Darkstone Reboot Released on PC

Remember when Anuman announced plans to bring the original action RPG Darkstone to iOS and Android devices? Well, they’ve since done so, and today we were tipped off that the revitalized game is now available on PCs.

That seems at least partially true as you can technically find it listed on Steam, but I don’t see any way to pick it up just yet. In any event, we have a trailer for you:

UPDATE: Here’s the press release heralding its availability:

THE ACTION/RPG CLASSICAL HIT NOW AVAILABLE ON STEAM (PC VERSION)

Paris, September 25, 2014. Joystick Replay releases “Darkstone “, a precursor in Action/RPG, on Steam, the most important PC games download platform.

In 1999, ” Darkstone ” marked the Hack’n Slash universe on PC then Playstation. Critically acclaimed (9/10 on IGN.com, 17/20 on jeuxvideo.com) and developed by Delphine Software, the title found its public thanks to its universe, its atmosphere and the depth of its gameplay. Today, (Darkstone) is reaching the Steam video game portal in a version very similar to the original one.

The players’ task is to take up arms to help the inhabitants of the Land of Uma where the evil Draak wreaks havoc. To that end, they must find the 7 legendary crystals which will put an end to his vile doings. Players have to complete many quests, explore randomly generated dungeons, fight hordes of monsters to get the best possible equipment and the most powerful spells. Players will tread a long road before restoring peace.

To begin the action, players can choose one or two heroes among 8 available classes of characters (monks, assassins, amazons and sorceresses…) as well as the level of difficulty. When the players play for the first time, they have to start at the novice level, but once they have reached level 20, players will be able to start at master, then expert level (from level 35) and hero (from level 45). Once in the Land of Uma, player can control a character or the other as he wishes. He will switch between heros, access maps, shortcuts for spells (e.g. Resurrection or Fireball), skills (like foiling traps and finding hidden objects…) and various potions that restore the health or give magical energy.

As well as the traditional health and energy status bars, players also have to keep an eye on the characters’ hunger gauges. With a single click, they can see and do everything that relates to their characters: equip or feed their heroes with the food you buy to prevent their health from waning, check out statistics and amounts of gold, use their inventories, and customize shortcuts.

For swift mastery of the game’s basics, players can run through the tutorial before they start. The Steam version of the game has stayed faithful to the original where players explore a world that has been plunged into chaos.

To complete a game, players have to carry out eight main quests that they choose randomly among the 22 available. There are also additional quests that enable the player to collect special equipment. The positions of the enemies and objects also change from one game to the next, in order to constantly change the tactics. Players have to alternate between consecutive explore and fight phases in order to find the seven crystals scattered among the different dungeons. Confrontations enable the players to gather experience, equipment and gold all necessary for improving their characters’ levels, increasing their powers, and buying spells and skills from local merchants.

(Darkstone) can be played in cooperation up to 8 players on local network. In this configuration, each one will control his own hero.

Darkstone is available on Steam (PC) since September 25, 2014. It is dubbed in English and subtitled in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Swedish.

About Joystick Replay

Launched in March 2013, after Anuman Interactive recovered the “Joystick” and “Tilt” brands, the “Joystick Replay” Label includes the remastered versions of the big classic titles of the video game history, distributed by the publisher, such as Crazy Cars, Moto Racer, North vs South, Fire&Forget or Prehistorik.

Accessible and dedicated to a large public, those titles visually update the concepts and the mecanisms of simple and catchy games that have marked the youth of several pioneers in this industry, on new platforms and multimedia supports.

With this label, Anuman Interactive shows its will to have a new public discover or rediscover the old successful titles.

The “Joystick Replay” Label is named after an old cornerstone of the French video game specialized magazine (27 years of existence, over 250 issues). The brand, established in 1988 with the launch of (Joystick Hebdo), that became (Joystick) in 1990, was acquired by Anuman Interactive in February 2013.

For more information, check www.facebook.com/Joystickreplay and http://twitter.com/Joystickreplay