At first glance, Dwarven Realms might seem like a familiar blend of influences—a mix of Diablo, Vampire Survivors, and traditional MMO elements. Developed by the small team at Crater Studio, this action RPG manages to deliver something intriguing. Let’s dive in to see if Dwarven Realms is worth your time in its early-access phase.
What is Dwarven Realms?
Launched in September and still in development, Dwarven Realms is an action RPG that combines the fast-paced, hack-and-slash combat of Diablo with the swarming chaos of Vampire Survivors. The twist? It adds an MMO-like leaderboard structure that resets each season, challenging players to compete for the top spots globally.
The goal is simple—defeat hordes of enemies, progress through different realms, and climb the global leaderboard to be one of the top 250 players. As you go, you'll upgrade your character by collecting loot, unlocking new abilities, and refining your build. Offline and private modes are available, but some content is locked if you don’t connect to the online features.
Though the game is light on story at the moment, its main focus is on competition. Each season brings fresh challenges, so if you enjoy upgrading characters and chasing leaderboard rankings, there’s plenty to keep you engaged.
Gameplay Mechanics
You start by creating your hero and entering a base, where a portal sends you to different realms. These realms are arena-style zones where enemies spawn continuously, much like in Vampire Survivors. Holding down the mouse button triggers your basic attacks, and as you gain proficiency with your weapon, you’ll unlock more skills. However, you can only equip two active skills at a time, which adds a layer of strategy to combat.
As you slay standard enemies, elite enemies will occasionally appear, identifiable by their health bars and red damage markers. Luckily, these attacks are dodgeable with a dash move, which consumes a bit of energy.
The game’s progression is driven by collecting “essence,” a resource dropped by both standard and elite enemies. Essence is key to unlocking new paths, obtaining loot from obelisks, and summoning stage bosses. The one quirky mechanic is that you must aim directly at the center of an obelisk to collect its rewards—an annoying detail that takes time to get used to.
Each stage gives you a 10-minute time limit, and you can choose between two strategies: grind for loot and XP for 8–9 minutes before taking on the boss, or rush to gather 100 essence and face the boss early. You’ll repeat this process as you progress through increasingly difficult stages.
Home Base and Upgrades
After each stage, you return to your base, where new features unlock as you level up. Starting at level 2, you can dismantle loot to upgrade gear, earn experience from books, reset stats, and join fellowships (which function like guilds in MMOs).
Your base is where you’ll spend a lot of time optimizing your character. The game offers near-endless customization options for your build, and in the later stages, you’ll gain access to cards that further enhance your character’s abilities.
If you love upgrading gear and experimenting with character builds, Dwarven Realms has you covered. Helmets, armor, rings, necklaces, and trinkets come in various rarities and levels, each contributing to your character’s stats. The game also includes special items like horns and grails, which provide passive buffs, and of course, you can upgrade these as well.
One limitation is that weapons can’t be changed mid-battle, so finding your preferred weapon type takes a few runs. Personally, I found the one-handed weapons to suit my style best, and I stuck with them for most of my playthrough.
Boss Fights: A Mixed Experience
While the main zone bosses are more complex and challenging, some of the stage bosses are disappointingly simple. These fights often boil down to avoiding attacks and landing hits until the boss falls. If you’re playing a glass cannon build, one powerful hit could take you out, but for the most part, running and dodging will get you through.
This lack of depth in certain boss fights feels like a missed opportunity, especially for a game that markets itself as a boss rush-style RPG.
The MMO Vibe (But Not Really)
Despite its single-player focus, Dwarven Realms channels the feel of an MMO. Leaderboard competition is at the core, with seasonal resets leveling the playing field for newcomers and veterans alike. You can join fellowships, though you won’t see other players in-game, nor will they see you. But if you love competitive, leaderboard-driven gameplay, this structure provides a lot of motivation to keep pushing forward.
There’s also a notification system that resembles MMO chat, where you can see when players reach certain levels or complete stages. And yes, if you lose, everyone will see that too!
While cosmetic items are available for purchase, they’re purely for your own enjoyment—no one else will see them unless you’re streaming or making videos. Thankfully, there’s no pay-to-win aspect, though who knows what future updates might bring.
Bugs and Performance
Given that the game is in early access, it’s not without its bugs. Enemies occasionally get stuck in the environment, and sound effects sometimes fail to play. The most frustrating issue for me was the obelisk collection mechanic, which feels clunky even after you get used to it.
In terms of performance, Dwarven Realms handles the action well, even when the screen is swarming with enemies. I did notice a few frame drops on my RTX 3070, but nothing game-breaking. Overall, the game is well-optimized and runs smoothly.
Visuals and Sound Design
Visually, Dwarven Realms looks like a game from 2009. The art style is functional, reminiscent of old-school MMOs, but it’s far from eye-catching. The environments are colorful enough to keep you immersed, but don’t expect anything visually stunning.
The music, on the other hand, is almost nonexistent. Even with the volume settings turned up, the background music is so quiet you’ll barely notice it. The sound effects are more noticeable, but they’re pretty standard and occasionally glitchy.
Final Thoughts: Is Dwarven Realms Worth Your Time?
At first glance, Dwarven Realms might look like a Vampire Survivors clone in 3D, but it has more to offer. By mixing hack-and-slash combat with MMO-style competition, it finds its own space in the genre. The upgrade systems are fun to explore, and there’s enough content to keep you playing for hours. However, the lackluster stage bosses and occasional bugs hold it back from being a fully polished experience.
If you’re into competitive, leaderboard-driven games with a seasonal reset structure, Dwarven Realms offers plenty of replayability. The absence of pay-to-win mechanics and the ability to play offline add extra value for those who prefer a more balanced and fair gameplay experience.
If you’re curious about Dwarven Realms, check out the game via the link HERE. And if you love discovering indie games, consider checking my YouTube Channel HERE
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time!
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