My major weakness is a urge to collect PC games.

Somewhere along the way, I have added:

Blackguards
Memoria
Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav

I know that these games are all a part of the same universe, but I know nothing about it.

Is there a specific order I should play these games? If I start on Blackguards without playing Chains first, will I be missing key background info?

The Dark Eye was (and probably still is) the most popular pen and paper RPG in Germany. Massive amounts of background information have been written about its world. The video games all draw from this background, but they form different series which are not related. It's best to play the games within each series in order, but it doesn't matter in which order you play the series.

a) Classic series:
Blade of Destiny (or the remake) -> Star Trail -> Shadows over Riva

b) Drakensang Series:
Drakensang -> River of Time

c) Daedalic adventures:
Chains of Satinav -> Memoria

d) Daedalic strategy games:
Blackguards (no other games yet)

e) Demonicon
Demonicon (just one game so far)

Awesome.. Thanks..

So, it's pretty much just like Dungeons and Dragons.

The "classic" series is very old school, especially the first two. They require also an interesting but at times daunting character management regarding details of both every day life (food, clothing and so on) and charcter sheet (with an amazing amount of stats and abilities).
I would call these more hardcore RPGs.

I'd suggest to start with the Drakensang series, if you want to discover the RPG part of the universe. It is boiled down to a managable amount and has a quite modern appeal with its 3D environment and combat system. There are still a lot of skills you can put level-up points in. Also, it features just beautiful sceneries with a very euopean based landscape and culture and lively medieval towns.

It's like the German version of Dungeons & Dragons. I'd imagine D&D came first, but TDE is vastly different in terms of the single world and time-frame and rules. But it's easy enough to grasp the world b/c it's quite familiar.

The only big difference from TDE and DnD as far as culture goes is that in DnD alcohol is usually the start of all kinds of problems and in TDE it tends to be the solution to all kinds of problems. (edit: I wanted to clarify that the previous statement was both a joke and truth :D)

In the U.S., this is vastly the best way to get Drakensang: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005OGYVKU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005OGYVKU&linkCode=as2&tag=legeofleef-20 (ref link included)

It's 100% DRM-free and it includes all of the Drakensang material (The first, the second and the second's DLC).

If you want to try the classic games, the first 2 on GOG have been released for free a few times, so I bet someone has a copy around for you to try.

Yep, the people who started "The Dark Eye" had actually previously done translation work for the German release of D&D ... ;)

"The Dark Eye" was launched as a joint operation of a renowned publisher of paperback books with a solid catalog of fantasy titles (Knaur), and a popular publisher of board games (Schmidt Spiele). This ensured "Dark Eye" products nation-wide shelf space in regular department stores as well as bookstores, at a time when D&D was still only available in specialty shops that only enthusiasts knew about. This was a brilliant strategy that created a massive userbase in the mid-80s. In fact I believe that TDE would have faded into obscurity long ago, along with its early competitors like the Midgard RPG, if it hadn't had this massive headstart in terms of customer awareness.

Regarding the differences to (A)D&D, TDE always tried to create a more realistic medieval world, as opposed to the more flamboyant "Forgotten Realms". TDE was considered slightly more "serious" than (A)D&D, though that distinction was probably lost to anyone outside the roleplaying community.

That's pretty awesome. Thanks for the history lesson there. It was brilliant getting TDE into stores like that. Kudos to those folks.

I like the Forgotten Realms in a lot of the games I've played, but I positively love the more realistic world in TDE. The struggle feels more real and magic feels more special.

Really need to get around to playing Drakensang one of these days. I own them all on Gamersgate I think.

This is the video that got me interested in Chains in the first place..
http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-the-dark-eye-chains-of-satinav/2300-6280/

Drakensang series is definitely the one to play first. It will introduce you to the TDE system/world and it has that old school vibe.

After those, it's just a matter of mood. Pick Blackguards if you want to have the same combat system, Demonicon if you want an ARPG in TDE universe or Chains of Satinav/Memoria if you are in the mood for adventure.

The Dark Eye is one of my favorite games ever, and I'm lucky enough to have a boxed copy of it.

Oh, wait, wrong thread...