Might be interested? Neutral advice here

[dubesor]

Okay guys, I just finished the game.
First off let me state that I wasn't familiar with "oldschool dungeon crawlers" before.
I bought this game when it was for sale for 3,50 EUR ($4.55).

At first the gridbased movement- and combat system felt awkward. Once I got used to it it felt perfect.

Here is my basic summary

Positive:
+ Graphics - I liked the graphics. The enemies are well animated, the lighting effects are awesome, the walls are intentionally monotone (hint: puzzlesolving)
+ Story - sure, the story isn't major, but as I proceeded my way down the dungeons I loved all the messages and scrolls of previous prisoners and their experiences - awesome!
+ Puzzles - Yes puzzles. Oh god how I love puzzles. I have to say this game has some of the best and most satisfying puzzles I have ever seen. I won't spoil anything but if you like puzzles you will love this game.
+ Replayability / Customization - Due to the fact that you can create your own party any way you like (race, trades, skills, classes etc), downloadable custom dungeons and many many secrets, treasures and loot you will have tons of opportunity to replay this game. I am not gonna lie, on my first playthrough I missed almost all the treasures and almost half the secrets. Time to replay!
+ Price - as an Indie title this game is extremely affordable. maybe you aren't as lucky as me catching it during sale for less than 5 bucks but even on default price it is pretty cheap

Negative:
- Ending - Not gonna lie, the last level and final bossfight felt unsatisfying compared to the rest of the game. It felt hectic, stressful and annoying, especially the constant spawn of massive amounts of monsters that block you in the final bossfight
- Difficult Puzzles - very few puzzles are unfair and simply too frustrating: Yes, 99% of the puzzles are absolutely awesome, but I had run in 2 or 3 puzzles that had me stuck for hours before finally giving up and consulting a walkthrough, and even then: I solved it but wasn't able to figure out how anyone could find out without a walkthrough (most extreme case was the portal maze).
- No character rendering - this is a minor complaint. I would have loved any way to actually see my characters. See how gear looks on them etc. Other than just looking at the portait.

Overall: 8/10.

This game is awesome. As someone who wasn't used to dungeon-crawlers and didn't know what to expect it took me a while to get used to the grid-based system but once I figured that out it was fine. Puzzles are the games strenght, exploration and solving of puzzles is both interesting and rewarding. You might get frustrated or stuck here and there but overall the game is being very fair.

Well worth to buy!

[igortroy]

good review, but I don't agree with the negatives you mentioned.
first-off, the puzzles in this game are NOT a negative. some may be very hard, but that's because they are a radical change from a previous puzzle, like when you need to be quick in one puzzle, and slow and careful in another. I didn't use online walkthroughs for puzzles, but I did die a lot and got frustrated in the harder ones - which makes this game so great.
you only need walkthroughs if you are out to find secrets and treasures, which mostly have no clues where they are (like fall in THIS hole and not the one next to it).

the ending? it's actually very creative in my opinion. 99% of players expected a big bad dragon for a final boss - not a *SPOILER* giant cube chasing you around. I think both the story and the ending are a positive because of the way it's told, and the several plot-twists I personally didn't see coming. primarly *SPOILER* the fact that the dungeon creators are actually not the bad guys, and some of the monsters are not fighting to keep you in, but to keep something else in (the big bad cube).

your beef about the lack of character rendering, indicates that you haven't played games like Dungeon Hack or Eye Of The Beholder. you are not supposed to see your character in D&D-based, 1st-person dungeon-crawlers. how your Minotaur fighter looks in that cool Plate Of Valor is left to your imagination. this isn't NWN.

I'd give this game a 9/10. the only negative being, the animations sometimes feel a bit choppy and repetetive.

[humjack]

I agree with most everything you said, though I managed to make it through the portal maze through some (a lot of) trial and error, so i'ts not impossible. Though I know there are a few secrets that I knew were there but I simply could not figure out. For example, I had held on to one of the little "map pieces" you find throughout the entire game. On more than one occasion I flipped back through all the maps of previous dungeons and could not find the matching room. Definitely a "WTH" feeling for me which persisted throughout the game, and I certainly would've needed to consult a guide to figure out.

***Spoiler***
I agree I found the entire final level to be anti-fun compared to the rest of the game. Even collecting all the machine pieces had me confused when some of them were commented "we'll need this one" while others were not, when in fact those other pieces were also needed. And they had to be placed in very specific parts of the cube, two of which not in the obvious spots with holes. I wasted a lot of time figuring this simple non-puzzle out, only to be disappointed by the hectic boss fight that followed. Constantly re-loading different save points and hoping I wouldn't get surrounded by random creatures during the encounter. Spending the whole game fine-tuning my party's stats and skills and not have it be tested at all at the end...

Overall just a minor blemish on an otherwise great game that has had me captivated since I purchased it on sale a few days ago. I've never played this type of game before. The puzzle solving and reward system is just really satisfying. The atmosphere and bit of story give it that extra polish too.

9/10 for me, a must-buy for any puzzle/rpg fan at the current sale price.