The Dark Eye: Demonicon Interview

Information regarding Kalypso and Noumena Studios' The Dark Eye: Demonicon has been few and far between since the RPG changed development hands, but that changed (at least slightly) today when this new interview with designer Mario Janiszewski showed up on Gaming Nexus. It sounds like the game's design focus has been more than a little watered down over the past year:
Is Demonicon going to be class based? Will we see the usual RPG tropes in the game or will it be a bit different?

We won't be class or party-based, rather, you, playing as Cairon, will be a one-man party. Carion, at his core, is more of a brawler, with lots of melee combos at his disposal, but you'll also unlock elements-based magical powers, which let you, for example, freeze enemies, launch flame bursts and the like. Along with that, we have a crafting system that you will use to make potions, ointments, balms, etc, which can heal you, hurt enemies (in the case of poisons) or even boost your weapons themselves. If you prefer a more "magical" path, you can focus on unlocking more attack-based magic with your earned XP, or you can focus on alchemy/crafting, or fighting. It's all up to you, but Cairon by default is pretty much a great mix of the archetypical cleric, mage, fighter and thief.

Could you walk us through the combat in the game? How are you balancing the action with the RPG elements?

The RPG elements are there to boost your melee combos, and unlock magical combat abilities. As with most 3rd person games, combat is handled by simply moving around, and bashing things. To attack, you'll use the face buttons on the controller, while combinations of the triggers and sticks will allow you to dodge, roll and perform other cool actions.

What are some of the magic spells we'll have at our disposal in the game? Will they be purely offensive or will there be some defensive spells as well?

There are offensive spells like ice lance, that freezes and damages opponents; defensive spells like nova, which will knock enemies back, and 'ždemonic( spells increasing Cairon's speed and damage boost. In general the player has a more offensive skillset to underline the fast paced action oriented combat system.