D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

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Jag
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by Jag »

baelthazar wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 12:56 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 11:36 am I forgot to mention that it also seems to really be taxing my older PS4. Damn thing sounds like a jet engine when I enter a new zone.

EDIT: OK, one more quick update. This game is absolutely NOT designed to be played single player. At all.

I went back and retried a zone I had previously cleared, choosing one higher difficulty level. The game said I was well over the "power" score required, but I got absolutely thrashed by just the opening mobs. Problem is, with no other party members to take aggro, you simply get swarmed by every mob in sight. That's not a big issue at lower difficulty when every mob goes down in a couple hits, but if the difficulty is bumped up even a little bit, you get mowed under and taken down in about 30 seconds. Higher difficulty also causes you to burn through stamina at a significantly higher rate. 2-3 dodges and a couple heavy attacks, and my stamina meter was simply gone and I had no way to counter the dozen goblins swinging for my head. It's not even remotely fun. I'm sure there's a "git gud" factor at play here, but I'm not sure the game is fun enough to really warrant the effort.

Since you don't gain any loot or XP at all unless you complete the entire level, the only way to become more powerful is to grind through multiple runs at the lowest difficulty (for reference, at the higher difficulty notch, I was getting slaughtered 10 minutes into a level that takes around 45 minutes to complete).
This sounds SO MUCH like Warhammer 40K - Inquisitor, with many of the same issues. It made my PS4 Pro constantly crank the fan like a jet. It was also terrible at giving you an actual estimation of what power you needed to win a level. This isn't made by the same team, is it?
So far it plays exactly like Vermintide.
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by hitbyambulance »

raydude wrote: Wed Jun 23, 2021 2:39 pm
hitbyambulance wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:40 pm shouldn't the ban on the word 'dark' in any video game title have gone into effect over two decades ago?
Not a Dark Souls fan are you?
i actually kinda like it. unfortunate name however
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coopasonic
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by coopasonic »

I gave this a try last night. Did the tutorial and one mission. movement and combat janky as hell, AI has no idea what to do with a ranged opponent, experience feels completely disjointed with no real flow.

Glad I got to try it on GamePass.
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Kurth
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by Kurth »

coopasonic wrote: Fri Jun 25, 2021 12:16 pm I gave this a try last night. Did the tutorial and one mission. movement and combat janky as hell, AI has no idea what to do with a ranged opponent, experience feels completely disjointed with no real flow.

Glad I got to try it on GamePass.
GamePass, you say? Now I’m interested!
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coopasonic
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by coopasonic »

Yeah and this time I mean it! I played it on GamePass for PC.
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by Skinypupy »

Mainly just because nothing else is grabbing my interest right now, I've put more time into this over the last couple nights. I'm actually a bit surprised to find myself warming to it the slightest bit. I'm still only doing single player and have only tried Drizzt, but a couple observations after playing through Act 2:

1. The game is heavily gear and ability-focused. I got frustrated at the miniscule improvements granted by leveling up, but have come to realize what a huge difference the gear makes. I currently have a Tundra set that reduces my stamina usage by almost 40% and adds 50% lightning damage, which makes things far more manageable. Unlocking a few more combat skills is also making a massive difference in my survivability.

2. If you're playing single player, I would strongly recommend repeating the first few levels a few times to gain gear, upgrade it with crystals, and learn the layout (traps, mobs, checkpoints, etc.). It took me through 7 completions of the Act 1 levels at lowest Difficulty tier before I was geared and leveled up enough to actually get through a zone at the next tier. For reference, I was at a Combat Score of around 1,700 when I barely squeaked by the end boss of a Difficulty 2 zone...one which had a "recommended" Combat Score of 1,200. I can only assume the recommended Combat Score is for a full party, not a single player. If you try and bump up the difficulty too soon, you'll get immediately wiped and likely frustrated.

3. Once you start to learn the layout of each zone, it becomes much easier to progress. I've run the first zone 3-4 times now, and know exactly which areas will spawn mobs, where the traps are, where to find secrets for extra XP, etc. Makes each run take way less time, and I'm far more successful.

4. Combat (for Drizzt) becomes way more fun once you get some skills and abilities that are worth a crap. Sending out a globe of Necro damage, Blinking behind an enemy for guaranteed crits, whirling out a few AOE's to clear some space, hitting an armored goblin with a hilt strike to break his armor, then leaping back with a powerful backflip attack feels infinitely better than simply whacking away with basic light and heavy attacks. It's starting to actually feel like what I assume they were really going for with the action-oriented combat. Unfortunately, there's so much extraneous jank that I highly doubt most people will invest the time to get there.

Don't get me wrong...this is still an incredibly flawed game in nearly every way. There's still tons of bugs, with my favorite being that any killing blow sends goblin bodies flying across the level like they were shot out of a cannon. However, if you can give it a little patience, I do think there's some completely mindless fun to be had here. If nothing else, I may try at least getting through the campaign at the basic difficulty level, just to see the cool new environments and mobs.

Speaks to the overwhelming draw of the characters and the world that even thought it's a mediocre to flat-out bad game, I still have an urge to play it because Drizzt is just that cool. :)
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
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Blackhawk
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by Blackhawk »

Skinypupy wrote: Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:51 pm 1. The game is heavily gear and ability-focused.
That's kind of funny given that they picked a set of four characters who are each known for specific, iconic weapons. Bruenor maybe less than the others.

It'd be kind of like MCU's Thor tossing away mjolnir because he finds one with extra fire damage.
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Skinypupy
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by Skinypupy »

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Jun 25, 2021 3:02 pm
Skinypupy wrote: Fri Jun 25, 2021 1:51 pm 1. The game is heavily gear and ability-focused.
That's kind of funny given that they picked a set of four characters who are each known for specific, iconic weapons. Bruenor maybe less than the others.

