Netherguild

A great turn-based combat dungeon crawler that deserves more attention. I look forward to its future development. The developers are actively accepting feedback and continuing development. It's adequate now, but I'm sure it will be an even better game when Early Access ends.

[h1] General Overview [/h1] Stylish and satisfying to play. Good build, equipment, and overall strategic elements. Based on all the updates, this game will just keep getting better and better. [h1] The Good [/h1] [list] [*][b] Graphics/art style [/b] – Pixel art is awesome- the unit types are easy to distinguish, and the biomes are all unique and interesting. [*][b] Combat [/b] – Intense and engaging. Nice blend of melee and ranged options (some units can do both!) [*][b] Story [/b] – Present but not intrusive. I like the idea of an overarching main quest interspersed with backstabbing factions. The latter is in the early stages still, but I’m interested to see how it shapes up. [*][b] Progression [/b] – Each level provides a meaningful upgrade to your units. Awarding experience to whoever gets the kill compels me to build that into my strategy, and I often leave a low health unit stunned for a lower-level companion to kill. [/list] [h1] The Bugs [/h1] [list] [*][b] Controller issues [/b] – sometimes I switched away from the controller in favour of M+KB, and often just use the mouse (which seems to be an option, as a nice plus). The controller can’t do some necessary tasks, particularly in the town, and could use a bit more fine-tuning. For example, I’d like an easy way to switch between my companions, or during a battle when making a ranged attack I’d like the focus to snap to the first in-range target (esp if this can be combined with the previous point and allow me to toggle between them all with a button tap). [*][b] Crashes [/b] – Had a few mid-battle crashes, which are a bit frustrating as the autosave seems to be at the start of the level, rather than after each battle. [EDIT: resolved!] [/list] [h1] Suggestions [/h1] [list] [*][b] ZOC [/b] – It’s always a bit odd to me in games without this how I can approach an enemy archer and melee him but then on his turn he can move freely and shoot. They can even move THROUGH my units, unless they can move diagonally somehow [*][b] Counters [/b] – There doesn’t seem to be a counter option to any attacks [*][b] Taunts [/b] – No way to draw aggro to a tank. This makes the skills that automatically block or dodge the next attack less predictable/useful. [*][b] Backstab [/b] – The orientation of the enemy doesn’t seem to matter. All attacks are hits, but backstabbing or pincer attack could perhaps do bonus damage. [*][b] Map [/b] – For some reason I have a hard time telling walls from passages. Maybe the minimap could show this a bit more cleanly? [*][b] Healing [/b] – I’m not too far, but from what I can tell, healing is limited to eating food at a campfire, which is surprising. Maybe being able to eat food for half the healing outside of a camp could work, or having more traditional potions or healing skills available? [*][b] XP for quests [/b] – I think the only way to get XP is through kills, but maybe quests could also offer XP as well? Also, are the companions you hire always going to be level 1? It’s going to really hurt to lose someone and then start with a fresh recruit at level 1. [*][b] Attack ranges [/b] – I’d like to know if the enemy is range of my ranged attacks before committing to a move. This is often done with a straight blue line (meaning in range and clear shot) or a straight red line (meaning in range but target is obscured) [*][b] Undo move [/b] – unless I reveal an enemy in the fog of war, I’d like to be able to undo my movement (see “Attack ranges”) [*][b] Level Cap [/b] – The level cap seems low. I understand that losing a really high level unit hurts and having a lower cap gives a new recruit an easier path to catching up, but I just got below the 3rd layer of the mines and my team is already level 3 (of 4). [/list]

As it stands Netherguild is pretty atrociously bad at the moment. It doesn't achieve any of the goals it seemingly sets out to. - The story is hilariously stupid, might as well have just skipped it - The control scheme is incredibly ineffective - The pathing actively tries to hurt your own party members, which forces you to control them step-by-step - The "quest" system is... well it barely exists aside from anything else, which would be fine if it wasn't central to the game - The resting system is completely non-functional, your characters will intentionally eat the least appropriate food/drink - Inventory management is the worst I think I've seen in any modern game - Character sheets/stats/skills are meant to be minimalist but instead are unrewarding barely comprehensible garbage It has some potential, and it's early access so in the future this may turn into a great game, but as it stands this isn't worth your time let alone your money.

I'll be blunt. The UI feels like hell on steroids. It's clunky and unintuitive. I like dungeon crawlers, solo indie devs and everything... but this game feels unplayable. I don't mind its retro looks.

