Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance Reviews
Ultimately, DA is one of those games that just about goes tit-for-tat on pros and cons. With some patching, this game could really break through to another level of quality, but we’ll have to see what develops in that regard. I understand that Tuque has several things lined up for the next six months. They’re planning on new free DLC and a new expansion, Echoes of the Blood War, and that’s cool. However, I think they really need to take a hard look at the base game and make several major adjustments to it before worrying about DLC, because if the base game doesn’t get right, there might not be much of an audience to bring back in with DLC and expansions.
Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is a game with great promise but poor-to-mediocre performance, depending on your affinity for action-oriented loot hunting and patience for AI and other technical shortcomings that should have been nipped in beta. But with promise comes optimism; Tuque Games has a robust DLC and expansion roadmap planned, so its continued investment in the game could lead to patches ameliorating my gripes. If it does, you’ll find that Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance reaches the lofty heights of its renowned spiritual predecessors. But if Tuque Games neglects these issues, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance will remain a fun but prohibitively frustrating game I can recommend to series devotees and few others.
Dark Alliance has some intriguing mechanics and a smart level design.
Review in Italian | Read full review
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.
Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance offers a decent arcade action RPG experience, but suffers from midbudget jank and some questionable combat elements.
There are so many things half-baked, broken, glitchy, or simply baffling it's almost commendable.
Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance has good ideas, but poor enemy variety, samey levels, bad puzzles, a shockingly poor story, the lack of local co-op, several quality-of-life issues, and numerous bugs that affect every aspect of the game make it hard to recommend to anyone, no matter how much they like the source material.
Dark Alliance lacks compelling narrative and gameplay variety, despite being steeped in lore from its source material.
Dark Alliance lacks in diversity, with bugs littered throughout making it near impossible to remain immersed for more than 10 minutes at a time, if that. You will undoubtedly expect either a successful homage to Dungeons and Dragons or a high-quality action RPG with influence from that scene - at this stage, it does not quite deliver either.
I don’t mind the game. I’m a big fan of the more traditional D&D games, but I also don’t mind a more brainless “mash keys and progress” type game and this arguably falls far more in that latter category. If you like a bit of Dungeon delving and aren’t too fussed about character details then this could be a good choice. If you really want page after page of stats and character story then this will probably leave you wanting.
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.
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.
The creators probably didn't quite know what the Dark Alliance should be, so it is... completely bland. But it has at least beautiful locations.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Offering up four-player online action in a familiar setting, D&D Dark Alliance looks good but is chock full of problems.
Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance is the kind of game that has its own audience. If you're a fan of fantasy games and of course service-centric, don't miss Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance at all. Playing this game with friends is very enjoyable.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Dark Alliance is a dull and unpolished multiplayer action RPG with repetitive and glitchy combat, broken online connectivity, unbalanced solo play, and more than enough technical issues to put off anyone even slightly interested in checking it out.
I just didn’t expect it could be this bad. Dark Alliance is a functionally broken product. When enemies simply ignore you as you carve their health down to zero, when there’s so little to the game that that’s all you’re doing, and when the multiplayer experience is only superior because it’s a chance to share the misery with someone else, some passable graphics and one neat checkpointing system aren't anywhere near enough to redeem this game. This is the poorest handling of a license since Superman 64.
At the moment, Dungeon & Dragons: Dark Alliance is just too rough around the edges to recommend, but some will be able get enjoyment out of it if they can work past its issues. As ever, it’s fun battling your way through dungeons with friends, collecting loot as you go – especially once you’ve powered up your characters and learned some new moves. But until the camera has been tweaked to give you a better view, enemy AI has been improved and bugs have been quashed, the action will always be accompanied by an element of frustration and disappointment. It might be a good idea to wait for a patch or two before jumping in, basically.
Just like with tabletop D&D, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance requires a party of friends to truly enjoy this buggy experience. Otherwise, it's just a source of frustration.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
You better go and read the Drizzt books for the time and money you will spend on this game.
Review in Turkish | Read full review