I wanted to ask you folks about something. I've made a post like this in several places online so far over the years (Steam, WoW forums, Reddit, PC Gamer, etc) and finally wanted to get this here in my home base as well (been coming here to Blues since the Quake days, tho I rarely post).
Why aren't first person co-op/multiplayer dungeon crawlers a thing yet? The type of game I'm talking about would be a combo of Diablo/Borderlands looter/shooter system and with a D&D trope class based character system (fighter, magic user, thief, cleric, etc). Basically picture a first person Diablo, using the WoW aesthetics, and the engine/systems of Overwatch. Picture a co-op Skyrim (I know there is a mod), or hell even something as simple as a co-op Delver with classes.
So far I've only found two real contenders so far:
- Barony (
https://store.steampowered.com/app/371970/Barony/) - This checks all the boxes, but man the graphics are a bit rough.
- Mythforce (
https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/mythforce-d2710b) - This also checks all the boxes, though I'm selfishly waiting for a Steam release.
There are 3rd person options out there like Dark Alliance (
https://store.steampowered.com/app/623280/Dungeons__Dragons_Dark_Alliance/) but I REALLY want a first person game for the immersion. What got me on this kick initially was when I first installed Skyrim back at launch, ... slowly treading through a dungeon by myself wishing I could play it with friends and different character classes. I've tried the Skyrim Together mod, and while it IS so close to my dream game it's terribly buggy right now.
I'm constantly doing google searches for "first person co-op dungeon crawlers" and there just isn't anything out there. My latest hit was Dark & Darker (
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2016590/Dark_and_Darker/), which really captures so much of what I would want in a game like this. Then as I did more research I found it was actually PvPvE (like Tarkov), which unfortunately isn't the style of gameplay I'm looking for (although watching gameplay videos this does look fun as hell, but sadly I'm a carebear and suck at PvP).
Honestly I'd love to see Wizards of the Coast simply develop a first person co-op game of literally D&D (like Baldur's Gate 3 but first person and real-time), but after seeing the latest article about how they've cancelled like 5 games in development I doubt this will happen anytime soon.
I really just want to roll some fantasy classes and co-op with buddies through dark dungeons, kill various monsters from the Monster Manual, upgrade loot, dodge traps, etc. I see first person dungeon crawlers out there on Steam, but typically when you make a post about adding co-op people scream that "there are plenty of co-op games out there" and "co-op would take away from the solo experience".
So anyway, ... I'm just frustrated. I'd really love to see this genre take off, but there either isn't demand for it, or devs just don't want to bother with the complexities.
I'm curious what the Blues crew thinks about this. Am I the only one?