Dungeons and Dragons demands to be played with friends. However, that's a good thing. Building a team of characters that learn to work together is a great way to end up with inside jokes, stories, and memories to share with friends. It's an extremely social affair that groups of friends can always come back to and enjoy again. That's one thing that's great about Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance, as the lore of the Dungeons and Dragons multiverse is certainly rich enough to make singleplayer video games with rich narratives. It's even better if those games are multiplayer, so fans can share in the experience.
Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance will seemingly be defined by the multiplayer at its core. The adventures of Drizzt Do'urden and the Companions of the Hall were great reads before in RA Salvatore's books, but it'll be another experience entirely to play as them and live out Salvatore's writing. However, one has to wonder if there'll be a bit of conflict between friends when trying to play some Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance. One of the biggest target audiences for the game are veteran fans who know Drizzt and the Companions well and want to see them represented, and odds are a lot of those fans will want to play as Drizzt.
Drizzt's Prestige
Drizzt is definitely the standout character of Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance. After all, he was the standout protagonist of the many books by RA Salvatore set in Dungeons and Dragons canon. Without a doubt, he's the leader of the crew and the thread that ties Salvatore's many stories together. It stands to reason, then, that Drizzt is the favorite character of a lot of Dungeons and Dragons veterans. Th game's community grew up reading about his exploits, gripped by Salvatore's writing. The temptation to only play as Drizzt in Dark Alliance is definitely there.
Unfortunately, it's doubtful that everyone can play as Drizzt. If the game's multiplayer is largely focused on telling a story accurate to the Icewind Dale trilogy, then it'll probably encourage groups of players to divide the Companions of the Hall amongst themselves. That might result in players having to draw straws or flip coins in determining who gets to play as Drizzt. Since details about Dark Alliance's gameplay are scarce, it's hard to say if players could feasibly switch off characters when they please. Hopefully, this won't cause too much resentment between players; after all, if they're going to play as a team, they've got to work as a team.
All for One, One for All
Frankly, though, demand for Drizzt probably won't get in the way of fans in the long run. After all, parties in Dungeons and Dragons involve all kinds of different characters. It's crucial that everyone adopts a different niche or playstyle that contributes something important to the team, whether they're a tank or a healer or a DPS dealer. Drizzt's Companions might not be quite as famous as he is, but they all have unique skillsets. They'll play very differently from one another, and in the long run, some characters might appeal to some players much more than Drizzt does.
That'll be a saving grace for a lot of friend groups interested in playing Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance together. Drizzt may be a great character, but he can't do it all. Odds are, players will eventually gravitate to their favorite Dungeons and Dragons playstyle and fall in love with a certain character's skillset, even if Drizzt is their favorite character in the long run. Dungeons and Dragons parties are used to settling disagreements within the party and working together despite their disagreements. Although everyone might want to be the one to embody Drizzt, he probably won't cause much trouble in the long run.
Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance will release in 2021 for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
