Summary
Dragonkin The Banished definitely is in its infancy stage; when it comes to early access, you obviously can't expect the full product on day one, but it's a strong enough start to give you a glimpse into a potentially strong and expansive world. The early access price point (as of the time of review) is $20 on sale, the full price being $25, which is, in my opinion, a very strong and hard-to-beat price for the concept available, and especially if the developers stay on track and continue to support Dragonkin, you can't beat the price for the content. Early expectations with the combat and the story being a bit dragged on and kind of confusing to follow aside, if you ever played any aRPG game or want to give one a try, this is an easy introduction at an affordable price. In its current state, I can't fully recommend it to a more serious aRPG consumer, as it may be too early of a stage for those to fully immerse into. I feel there is strong potential for an update and a content-filled future, and I look forward to seeing those updates roll through and continue to help Dragonkin develop a core audience for hopefully a larger future to come.
Developer – Eko Software
Publisher – Nacon
Platforms – PC (Reviewed)
Review copy given by Pubisher
In the past several years, aRPG games have been making a push into the mainstream game consumer’s diet, with games like Diablo IV and Path of Exile 2 gathering a large player base, especially with the console releases. There has become no shortage of new and fresh aRPGs released. The developers over at Eko Software, published by Nacon, have entered the battle for ARPG supremacy with their entry “Dragonkin: The Banished,” but where does it size up with the competition?
Upon your first time playing, you find yourself thrown into the gauntlet, battling through some fairly easy-to-defeat enemies as you play through the 3 available heroes (at this time of early access). The prologue allowing you to try each individual class at a significantly higher starting point in the build is a nice touch, helping you decide your path early on so you know what to aim for based on your respective play styles. My biggest gripe I had been it felt really numb; you can’t really mess up during the prologue, like dying and failing, and there is obviously no looting or access to other skills, so you are basically locked into an on-rails situation. First Impressions leave you with a vague feeling of the combat, which does get a little better once you begin playing as a new build.
The three classes are as described:
The Barbarian: Following a dangerous traditional ritual, he became a dragon-blood: half-man, half-monster. His supernatural strength and ice powers combined with legendary rage allow him to defeat the toughest enemies.
The Oracle: Metamorphosed by the blood of the blue dragon without losing her humanity, she aspires to a world where dragons and humans live in harmony. She uses her electric draconic powers with precision and can amplify them using her visions.
The Knight: Trained in combat from a young age, he masters the fire lance with unparalleled skill. His unwavering faith in the Eternal and his unwavering determination make him impervious to any draconic corruption. He presents himself as the light that will banish darkness!
Aside from the combat, the visuals are very vibrant and stunning; there is a nice sense of your surroundings, and the design of everything is well-made. The dialog is well done, as well as the audio for the world and characters, which I believe is a strong advantage Dragonkin has above other options. Of course, visuals cannot keep a game alive, but what really can is the active development and constant updates promised by Eko Software to expand their already very intricate and in-depth build system.
The building system is, in my opinion, the strongest part of Dragonkin at this current moment because it allows you to upgrade and mix and match powers and skills in a hex-based skill tree where you have to strategically place your abilities to all fit within the allotted space. Each character gives you a completely different chart to fill and develop into, allowing you to experience different combos between the 3 current builds available during early access, giving you the opportunity to experiment outside your comfort play style.
One feature I do appreciate is the WASD control instead of the traditional mouse click controls. I have a better sense of what I’m doing, and it adds more control in combat or even just traversing through the main town or the environments. If mouse and keyboard is not your preferred peripheral, you can also enjoy Dragonkin on a controller of your choosing, which also works well out of the box.
The performance of the game was actually pretty good and stable; maxed out every setting on 1440p, and I was still getting over 80 fps with basically no major dips through my play through. On lower settings, most low-end computers should have no trouble chugging along as well. There is, however, a large gap in quality; once you start bumping it down, it really makes big changes, so be aware it may not look pretty if your computer is fairly outdated.
Dragonkin The Banished definitely is in its infancy stage; when it comes to early access, you obviously can’t expect the full product on day one, but it’s a strong enough start to give you a glimpse into a potentially strong and expansive world. The early access price point (as of the time of review) is $20 on sale, the full price being $25, which is, in my opinion, a very strong and hard-to-beat price for the concept available, and especially if the developers stay on track and continue to support Dragonkin, you can’t beat the price for the content. Early expectations with the combat and the story being a bit dragged on and kind of confusing to follow aside, if you ever played any aRPG game or want to give one a try, this is an easy introduction at an affordable price. In its current state, I can’t fully recommend it to a more serious aRPG consumer, as it may be too early of a stage for those to fully immerse into. I feel there is strong potential for an update and a content-filled future, and I look forward to seeing those updates roll through and continue to help Dragonkin develop a core audience for hopefully a larger future to come.
