Developer: Upfall Studios
Publisher: Upfall Studios
Release Date: 14th September
Price as of Article: $8.99 USD, £7.99 GBP
Quest of Dungeons has a very simple story, you have chosen one of the four classes available – warrior, assasin, wizard and shaman and are sitting at a fireplace with the other three discussing the scourge plagueing the land of Virul….. queue cheesy story…. and then your fellow heroes convince you to go on your own! Once you are out of earshot they discuss the fact that you are not gonna make it, charming!
The game doesn’t take itself to serious and lets you know straight away that this is not about the story, from time to time you come across a funny situation of comment and thats the extend of the story.
The soundtrack is atmospheric and the sound effects do a decent job of lifting the gloom. As a procedurally generated game you are going to visit the same places so having a soundtrack that doesn’t make you hate Quest of Dungeons is a must and the game delivers.
The graphics are clean and functional, there are a lot of games these days made in the old pixelated style and this does a good job albeit not a stand out one, the spell and gear details lift the overall graphics with their well drawn and varied styles.
Roguelike games are an acquired taste, for some they are a must – the variance and unique experience each time you play keeps things fresh. On the flip side you must sacrifice in some areas as you are not guiding the player each step of the way, things like story and map layout can suffer. Quest of Dungeons does a solid job of avoiding this pitfall with a very solid generation engine.
The game plays out with your character battling through a dungeon, slaying monsters and aiming to get to the deepest depths and destroy the evil that is casting a long shadow over the earth.
The game is turn based but works live – each step or action counts as a turn but you don’t stop, fulfil actions and then move so the game actually plays more like an action RPG when moving through each of the 7 floors. This gives the game a good flow and is its best attribute allowing you to keep moving and playing making the action more fun.
When you come across an enemy each step or move counts as a turn and so you will have to strategically approach a battle by planning where to stand, when to cast spells and when you need to run – without forcing you to overthink every battle with the weaker cannon fodder.
All classic RPG staple mechanics are here – levelling up, equip-able gear, quests and bosses to name a few.
The game does this part right – the boss battles are exciting and considering they are randomised they still feel fairly unique, the gear system is good with lots of loot and numerous slots with a good set of stats and spells feel epic if you manage to pick up a good one early on with your character.
On the move this game works, possible better and more forgiving that on a TV due to the graphics but also because I found the joy con a better way to control your character when attached to the side of the console. The game has 4-way directions so you may prefer using the D-pad.
The game has a lot of replay value due to the multiple difficulty modes, the fact that each run is going to feel unique and because of the 4 different classes offering something unique.
The price is perhaps slightly high considering the game is available on other platforms for less although the addition of a leaderboard is very welcome.
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