[h1] Story [/h1] Two kingdoms, one on the surface and one underground, have been allies for a long time, but after a certain incident, the gate to the underground kingdom was sealed up. On the outskirts of the surface kingdom, a plague broke out. The protagonist is a nobleman who has been tasked with getting a cure in the kingdom underground. It is up to us to gather and equip a group of four adventurers to go to the underground. [h1] Visuals [/h1] Stylized voxel-style graphics with a bit of AA is quite pleasant to look at. Pixel font is easily readable, but can be changed to a regular looking one. Menus are all in gray color and a bit on a bland side, but it's no big deal. [h1] Gameplay [/h1] The gameplay loop is reminiscent of Darkest Dungeon (albeit a bit simplified). On the surface we hire adventurers, buy provisions and weapons, take hunting quests and interact with various factions. In dungeons, our goal is to reach an elevator that will take us to the next level. While we are looking for it, we explore and fight bandits and various monsters, and sometimes mini-bosses. Each floor of the dungeon is divided into rooms that are hidden by darkness. Without skills, you never know in advance what awaits you in the next one. The floor is divided into squares and you move in eight directions. Sometimes these squares contain points of interest where we can get loot and restore health. - Battles with enemies are turn-based, where the order of the move depends on the initiative and stats of the characters. - Each character has a normal attack and a class-dependent skill. - With each kill, you earn EXP. Each class has 4 lvl with more skills to choose. - Attacks can have negative effects, such as burning, bleeding, and stun. - You can move and attack once per turn. Area of move and attack is coloured, so it's easy to understand where you can go and what you can attack. - Each class relies on their weapons (melee and ranged). - Each class has it's own armour (light, medium, heavy) and a 4 inventory slots. - When adventurers get hurt, you have to build a bonfire, which requires materials to build. This bonfire is the only reliable method of healing. - If the things get dicey, you can run away to the surface to try again. Which is a good option to have, cause once your adventure is gone, they're gone foreve. - If you were a succesful in your run and got out alive, all the weapons, valuables and food you bought or found will be placed in storehouse for your next runs. [h1] Audio [/h1] There's not much to talk about. Inoffensive soundtrack and sound effects won't win any prizes, but they will be easy on your ears. [h1] Thoughts [/h1] While I'm not the biggest fan of roguelikes, I liked this one. Graphics is charming, I have a soft spot for voxel/pixel graphics. Turn-based combat is engaging and simple to understand, although I don't think I saw the number of available movement points which sometimes made it harder to understand how much I can move. Random room combinations keep the expierence fresh. Random enemy placements? Not so much. As with all roguelikes, some runs can be frustrating due to the random nature of the genre. This was the case here too. First 5-7 runs ended on a 2-3 floors with no heals or materials to build campfire. After my death game just booted me out to main menu. (I honestly don't know if it's a bug or a feature.) But after a while I adapted and learned how to avoid these kind of situations and ran away every time I could. The cost of materials for campfire is rather high my opinion, it'd be great if the price was twice as less. Also it would be great if rogues could have more inventory slots. As for perfomance, I did not encountered any crashes or bugs. [hr] [/hr] [h1] Conclusion [/h1] Although you'll have to wait 3-4 years to get a full expierence and despite being in a early access, Netherguild is shaping up to be a solid turn-based roguelike. Dev is quite ambitious, so I have high hopes. If you like roguelikes and turn-based combat, you should try this project. [quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/] Follow [b]IndieGems[/b] [/url] for more reviews like this one. [/quote]

There's not a huge amount of content here yet, but what there is is entertaining and I look forward to more arriving. The whole 'no rng' thing is a godsend; no missing 3 x 99% chance to hit shots in a row nonsense. This really improves the combat for me over other turn based tactics games. The difficulty feels about right too; fights can be challenging, but manageable, especially if your characters have a few levels under their belts and decent gear. Yeah, I like it :D

My first 5 hours on the game are enough to convince me on how robust of a game this is. Pros: -> Gameplay loop is very engaging. -> Classes & skills allow for very diverse tactics & each level gained enriches the gameplay. For a same class different weapons grant different abilities as well so customization goes deep. -> The mix of real time positioning before a battle coupled with the turn-based phase is a very clever twist compared with similar titles. -> The lore albeit simple is engaging/efficient and the stakes are clear -> Overall the game feels quite well balanced in terms of mechanics / difficulties. This is by far the most "make or break" aspect for this type of game imho, this is what will keep me playing many hours ! Cons : -> Still in EA and many features are still work in progress -> Battle visibility sometimes make you do the wrong choice, but without a doubt this will be improved I hope this game keeps growing in the right direction, having talked with dev David I have little doubt seeing his passion and activity on his discord to make the game as good as possible.

Very good game. The combat is quite good. Quite simple mechanics, but I found myself really enjoying how the overall game flows. Wish there was more content.

Game is awesome, dev is very responsive on discord. Recommended!

Lovely art, great tactics combat. Dev is very active and pumping new skills and items all the time. I highly recommend this game, it's dirt cheap fun.