I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that the original Enchanted Cave is not only one of my favorite Flash games of all time, but one of my most-played games of all time.

I spent a good 50 hours or so with the original version on Kongregate and would come back to it periodically. When I saw that a sequel had not only been made, but had a Steam version too, it became one of the few times I've instabought a new release sight-unseen.

The Enchanted Cave 2 is very similar to its predecessor. You play as a rogue adventurer who journeys deep into a 100-level dungeon in search of loot, monsters and glory. Along the way, you find relics, potions and new items, and if things get too dangerous, you can always "escape" with a pair of magical wings and try again with the gear you collected on the way. Combat is done automatically by just walking into enemies, and there's a semi-randomized aspect to the floors you visit - no two are the same.

It's pretty impressive what the creator, one-man dev studio Dustinaux, upgraded in the interim between games. Chief among the improvements is a massive skill tree system that has three distinct sectors. You can choose to upgrade physical skills (combat, defense, experience boosts and HP), magical skills (MP, new skills) or a general utility set (gold earned, potion efficiency). It actually gets quite challenging in later floors as you gain levels, because XP gains become minimal and you have to prioritize what you want to upgrade.

Instead of a simple splash screen in the original, there's now a town that you can visit in between runs, which has NPCs, shops and more. It even incentivizes the plot by making it possible to rescue NPCs trapped in the dungeon, who escape and become shopkeepers or bar patrons afterwards.

From a story standpoint, things haven't changed much. The story is pretty much exactly the same as before - there's an evil sorcerer who lives at the bottom of the dungeon and is trying his best to kill you, via subterfuge and the numerous enemies he summons on each level. The only difference now is that he isn't so blatant about his intentions, and you can find journal entries written by him in secret areas littered throughout the dungeon.

The one thing that makes the game so good is that it's addicting as hell. There's a definite sense of "one more run", and you're constantly on the lookout for better gear, relics and potions. You can craft your own upgraded gear with special attributes, pick one of four character skins to use when raiding and try to fill out the "Museum" (a place that houses all of your duplicate relics).

There are a couple problems of note as well. Despite the inclusion of Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country) as composer, the music is... underwhelming, considering his pedigree. Likewise, it can take hours to finish a run. Don't be deceived - there are enemies you physically can't pass without significant grinding.

That being said, the Enchanted Cave 2 is just as immersive and enjoyable as its predecessor. While it's not necessarily a true roguelike, it offers enough fun for anyone who's looking for an adventure with lots of variety and grinding. There's even a New Game Plus mode once you complete the dungeon for the first time.

Definitely check this one out.

For more reviews, visit my Curator page, Alex's RPG Recommendations!

The Enchanted Cave 2 is an RPG rogue-like developed by dustinaux. In The Enchanted Cave 2 you, an adventurer with your eyes on the prize, enter an enchanted cave and travel through it taking all the loot you can find while taking down or avoiding the many monsters you'll find on your journey in the cave. As you fight monsters and search for loot you'll level up your character, making him more powerful and more able to take on the monsters.

One thing I'd like to address before I get to my review is that this game, despite being called a rogue-like, is not really a rogue-like. Sure it has procedural level generation but it lacks perma-death, when you die you keep all of your EXP and skills that you've collected.

+Great pixel graphics
+The cave consists of 100 levels so there's a fair amount to do unless you blaze through all 100 levels in one run
+Lots of different weapons and items for you to loot along the way
+Good variety of enemies, new enemies are introduced the further you get in the cave
+As well as finding loot you also have the ability to create potions and craft your own gear
+Four playable characters though as far as I can tell the only difference between them is their appearance
+It's simple and easy to get into, not something that can be said for many games similar to this
+Great soundtrack which fits well with the game

-While the skill tree is huge it's far too simplistic. The tree itself is split into three sections: warrior skills, mage skills and alchemist skills. Each section of the skill tree then has about four different skills/upgrades which just get repeated over and over again
-The combat is again, far too simplistic. Unless you try to use the weaknesses of the enemies against them combat consists entirely of walking up to an enemy and watching your character fight it, no input from the player is required
-The simplicity mentioned above leads to very little replayability in the game unless you're a perfectionist

Verdict:
Wait for a sale (7/10)

The Enchanted Cave 2 is a good RPG game with rogue-like elements that has great pixel graphics, a large cave to explore and lots of items and enemies that falls somewhat flat due to it's simplicity.

No drama, Just Reviews?

El K.

TL;DR: An Eastern-styled rogue-like, simple in design but engaging. Good for a playthrough, but late game and NG+ are heavily unbalanced.

