Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance is set to be released on June 22, 2021, marking the next release in a renewed push for Dungeons and Dragons licensed games. The tabletop role-playing game has seen an uptick in popularity over the years, which is being capitalized on by the DnD publisher, Wizards of the Coast. Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance follows Baldur's Gate 3, but it's just the first in a long line.

Dark Alliance is the next title in a string of Dungeons and Dragons games, with approximately 8 in development at the moment. Each game is said to provide different experiences and caters to a variety of tastes. Dark Alliance is an action-RPG game that takes the Dungeons and Dragons source material and expresses it with action-orientated gameplay. Dark Alliance is part of a new wave of DnD games that is arguably the largest push the mythos has seen in video games since the original Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games. With its release just a few months away, there's a slew of details fans should know about the title before it comes out in June.

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Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance is acting as a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series. The Baldur's Gate-set predecessors were originally spin-offs of the beloved Baldur's Gate RPG classics. The original Dark Alliance games took the DnD source material and made it action-orientated, just like the new Dark Alliance title. While the original Dark Alliance games included attributes and a lot of the usual DnD RPG mechanics, they were much lighter when compared with the Baldur's Gate CRPG games. The new Dark Alliance has a lot it can take from the original titles and adapt for a new generation of fans.

While it was originally reported that Dark Alliance would have local multiplayer in addition to online co-op and single-player modes, this doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Jeff Hattem, creative director of Dark Alliance, recently stated that the developer got ahead of itself and unfortunately doesn't have the capacity to include the mode right now. While this could be a blow for certain fans, he did state that it could come at a later point, along with other forms of downloadable content. The local co-op was a highly popular feature of the original Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance games, and many fans are hoping it can be included in the new title at some point.

Dark Alliance will feature 4 playable characters from Dungeons and Dragons lore who can be used in online co-op or played solo. The stars of the game are Drizzt Do'Urden and the Companions of the Hall. The Companions of the Hall is made up of Bruenor Battlehammer, Cattie-brie, Wulfgar, and of course, Drizzt. These heroes are very well known from the Dungeons and Dragons games and expanded media. This team debuted in the 1988 book, The Crystal Shard, and appeared many more times in R.A. Salvatore's written adventures. The group is very popular among Dungeons and Dragons players.

Of particular note is the drow ranger, Drizzt Do'Urden. Drizzt is an exceedingly popular Dungeons and Dragons character and is ought to be one of the most used playable characters in Dark Alliance. His history is long and complicated and inherently intertwined with the Icewind Dale setting and the Icewind Dale book series. Drizzt was originally an outlaw from his people, the drow, who live in the subterranean Underdark. He became the first of his people to willingly live on the surface, and he has since become legendary in the Dungeons and Dragons mythos.

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Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden is an official Dungeons and Dragons adventure, and Dark Alliance will be linked with it in some ways. This adventure and Dark Alliance are both set in the frosty region of Icewind Dale, with the events of the video game occurring before the adventure module. While the stories of the two experiences are completely separate, it has been suggested there'll be some links with the enemies fought and the places visited. This is sure to be exciting for some Dungeons and Dragons players to see so much focus on Icewind Dale in various media.

The gameplay of Dark Alliance is reported to be action-heavy and fast-paced. This sounds similar to the original Dark Alliance games in that it focuses on the action rather than spending time managing stats, like its source material might suggest. These reports from gameplay previews seem to suggest that Dark Alliance is acting as a spiritual successor and retains some of the gameplay stylings of the originals while having an unconnected story.

Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance seems as though it's shaping up well and it should have a lot for fans of the original games to enjoy. As the next step in the renewed effort for Dungeons and Dragons video games, Wizards of the Coast is undoubtedly hoping for a hit when it lands this summer. The action approach of Dark Alliance could lead to more interest in Dungeons and Dragons as a whole and add another layer to its fandom. There's still some time to go before the game is released, so there could be more information about the game released yet.

Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance is set for release on June 22, 2021, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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