Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance - Review Thread

Game Information Game Title: Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance Platforms: * Xbox Series X/S (Jun 22, 2021) * PlayStation 5 (Jun 22, 2021) * PC (Jun 22, 2021) * PlayStation 4 (Jun 22, 2021) * Xbox One (Jun 22, 2021) Trailer: * Dark Alliance – Official Launch Cinematic Trailer Developer: Tuque Games Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 65 average - 23% recommended - 23 reviews Metacritic - 63 [PC] | N/A [PS4] | 69 [PS5] | N/A [XBO] | 60 [XSX] Critic Reviews TrueAchievements - Tom West - 4.5 / 5 stars Overall, Dungeons & Dragon: Dark Alliance is a fantastic example of a third-person action RPG, offering a great amount of story and lore through varying missions. With only a few minor setbacks aside, I’d have no problem saying that Tuque Games has brought my Drizzt Do’Urden and companions fantasies to life in all of the best ways. I’ll be seeing this game through to the very end without a shadow of a doubt, and have no issue recommending it to anybody that enjoys action RPGs. Grab some buddies and head to Icewind Dale — you won’t regret it! --- PC Gamer - Andy Kelly - 82 / 100 A furiously entertaining action RPG whose horrible monsters are a delight to slay, whether you're playing solo or co-op. --- PlayStation Universe - Garri Bagdasarov - 8 / 10 Dark Alliance is the type of game for people looking to blow off steam with their friends. It's such an exploration ride that I just wanted to keep playing it all day long. The fun combat and loot system kept me coming back even if it is a shame the story set in the D&D universe written by a prolific writer fails to live up to its potential. It's also baffling that almost no love was given to the game on the PS5 to utilize its power or even the DualSense controller. At $40 though almost all of its flaws can be overlooked for just plain old fun. --- Worth Playing - Cody Medellin - 7.5 / 10 Your perception of Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is going to heavily depend on how you want to play. If you want to go solo, prepare to toil away at the easiest difficulty level before taking on anything else. If you're planning to go with a team and don't mind the current restrictions, then you'll find this to be an enjoyable romp despite some occasional quirks. Considering its $39.99 price tag, Dark Alliance is worth a shot for those looking for an online co-op fix that isn't another shooter. --- Fextralife - Fexelea - 7.2 / 10 Though nothing like the original Dark Alliance games, this new iteration does just enough to warrant the attention of those who enjoy a co-operative dungeon crawling experience. And while I recommend waiting for a sale if you intend to play solo, the inclusion of matchmaking should allow just about anyone to find other players to party up with easily, which really feels like what this game was made for. --- Attack of the Fanboy - Brandon Adams - 3.5 / 5 stars Tuque Games must have rolled a natural 20 on their saving throw, because none of Dark Alliance's faults are able to bring the action-RPG down. It's a solid cooperative dungeon crawler that's positively dripping with D&D's iconic Companions of the Hall setting and lore. The combat may take some getting used to, and putting your party together is more fiddly than it needs to be, yet Dark Alliance remains an entertaining adventure from beginning to end. --- Cultured Vultures - Thorne Stone - 7 / 10 Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is a fun action game to play with friends whose deep combat gets overshadowed by a clunky lock-on mechanic and untimely framerate drops. --- Everyeye.it - Giovanni Calgaro - Italian - 7 / 10 Dark Alliance returns after about sixteen years of oblivion. Tuque's work, which became an in-house development studio at Wizards of the Coast, despite having a rather grandiose name and glorious past, starts from scratch adopting some rather drastic (and not always winning) solutions, for the canons of the hack 'n' slash genre. --- Game Rant - Paul Mason - 3.5 / 5 stars This game is a worthy successor to the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance titles. Though the combat can become a bit repetitive, it's fast-paced and engaging for the most part. While playing solo, it's fun and challenging, and it's easy to see how it would flourish with a full group of players. It isn't perfect, but the over-the-top voice acting and character models, respect for Dungeons and Dragons lore, and intuitive combat make for a charming package. It's casual enough for anyone to pick up and play while retaining enough Dungeons and Dragons standards to keep experienced players of the tabletop game content. Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance is a fun action RPG, that has an opportunity to open up Dungeons and Dragons to a wider audience. --- God is a Geek - Chris White - 7 / 10 Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is much better with friends. There's loads of loot and fun to be had, but combat is quite sluggish. --- IGN Italy - Davide Mancini - Italian - 7 / 10 Dark Alliance is an action game with a fiery soul and brave ambitions, whose gameplay is a little bit undermined by some naive choices and a lackluster balance. It's fun in co-op and depicts with joy the D&D universe, but at day one it's still too unpolished to achieve the glory of the top action RPGs. --- Pure Xbox - Liam Doolan - 7 / 10 If you are a long time D&D player or have played any fantasy action brawlers in the past, you’ll likely enjoy this game – either with friends, or even if you go for the more challenging route of playing alone. It certainly doesn't revolutionise the genre, but considering it’s available on Game Pass at launch, there’s no reason not to give it a go. There’s also some free DLC and a paid expansion on the way, giving Dark Alliance a chance to level up in the future. --- Shacknews - Donovan Erskine - 7 / 10 Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance delivers a solid D&D adventure, with exciting combat and a slew of monsters to take down. Though my experience was a bit dulled by crashes and some minor bugs, it certainly didn’t ruin the game for me. Dark Alliance fits in nicely in the pantheon of Dungeons and Dragons games. --- GamesBeat - Jason Wilson - 3 / 5 stars For now, Dark Alliance feels like many D&D adventures: Sometimes, you gotta slog through some combat in order to learn more about the world and enjoy a good story. --- GamingTrend - Ron Burke - 60 / 100 Infested with bugs from start to finish, Dark Alliance is a button mashing affair that drops the 5E rules in favor of flash. The bosses are great, but the parts in between less so. Here's hoping developer Tuque can pull this out of the Deep Wastes with their post-launch plans. --- Windows Central - Samantha Nelson - 3 / 5 stars Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is a decent brawler if you're looking for casual fun while chatting with your friends on Discord. If you're expecting much depth from the plot or combat mechanics, you'll likely be disappointed. --- Xbox Achievements - Richard Walker - 55 / 100 Boasting solid combat marred by a woolly lock-on system and repetitive objectives, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is, nonetheless, a mostly enjoyable hack 'n' slash adventure that's best played in co-op. --- PCGamesN - Ian Boudreau - 5 / 10 A cheeky take on Dungeons & Dragons lore isn't enough to carry the lacklustre combat, sluggish controls, and dodgy enemy hitboxes. --- IGN - Travis Northup - 4 / 10 Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is a tedious co-op adventure with lots of goblins and even more bugs. --- TheGamer - Eric Switzer - 2 / 5 stars So many of these problems can and should be fixed. Better netcode will go a long way, and I expect to see improvements to the controls, the combat inputs, and hopefully even more mechanically intense boss fights. There’s a tendency to recommend bad games to the most devoted fans, but I think fans of Drizzt and Co. will hate this game even more than the uninitiated. The saving grace is that Dark Alliance is included with Game Pass, so it won’t cost you anything to check back in from time to time and see how it’s doing. There is an enjoyable game buried here, I just wouldn’t expect to see it anytime soon. --- PC Invasion - Andrew Farrell - 3.5 / 10 Dull and clunky, this is one hell of a weak, uninspired action game that's plagued with poor design choices and technical issues. --- ACG - Jeremy Penter - Rent "There are some parts to the game that I like but it is covered with a layer of bugs, and poor control and design decisions that even at a reduced price its a deep deep sale." --- Spaziogames - Daniele Spelta - Italian - Unscored Dark Alliance has some intriguing mechanics and a smart level design. --- submitted by /u/Branchless [link] [comments]
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