The first thing to note about the Enchanted Cave is it is available for free as a flash game. That version of the game stops at level 80. The version on steam is the equivalent of the 'Premium' flash version, with steam achieves and trading cards added. The second thing to note is this is not what most modern people would consider a 'rogue-like' in the traditional sense. I would call this an Eastern rogue-like, closer to Shiren the Wanderer or Azure Dreams. Each run is not separate from the others, you play the same character, with certain things getting reset on the run while keeping others.

Gameplay wise, the game is about delving into a randomly generated dungeon. The end goal is to reach level 100 and defeat the boss there, but individual runs are about either collecting gear, levels, money, or making progress to a checkpoint. Every ten levels has a checkpoint available that can be warped to after you find it. The rogue-like part comes in that every new run has you lose all gear gained. You keep levels and money, and certain pieces of gear called 'artifacts', but generic gear and items such as healing potions and alchemy ingredients are lost. You finish a run by using a special item that exits the dungeon. If you die on the run, you are reverted to before you started the run, losing all progress made. In essence, the game is about knowing how far you can push a run before you need to leave. There is really very little luck-based about this, as you can look at monster stats before engaging them, and they stay in one place, never moving to engage you first. The main randomness is in criticals. Basically, you do runs at a level, until you acquire artifacts that let you start comfortably at a later level, making gradual progress until you win.

There is a sort of class system, with every level letting you apply points to features that either boost your warrior abilities, alchemy, or magic. Levels also raise a stat by one rank, as do crystals found in the game or later on purchased from a merchant. Gear found improves stats, and can be enchanted with items to give additional effects that aren't gained by levels, such as elemental damage/resistance and dodge chance. All of the paths seem a bit balanced, but warrior seems to coast through on minimal effort, only needing to dab in mage for a bit to grab healing until they finish that route and can do another. By the time you finish the game, you should have one path finished, and be most of the way down another.

The faults start to show when you reach the end of your first run of the game, and in NG+. Notably, levels don't scale, so you are still getting +1 attack at level 2 all the way to level 50. Notably, with gear, crystals, and the like, that means that levels mean way, way less as you go on. Raising your attack from 2-3 has more impact than raising it from 90-91. Once you get near the end, you'll pretty much have the best gear, have it enchanted the best, and find that you barely get stronger than that. This isn't a problem really, it leaves the final boss still challenging (albeit with spamming healing potions in combat, nothing is challenging). It becomes extremely broken in NG+, as you don't get any stronger gear, monsters just get much stronger, leaving your only way to advance being the less and less effective stat ups. Enchants get better, but the only enchantment worth anything by that point is instant death chance. You can easily break the game by stacking instant death and dodge, and relying on the RNG for most enemies.

As such, overall it is a well done game, and the cracks only start to show in the late game with scalability of stats. It is still worth a play through, though perhaps better to catch on sale than pay full price.

Enchanted cave 1 and 2 are the ultimate Dungeon Crawler/Rogue Like experience for
me, and with enchanted cave 2 compared to 1 the experience went to a whole new level.

The sequel adds better graphics, a larger, more interesting dungeon to explore, and a improved inventory screen and special attack system. The story is more interesting and we
have a town with NPCs.
The progression tree will allow you to become a mage, warrior, alchemist, or a mix of skills.
Craft potions, enchant your equipment and discover secret areas, all while learning more about the cave.
And you can now step over empty cloth sacks!

The most unique and fun feature in the game, in my opinion is the fact that you have to go in the cave several times to get deeper each time using the escape wings at the right time.
All floors are randomly generated so not 1 run will be the same.
The feeling of getting further each time you enter is a very good experience for me.
After you beat the game NG+ will offer a new challenge.

Having played the flash and android version for dozens of hours I highly advice anyone who loves rpg/rogue like games to give it a try.

First off, I would not recommend at full price I was able to get it on sale for $4 (60% off) and at that price it is a decent game.

This is a rogue-like in the sense of it is a top-down dungeon crawl through a randomized map. It is devoid of story elements and is little more than a hack 'n slash for leveling up your character. It is easier than most rogue type games and does NOT have perma-death.

You start on the surface in a village. This is a safe zone and you can get a few minor quests from the townsfold to find certain items. You are warned before you enter the cavern that it is a one way trip; every time you go down a staircase it disappears and you can not return. The only way to return is to find special wings in loot that will allow you to fly back to the surface. If you die at the hands of a monster you will be killed, lost forever. (Well, there is no perma-death so you will revive at the surface village; however, anything gained since you entered the cavern will be lost, including experience and levels.) Every 10 levels there is a shop keep that can buy or sell equipment as well as act as a starting point whenever you re-enter the cavern.

