Dragonkin: The Banished Preview

 I decided to check out the Early Access of Dragonkin: The Banished, an isometric hack-and-slash action RPG developed by Eko Software and published by Nacon. I've always been interested in playing something like Diablo, but due to Activision-Blizzard's less-than-stellar track record over the years, I've avoided it like the plague until now. So, what did I experience in this little slice of dragon slaying?

Well, after making a Nacon account (optional, but needed to experience everything), I was thrown right into it with a playable prologue which showed off all the playable classes. With incredible equipment and already at Level 50, it’s a taste of what a high-level character is capable of while also telling you everything you might need to know about the game’s setting. You’re playing as the very heroes who stopped the Dragons from taking over the world, who then go on to found a guild and create the Dragon Hunters to protect the world. It’s quite the action-packed scene, and it’s fun to mow down hundreds of enemies. After the prologue, though, you’re made to select an upcoming Dragon Hunter: a Level 1 character with barely any armour or skills to their name.

Each class is very unique in how they fight and conduct themselves: The Knight is a defensive tank that can turn enemies into ashes with their flame-based abilities, the Oracle uses magic to cast lightning and strike down foes from a distance, and the Barbarian likes to be in the middle of a fight turning his lost HP into pain for anyone in his way while littering the battlefield with ice magic. There is one more class in the game, the Archer, but that was locked out despite being a playable character in the prologue. For the preview, I chose the Knight for being the most balanced out of the classes.

After that, I went through Chapter 1 of the main quest, killing enemies and grabbing anything I could to improve my character. I even got access to a Wyrmling, a small pet dragon that will support you in combat that comes in Fire, Ice, Electric, and Toxic elements. The combat and exploration were quite fun, with tons of enemies to kill and loot to sort through once you’ve returned home. The game is very controller-friendly, too, which is nice.

However, it isn’t all just killing and looting. You’ll need to manage menus in order to get the most out of your character, and there are lots of them to help you become as close to a god as virtually possible. The most unique menu is the Ancestral Grid, a hexagonal grid that is used to manage your skills through the fragments you loot. They can be one of three types: character skills, modifiers, or Wyrmling skills. Each fragment is randomly generated and has multiple sizes and shapes, even coming stuck together with other bonuses. I hope you like hexagon puzzles!

You can also level up and upgrade your home city, Montescail, to provide better services, such as a dark merchant you can pawn your junk to, an apothecary to create mystical potions, a jeweler to make rings, and much more come the full release. It's a big place that can be annoying to navigate, but there's fast travel to get you to all the important locations instantly, within and outside the city limits.

After you beat the story content, you’re taken off your leash to do whatever you want. You can adjust the difficulty with 11 settings to play with. The endgame for the Early Access was Dungeon Purification and the Hunting Board. Dungeon Purification is all about going through rifts, killing everything in your sight while making it to the exit before the timer runs out for loot. Meanwhile, the Hunting Board will offer repeatable, randomly generated quests to hunt down draconic creatures. Both of these systems have modifiers that can determine how difficult it will be; the harder it is, the better stuff you get.

I think I’ll be keeping an eye on Dragonkin: The Banished. The gameplay is rather good, and I am a little interested in the plot, even though they throw around so many different terms and names that sort of sound like nonsense after a little while. An update coming this spring will feature new active skills for the available classes, more endgame content, more city features, and as much feedback that can be implemented. Look forward to that if you’re interested in getting the game yourself.

Dragonkin: The Banished is available on Steam Early Access for £24.99