Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is big business, with over 20 million players and a billion dollars of revenue raked in over the past 30 years. Utilizing highly elaborate rule sets that govern player statistics and battle, D&D offers an immersive role-playing experience; in its original pen and paper form, board games or in more recent years, some very memorable computer and video games. Yet, having all of the elements needed for fun gameplay means absolutely nothing when Dungeons and Dragons Tactics contains a ton of minor annoyances that overwhelm the core experience and sap the fun right out of it.

From the very beginning, we felt bogged down in the sheer amount of time it takes to complete the tasks. The character creation system appears to be fairly deep at first, but unless players are familiar with the gobs of information, it can be a real chore to properly set up characters for maximum efficiency.

This plodding pace continues in the combat. The game world is set into a grid system for movement. Each turn affords the player two actions; moving, opening chests and retrieving items (yes, this requires both actions in the turn), attacking or what have you. However, no matter what choice one makes, it's an involved process thanks to the awkward scrolling menus. Movement on the field is also hampered by a wonky camera system and poorly lit rooms, which make it difficult to decide where to go next.