[h2]Not the most enthusiastic 'Recommended' of my life, but for the most part it is still a fun experience[/h2]
Verho is like if King's Field wanted to be more like Dark Souls than King's Field. Lots of Dark Souls mechanics and references got mixed in the old school dungeon crawler formula. It does work, but it feels like it has an identity crisis at times.
[b]The story and worldbuilding is very good[/b], it definitely carried my playthrough to the finish line, because the last quarter-or-so of the game felt lackluster and generally lower quality. The environments and locations there often lack the necessary polish, care and attention. The last location was just painful. You can tell they rushed the development to get the game out of the door. But it is still mostly good, especially the early-mid game, the locations are interesting, have secrets, branching paths, alternative routes, loopbacks etc. They got the retro dungeon crawler atmosphere right.
[b]The game allows many playstyles[/b], LOTS of weapons and spells you can choose from, bows, crossbows, spells, swords, shields, daggers, throwables you name it, this game has it all. Most of these you will find in the world, but you can purchase quite a few. And if you want to try something else, you can easily respec a few times.
[b]The enemies and monsters are a hit-and-miss.[/b] They are fun and good early on, but they get janky and possibly buggy in the second half of the game. Many monsters are phasing through solid walls and floors, completely ignoring collision?? Especially when they have homing attacks. It goes beyond what I'd consider cute indie jank. It is annoying as hell. A monster can snipe you from a kilometer away, its projectiles passing through everything. The aggro of some of them is absolutely relentless and crazy. They will NOT de-aggro and will follow you even into boss arenas and through portals... Also they get repetitive near the end, with reskinning enemies from earlier areas.
Sadly, the best secret treasure hunt has the most disappointing reward imaginable. Bummer.
The OST is merely passable. The game has VA, but it is so clear that the voice actors are not professionals, which is not a bad thing btw. They were doing their best, which I appreciate a lot, I found it charming. Definitely added to the indie vibe.
The game has NG+ and randomized mode if you want to play more after your playthrough.
Also install this game on an SSD if you can. There are plenty of loading screens, and somehow they don't load that fast.
[h3]Overall, it did scratch my old-school dungeon crawler itch, even with its issues and annoying jank.[/h3]
