Dungeon Defenders: Awakened by Chromatic Games, the third in the Dungeon Defenders line up of games seems to be the most polished version of the game to date. I remember spending hours playing the first game trying to solo some of the hardest levels so it was great seeing them at PAX East 2020 with another iteration of the game, but I wondered what was different now in comparison to the others, and to my surprise, there are actually quite a few changes.
Oz’s Take:
The overall mechanics are the same, the gameplay is the core of the game that wasn’t changed as this is the heart of what makes people like the series. However, instead of picking a class and being forced to stick to it, you’re now free to switch between each of the four classes during the building phase of the game. Every character levels up as you play along so you don’t have to 
worry about switching characters anymore. Items are dropped at the end of each wave completed and opening the chest will grant you some loot which applies to the character you select. During the building phase, you can hot-swap between the characters as each has their own set of towers and traps to place, now you have a build limit to worry about that adds an extra element of strategy to the game. Personally, this was the best edit to the game as I always enjoyed playing as a Wizard/Mage during the combat phase, but wanted to use the towers of a Druid/Monk instead.
After talking to members of the Dev team while at PAX East 2020, they confirmed that all of the game’s assets were re-done from the ground up for DD: Awakened. With all-new items and user interface, this shines a light on an old favorite and I can only hope it delivers. 
Juan’s Take:
Fight Goblins and Orcs to level up and upgrade your defenses. Fend off hordes with projectiles, shields, and traps. Choose between four classes with diverse stats that change to the pace of the combat portion of the game. It can become a challenge as you can only choose one per wave but I became fond of the way of the sword. I also found it to be a friendly feature that all characters level up simultaneously though you choose one at a time. There are wisps that indicate where the waves are coming from so you get to choose wisely on the placement of the traps. Although as you progress through, the wisps end up going away as the proverbial training wheels come off. Dungeon Defenders: Awakened will humble you real quick. As this was my first time experiencing this game, I’d like to point out that it is important that you set your traps right. As they do get in your way, they can affect how you perform. A quick getaway could be blocked, or you could just find yourself running short traps to place and regret where you put another. So make sure the traps work for you and not against you.
Dungeon Defenders: Awakened is scheduled for a Q2 2020 Nintendo Switch and PC release, and a Q3 PS4 and Xbox release.
