20120722:
I've played through the tutorial a long time ago, and then recently played the first level again without the tutorial and didn't know how to do anything. I eventually figured it out, but decided to delete my character. Then today, my friend Chris came over and we created new characters. I was an apprentice and Chris was a squire. The screen was split horizontally. We beat the first level and started playing the second level. We leveled up to about level 3 before ending the level early and joining my friend Josh for dinner. After coming back, Josh created an adept and we played the game with three players.
This is a fun game to play with friends. There's local co-op for up to four players, but you'll need a big screen for the game to be enjoyable. Playing on a 19" screen is reasonable for two players, and manageable for four players, but the text when looking at equipment is small, and takes away from the fun. Even if one had a big screen, an annoyance is that pulling up the overall map blocks the view of all players. Granted the map is a little transparent, but it still impedes the players who didn't pull up the map. Finally, using a mouse and keyboard is superior to the gamepad. At first I played on a gamepad and liked the control scheme. I continued to use it when playing with my friend Chris. Then when we played with three people, I used the keyboard. On the keyboard, you get all the functions of the gamepad, plus 5 extra hotkeys, and full aiming with the mouse. The gamepad might have some sort of auto-aim feature, but such a feature might be imperfect.
Tip: On a mouse and keyboard controller scheme, pull up the menu by clicking the scroll button. (The tutorial might have mentioned this, but as I said, I didn't play through the tutorial recently).
My friends and I played until we encountered the first boss. Honestly, I was surprised by the existence of a boss. He was tough: when the Eternia Crystal was destroyed, we had only gotten him down to about half of his health bar. Since it was late and the level itself was already long, we decided to call it a night.
[20120726]
20120731:
Last night Josh and I played for about five hours, with Chris joining us near the end. I couldn't get my mic to work, but it was still fun. On the other hand, Chris's built-in mic was very sensitive and was picking up a lot of feedback. As a temporary fix, he switched his mic to push-to-talk.
For some reason, Chris was getting an error when trying to connect with a character he already leveled. As such, he started from scratch. By the end of night, he had a level 19 character, though we had to replay The Throne several times before winning. I was playing an apprentice (tower build), Josh was playing a huntress (hybrid build), and Chris was playing a squire (tower build).
Steam Game Time: 10.9 hrs last two weeks / 12.8 hrs on record
[20120801]
20120802:
Tip: Press G to activate the crystal remotely.
Tip: Play Ranked on TrendyNet. You can always export a ranked character to open mode for playing around.
Tip: You can sell any defense, even those which aren't your own.
Tip: Agree to leave items you don't need to level up with on the ground so that they may be sold automatically and split among the players. This is easier to agree on when playing with your friends.
Steam Game Time (Tim):* 21.4 hrs last two weeks / 23.3 hrs on record
Steam Game Time (Chris):* 15.0 hrs
Steam Game Time (Josh):* 14.0 hrs
Tip: Don't be too afraid to put points into whatever you feel like. If you make a mistake, you can respec your character later for some mana. While the cost may seem high at a low level (I'm currently level 30), the cost will be minuscule upon reaching level 70. At first, I was caught up with looking for perfect guides, but I eventually came around to the idea of just picking what made sense to me.
*Some of the hours is time spent idle.
20120911:
Today I added the Quest for the Lost Eternia Shards DLC. If I recall correctly, it was a gift from another player I met while playing the game.
[20181211]
Steam Achievement Dates and Various Steam Achievements:
20120802 (above) | 20120803
20120804 Completed all Area 1 levels on Insane
20120815 Completed all Area 2 levels on Hard
20120816 Completed all Area 3 levels on Hard
20120817 | 20120818
20120819 Completed all Area 2 levels on Insane
20120820 Completed all Area 3 levels on Insane
20120823 | 20120824
20120903 Complete All Challenges on INSANE Difficulty!
20120905 | 20120911 | 20120912 | 20120916 | 20120923
As of 20181211:
Steam Game Time: 308 hours (total game time)
Dungeon Defenders (PC) (2011)
Relevant Links:
Dungeon Defenders (Wikipedia.org)
I've played through the tutorial a long time ago, and then recently played the first level again without the tutorial and didn't know how to do anything. I eventually figured it out, but decided to delete my character. Then today, my friend Chris came over and we created new characters. I was an apprentice and Chris was a squire. The screen was split horizontally. We beat the first level and started playing the second level. We leveled up to about level 3 before ending the level early and joining my friend Josh for dinner. After coming back, Josh created an adept and we played the game with three players.
