Finally! A downloadable D&D co-op game with a local multiplayer option! So many downloadable titles with co-op don’t have a local option that this is a breath of fresh air. One of the most enjoyable elements of D&D is the time and care spent crafting your character. Oddly, none of that exists in this game. Instead players choose from 4 pre-made options: Human Fighter, Dwarf Cleric, Elf Rogue and Halfing Wizard. These characters play exactly like their D&D counterparts, so don’t expect any surprises, though I would suggest those unfamiliar with D&D 4th Ed. read all the info on their characters to learn the various weapons/armor/powers they can use. Interestingly enough, parts of the errata text on abilities seems as though you could build your own character. Whether this is hold over from standard 4th Ed. rules, or laid in for future releases is unclear.
Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way now. This game is quite boring. If you’re not a person who enjoys killing various baddies in various locations for various reasons, this is not the game for you. Hell, locations is too grand a term; it implies there are different ones. You spend six hours in a cave, 45 minutes alternating between a jail cell and a gladiatorial pit, another 2 hours in more caves (Now with Ruins!), and the final however long it takes you to beat the boss on top of a tower. And as far as stories go, this is very weak. It boils down to “You’re a Hero, stop the bad guy.” There are different NPCs that you’ll meet, but they’re just there to give you quests. It takes a neat twist right at the end, but way too late to save the story. It’s just enough of a story for a D&D game, but don’t expect anything close to fantasy novel quality. Also, aside from the beautifully done cinematics, there’s no voice acting to be found in the entire game. And even at full volume, the music is so quiet that you probably won’t be able to hear it over the other sounds.
Okay, now to the parts I really liked. First off, this game is gorgeous. Every move has a unique effect that looks great and the character models animate perfectly (even if there’s only a handful of animations per character). Each class of weapon/armor has a unique look so you can see the progression of your character. Enchanted items have a specific effect on them to denote the bonuses it offers. And even though there’s way too few of them, the pre-rendered videos are absolutely stunning.
Gameplay is standard dungeon crawler fare. Each character has a number of powers that they can use to either damage enemies or help allies. Each class has a specific class power, activated with the right bumper: the Fighter can block, the Cleric gets an area heal, the Rogue gets a dodge, and the Wizard can teleport. Players can power up feats and stats every even level, with powers powering up every level. Questing in this game is extremely streamlined. Having only quest at a time makes gameplay super focused. There’s very little in the way of side-quests as well. They only open up when you finish the next story quest, and even then, there’s usually only one. This leads to the players always being slightly under-leveled compared to some of the enemies their fighting.
Okay, lets talk about the ending. Spoiler: you win. Like that wasn’t gonna happen. But the ending is very interesting in that it contains every element in this game that I love and hate. Big, beautiful end boss fight, awesome effects, unnecessary NPC moments, vague quest goals, it’s all there. But where this game shines brightest is the last 5 minutes. I wouldn’t dare spoil it for you but it’s one of those moments that made me really conflicted. What was happening on screen was so awesome that I couldn’t believe it, but I was saddened with this glorious view into what the rest of game could have been. Epic moments of you against impossible odds but triumphing in the end.
And be sure to wait till after the credits for the best non-gameplay moment in the game. Not sure if it’s a tease for a future game, or just an awesome nod to other D&D properties.
Daggerdale is 1200 points on XBLA and not available on PSN due to the continued outage. With the limited amount of content available in this game, that’s more than I would be happy paying. But, all downloadable titles seem to be priced at $15 as a rule now. While this game may be a lot more fun with 3 other buddies, there’s only so many times you can conquer the same storyline. Based off the ending, I’d say there should be some DLC expansions coming out for this soon. If not, the air is going to start getting very stale in that dungeon.
