For those who want to experience exciting D&D adventures cooperatively with good friends, this September offers the opportunity to do so.
MMORPGs only partially deliver a player experience like the good old pen-and-paper role-playing games. There are simply too many players in the world for that. This is just how it should be for an experience expected from an MMO. However, if you want to experience adventures in a small group, it becomes difficult to create the corresponding atmosphere. This is where Sword Coast Legends comes into play, a cooperative RPG currently being developed by some former Baldur’s Gate and Dragon Age developers. The game is set to be released on September 8.
Pen & Paper without Pen and Paper
In the role-playing game, each of the four players creates an individual hero according to the current Dungeons & Dragons rules of the fifth edition. The setting is the Sword Coast of the Forgotten Realms, where role-playing games like the MMORPG Neverwinter or the classic Baldur’s Gate are already located. In addition to the four regular players, there is also a Dungeon Master. This person creates the adventure and the quests and can intervene in the game at any time. Essentially, one could say that Sword Coast Legends plays like a pen-and-paper role-playing game, just on the PC without pen and paper.
Each player controls their hero from an isometric view from above through the 3D landscape. You interact with NPCs, trade, and fight monsters in real-time, which the Dungeon Master sends to the group. The Dungeon Master has the ability to place new monsters or traps, distribute treasures, and even take on the role of a creature to control them actively. However, they must earn points by placing particularly nasty traps or tricking the player group. This creates always new adventures and entire campaigns that the group experiences together.
Sword Coast Legends will be released on September 8 for PC. The game also includes an option to play the included adventure campaign alone. In that case, the other heroes are taken over by NPC companions. Update: After the game was postponed, it ultimately released on October 20, 2015. We have examined it: Sword Coast Legends in our first impression.
