Wulfgar feels like a character made for those inexperienced with action titles, as he simply swings his hammer down and eviscerates any enemies with ease.Įven with the game’s issues, playing with a friend greatly enriched my experience Wulfgar and Drizzt are the primary damage dealers of the group, but although Wulfgar is also a sturdier character, I ended up spending much less time with him in favor of the Drow. He can deal immense amounts of damage, and he’s great for really doing just that. Then there’s Wulfgar, whose skillset is fairly straightforward. He also has a neat skill that empowers the weapons of those around him, imbuing them with fire enchantment. Bruenor Battlehammer, the proud King of Mythril Hall, is sturdy he can take plenty of hits before succumbing to defeat. I also spent some time playing as the other three characters. His health is low and his play style is reliant on using quick combos, staggering enemies, and relying on invincibility frames to keep yourself alive, especially when playing on your own. I immediately selected Drizzt Do’Urden, perhaps one of the most recognizable faces within the The Forgotten Realms universe. Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance also pulls from the other two novels in the Icewind Dale Trilogy to create a more tongue-in-cheek narrative that, at times, feels more lighthearted than the books from which it draws inspiration.Ĭombat design for each of the currently available roster of four characters feels unique, with each bringing their own distinct play styles into the fold. It is a predictable tale of heroics set in a now-generic fantasy setting, the first in a trilogy that would popularize The Forgotten Realms among a broader audience in the late 1980s. Instead, Dark Alliance tapped directly into the comforting nostalgia of sitting on the floor of my bedroom as a child, bending the spine of the novel that would be one of my first exposures to Western fantasy and everything the genre would behold.ĭungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance attempts to adapt one of the most seminal novels in The Forgotten Realms campaign setting: The Crystal Shard.
But that trailer couldn’t be any more misleading. It felt like a show of desperation, an attempt to prove something to an untapped player base. The first trailer for Dungeons & Dragons : Dark Alliance is dark and haphazard, ridden with nauseating visuals set to post-hardcore metal that tries to sell a perceived coolness to a franchise associated with a tabletop scenario.