A to Z Challenge: These are just some of my initial impressions on the Steam, GOG, and other online games throughout the month. It is not as much of a review as it is a summary of my feelings on the game.
Dungeon Defenders is an Action RPG/Tower Defense game. When I first heard this description of the game, I struggled to imagine how they would pull such a thing off. To their credit, Trendy Entertainment did an amazing job.
The premise of this D&D-esque game is that you have a crystal in a small dungeon to defend, and you must face waves of monsters. With each wave, you are given time to establish tower defenses and traps in the monsters’ paths. The waves get progressively harder until you “beat” the stage and advance to the next stage.
Dungeon Defenders is a refreshing mix of genres. While the core concept of “kill things to get loot to get items to kill things more efficiently to get loot…” is the same as the Diablo series, the action is much faster and more varied. If you can get into a game with some of the more charitable players, it’s fairly easy to power level your character up and start taking on the more difficult dungeons.
If I were to use my friend Locke Vincent’s “Gaming Alchemy” terms, I would say that this game had the leveling elements of Diablo II, the class system of more traditional Dungeons and Dragons game (Melee warrior, ranged warrior, healer, mage), the action and controls of Megaman Legend, and the artistic style of the UGComics Webcomic. With the constant addition of new holiday content, characters, and even President Obama (not kidding there), the game is a joy to play, and one that I highly recommend.