spoilers!
If I had to name my favorite dungeon tropes in games, I think the 'multi-floor world-dungeon' would be one of them: where the space that you traverse downwards (or upwards) is tied to the story that's being told. Nepheshel and its descent into the abyss is a particularly breathtaking example, as is the indie game Slimes and its frightening slime-horror-cave. ... Usually this trope is within the turn-based RPG genre. Now in those two games cases, they're relatively short.
But in other cases - like dungeon crawlers like Etrian Odyssey, Undernauts, Nemuru Mayu, Labyrinth of Galleria, SMT Strange Journey etc, the games are very long! And at least in Undernauts/SMT (I haven't played much EO, Nemuru Mayu, or Galleria), things get more involved the farther you go in. You really have to love the time-consuming dungeon crawl to enjoy the 'spatial story'.
Well, that is to say, I really liked Light Crusader trying to marry action elements to the dungeon crawl RPG. If I'm being honest its actual action and puzzles are maybe a 3/5 at best, but the whole world set-up - explore 6 floors underneath a castle, each its own huge dungeon - was a lot of fun. Each floor reveals some new secrets and twists, and although the game's narrative never reaches exciting territory, it was still such a memorable and fun structure. Also there were great tunes and Treasure's pixel art is amazing!
(Yes, the same studio that made Ikaruga made this!)
The action, like other games of the era, suffer from enemies having poor tells for ridiculously fast attacks. This game is isometric fake-3D, meaning it's hard to line up or dodge or jump over things. Your attack hitbox is really small, too.
There's a real 'small-team' feel to the game. Little one-off jokes here and there which I won't spoil. The way the late game floor has you warp off into 8 different zones with completely different genre settings - Japanese rooms, warzones, future, etc - was surprising. Unfortunately I wish they had done something more interesting with that other than just let you visit briefly! But it was still a fun surprise.
The way everyone talks is brief and almost stilted, but in a way that suits the tone - it's a small, scary medieval town and everyone's getting kidnapped. Things seem to be in a panic..
Well, also, it's just a short game. I finished in like 4-5 hours! I miss that length. The game is just trying so much, and using all these fun ideas, that it's hard to not give it a 5. It's a game with very good Spirit.
If I had to name my favorite dungeon tropes in games, I think the 'multi-floor world-dungeon' would be one of them: where the space that you traverse downwards (or upwards) is tied to the story that's being told. Nepheshel and its descent into the abyss is a particularly breathtaking example, as is the indie game Slimes and its frightening slime-horror-cave. ... Usually this trope is within the turn-based RPG genre. Now in those two games cases, they're relatively short.
But in other cases - like dungeon crawlers like Etrian Odyssey, Undernauts, Nemuru Mayu, Labyrinth of Galleria, SMT Strange Journey etc, the games are very long! And at least in Undernauts/SMT (I haven't played much EO, Nemuru Mayu, or Galleria), things get more involved the farther you go in. You really have to love the time-consuming dungeon crawl to enjoy the 'spatial story'.
Well, that is to say, I really liked Light Crusader trying to marry action elements to the dungeon crawl RPG. If I'm being honest its actual action and puzzles are maybe a 3/5 at best, but the whole world set-up - explore 6 floors underneath a castle, each its own huge dungeon - was a lot of fun. Each floor reveals some new secrets and twists, and although the game's narrative never reaches exciting territory, it was still such a memorable and fun structure. Also there were great tunes and Treasure's pixel art is amazing!
(Yes, the same studio that made Ikaruga made this!)
The action, like other games of the era, suffer from enemies having poor tells for ridiculously fast attacks. This game is isometric fake-3D, meaning it's hard to line up or dodge or jump over things. Your attack hitbox is really small, too.
There's a real 'small-team' feel to the game. Little one-off jokes here and there which I won't spoil. The way the late game floor has you warp off into 8 different zones with completely different genre settings - Japanese rooms, warzones, future, etc - was surprising. Unfortunately I wish they had done something more interesting with that other than just let you visit briefly! But it was still a fun surprise.
The way everyone talks is brief and almost stilted, but in a way that suits the tone - it's a small, scary medieval town and everyone's getting kidnapped. Things seem to be in a panic..
Well, also, it's just a short game. I finished in like 4-5 hours! I miss that length. The game is just trying so much, and using all these fun ideas, that it's hard to not give it a 5. It's a game with very good Spirit.