Resolution Games announced its upcoming Dungeons & Dragons-themed version of Demeo (2021) is officially coming to all major VR headset and flatscreen next month.
The News
Unveiled back in January, Resolution Games and Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast have teamed up to release Demeo x DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Battlemarked.
Now, the studios announced the game is coming to Quest 2 and above, PSVR 2, and SteamVR headsets on November 20th. Priced at $30, the game also features cross-platform and cross-device compatibility with PC and PS5.
Like Demeo, you team up with up to four online players in turn-based combat across monster-filled dungeons, this time bringing classic D&D settings and classes, including paladin, sorcerer, ranger and rogue.
Resolution Games is also releasing a playable demo during Steam Next Fest, running from October 13th – 20th. The demo is said to include two encounters and access to four playable heroes:
- Tibby, the chaotic halfling sorcerer
- Bolthrax, the hot-headed dragonborn paladin of Bahamut
- Ash, the infernal-blooded tiefling rogue who hides her pain beneath a quip and a smirk
- Jessix, the human ranger seeking retribution
My Take
Like most D&D video games, Demeo x DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: Battlemarked focuses on bringing iconic D&D elements without the pen and paper roleplaying element, or long setup and planning stages to create characters, backstories, etc. The studio calls it “streamlined strategy,” emphasizing the drop-in, casual nature of the Demeo gameplay model.
While the original Demeo pretty much delivers all of those basic elements (sans D&D name), hooking more closely into the wider D&D fandom will probably give online servers a sustained bump—hopefully going far beyond the effect seen when the studio released flatscreen support of Demeo a year after launch on VR headsets.
Even if gameplay is substantively the same, keeping servers populated can only really help VR headset owners find available games for quick battles, as gameplay is essentially based on moving characters around a board, picking attacks from a series of cards, and tossing a die to randomize attack strength. Perfect for VR-flatscreen cross-play.
Whatever the case, it also means a load of new missions to take on, which could be worth plonking down the extra $30. Notably, Demeo content drops dried up proceeding the release of PvP title Demeo Battles (2023), which was originally planned as a DLC update to Demeo, but was later spun out in November 2023 as a standalone title across VR and flatscreen.
