Dungeons & Dragons Updates: Based on R. A. Salvatore’s Icewind Dale Trilogy, Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance is going to feature Guenhwyvar, Drizzt’s greatest companion.
The action-RPG video game is set in the Forgotten Realms and allows players to control four classic favorite characters including Drizzt Do’Urden, the drow ranger.
Along with him, the other three characters are the dwarven Fighter Bruenor Battlehammer, the human Ranger Catti-brie, and the human Barbarian Wulfgar. The biggest interesting point for fans in Dark Alliance will be the inclusion of the black panther Guenhwyvar, one of Drizzt’s greatest companions.
For over 50 years, Dungeons and Dragons have been holding the mantle for high fantasy tabletop roleplaying games. Much of the praise for this needs to game’s ability to allow players to explore fantastic magical lands and powers, ancient ruins, and fantastic recurring characters.
In the same way novels like Icewind Dale Trilogy are widely read and acclaimed even by people who aren’t into video games. But the author recently talked about integrating the novel’s characters into Dark Alliance,
Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance
VentureBeat“Video games are very different than novels but the storytelling is the main aspect that’s different, and I wanted the characters to really capture what I tried to capture in books.”
Coming to the other side, it seems normal for the changes in narrative due to medium change. But many of the changes look unnecessary. To be honest, the game seems to do away with most of the plotline only to seamlessly battle through throngs of enemies. And although the video game features Guenhwyvar, its excess focus on combat has lead to the omission of charismatic yet fragile halfling Rogue Regis.
Coming to Guenhwyvar, she isn’t a playable character but can be summoned for an ultimate attack by Drizzt only after unlocking certain combo attacks. For novel readers, they would understand this being a great example of the novel’s adaptation in the game mechanics.
In the novels, Drizzt summons Guenhwyvar, who actually lives in the astral plane, from the small onyx to which the panther is bound. The panther can slide between planes and has helped Drizzt on many occasions. Having Drizzt summon Guenhwyvar in the game for attacks is something fans will really appreciate as part of the mechanics.
