We here at Chalgyr's Game Room are pretty big fans of roleplaying games; those could be instant classics like Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, obscure indies like Last Dream, punishing AAA titles like Dark Souls III, or the godfather of roleplaying ... Dungeons & Dragons. We love them all so when a developer takes a few of the things that we love in our roleplaying games and squeezes them into one working package, we tend to get excited. Enter Sword Coast Legends; originally released on the PC back in 2015, the dungeon-mastering-tool-with-some-campaigns-premade is now available on the PlayStation 4 and we are all the better for it.
While some issues like its struggle with identity remain, Sword Coast Legends is a solid Dungeons & Dragons package that provides you with not only a handful of solid stories to play, but gives you the tools to create your own campaigns and share them with the world. Beyond some weird control issues, Sword Coast Legends is a proper PC port to consoles that works ... if you are one of those few roleplaying fans that prefer controllers to keyboards.
I actually struggled quite a bit with this particular review as there is very little that I can say now that is different from the original review. Sure, there are bug fixes, but many were included in various PC patches, like the mushroom issue at the start of the game (where you could gather a dozen or so special mushrooms, and are supposed to be paid for any extras beyond the one required for a quest, but never were, and thus were unable to ever get rid of those items from your inventory, because quest item), but many of the bug fixes would only be relevant to users that experienced Sword Coast Legends on both platforms. New players though? They will have a relatively decent experience, though at times there are some framerate drops and do not get me started on the camera.
The camera controls themselves should be relatively easy, since about a trillion other console games adequately use the right analog stick to rotate a camera. With Sword Coast Legends the analog stick, when used to move the camera, would be no different than if you were to use the D-Pad to move the camera; not to mention the camera "snaps back" to it's default location. While that may be an acceptable camera control for a third person, over-the-shoulder action game like Uncharted or Rise of the Tomb Raider, in a 3D isometric RPG it makes absolutely no sense. Frankly ... I hate it and it is the single biggest issue that I have with Sword Coast Legends on PlayStation 4.
Multiplayer was fun, if ... uneventful (sorry PY, our schedules just didn't work out so an old LARPing buddy of mine and I played a number of hours). Sure, running through the campaign with a friend is fun, or downloading various user-created modules can be entertaining, but it feels ... hollow. At least, playing through the provided campaigns feels that way. However, the feeling I get while playing a D&D tabletop campaign that is an off-the-shelf production. A massive part of the incredibly satisfying D&D experience is crafting your own worlds, your own adventures, your own stories, and then living them with your closest friends. That feeling is absolutely missing when playing the relative cut-and-dry campaign modules that come with Sword Coast Legends, however, knowing what I know from the PC version's creation toolset, I am quite confident that with time, Sword Coast Legends on PlayStation 4 can feel the same way.
Multiplayer felt flat, primarily due to missing the charm of sharing in and adventure that either one of us (my buddy) or I made, which is what a big part of the allure of D&D is; living the games that your friends and you build. Picking up someone else's adventure and running through it can be enjoyable and Sword Coast Legends is certainly that. If you have recently finished Divinity: Original Sin or Wasteland 2 and are looking for some rock-solid console RPG goodness then Sword Coast Legends can certainly scratch that itch. Not quite on par with NeverWinter Nights 1 or 2 of old in terms of campaign creation or single-player story, but still an incredibly welcome trip through a classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure from the comfort of your couch. Sword Coast Legends on PlayStation 4 is a faithful adaptation of a solid D&D throwback.
Game Information
PlayStation 4
Developer(s):
n-Space
Publisher(s):
Digital Extremes
Genre(s):
RPG
Mode(s):
Single Player
Multiplayer
Other Platform(s):
PC
Xbox One
Article by Robert
