later named Dark Alliance II the best Xbox game of January 2004. Eurogamer's Ronan Jennings scored the Xbox version 7 out of 10, writing "in terms of progression, the only real difference between this and Dark Alliance is that the first game felt like it had better structure to it. In fact, DAII feels more like an expansion pack in that regard, with players sometimes given the option to complete quests in any order they choose [...] It's hard not to be disappointed in Dark Alliance II. However, it's equally hard to criticise such a polished effort. On the one hand, it offers more of the great hack and slash gameplay that no one has emulated properly since the first Dark Alliance. On the other hand, the magic of the original has definitely been diluted, where it really should have been enhanced." GameSpy's Raymond Padulla scored the PlayStation 2 version 3 out of 5. He praised the differentiation in the fighting style of the playable characters, writing, "the additional variety in Dark Alliance II is one of the few cases where more translates to better." However, he felt that when compared with the original game, "while it is superior in a few ways, it's inferior in others." He was critical of the graphics, writing "there are a smattering of areas and effects that are cooler than the original, but for the most part the visuals look dated and uncreative [...] That isn't to say that the graphics are offensive, but compared to the original -- whose graphics were a strong point -- it's definitely a step down." He concluded "I was convinced that more of a great thing would be an even greater thing. I thought Black Isle would do as fine a job with the series as Snowblind did. I was wrong on both counts. While Dark Alliance II is a good game, it has barely progressed the series." Writing later in 2004, Allen Raucsh said much the same; "Black Isle Studios took over the development chores on this edition, and essentially delivered the same game again. Unfortunately, gamers had moved on [...] In short, while Dark Alliance II was by no means a bad game, it badly needed updating before it could become relevant again.". In 2015, Ian Williams of Paste rated the game #7 on his list of "The 10 Greatest Dungeons and Dragons Videogames". He commented: