Initially, the whole gameplay consists of clicking the enemy with one button, and only towards the end of the passage, when the character has reached certain heights and all abilities have opened, the user begins to understand the full depth of the combat system.
For example, shooting an enemy at a distance with an archer becomes ineffective, since a weak shot inflicts such microscopic damage that even an ordinary goblin will have to literally be killed with arrows. Come to the aid of the techniques performed, as in fighting games, by a combination of buttons “forward” + “weak blow”, “back” + “strong” and so on.
Powerful combos allow you to quickly deal with the enemy, but instead they cut off the stamina bar. At the same time, the scale of super-reception (L3 + R3) is accumulating, the fourth part of which can be spent on “restoring” the cut stamina (the “square” button / R1 after the strike). So, by combining powerful blows that cut stamina, and a restorative move, you can incinerate enemies in seconds.
The problem is that in Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance there is no “impact” or response from blows at all. A character, especially a dexterous dark elf, can gallop to the other end of the location, spending a valuable stamina scale without hitting anyone. A camera fixed on the enemy is called to save the situation. But unlike the above-mentioned Dark Souls, the R3 button does not always save the situation and tends to “fly off”.
Strange things are happening with the camera. Firstly, it is fixed at an uncomfortable angle – much lower and closer than it should be, and fixed on the enemy only brings the view closer, placing the picture even lower. Secondly, the camera constantly needs to be “adjusted” with the right stick, so it behaves non-independently.
Enemies, in turn, tend to hit from outside the screen. Often, players cannot understand where they came from, why their hero is lying on the ground and calling for help. Especially magicians love to use this, whose attack does significant damage. The minimum indication would be enough, but, apparently, the authors decided that it would be fine anyway.
Sixth generation cardboard animations make things even worse. For example, when archery, Catti-Brie stands rooted to the spot, not a single muscle moves on the girl’s body. Opponents hobble so slowly and unintuitively that it is almost impossible to know when they will hit.
An incredibly dull AI adds fuel to the fire, changing its intentions every two seconds. An enemy targeting the player can change focus to a friend. It comes to the ridiculous: a huge troll stands still, turning to one or the other hero, finding it difficult to make a choice.
The creation of Tuque Games is not saved even by the co-op mode, which is as boring to play as in single player. Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance invites players to gather at the local hub where the store is located, the world map – count the local level selection, teleport and chest. Why is there a chest? It’s simple: all the rewards found at the level are added to it. Yeah, you understood everything correctly, the adventurers will not receive their clothes until they have completely completed the passage of the selected location. And at the time of its stripping, other players, of course, will not be allowed to connect.
The developers have tried to include in the game a “flexible” level of difficulty, calculated based on the statistics of the players. In fact, low-level characters in Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance will die with one hit and inflict so little damage that enemies will have to be shredded for a very long time, piercing the unfortunate carcasses for minutes.
The design of the levels involves the exploration and complete cleaning of locations with the collection of mugs, the breaking of weapon racks and the like “variety” of side quests. However, when playing in co-op, the team is tied to the host, so no matter how far the player goes, no matter how diligently he collects items, after 10 seconds he will invariably teleport to the host and will have to start over.
Finishes off the already clumsily implemented clearing of locations in the team by the presence of “manual” checkpoints, where users have to make a choice in favor of rest or an increased level of loot drop. Of course, when playing with partners who can be revived, no one would think of choosing the first option, but in vain. When the host, on which the whole adventure is tied, dies, and its subsequent revival NOT with the help of a partner (that is, forcibly manually by pressing the “circle” button), the player is transferred to the last save, that is, to the beginning of the game. Unhappy comrades, tied to the host with a virtual rope, go after him. As a result, after a couple of “wrong” revivals or violent transfers to the stuck in the last segment of the level, the player wants to leave the level, close the game and forget such a co-op like a bad dream.
The more ridiculous the developers’ absurd attempts to push players towards collecting look, they say, only in the books and manuscripts found you can read the history of the world and its inhabitants.
With such a meager variety of enemies that the game offers, I don’t want to do this for a second. The similarities of bosses are boring and not expressive – usually it is a reskin of standard enemies with a huge strip of life on the whole screen and the same techniques. Small opponents also do not shine with originality: goblin warrior, goblin shooter, goblin magician and so on in a circle, only the name of the races changes … well at least the giants were brought in.
