and the awkward voice acting made it feel like I was playing an online point-and-click flash game, where the characters' existence was just for solving ridiculous puzzles.”
stability
22 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game exhibits several stability issues, including minor graphical glitches, animation hiccups, and occasional freezes that can disrupt gameplay. While these bugs are generally not game-breaking, they do detract from the overall experience and suggest a need for patches to improve performance. Despite these technical flaws, many players still find enjoyment in the game's art and story.
- “The bad part is the game still has some minor glitches, need some patch, nothing too critical. For instance, when I clicked on the pigs, the protagonist disappears while talking and then reappears again.”
- “While I was excited about the premise of this game, it glitches like crazy.”
- “The only flaws of this game I came to notice are some technical hiccups; between actions, there can be very brief 'freezes' which didn't annoy me but which I heard one or another player complain about on the hub.”
replayability
18 mentions
17 % positive mentions
67 % neutral mentions
17 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is significantly limited due to its linear structure and lack of meaningful choices, resulting in a single ending. While some players may find value in revisiting the story over time or pursuing achievements, the general consensus is that immediate replay is not enticing, akin to rereading a beloved book rather than engaging in a new adventure.
- “It has a medieval steampunk-esque vibe and offers a fair amount of replay value (though you probably won't want to replay immediately unless you're achievement hunting).”
- “The game has achievements and two levels of difficulty for replayability.”
- “As with most point-and-click games, once completed there isn't really much challenge which would entice a replay, however, the charming fairy-tale-like story could lead to a replayability factor in much the same way that we return to and revisit beloved children's stories.”
- “This decreases dramatically the replay value of the game.”
- “The game does not include choice-making and appears to have a single ending, so replayability is out of the question.”
- “I'd recommend to put the game in your wishlist, 'cos even if the game needs at least 15 hours of playtime (maybe more than 20 if you're like me) it doesn't deserve 20€.. it has no replayability, even though the story is very good and well developed.”
monetization
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is subtly tied to its narrative structure, with the ending serving as a promotional tool for a sequel that promises a more positive resolution. Players express skepticism about whether the sequel will deliver a satisfying conclusion, reflecting concerns about the developer's track record with happy endings. Overall, the monetization strategy appears to leverage storytelling to entice players into future purchases.