Dungeon Redemption

[h3]RANKING:[/h3] [table] [tr] [td] [h3][strike]AVOID[/strike] | [b]LACKING[/b] | [strike]MAYBE | WORTHWHILE | COMPELLING | UNMISSABLE [/strike] [/h3] [/td] [/tr] [/table] [h3]SYNOPSIS:[/h3] [table] [tr] [th][b]WHAT TO EXPECT:[/b][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] Dungeon Redemption (DR) is a free 2 play, turn-based tactical roguelike with demanding Chinese style, tactical puzzle-solving. This Indie made game takes a party of three adventurers through a series of small tile-based dungeons to defeat waves of incoming demons and beasts. The aim of each level is use a dozen or so tactical manoeuvres and attacks to keep as many crystals intact by the final turn. It is single player only [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [td][b]STATUS:[/b][/td] [td]Released and is playable, but does not look supported and won't likely be. Discord link does not work and there have been no recent updates [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]AUDIENCE:[/b][/td] [td]For fans of very challenging Chinese-styled, turn-based tactical games, that don't mind its unfinished nature [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]VALUE FOR MONEY:[/b][/td] [td]Its been released free to play. So worth trying if you enjoy this type of game [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]REVIEWED USING:[/b][/td] [td][b][/b]Intel i5 6600 3.3GHz, 8GB RAM, GTX970 @ 1GB 1920x1080 windowed, EVO850 SSD [/td] [/tr] [/table] [quote]Follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/quote] [i]More info below....[/i] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2881648520 [h3]HIGHS'n'LOWS:[/h3] [table] [tr] [td][b]THE GOOD:[/b] [/td] [td] + Elegant Design: Its simple, playable, with gameplay that has depth and possesses an addictive quality + Tactical Factors: There are enough to generate some complex strategy that includes the use of: character actions, positioning, special and item abilities, and environmental factors + Hero Recovery: Injured and dead heroes fully recover after the current battle without cost + Inventory and Abilities: A moderate amount of tiered item and strategic abilities provide a wealth of additional assistance to player strategies. Especially during difficult situations [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]THE BAD:[/b][/td] [td] - Its Unfinished: Its a demo which has been released early and doesn't seem to be supported any more - Slow Meta-Progression: The choice to keep one item per hero after every restart kills any sense of achievement. Gaining and crafting better items is too slow and when weighed against the constant challenge - Not Balanced: Difficulty is steep from the get go. Even choices that take the lesser of two evils can end in defeat in subsequent turn - Character Selection: Only the same three starting characters are available for a run - Repetitive Gameplay: Caused by using the similar map layouts and, the same environmental and enemy types - Translation mistakes: English text translation has some spelling and grammatical errors - Drab Ambience: The repeated use of drab colours may reflect the demonic fantasy realm, but they are desolate on the eye [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]AND THE REST:[/b][/td] [td] * Enemy archetypes: Some variety of classes, but a few more would have been welcome * Action Preview: An essential part of tactical planning, however the camera controls aren't good enough and can be confusing * Multiple Level Types: All lead to battles. Some provide variety to rewards after winning a level. Rewards include: crystal recovery, crafting and equipment store. Some also denote three battle types: regular, elite and boss * Level Configuration: Variety is barely there with only a handful of tactical factors and a small pool of enemies * Weapon-based Skills: There is some variety, of which can be crafted to give numerous combinations of layer effects with an attack * Storybook to Unlock: Winning battles reveals backstory of characters and game through written narrative * Turn Resets: At least one is given per battle to undo a fatal mistake. Additional ones can be gained through bonus 'Hallow' reward system * Supportive Audio: It has a nice punchy score, but the sound-effects are on the weak side * Steam Supports: Screenshot capture only. No achievements [/td] [/tr] [/table] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2881647150 [h3]OBSERVATIONS:[/h3] [b]GAMEPLAY[/b] ► The dungeon crawl at the heart of this rogue-like is pretty repetitive, but founded on a solid base which unfortunately doesn't look like will be built upon. ► The range of strategies and tactics is emergent because of the extra abilities that can be gleaned from new equipment or melding them with other items to group their capabilities from one attack. Unfortunately this process is just to slow. ► The range of possible actions is actually quite good and synergising of hero action in 'the' correct order to maximise damage inflicted, while avoiding taking it can be very satisfying when pulled off correctly. Actions include: attack, collision/fall damage, freeze, set on fire, poison, block new arrivals, taking damage, pushing targets to void their attacks or hitting their own. ► There is something really appealing in the way players have to get creative to complete a level without losing any shards. Especially the sacrificial aspects of using heroes to block damage or inbound enemies. ► The combination of pushing enemies into other enemies environmental barriers, to fall down pits, to position their attacks on other enemies, take sacrificial damage and block the next inbound wave makes for some complex, if engaging gameplay. ► The player can find themselves in impossible situations where one simple mistake curtails the run on the current level or soon thereafter. ► Due to the random order of dungeon levels faced, a run can feel disjointed in places with too battles condensed into a short space of time. Without regular access to the shop or to craft items the pace and flow of the game is affected detrimentally. [b]QUALITY vs ISSUES[/b] ► Its current state is akin to a demo, that the developers never got to finish with feedback they asked for from their player-base. This kills the experience. ► The combination of overly drab level ambience and supportive audio makes for a fair representation of the demonic setting. If only there slight changes to the background and level features to give it some variety. ► Translation needs a good dose of proof-reading. ► The Steam library name is still written in its original language. [b]WHATS MISSING?[/b] ► Better meta progression to give players a stronger connection with previous failed runs. ► Less battles and better scaled ones, with a less steep learning curve. ► More comprehensive procedurally generated levels that offer additional variety of enemies and battle environments. Especially the ambience. [td][b]ENJOYMENT[/b] ► Initially - NO. However, in a strange way the short-game loop and challenging nature of gameplay had me returning to playing it beyond what it should have. ► Addictive even in its current state. [table][tr] [td]For more [b]HIGHS'n'LOWS & OBSERVATIONS[/b] check out this link:[/td] [td][h1][url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/TheIrregularGamer/discussions/0/3471738893390654892/]Full Review[/url][/h1][/td] [/tr][/table] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2881652557 [h3]VERDICT:[/h3] DR could have been a real hidden gem. Its simple concept and complex puzzle-solving has an addictive nature that belies its unfinished state. However, what is essentially a demo needs a lot of balancing, some QoL and a small number of changes to vary gameplay enough and fix its run/level generation. Its a real shame development seems to have ceased as it would have rated higher than [b]LACKING[/b] from me. If the devs return I will very likely revisit this title as well. [quote=]Thank you for reading. | Follow my curator[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40556040-The-Irregular-Gamer/] here[/url].[/quote]