This is a relatively forgiving roguelike in that it lets you keep your monsters and equipment between runs (as long as you survive). It's also good fun: the sheer number of treasures, monsters and traps mean that no level can ever be played on automatic. Just one example: your monster companion steps on a trap that teleports him to another part of the floor. Do you try to find the exit as fast as possible forgoing the exp and treasures on this floor, or hunt around for your companion and continue exploring the floor in your vulnerable state? The dungeon runs are great fun and on some occasions can become wonderfully tense. My small gripes with the gameplay lie in the lack of balance between monster companions (some are next to useless and others can make you virtually invincible) as well as some terribly unintuitive menu hopping (I lost count of how many times I accidentally healed a monster or cast a debuff on myself).

There is also a more traditional RPG town where you go in between dungeon runs to restock and socialize, and while it's a nice change of pace, it's probably the weaker half of the game because of how static the town is compared to the dungeons and how the content isn't all that meaningful beyond bragging rights of how big your harem becomes.

Many of its contemporaries far outstrip it in terms of scale, story, graphics, and amount of content. But I have a soft spot for simple, fun, gameplay, and Azure Dreams delivers it in spades.