A classic that needs more upgrades
I remember back in the day playing the original Dark Alliance and Dark Alliance 2. Those were some great experiences. Granted, this was back in 2004 on the PS2. Now, it has been re-released for modern consoles, but in many instances, I feel that Dark Alliance 2 was left back in the early 2000’s.
Players take on the roles of set characters each based on Dungeons and Dragons lore and setting. It’s a simple affair, players are thrust into an adventure starting off with rescuing villagers and then moving on to more epic quests. The dialog is pretty dated at this point with the story being told decently enough, but players will soon realize this most certainly feels like a PS2 game.
MSRP: $29.99
Price I’d pay: $15
Platforms: Xbox, PS, PC, Switch
For starters, the combat feels pretty sluggish based on today’s standards. Sure, that’s going to happen when I play a game from ’04, but I was hoping maybe a few quality of life improvements. Aside from the 4K resolution and good framerates, that’s pretty much all I got. Playing both melee and ranged characters ended up feeling like a crap shoot when trying to hit enemies. Now, I could just be misremembering that each attack was a dice roll, but even then, it felt like a battle of attrition.
The visuals are rough to look at as well. This wasn’t a remake from the beginning. It’s just a remaster. 2004 graphics are harder to swallow nowadays, but it’s something that can be looked past. What can’t be looked past is the lighting in the game. There were multiple times I would be in a cave or dungeon and just couldn’t find a pathway or exit because it was so dark in the area. Come to find out, it was right next to me and I just couldn’t see it. It ended up forcing me to either turn up my brightness or spin the camera while hugging walls.
Some features are missing in certain versions. Online co-op would have been great, but apparently, that’s only in the PC version of the game. Since I was playing on Xbox Series X, I was stuck playing only local couch co-op. That meant, I was playing by myself since getting my wife to play this game with me would be about as easy as taking on a Beholder solo.
For the nostalgic players looking to relive their time with the Dark Alliance series, I could see them picking this up and having a decent time with it. Players that are really big into ARPGs could have some fun, but will more than likely find themselves preferring a more streamlined and accessible title to jump into. It’s a hard sell for many, but there is some fun to be had here if you keep in mind that this game was released in 2004 and for the most part stayed in 2004.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
