Of Dungeons (and possibly Dragons)...

Ok so I may have admittedly been a tad premature stating that there are no rpgs a little while ago, because suddenly I've realized that the first half of 2011 is pretty much the return of the dungeon crawler. Between Torchlight, Daggerdale, Hunted: The Demon's Forge, which just came out today and Dungeon Siege III which hits in a few weeks anyone who has a urge for hack n slash should be pretty satiated. Of course the real question is if you can't afford all of them, which ones are a good bet? Torchlight is already a pretty proven commodity, pretty much its only downfall is its lack of co-op. But its also been out for months so there's an incredibly decent chance you already own that. Daggerdale, despite bearing the Dungeons and Dragons pedigree has gotten at best so-so reviews for being a brainless, buggy hack-fest.

Now Dungeon Siege III is arguably has arguably the highest profile of these titles and a demo was released today. While it boasts solid graphics and varied hack-n-slash gameplay that is decently satisfying, it seemed to be lacking anything resembling restorative items. Now granted, this could be merely because it's a demo and they weren't included or you get them later, but relying strictly on energy orbs that randomly appear and/or save points is definitely a dealbreaker for me.

So that essentially leaves us with Hunted: The Demon's Forge. I guess the biggest issue with this is it's complete lack of profile. I had barely heard about the game until a few weeks ago, and the tagline about it being "a dungeon crawl for the Gears crowd" (referring to Gears of War) worries me some, as I'm not particularly fond of the Gears series. And then there is the lack of reviews. Granted, even for big critically acclaimed games review embargoes are not unusual, but the game is out, and there are still no reviews from any major gaming outlet of what is arguably the biggest title out this week. That really gives me more pause than anything.

This is fine for me, I've gotten back into the hidden PS3 gem Valkyria Chronicles, but for somebody desperately looking for a new rpg to play, this just seems like a huge pile of disappointment. Hopefully something will come along this summer to clear up the doldrums.

That's all for today, I will try to have another post up Thursday or Friday. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Don't Be Afraid of the Dark