Action RPG fans have been fed extraordinarily well over the past decade. Diablo fans have gotten a remake and a new mainline title, Path of Exile 2 has made waves, and other titles like Grim Dawn have developed a religious following. With such a growing selection, Dragonkin: The Banished is developer Eko Software’s second attempt at the genre, and it is a title that fits neatly into that gameplay niche. Dragonkin: The Banished is a dungeon-crawling power trip that serves deep, dynamic systems and class building to fans and newcomers of the genre alike.
Dragonkin: The Banished throws you into the deep end right away as souped-up, final-build versions of each of the classes available on the character-select screen. Unlike other ARPGs, this is a novel way to approach class selection. After having a turn at playing the final form of the four builds, I came away most impressed by the Barbarian because of his overwhelming similarities to how the class plays in Diablo, and I would rather work with the devil I knew in this new land.
Dragonkin: The Banished officially starts when the character-select screen ends, and I say this because unlike other ARPGs in the space, Dragonkin: The Banished offers a very limited character customization screen off the bat. You can choose between four separate character classes: the Barbarian, a melee-focused fighter; the Oracle, who uses magic and crowd-control elements; the Knight, who wields a fire spear and shield and works as a tank; and the Tracker, a typical archery class. Your selection here determines your fate for the playthrough. You cannot switch classes mid-game, and you cannot customize the character to make them your own.
“Dragonkin: The Banished is a dungeon-crawling power trip that serves deep, dynamic systems and class building to fans and newcomers of the genre alike.
Dragonkin: The Banished is all too keen to dump story exposition on you whenever it gets the chance. The beginning of The Banished is a test of patience. After selecting your character, Eko Software gives you the rundown on the land and the city of Montescail. In Dragonkin: The Banished, you are not fighting back the hordes of hell or taking down a corrupt official. You are tasked with tracking down and killing the dragons. Dragons have been a scourge on the people of Montescail, and they are all too keen to help you take down the winged vermin.
There is a lot more exposition to the story, with moving pieces and the names of main players and places thrown around with abandon, but that is Eko Software’s approach to worldbuilding. Just like Warhammer: Chaosbane, Eko Software’s previous title, players can absorb as much of the story as possible to live in this fleshed-out world, or they can just go along for the ride and enjoy the action. Dragonkin: The Banished and Eko Software do not mind either way, and this approach is a refreshing way to onboard newcomers to the streets of Montescail or just ARPG fans who want to test out a new power trip.
Whatever the case may be, your role as Dragon Tamer, the Montescail title for slayer, I guess, makes you a central “chosen one” of the story, and it works in making you feel like you are integral to the events of Dragonkin: The Banished. Unlike Warhammer: Chaosbane, Eko Software has removed the decision-making aspect of the narrative-based gameplay in The Banished, which makes some of the post-quest exposition feel much longer. You are not included in the conversations so much as you are a guy who says “that’s crazy” at a party when hearing only half of what someone is saying to you over loud music.
“Dragonkin: The Banished is all too keen to dump story exposition on you whenever it gets the chance.”
The true magic of Dragonkin: The Banished is in its dynamic systems. Montescail is a lived-in, breathing city that levels along with the player. Eko Software flexes its development skills by making nearly everything you do outside of Montescail earn city experience points.
After leveling the city up through exploration, new features are added, like a Dark Merchant who purchases enemy drops, an Enchanter to power up equipment and, of course, the necessary jewelry station that increases your stats with the proper setup. Eko Software adds these details meticulously, and the systems ramp up naturally with the player throughout Dragonkin’s campaign. This never feels overwhelming, and the player power pacing feels smooth throughout.
The Ancestral Grid is another unique system in Dragonkin: The Banished. It serves as a honeycomb grid that allows you to slot in skills with additional perks attached to them. These vary in segments, with higher qualities having more segments, and some appear in sets of two or three, which take up more space on the overall grid.
Small one-segment pieces can be used to augment weapons with damage types like poison or fire, and new abilities can be equipped here, like Wild Whirlwind. Another of the game’s systems allows you to bring along a pet wyrmling for the journey, and they deal one of four elemental damage types, toxic, fire, ice or electricity, to help put enemies back into the ground. These wyrmling abilities can be used in tandem with your character build to deliver some truly nasty punishment.
When in combat, Dragonkin: The Banished is at its best. For my build, I whipped together a torrent of buff-like effects and dropped fire damage on my weapons. After using a typical buff-buff-buff-attack setup, I used the Wild Whirlwind ability to absolutely shred fields of Dragonkin: The Banished’s enemy fare. If you put together a solid build, Dragonkin: The Banished rewards you with a true power trip that feels as powerful as the monstrous bosses you face. It feels satisfying mowing down the hordes Dragonkin throws at you, and it is hilarious watching enemy bodies ragdoll across the biome floor.
But aside from the slew of enemies you face in levels, Dragonkin: The Banished also pits you against some of the biggest dragon lord bosses, and it makes you feel truly powerful when you learn their attack patterns and triumph over them. These bosses cannot be mowed down. As a plus, and taking a page from its predecessor, Dragonkin: The Banished does not force you to adventure alone. While I could not team up with anyone online, I was able to recruit my partner to get through many of Dragonkin’s biomes, and playing the adventure on the couch with a comrade made it that much better.
“Dragonkin: The Banished’s biggest sin is being a good, solid ARPG experience that does not do much to stand out from the pack.”
Dragonkin: The Banished is not without fault, though. While the gameplay and dynamic systems work wonders and feel responsive, the action does tend to lean into repetitive territory when all is said and done. After figuring out my character’s build, Wild Whirlwind could have pretty much carried me through the entire playthrough without breaking a sweat.
While the story and lore of the world are rich, exposition is dumped freely onto the player with reckless abandon, often name-dropping powerful figures, places and events, which makes it hard to keep up with what is happening. It just feels a bit too overwhelming for Eko Software’s new world. I also experienced a few rough Xbox Series X crashes during particularly strenuous gameplay segments, which took momentum out of the action and felt bad overall.
With all its moving pieces, Dragonkin: The Banished is a good entry in the ARPG space. Eko Software flexes its development prowess and has produced a title that scales to the player and does not feel overwhelming with the systems it introduces. When you are in the driver’s seat, Dragonkin: The Banished is a true power trip, allowing the player to tear through fields of enemies and great dragon lord bosses with powerful techniques and abilities. You can even bring along a friend if you have an extra controller available.
However, inconsistent exposition dumps, a lack of customization options, and hard-to-follow story pacing make it a flawed yet good experience for fans of the genre. While these issues are not game-breaking, Dragonkin: The Banished’s biggest sin is being a good, solid ARPG experience that does not do much to stand out from the pack.
