Monsters' Den: Book of Vengeance

*I have about 50 hours on the playtest that isn't listed with the default game. First things first, the Class system is absolutely enthralling, especially for a gamer like me who does way too much thinking and theory-crafting. You can have up to 4 heroes, each with 2 different Classes, there's potentially thousands of combinations, and many just work and are fun. Heck, I wouldn't doubt if 80% of my playtime was just staring at the party creation screen. BTW, using alternate secondary classes requires playing with those classes first as a sort of meta-progression between games. The best thing I can say about the class system is that if a class or party composition sounds cool, it probably is fun and effective! The majority of the game is dungeon crawling and turn based fights, it's a fairly complex but understandable system, most of your progression will be gained by loot and dungeon encounters, not necessarily leveling up. At the time of review, level ups only grant additional stat points. Another genius system is the Traits associated with certain sets of items, and that are sometimes found randomly. Each Trait grants additional stats, and if you gain enough of a Trait on a single character there are often game-changing stat buffs or effects in battle based on it. I personally dislike the use of AI for the in-game artwork, but it's fine, it's mostly coherent and has a good style for the game. I would be weary of streaming or recording this game with the music turned on, apparently some tracks used can trigger YouTube's copyright systems. Alright that's about everything I can think of at the moment, just play and experiment!

The new job system is interesting, and the game still has the feel of the older Monster's Den. Also, the option to make floors harder during the campaign is a nice touch.

和一代恐惧之书类似的操作界面，更是我的菜，简洁明了，此外本代添加了第二职业（目前我还没有玩第二职业，可能是要开新档？）根据提示初始职业专精到达3级就解锁第二职业，目前游戏进度打穿了第一个野蛮人巢穴进入了无尽巢穴模式，感觉又回到了一代，目前的体验是最近几年最上头回合制RPG，上一个还是神界原罪2和永恒之柱1.游戏反馈极佳，角色升级属性点，装备掉落更迭，不断地感觉到队伍整体实力的提升，然后对战下一波怪，每波都有不同的体验，就这样一直反复的正反馈探索。目前搭配战士、牧师、猎人、冰法，玩的第二难度（比普通难度+1）感觉猎人也太超模了，每1点敏捷+1%暴击再加上每点敏捷＋2面板，面板暴击已经过百，一发箭雨经常场上只剩一两个怪，冰法伤害估摸着只有猎人1半不到。准备明天开新档，玩其余几个新职业。游戏看得出来目前还有很多东西没做完，单也优化了很多显示，期待。喜欢回合制的绝对不要错过。

I have played the Monster's Den games for literal decades now. I supported the previous game on Kickstarter and have enjoyed the games for a long time. This installment is, thus far, just okay. I gave it a thumbs up because I have enjoyed it more than I didn't. The game is unpolished (which is unsurprising for Early Access) but the gameplay loop is generally fun and it is satisfying when you get a good combination going. Pros: I like the Dual Class system you unlock as you play. It is fun to see how the skills combine together to allow for a variety of interactions. I like that you can upload your own character sprites. I like the sort of "set bonuses" that the developer has added to equipment. I like the meta-progression and expect there will be more in depth meta-progression in the future. Cons: Leveling up feels low impact- add 2 points to 4 different stats and that is it, no skills or anything else. There is no level for equipment so the game is sort of balanced around all equipment sort of being the same. A lot of the optionality from the older games is gone. I don't love the AI art inclusion as it all feels very AI art, but I don't hate it that much either honestly- I would prefer actual art but it mostly looks alright. The game is a more streamlined and simplified than some of the previous entries. I think that is partially due to it being early access, and I am excited to see how it changes as it goes along. I also think the developer intended to make it simplified in some aspects, which does mean it achieved its goal in that regard.

I have a heavy nostalgia towards Book of Dread, and there are still aspects of Dread I prefer that are not evidently not even existant in Vengeance yet - where did the legendary items go? Are they coming? Where's pandora's box and legendary lure? Where's the cool boss loot? I keep a critical approach as a lot of foundation is already accounted for in the series; it's the same premise as it was decades ago. In addition, some tuning on class aoe abilities could be desired - no matter which difficulty you are playing on, any area spell just ends up deleting tiles of enemies. Hunters, mages and warriors clear any of the larger packs with ease. There is little incentive to do focus fire and stacking negative effects as most fights are over in 1-3 turns. The hardest part of the game is actually the beginning, with little post-battle replenishment, no boons etc. I recognise some of the epic items from the past titles - it seems like items only exist in a base version now and therefore have no scaling to them - once you get a good item in a slot, you're set for the session. On the bright side, being able to fiddle with classes in-between and mixing is a fun little pastime, and I hope future features are underway.

Really good. Many more options than earlier game. Satisfying gameplay loop. Lots of Classes and Powers. Magic Item loot is fun to compare when picking new items to wield. Sound is good. Graphics is great. Looking forward to some more updates.

pretty good, dev listens to feedback

Very fun class mixing and otherwise an awesome dungeon crawler! I'm not a fan of the AI Art, kinda gross-looking, but you can replace most enemy and all player portraits with custom art, which is a big up from Book of Dread. Totally going well in early access!

🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫 If this game were a person they would be a Dungeon-Master with a doctorate in the same from Yale or better yet Oxford or a Wordsmith at the Royal Academy of Arts & Sciences with another doctorate in Female Pleasure studies from Cambridge or Harvard. A must buy if not for you then for the pizza you never bought your dog or cat or for the seed you never fed those always starving wild birds. D.L. Oliver 🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫🟫

i have one major suggestion: could ya try making your game so ya get like a couple choices of loot instead of literally hundreds of choices? i dont know if its just me but digging through loot is the lowest point of any game i play that has loot : ( if its just me ignore this i guess or make it an option but there arent loot simulators right? so its nobodys high point i think. i loved the original book of dread soooo much and this is a straight upgrade!! its worth like $60 to me but dont tell anyone, lol. i love these cheap simple games that are better than anything else out there : ) keep up the awesome work! thank you : )