Dragonkin: The Banished

This game gives the impression that it should be fun, with quite a bit of effort put into art and layers of gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately, it is let down by poor coding around quest progression and multiplayer stability. For example, my group almost quit thinking that a quest objective was bugged and unable to be completed, only to find out that the quest kill target had to be left alive for a while to do a transformation sequence, and kiilling them before that point simply leaves the quest in limbo until you re-load the area. On a similar vein, we discovered that specific players needed to complete all of the quest progress in arbitrary quest objectives, as they only counted for all players if the 'host' achieved them (killing things, interacting, reaching objectives, etc...) The stability was the real killer for this game though. Once we hit the mid-game on apocalypse difficulty, we found that killing groups of enemies too quickly caused the game to desync, leaving players seeing phantom immortal enemies, or becoming invulnerable for the remainder of the map. We also saw repeated issues with loading into areas, where you would get bounced back to the main menu, or be unable to open portals to travel. All up, the game was OK at best, with a lot of screen clutter everywhere, random invisible/desync projectiles or aoe effects hidden under overly-detailed terrain and plenty more to cause constant frustration and unexplainable deaths throughout the game.

Generally it is a fun game. Multiplayer is possible, which is nice. The story is flat and irrelevant. But what makes it awful to play are the amount of bugs in that game. How often I had to redo things, or crash while in the battle of will on a high stage. That easily kills the fun.

I've put in at least 100–200 hours in almost every RPG and ARPG—that's the MINIMUM. That's how I'm able to tell the difference, when I'm writing this review. After more than 20+ hours of gameplay and having completed Story Mode, I played as an Oracle. Here are my experiences so far. If you disagree with anything, it’s just because that’s what “I” think :) PROS: - Dragons. Dragon species and their mutations are everywhere! Of course, there are other monsters too! - The visuals, appearance, and layout of the levels are BEAUTIFUL. - The sounds and sound effects are simply BRUTAL. When something explodes or shatters. I haven’t really heard anything better than this in any other ARPG game. - The Story mode still needs some polishing, but it’s NOT bad! - The boss fights are cleverly designed, though there’s room for improvement here too! - A VERY, VERY big plus (for me) is that city building and development are account-wide! I’ve always wanted to develop a city like the ones in Lost Ark or Embers of the Uncrowned. - The Loot Filter automatically adds hidden items to the "Grand Benedictor," and if the talent is maxed out, it sells them automatically. PERFECT! - Dragon pet armor upgrades. WTF. Just plain awesome :D - When you switch dragons, your (main) skills change! - The level destruction and ragdoll effects are simply incredible. - I like that you get “Quality” gear later on! - And lots of other things I can’t think of right now as I’m writing this! CONS: - The maps are HUGE. And you have to run everywhere. - The quests are poorly optimized. - The quest tells you to run back 10,000 km, then go back in the other direction, and then go up and kill 2 *dragon squirrels*. - If you don’t have the right skills or city level, and you DON’T HAVE MOVEMENT SPEED, then running back and forth like this is f__king boring. It takes a lot of time... - Skill Hex Grid? A f__king nightmare. It needs TONS of updates, fixes, and OPTIMIZATION! - A grindfest just so you MIGHT get 3–4–5 Mythic+ fragments at max level. Disgusting. It really kills your motivation. - The developers need to do something about the SKILL HEX GRID (OR make the interface twice as big), because as you can see on influencer channels, YouTube, Reddit, forums, etc., EVERYONE uses only 1 or 2 skills—you can’t use more because of the support skills. This is bullsh__t. - They also need to do something about the Resist attribute because it’s disgraceful... - City Development and the rest (like dragon upgrades) require a GIGANTIC amount of materials, and the material drop rate is VERY BAD. I'm going to keep testing it. I hope there will be lots more new features in the game, because I REALLY love it! I had the option to choose between Diablo 4 (new season, by the way) and Dragonkin: The Banished. And I chose THIS one. This is MY opinion. Keep that in mind! You might like/or not something else, etc. Even though I'm using a really old computer and can only play on GeForce Now rarely :( SUMMARY: 7* or 8,5* / 10* There ARE mistakes, and there are things that need to be fixed. Let's not be disappointed ! It's a really refreshing nice game :)

Great game. The combat feels good and the skills I've tried with Barbarian have all been great. It took me about 30 hours playtime mostly with controller and not knowing anything before starting to reach the end of end game. Not sure if I've missed something. I can get many minimal upgrades gear wise, the city levels are incredibly slow compared to the rest of the content to grind up. But everything in the end is repeating the same stuff and not really much to modify the gameplay. Not enough high end stuff to chase late game that is build changing etc. During the campaign the maps were way too large, I don't think I've ever had to intentionally backtrack that much and run through massive maps like that in an arpg. The devs should streamline the quests in the layouts. Also add some unique flavours to the quests and remove most of the long timer quests. The dragons and bosses should be harder during the campaign and have more unique skills. Solid performance at 5k2 with DLSS. Overall solid base, looking forward to see what the devs add in the end game.

Graphics are great and game play is smooth. I experienced no issues with frame rate, etc. I have enjoyed the story so far, the tutorial is great and I like the way it's different than others I have experienced before and the skills have impact, are visually stunning, and are fun to use. I have played just about every ARPG out since the old days of the original Diablo so most coming out today other than a handful don't grab and keep my attention but this one did! The game play is fun... while it lasts. I have about 80 minutes of play so far and have already experienced several catastrophic crashes, forcing me to restart the game. This is not early access ready and feels more like it should be late stage alpha. I really want to recommend this game. It has a lot going for it and I can see the hard work that has been put into it. Please concentrate on stability, not new features. It is a wreck at this point.

