Nacon the publishers behind underdog titles like Ravenswatch, RoboCop: Rogue City and of course the recent, not so well received Test Drive unlimited recently announced their upcoming action title called Dragonkin: The Banished. It is an isometric, multiplayer, hack N slash that is set to release sometime in February of next year. So far they have released images and a trailer that gives an introduction to the world of Dragonkin.
Gorgeous Graphics And Characters
The trailer showcases some moment to moment gameplay and the different environments that the game will feature such as forests, dark dungeons, mountainous regions and valleys. All of which look extremely detailed and polished if the trailer and screenshots are to be believed. The trailer also showcased the various kinds of creatures to fight and kill.
It was also clear from the trailers we might be able to unlock a bunch of detailed and unique looking armour sets to then utilize and achieve our goal of facing the dragons. However the armour sets may be locked to one of the 4 types of characters we will get to choose to play as.
We will get access to 4 types of fighters which are Barbarian, Oracle, Knight and Tracker. The Barbarian has superhuman strength and has access to the Ice elemental powers with a passive of increasing attack power in prolonged fights.
The Oracle and Tracker are both ranged characters with the Oracle having access to electrical powers and the Tracker having access to poison along with arrows, blades and traps. Finally, the Knight is a close combat character with a fire lance and shield who dives headfirst into the hordes.
Systems To Build Our Character
The steam page describes their idea of building out whatever character we choose with the feature to place the loot we gain from hordes or bosses onto a grid system. Placing them in the correct order or pattern will increase our attack strength.
With each character having their own grid system allows for a diverse system of build variety, yet it is still unclear without images or a showcase from Nacon to show exactly how one should find out about the patterns and exactly how the increase in attack power is calculated.
Although only snippets of gameplay have been shown, the gameplay dictates that it could be a direct competitor to Path of Exile 2 or the Diablo series. The camera setting and movement are very similar to the aforementioned games but since no UI has been shown it is difficult to tell how many abilities each character has access to.
Base Building And Endgame
It seems we will get a city that acts as a sort of home ground against the dragons and monsters that have awakened. Which will grow and alter based on the decisions we make on our journey. We will get to decide what buildings to build and have full control on where to allocate the resources we gain.
We can either play completely solo or with a few players in multiplayer, the city’s resources can be allocated that way too. It seems upgrading the city itself will have its own benefits, as players will likely receive rewards of the rarest kind according to the character they chose to play as from the beginning.
It seems Nacon and Eko software could be trying to entire the live service market as missions will be given once players have completed the main story of the game. Depending on how many players join and receive the title, we could be looking at a strong competitor against Path of Exile 2 or New World.
A Cautiously Optimistic Conclusion
Although the images and descriptions of the game look promising, we can’t be sure that the quality that is presented is the quality we will receive once we buy the game. There have been numerous instances of publishers or developers faking game trailers. The infamous disappointment of Watch Dogs by Ubisoft cannot be forgotten.
However if it’s the case that the gameplay snippets and screenshots that have been shown are true then we have a very good competitor against Path Of Exile 2 which has been released into early access last month. The gameplay of both these titles look similar and while Path Of Exile 2 has a head start Dragonkin won’t be far behind.
