Dragonkin: The Banished review – An enjoyable Diablo alternative

Got fed up of slaying demons and other foul creatures in Diablo 4? Or maybe you just really hate Activision Blizzard, avoiding Diablo 4 like the plague while wishing you could enjoy an action RPG in its vein? In both of those instances, I’m happy to report that a game for you has just recently hit the market. After a stint in early access on PC, the finished version of Dragonkin: The Banished has finally been released, and it’s also made its way to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first. The story in Dragonkin: The Banished is absolute guff, which means you’ll probably find yourself skipping through, or at least hurrying up, the dialogue from time to time. It doesn’t help that the voice acting is rather on the atrocious side, too. Add in some other issues affecting gameplay, like certain mechanics and systems not being explained all that well, and missions frequently feeling like they’re unnecessarily stretched out, and you have a game that might confuse or simply annoy on the odd occasion.

See past these issues, though, and there’s a very good chance you’ll become rather engrossed by Dragonkin: The Banished. The core gameplay here is much like it is in any Diablo game: following the story, you’ll visit and make your way through multiple environments, levelling up, putting together a panel of skills and growing in power as you go. You have a wyrmling companion besides you throughout the adventure, too, and you can team up with others for some co-op action if you wish.

One thing truly sets Dragonkin: The Banished apart from Diablo 4 and other games in the action-RPG genre, though, and that’s its skill system. Rather than learning skills on a tree or having them imparted upon you by items, here you have a grid in which you’re free to place not only skill fragments, but also modifiers.

Up to five skill fragments can be placed in the grid, giving you access to five nifty abilities, but with many skill fragments available, you’ll have to decide which ones suit you the most. After that, modifier fragments can then be carefully placed to enhance and change the characteristics of those skills, perhaps giving them the chance to strike twice or triggering another effect.

Needless to say, the skill system in Dragonkin: The Banished offers a large amount of depth, and as you make your way through the game you’ll frequently be wanting to reshuffle and reassess your skill grid, switching in newer, more powerful skill fragments you’ve acquired, and trying to make use of as many modifiers as you can.

Alongside a loot system typical of the genre, with equipment coming in various rarity levels, and plenty of other character development options, much time will be spent trying to maximise the abilities of your chosen character. Even though there are only four classes available here, it’s safe to say that there are plenty of build options.

Another thing that impresses about Dragonkin: The Banished is its city development element. A great city acts as the hub for your adventure, and via your actions it grows over time. It needs your direction, too; while some new areas and features of the city will unlock automatically, you’ll acquire points which you can use to further improve it. And thanks to the benefits granted to you for its growth, ranging from a place to enchant your items to bonuses to things such as the amount of gold you discover, you’ll be invested in its development, and it goes hand in hand with your success.

There’s a lot to like about Dragonkin: The Banished, then. As far as action RPGs in the vein of Diablo go, it’s one of the best out there. Sure, it perhaps doesn’t have the staying power as the mighty Diablo 4, which is kept somewhat fresh by frequent updates and seasonal content, but there are many hours of enjoyable adventuring to be done here, even if you just play through its campaign.