Nice graphics. Terrible save game system. Gear upgrades from drops is virtually non-existent.

Overall I love this game. What really hooked me specifically is the Ancestral Grid. It's such a clever system that turns skill upgrades into its own little puzzle minigame. Something about it tickles my brain just right. I've spent dozens of hours just tinkering with it. Other Pros: -Satisfying combat -Lots of abilities and crazy builds to try -Tons of character min-maxing -Gorgeous visuals -Cool boss fights Cons: (I didn't think anything was outright bad, but some things could be better) -Many of the quests are fairly simple (kill some enemies, defend this point, use this object over here, etc.) -The story isn't very interesting (though I find the world very immersive and well built) -The game balance needs a lot of work (there are so many interesting abilities and talents to build around, but most of them are terribly weak and a few of them are ridiculously powerful - looking at you Earthen Rage + Corrupted Blood Barbarian :D )

Pros: Hex system is good everything looks good combat feels nice boss fights are cool early endgame progression feels really nice (tons of different ways to increase your power and in pretty significant ways) Cons Progression in late endgame falls off a cliff just doing things for so long and getting basically nothing for it pretty buggy co op could use work not seasonal for now, so if future content (aside from bug fixes I assume) is important to you, well theres no promis here.

Overall Verdict: Dragonkin: The Banished has an incredibly solid foundation and is a ton of fun to play, but it is currently held back by systems that need serious improvement. It is a game with immense potential that just needs the right design updates to truly shine in the endgame. The Good: Exceptional Combat FlowThe single best element of the game is its second-by-second gameplay. The combat feels incredibly smooth, fluid, and responsive. Navigating encounters, casting spells on the Oracle, and maneuvering on the Tracker feels great. If a solid mechanical loop is the hardest thing for an ARPG to get right, the developers absolutely nailed the foundation. Because the core loop is so satisfying, it keeps you hooked—which is exactly how I managed to fully max out two characters. The Progression: The Illusion of DepthWhile marketing pushes the Ancestral Grid as a complex, puzzle-like innovation, the reality is incredibly basic.Pure RNG, Zero Strategy: Progression is a digital lottery. If the exact geometric shape or fragment you need drops, you win. If not, you are stuck farming indefinitely. It acts as an RNG puzzle rather than a strategic skill tree.Shallow Modifiers: The grid fragments only offer basic stat adjustments (e.g., +to projectiles, +to beams, +to AoE, cost reduction). It lacks any mechanical modifications that fundamentally alter how a skill behaves. Because skills are strictly class-bound and modifiers are uninspired, build variety is completely dead. Every endgame player of the same class inevitably runs the exact same setup. The Math: An Impossible Defensive PuzzleThe game features a massive balancing oversight regarding itemization and survivability. The math simply does not work in the endgame:Too Many Stats, Too Few Slots: The game features roughly 10+ defensive metrics, including 7 separate elemental resistances, barrier, reflex, and evasion.The Gear Deficit: Players only have 7 total equipment slots. Because 2 of those slots are dedicated to weapons (which roll offensive stats), you are left with just 5 armor slots to cover over 10 competing defensive stats.The Result: It is mathematically impossible to fully optimize a defensive archetype. You are forced to spread your stats so thin that you cannot feel truly "tanky," leading to frustrating endgame scaling. The Chase: Dead-on-Arrival Draconic LootThe ultimate endgame hunt relies on "Draconic" gear, but the mechanic is fundamentally flawed. Each piece of Draconic gear features only one hard-locked modifier variation. If that specific variation does not make sense for your particular build, the item is completely useless. Instead of an exciting chase item, it is a disappointment. Draconic modifiers desperately need to roll random stats just like normal gear to give players a reason to keep chasing loot. The Endgame: Punishing Player PowerThe ultimate flaw of the endgame—especially during Hunt Maps and Chaos Hunts—is the heavy reliance on time-locked objectives. Nearly every map forces you into a "defend the area for 1:30 to 2:00 minutes" scenario.In an ARPG, the ultimate power fantasy is min-maxing a character to clear content faster. Hard time-locks completely destroy this. A god-tier character pushing 10 million DPS is forced to stand around waiting just as long as a budget character doing 15,000 DPS. It acts as an artificial roadblock that makes your hours of hard work and optimization feel completely meaningless. Final Thoughts & RatingI really like this game, and the smooth combat foundation makes it well worth playing. However, it feels like it is just a few major balance patches away from being truly great. If the developers can randomize Draconic gear, deepen the fragment mechanics, and remove time-gated missions, this could easily become a top-tier ARPG.Score: 6/10 (A very solid, enjoyable foundation that just needs some post-launch love to fix the endgame loop).

Игра надоела за одну 12часовую сессию. Также поймали пру багов. За 12 часов было 4 краша, поймали баг, когда навык можно было спамить без кд. Также был баг на бессмертие и нас не могли убить пока мы не сменили локу. Был баг, когда квествоый непись не прогрузился и надо было перезаходить в локу. мы начинали играть на "очень сложно" и в итоге за одну сессию подняли уровень сложности до "апокалипсис" потому что слишком легко. на максимальном уровне сложности тоже легко, никакого челленджа. Боссы очень скучные. Очень однотипные атаки и маленький пул атак. А как мы знаем в таких играх как только выучишь атаки босса ему пизда. Единственное из плюсов что хочу отметить это кайфовая система навыков, где тебе нужно играть в ♥♥♥♥♥♥ тетрис чтобы собрать билд. Игра вообще не стоит своих денег. Даже если добавят контент ничего не сделать с пулом атак всех боссов так что игра по факту не стоит внимания