 |
| Local co-op. This is the screen division for three players. |
This is a fun game to play with friends. There's local co-op for up to four players, but you'll need a big screen for the game to be enjoyable. Playing on a 19" screen is reasonable for two players, and manageable for four players, but the text when looking at equipment is small, and takes away from the fun. Even if one had a big screen, an annoyance is that pulling up the overall map blocks the view of all players. Granted the map is a little transparent, but it still impedes the players who didn't pull up the map. Finally, using a mouse and keyboard is superior to the gamepad. At first I played on a gamepad and liked the control scheme. I continued to use it when playing with my friend Chris. Then when we played with three people, I used the keyboard. On the keyboard, you get all the functions of the gamepad, plus 5 extra hotkeys, and full aiming with the mouse. The gamepad might have some sort of auto-aim feature, but such a feature might be imperfect.
Tip: On a mouse and keyboard controller scheme, pull up the menu by clicking the scroll button. (The tutorial might have mentioned this, but as I said, I didn't play through the tutorial recently).
 |
| First boss. |
My friends and I played until we encountered the first boss. Honestly, I was surprised by the existence of a boss. He was tough: when the Eternia Crystal was destroyed, we had only gotten him down to about half of his health bar. Since it was late and the level itself was already long, we decided to call it a night.
[20120726]
20120731:
Last night Josh and I played for about five hours, with Chris joining us near the end. I couldn't get my mic to work, but it was still fun. On the other hand, Chris's built-in mic was very sensitive and was picking up a lot of feedback. As a temporary fix, he switched his mic to push-to-talk.
For some reason, Chris was getting an error when trying to connect with a character he already leveled. As such, he started from scratch. By the end of night, he had a level 19 character, though we had to replay The Throne several times before winning. I was playing an apprentice (tower build), Josh was playing a huntress (hybrid build), and Chris was playing a squire (tower build).
 |
| Cut-scene depiction of the four warriors. |
Steam Game Time: 10.9 hrs last two weeks / 12.8 hrs on record
[20120801]
20120802:
Tip: Press G to activate the crystal remotely.
Tip: Play Ranked on TrendyNet. You can always export a ranked character to open mode for playing around.
Tip: You can sell any defense, even those which aren't your own.
Tip: Agree to leave items you don't need to level up with on the ground so that they may be sold automatically and split among the players. This is easier to agree on when playing with your friends.
 |
| Second boss. |
Steam Game Time (Tim):* 21.4 hrs last two weeks / 23.3 hrs on record
Steam Game Time (Chris):* 15.0 hrs
Steam Game Time (Josh):* 14.0 hrs
Tip: Don't be too afraid to put points into whatever you feel like. If you make a mistake, you can respec your character later for some mana. While the cost may seem high at a low level (I'm currently level 30), the cost will be minuscule upon reaching level 70. At first, I was caught up with looking for perfect guides, but I eventually came around to the idea of just picking what made sense to me.
*Some of the hours is time spent idle.
 |
| Kraken. |
20120911:
Today I added the Quest for the Lost Eternia Shards DLC. If I recall correctly, it was a gift from another player I met while playing the game.
[20181211]
Steam Achievement Dates and Various Steam Achievements:
20120802 (above) | 20120803
20120804 Completed all Area 1 levels on Insane
20120815 Completed all Area 2 levels on Hard
20120816 Completed all Area 3 levels on Hard
20120817 | 20120818
20120819 Completed all Area 2 levels on Insane
20120820 Completed all Area 3 levels on Insane
20120823 | 20120824
20120903 Complete All Challenges on INSANE Difficulty!
20120905 | 20120911 | 20120912 | 20120916 | 20120923
 |
| I'm stuck, because I can't jump far enough. :( |
As of 20181211:
Steam Game Time: 308 hours (total game time)
Dungeon Defenders (PC) (2011)
Relevant Links:
Dungeon Defenders (Wikipedia.org)
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