What if an MMO had permadeath and bullet hell combat? Welcome to Darza’s Dominion
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SHOULD I PLAY DARZA’S DOMINION?
If you’re looking for a unique take on MMOs, Darza’s Dominion might be worth checking out, but I’d strongly recommend playing the PC version rather than mobile. This action-RPG mixes elements of massively multiplayer games with bullet hell action, permadeath, and pixel art. It makes for a very original experience, even compared to other retro MMOs like Realm of the Mad God, but I encountered a lot of frustrations during my time with it as well.
TIME PLAYED
I’ve spent around five hours in Darza’s Dominion, with about three-fourths of that time on the Android version. I was able to test several of the starter classes and managed to get one character, a mage, nearly up to level 20, which I believe is the level cap. Unfortunately, I got demolished by a giant slime boss right before I hit that milestone.
WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT DARZA’S DOMINION?
• A genuinely fresh blend of gameplay styles. I’ve played just about every MMO under the sun, so when I encounter one that truly does something I haven’t seen before, it stands out to me. Darza’s Dominion will feel somewhat familiar to anyone who’s played Realm of the Mad God, but the fast-paced nature of the game and the sheer number of projectiles it threw at me at all times stood out as meaningfully different. The risk of trying something new is that it may not all come together, but I still appreciate the game for trying.
• Seamless cross-platform progression. When I decided to give the PC version of Darza’s Dominion a shot after spending hours on the phone, I was worried I’d have to abandon the character I was in the middle of playing with. Not so! I was able to download the game on Steam and log in with the same account with no problems whatsoever.
• Breezy casual co-op. While adventuring through the dangerous world of Darza’s Dominion, I naturally came across plenty of other players. I found myself jumping in to help strangers who were struggling with a boss fight and likewise was saved by strangers more than a few times. I’m not sure about tools to encourage more in-depth team content, especially given the difficulty of chatting on the mobile version, but if you’re looking to make some quick friends without any fuss, it’s nice for that.
WHAT SUCKS ABOUT DARZA’S DOMINION?
• Stiff mobile controls. Compared to the PC version, where I was able to use the mouse to aim my fire, the touchscreen controls on the mobile version were sluggish and unreliable. The most frustrating was using my special ability, which would often inexplicably fire off in a totally different direction than my character was facing. It was also frustrating that using that special ability or potions required lifting my finger off the screen and thus stopping my regular barrage of fire.
• Constant disconnects. Again, this issue seems to primarily be with the mobile version; I didn’t play the PC version as long, but I also didn’t experience a single disconnect on it. On mobile, though, I found myself booted off the server every thirty minutes or so. The only praise I’ll give is that it seems like when I was disconnected, the game would remove me from the world and thus keep my character alive, which was a relief. But getting kicked when I was deep into a dungeon or almost finished killing a boss sure was annoying.
• The art gets in the way of the gameplay. I love pixel art as much as anyone, but in a game that moves as quickly as Darza’s Dominion and has such massive walls of bullets flying at players, I need to be able to distinguish between the environment, my character, and stuff that will kill me. In some of the game’s biomes—especially the chunky forest areas—everything kind of blended together, and I got a headache squinting at the screen and trying to figure out what was even happening. That also made some of my deaths feel particularly unfair.
• Permadeath isn’t for everyone. This isn’t necessarily a knock against the game, but it’s something important to know going in. When you die in Darza’s Dominion, you lose everything; that character is gone, their gear is gone, any stat boosts they earned are gone, etc. That also means the longer that you manage to survive and power yourself up, the more painful it’s going to be when you inevitably lose all that progress. Some players love this stuff, but others find it unbearable. Decide for yourself and plan accordingly.
• Pay-to-win junk. Of course if you want to ease the burn of dying and losing your character, Darza’s Dominion is happy to help in one way...as long as you’re willing to pay up. The game has a number of premium packs available for purchase that consist of a mix of cosmetic skins and actual gameplay-affecting stuff like pets and chests with randomized gear drops. In addition to the premium packs, you can straight-up buy in-game gold to spend in the tavern to help deck out a new character before you get started. Notably this game doesn’t have player-versus-player content as far as I can tell, so the monetized elements may be less egregious than in other MMOs, but it’s still likely to rub some the wrong way.
PLATFORM TESTED
Android via Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G phone and PC via Steam.
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