Game Review: Dungeon Souls (Early Access)

Dungeon Souls is a Rogue-lite game.  It was released on Steam by Mikestudios in July of 2015.  It currently has a 90% positive rating on Steam.

At the time of writing, Dungeon Souls is still in early access.

Premise:

Clear each level by killing enemies and activating marks to progress deeper into the dungeon.  Acquire equipment from chests and shops to make yourself more powerful.

Death is permanent, but not to fear, the resources and experience you collect from your previous deaths can be used to make your character even more powerful, thus making your character stronger every time you die and revive.  Death is an integral part of finally achieving victory!

If you would like to see some gameplay, be sure to check out my Dungeon Souls Let's Play series!

Visuals:

Example of Visuals

A cute little game with retro sprite graphics.  The dungeons have neat little designs everywhere, and the characters are cute and really fun.  There's not exactly much to say, but it still looks really nice.

I greatly appreciate that the dungeon backgrounds change with every boss battle.  Instead of making every dungeon look the same with more powerful enemies of the same type, Dungeon Souls changes the dungeon and enemy sprites every 4th level.  It is always refreshing to find a new color palette after you defeat a difficult boss.

Menus/Interface:

A lot of things aren't exactly explained from the start.  The menus and in-game interface can be a little overwhelming at the beginning.  Most of it must be learned through trial and error, and a lot of fiddling around.  It all works well once you figure it out though.

Gameplay:

Overall, gameplay is a lot of fun.  You collect items from your fallen enemies, and every 3 levels you will be faced with a boss; each one being harder than the last.

The fact that death is an integral part of eventual victory makes dying a lot less painful in the long run; you die knowing that, next time, you will most likely level up and progress even farther.  So in this case, what kills you makes you stronger!  (Bad reference, I know)


Basic gameplay is just running around and just chop at random stuff.  The simplicity though does have its downfalls.  the game will often throw unfair situations at the player in which he has no hope of avoiding any hits.  Some bosses are also poorly designed, and their attacks are extremely difficult or impossible to avoid, especially if you are using a melee class.

Also, enemies appear on top of you randomly, and I find this a little unfair to the player, as the player should not be penalized for something that is not in their control.

Controls:

Controls are very simple and well laid out.  While playing, you have easy access to all your attacks, and it is not difficult to use at all.  This is after you learn how they work of course, and that may take some time.

Certain things I am still unsure of how they work.  We could use a little more of a tutorial with this game, as the one currently in place is not the most informative.  I am assuming they are planning on adding a more clear and informative tutorial as development progresses.

Glitches:

Being in early access, this game does have its fair share of glitches.  At times, the game slows down to around 30 FPS.  Seeing as how the graphics are very simplistic and un-demanding,  this is a little confusing. Another issue I have experienced is a game crash after picking up an item.  Aside from this, I haven't found any other issues.

As this game is in early access, I cannot hold these glitches against the game, as it is still a work in progress.

Summary:

A fun game overall.  I strongly recommend this game to fans of the genre and non-fans alike.

Pros:

• Leveling up after a death adds an element of fun to dying.
• Combat is generally simplistic, but there are certain more advanced things which can be done to tilt combat in your favor.
• Cute graphics.

Cons:

• Some glitches, but nothing game breaking, although the framerate drop is annoying.
• Needs a more informative tutorial. Current tutorial leaves the user hanging.
• Sometimes unfair combat.

SCORE:  8.5 / 10

Do you agree?  Let me know in the comments below!