Monomyth

Got to the end of the Beta 2.5.0a and found a good share of the secrets (I guess?). Also spent some time AFK, so the actual playtime is closer to 20 hours. The game is not complete yet, but there's a LOT of content. As others said, that's a spiritual successor of the line of imsims that follows Ultima Underworld, Arx Fatalis and Dark Messiah, sprinkled with some Thief (and probably a bit of the other stuff I didn't recognize). The atmosphere is somewhere between unsettlingly calm and slightly oppressive - you are alone in what used to be outskirts of a largely-underground fortress, now abandoned/occupied/haunted/infested/etc. The light is precious, friendly faces and safe places are a rarity, travel from A to B in a straight line is impossible, vertical mobility is a necessity. I've played as a pure mage, so I can say little about stealth and weapons, but kicking is very fun. As for the spellcasting - it's great, has lots of offensive and utility options, and relies heavily on exploration and experimentation to improve. I went from an unfocused dumb weirdo whose life depends on grilled mushrooms and bread to a space-and-gravity-defying non-breathing telekinetic demigod who explodes any foe by triple-blasting magic missiles (still squishy though). And this progression felt wonderful, because I had to solve puzzles and look for secrets, research spells and pick my tools, always keeping track of things to try when I get a new spell. I'll be sad if magic gets nerfed, but I guess I see some arguments for it, since just maxing out Intelligence and one spell school skill allows to solve most of the game. But I play with quicksaves, YMMV. There's some jank, sure, but it never goes too far. My biggest gripe right now is spell researching, which loses its charm later in the game and you have to rely on searching and buying - there are just too many combinations to research. Also some spell research QoL features would be welcome (like allowing to unselect an echo stone by right-clicking, making clickable areas larger or adding a dedicated button to start again, as well as maybe some indicator of how close you are to some yet undiscovered shape). Oh, and I'd add a few places on each location where a player can find a location's map, to further reward the free-roaming gameplay. I've initially missed the map of the Lower Serpent's Bastion and had to run like a headless chicken through its caves, eventually finding the map of the upper section before the lower one. So you must bear in mind that there's a map somewhere at the start of each big location and you need to stop yourself from venturing too far until you find it. Anyway, the game is awesome and AFAIK there's nothing like it if you want the modern experience. I can easily recommend it even in the current state.

a fun dungeon crawler, nice atmosphere with a graspable scale. great game for those who want a low dark fantasy game with a fantastically grim atmosphere positive: great fun engaging mechanics, occasional physics based navigation(box stacking, using books to trigger taps) lead to really exciting rewarding moments. Combat that doesn't leave you feeling cheated, but challenged, especially during multi-enemy encounters. good but challenging exploration. multiple ways to tackle situations lets a player be creative. inbetween: A strong lack of hand holding. this is good for players experienced in these types of games but serves as a hard barrier to anyone not well versed. letting a bit of stronger hints for finer points of mechanics could help new players. the guide system already built in is a fantastic start and give a comprehensive starting point for the uncreative gamer. negative: can be confusing as the in game map is bone simple and could use work(map does not really help with navigation) so you have to rely heavily on memory and spatial visualization to navigate effectively. quest system needs work and lacks detail, leading to a lot of "what now?" moments. personal gripe: torch burn time feels a little short, and wish there was a way to re-invigorate torches(maybe using bandages or something) is capable of running on low end systems (ran this on integrated graphics at around 20-30 fps)

Not an expert on dungeon crawlers, but if you ask me, this is how they should be done.

Amazing old/school dungeon crawler, especially as it is being created by a single developer!

A bloody hidden gem if I ever saw one. I don't know whether its complete, I highly doubt it as it is still in early access. But from what I've seen so far, its highly polished. Fighting is fun and smooth, kicking enemies to ragdoll is obssessively satisfying and environmental interaction can be very interesting. Definitely much better than I expected. Also I love the world building and atmosphere so far. Reading notes is also a thing which I also love, so its not just mindlessly running around hitting things. Arx Fatalis-like spell casting is just cherry on top. Definitely give a try. I'll edit my review later on as I play more. <3 thank you for this beautiful game dev or devs.

Still in early access and quite rough around the edges, but it's already a lot of fun. If you're looking for oldschool Ultima Underworld / Arx Fatalis style dungeon crawling, this is, or will become, the game for you. No unnecessary handholding, no breadcrumb navigation, no yellow paint on ledges, you'll have to figure out stuff on your own. And this is made by one single guy, which is absolutely mindblowing!

The closest game to this that people would be familiar with is probably Oblivion. The game is just tonnes of fun already, well worth the price. It nails the nostalgic feel it's going for better than possibly any game I've played. It can be a little rough around the edges sometimes, but in a way that adds to its charm. It can be easy to get lost, but exploration is part of the fun, and the spaces you travel through become recognizable quickly. A big tip for new players is to take advantage of the pins you can place on the map. Figure out a colour-coding system that works for you, and you'll find navigation and backtracking less confusing.

It's like Dark Messiah meets D&D dungeon crawling.

It's got potential, but the AI is too dumb to pose a real challenge. Most enemies are easy to cheese which makes powering up pointless. Ranged weapons trivialize fights.

Great dungeon crawler. Very impressive for a single dev. However, I can't believe this does not have icloud saves yet. For someone with multiple devices, this is a real bummer. Tried to pick it back up while traveling and was shocked it is still not present. I don't have the time to start over again. Please add this feature.