Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance Review

Dungeons and Dragons' world is full of monsters and mysterious treasures. The worlds described in the tabletop RPG's player guide books are home to some the most dangerous and fearsome creatures in high fantasy, including the sharp-toothed Goblins and the giant Frost Giants. Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance will let you battle hordes monsters as one the four legendary heroes. This game is not like the tabletop and is more about the action rather than the strategy.

You'll be the spiritual successor of 2004's Baldur's Gate 2: Dark Alliance 2. Your mission is to cut and slash through an army of monsters who are trying to invade the Ten Towns of Icewind Dale. The heroes, with their formidable fighting skills will brave the dungeons and search for the source of power that has brought these previously tribal monster factions together to form a united front against darkness.

When Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance starts, you must choose a hero. The first is Bruenor, a Dwarf fighter whose heavy armor, shields, and strength make him ideal for dealing large amounts of damage and staying strong. Wulfgar, a human barbarian who wields a powerful two-handed weapon to strike at high-damage targets, is also known as Wulfgar. Catti-Brie, a human warrior, was raised by Bruenor. However she prefers her bow and agile maneuvers to brute strength. Drizzt Do’Urden is the final character. He is a Dark Elf ranger who hails from the underground worlds of the Underdark and has overcome the stigma that was associated with his people. They will fight together or individually the forces of darkness that brought them together to get Crenshinibon (a sentient crystal shard believed to have unlimited power).

Dark Alliance combat is fast, frenetic and combo-based. You can launch heavy and light attacks by using two attack inputs. These are mapped to the PS5's R buttons. To get the most combo count, you will chain attacks from enemy to enemy. You can also learn a variety of moves by buying them gold. As you hit higher combo counts, you earn percentage bonuses. These bonuses replenish your HP, stamina, or increase the meter for your ultimate attack. The flow is a mixture of Bayonetta and Souls-style stamina management. You use deliberate motions and combination cues to set up certain moves and combo enders. You can also initiate team-up attacks together with your allies during co-op for huge damage.

Timed parries, blocks, and dodges are all important as a knockdown could result in death for an inexperienced fighter. Enemies can knock down your character, or even knock them out completely. This allows enemies to launch dogpile attacks against you. You can still get back into the fight even if your HP is gone. However, if there's a partner who can revive you, you'll be able to reload to a checkpoint. Combat feels immersive and offers meaningful progression when combined with some stat crunching in form of feats or attribute points. Diablo and Final Fantasy 14 players will find it easier to get into the action thanks to ground-based cues. Usually, dodging from a large symbol on the ground is the best call. Additionally, you'll be able collect treasure after each adventure in order to further modify your characters abilities.

Dark Alliance loot drops aren't available immediately. You can only get gear from bosses, enemies, and chests. You can see the drop quality and pick up weapons, armor and rings. However, you will not be able equip the items. You'll lose all the loot and gold you have earned if you quit a dungeon adventure before it ends. This is especially true if you use the rest checkpoints. You can give up refilling consumables like HP, stamina, and HP to improve the quality of loot drops from your current adventures. You can get double the loot drops from already successful runs.

Treasure can be found all over your adventures. It's worth the effort to find it all. Hidden paths can be found in the corners of each stage. These hidden trails lead to treasure chests, bosses or objectives that will increase your experience points at the end. You can also trigger poison plants and explosive barrels to destruct the environment.

Visuals and sound effects bring the Dark Alliance world to life. You'll be taken to stunning locations filled with evil creatures that will ruin the world you live in. The voice acting is great and there are plenty of funny quips. The enemy banter is great, and it's not just for the heroes. There are plenty of hilarious jabs at each other depending on where you are in the story or who you're against. These little details give the world a sense of being alive, at least the first time you play it. They are also a treat for fans.

Dark Alliance isn’t perfect, but it has some flaws that make the game less enjoyable. It can be difficult to locate the target you want in a crowd with the standard method of switching targets. This is especially true when there are many enemies. Combination-based gameplay suffers from this because unlocking and locking on to the right target with a freeform cam can take up to a minute, which you might not have during the heat of battle. It can also lead to frame drops during combat or in cutscenes. Large crowds may slow down the game to allow for an unseen attack. Sometimes you can get stuck at the loading screen. This can be fixed by either dying or restarting. These small complaints, along with the weak soundtrack that is drowned out the rich sound effects can quickly add up.

Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance is a great game that offers a lot of fanservice to dedicated D&D fans. Solid combat is supported by this. You must set up certain big-damage attack before you can perform them. A small amount of stat crunching can be done to give your character an individual niche that allows you to distinguish yourself from other players. Dark Alliance is difficult to recommend to anyone without a group of playmates due to its clunky lock-on system and poor soundtrack. It is even more difficult to recommend the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms world to someone who doesn't like it.