It'd be kind of like MCU's Thor tossing away mjolnir because he finds one with extra fire damage.
The gear is all canonically correct. Drizzt gets new scimitars and piwawfi, Catti Brie gets new bows, etc.
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
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Blackhawk
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by Blackhawk »

I didn't mean weapon styles, I meant specific, named weapons. For example, does Wulfgar ever swap Aegis-fang out for anything? Catti-brie and Heartseeker?

It isn't a serious point or anything, just chuckling that they made a looter with characters that never would have swapped out their weapons.
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by Skinypupy »

I figured since I was getting the hang of things, I'd jump into a MP group and see how that went. Selected "Quick Play" from the menu and waited while it searched for a game. After a couple minutes, it seemed to make a match, and I was presented me with the message "You can not play this character because another party member has already taken it" (the other person in the party was also Drizzt). My only options were to cancel out of the party or select another character to play. Um, I don't have another character. The game helpfully prompted me that I could create one, which would start me at level 1 while partying up with someone at level 6. Didn't figure that'd be particularly fun for either of us, so I just bailed on it.

The bigger question is why their matchmaking system is connecting me with another player who is Drizzt, knowing that we both can't be the same character. That seems like a pretty fundamental flaw.

Par for the course for this game, I suppose.
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
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Kurth
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by Kurth »

Ok. Just watched the trailer for this on XBOX GamePass. That was interesting. It goes on forever, and at first, I was kind of like WTH is wrong with these guys. But then it took a couple left turns and became pretty funny. Downright hilarious at times (e.g., “Look at these A-Holes!” and “If you grab the crystal shard, try not to be a dick about it!”).

If the game itself has this kind of sense of humor, I think I may enjoy this. Downloading now.
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by Skinypupy »

After such an incredibly negative first impression, imagine my surprise to be reporting that this game is actually...fun!

I've run through the first 5 Acts, and should (hopefully) finish Act 6 (of 7) today. The combat has become so, so much better with additional skills, abilities, and survivability tools. Slicing through enemies is really a blast, and presents just enough of a challenge to be fun without being overwhelming. After Act 3, the difficulty automatically steps up a notch, and you can't just cakewalk through everything anymore. The levels are well designed, with a ton of little nooks, crannies, and paths to discover. There's actually quite a bit of lore in the game, found in tablets, scrolls, and paintings that you collect as loot and read through back at camp. I was fully expecting to ditch this after the first day or two, but have spent most of the week playing it. It's become surprisingly enjoyable. Even things that I thought were bugs have actually become helpful indicators in combat. For example, the enemies that go flying across the screen when they die are an indicator that they're actually dead and not regen-ing, stunned, or downed with just a couple hit points remaining.

My biggest gripe at this point is probably the wildly underwhelming loot system. There's basically 8 types of loot (i.e. Cold Resistance, Fire Resistance, Do'Urden Prince, Tundra, etc.) and you simply receive different levels (Common up to Legendary) as you complete zones. The intent, I think, is to limit the types so it's easier to match them up for some significant set bonuses. In practice, however, it just makes it quite boring since you're limited to only a few different types of loot. Plus, none of them look all that different from each other, and they're just kinda dull. Thankfully, the abilities and skill bumps you get from them are often "make or break", and figuring out how best to equip yourself before every mission is part of the fun.

I did play a few MP matches, which were meh. I've been matched each time with someone way higher level than me (i.e. I was level 9, they were level 20), so every run simply involved trailing along behind them while they destroy everything while beelining towards the main objective, ignoring any of the chests, crystals, or gold along the way. Not exactly my idea of a good time. That said, I'm guessing it would be pretty fun with a group that's around the same level and actually wants to play through the zone instead of just sprinting for the boss.

This is still certainly not a great game, but it's not nearly as bad as I originally thought. It just takes a pretty significant amount of time to come into it's own, and the early game is just a complete disaster (especially solo). My guess is that most people will ditch it well before it gets interesting, and rightfully so. Having recently played through the original Dark Alliance game, this one does actually remind me a bit of it. Mindless hack-n-slash with cool characters in a interesting world that looks great. I would have given this a 50/100 after the first couple days, but would probably bump that up to a 70/100 at this point. If you're looking for something with tactical depth, a great story, and a well-polished presentation, you're going to be disappointed. If you don't mind a few warts and are in the mood to carve through goblins, trolls, and giants, there is definitely some fun to be had here. I'm actually even considering rolling one of the other characters once I'm done to see how they play...something I never would have expected to do just a few days ago.
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by Skinypupy »

And, finished. :)

It ended up far more fun than I thought, but is still jankier and clunkier than I would have hoped. Still, there's some enjoyment to be had...just maybe not at full price.

Will be giving Wulfgar and Bruenor a shot tonight.
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
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YellowKing
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Re: D&D Dark Alliance (2021)

Post by YellowKing »

I played last night with 3 friends in a full party and it wound up being pretty fun. The collision detection was awful, your character still moves like he's slogging through mud, and we had all kinds of glitches, but it was fun.

Some things we encountered in 2 hours of play:
- Mission items that would not let us collect them
- Enemies that would just stand there and not react to us until we hit them
- Graphical glitches (monsters floating, characters rubber banding, etc.)
- My character getting reset to Level 1 with no gear (logging out and back in fixed this)
- Getting kicked out of the game when returning to central hub

It's a shame this one didn't get another 6 months of polish.
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