Developer Phoenix Labs has made good on its commitment to launch Dauntless onto the Nintendo Switch in 2019. Slayers can now join friends in hunting Behemoths through crossplay on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Although loading times when launching the game feel slightly longer than on other platforms, performance and gameplay feels great. Dauntless on the Nintendo Switch is a fantastic free-to-play addition to the handheld console.
New To Dauntless? Welcome, Slayer!
Although Dauntless has been in various beta phases on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One prior to its official release this year, launching on the Nintendo Switch should bring several new players into the game who may not have experienced the Behemoth-hunting craze. At its core, Dauntless can be described as a Monster Hunter-lite that tasks players with venturing out to hunt large monsters known as Behemoths who threaten to destroy the world.
Behemoths are like Pokémon, either neutral with no particular elemental weakness or resistance, or aligned to one of several elements like Fire or Ice. Defeating them in combat, as well as breaking off certain body parts, provides crafting components to make weapons and armor sets based on the core design and elements of each Behemoth.
Quests can be picked up in Ramsgate Plaza, and players will see that they all relate to assisting grow armor and weapon power by going after progressively more powerful Behemoths and crafting better gear.
Laggy In Ramsgate, But What Else Is New?
Players jumping into Dauntless either for the first time or as experience players on another platform might think that the game suffers from lag when they first jump into the main quest and crafting hub, Ramsgate Plaza. However, players should simply look past this minor imperfection and understand that of all places in the game, Ramsgate is simply one that will seemingly always suffer from at least some minor lag.
The good news is that this occasional lag in Ramsgate does not transfer over to hunting Behemoths, either in private or group hunts. This leads us to combat, which feels as good as either of the two console alternatives.
Come, Slayer – It’s Time To Hunt
Slaying Behemoths is the heart of Dauntless, and it’s great to see that at its core, the fundamental gameplay mechanics have translated seamlessly from the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The controls are identical, and playing on either handheld mode or docked with an 8Bitdo Sn30 Pro provides equal ease in handling the Slayer character.
This reviewer favors the Hammer weapon above all else, but was sure to test out all seven weapon options on Behemoths with varying levels of mobility. Since I often play on PC, it took a moment to accustom myself to a console controller, but in no time, it was simple to adapt and take down even the toughest of Behemoths.
Truly Free-To-Play
Dauntless will certainly find success on the Switch because the developers always been committed towards creating a product that is truly 100% free-to-play. All purchases are cosmetic only and offer no competitive advantage, with one tiny exception. Purchasing the seasonal Battle Pass will unlock the ability to receive additional loot when slaying a Behemoth. However, players will recognize after playing the game for a short while that these items are not difficult to find, and at best, this allows for slightly faster farming.
To be clear, when grinding for crafting components to create gear and weapons, the bonus drops from a Battle Pass are basically negligible. This reviewer has played the game since the earliest Beta stages and has only purchased the Battle Pass when the cosmetics were appealing, since they follow a theme with each season. Never once has this extra number of drops made a significant difference to my long-term crafting goals. In this sense, the game is great for free-to-play players, and in turn, offers great cosmetics in their Season Pass. Skipping over one will not impede progress.
There Is Still A Lack Of Endgame Progression
All throughout the beta testing and official launch of Dauntless, there has been an ongoing lack of vision with regards to what the endgame goal of the game is supposed to be. Right now, players could consider the goal of crafting all weapons and armor as the endgame, but there is no incentive to do so, and such a plan boils down to little more than repetitive grinding of specific Behemoths over and over until all of the crafting materials have been acquired. Legendary items may require more time, but only because finding the crafting plans is completely random.
At some point, Phoenix Labs must address the question of what the endgame progression will eventually become. Otherwise, Dauntless will always be a game that is fun to jump into for a while, especially with friends, but that offers no reason to stay, and worst of all for the developers, no reason to invest in the seasonal Battle Passes.
A Welcome Addition To The Switch
With performance that feels like both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Dauntless is a welcome addition to the Nintendo Switch. In addition, the free-to-play friendliness of the title means that the community can only grow thanks to crossplay. The only real criticism of the game lies in the lack of endgame progression, but for a free game that is a blast to play with friends, this can be overlooked until the developer considers how best to explore this point.
A Switch version of Dauntless was used for this review. Dauntless is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