There are 8 characters that you can start a game with, each with different starting statistics, (hit points, magic points, attack, defense, and magic.) Every time that you gain a level, you can increase one stat and gain 3 skill points.

The skill points can be spent on a large skill tree to power up your character even more. It is divided into 3 trees Combat(which primarily increases Attack, defense, and crit chance) Magic (which increases Magic, magic points, and you can learn spells) and Treasure (increase potion efficiency, and treasure drop rates.) There are also xp bonuses and hp increases throughout the skill tree.

There is a lot of treasure in the dungeon, much of it (but not all) requires killing a monster to get to it. Treasure includes gold bags and 3 tiers of treasure chests. The low end contains "cursed" gear, up to the high end of powerful artifacts. They also contain, potions, wings and reagents. In this game cursed items work fine, but they turn to dust when you return to the surface. Only gold, potions, and artifacts stay in your inventory when you return to the villiage.

Crafting is also a part of this game. Any 2 reagents can be combined at any time to create a potion. Potions can increase stats temporarily; except for hp and mp which are restored permanently. If you find a forge, you can increase trhe stats of any equipment piece by combining it with2 reagents and spending some magic points.

It is a nice game, the skill tree allows you to alter different builds wildly and it is fun to play. Of course being a hack 'n slsh dungeon crawl, it may get repetitive after a while. I'm still enjoying it though.

For me, the game runs flawlessly using Linux Mint 21. It works well on both a high end gaming PC as well as a lower end Ryzen with integrated vega graphics.

Loved the mobile port of this game, and so far the Steam version is even better. It looks surprisingly good on a bigger screen, and runs extremely well. If you like dungeon crawlers, rougelikes, or just RPGs, you owe it to yourself to give this game a shot. The skill tree and crafting system add a serious level of depth that can be lacking in some games like this. Also, the music alone makes this worth it. Grant Kirkhope is a legend in the industry, and for good reason. Can't believe the developer got such a big name to do the music.

Highly recommended!

A lite Rogue dungeon game. The reason i classify this as lite, to me personally, it seemed easier than other rogue games on steam. I suggest if your just starting to get interested in rogue dungeon games, or would like to try one, this is the one to pick. Anyways, here is my pro/con list:

PROS:

`Easier than other Rogues
`New Game + lets you play the game again with all your items
`Fun game with many different items and weapons, armors, and other things to find in the dungeon
`Ability to pick which skills you want

CONS:

`The museum requires multiple games to finish
`You only have 4 character sprites to pick from
`The game is short for a rogue game

My Final recommendation: I recommend it because, unlike other rogue games, it is easier. This could make people that are just starting to try out rogue games play it, or if you want a quite easy rogue game, this one is not too bad to play.

When I first saw this game I was instantly reminded of the bonus dungeon from Lufia II (on the SNES)
After playing it for a few hours I can safely say it's almost just like that.
The controls are simple, the floors are short but challenging, the crafting system offers a wide variety of enchantments and potions to make and the level-up system (with a skill tree) is fun!
Highly recommended to anyone who is a fan of rogue-like RPG's and/or games that are simple on the outside but complex on the inside.

Target Audience: Roguelite players

Summary:

The Enchanted Cave 2 comes to Steam, after a premium version of the game made it's way to the mobile platform a while ago. While the game isn't overly complicated in its mechanics, it's able to mix things up with resistances and other types of challenges to fully take advantage of risk/reward gameplay, where you have to question attacking an enemy and what benefits it gets you. The crafting system 2 attribute system does add a layer of choice that's appreciated, and while the combat is rather simple, it can work over the long haul. The music by Grant Kirkhope does stand out and was able to be listened to repeatedly over a period of time, and honestly, it's just a solid title all around, where you want a little bit more of a thinking roguelike more then anything else.


Gameplay Footage and video review: https://youtu.be/4XuFPMNCut0

Lists:
Positives:

• Simple, but works well. Does highlight risk/reward mechanics rather well.
  
• Choices in Crafting system give it a degree of complexity that is appreciated.
  
• Weakness system does give the reason to exploit, as it can do 3x times damage, and it's a good balance between the use of magic and
  
• Like the artwork and enemy design.
  
• A great soundtrack by Grant Kirkhope.
  
• For a mobile port, it actually doesn't look like it. And it runs well, which is the biggest boon.

Negatives:

• Would like to have seen a tiny bit more complexity to battle. While it's simple, over the long run it will probably wear down in terms of replayability.
  
• The 3 different character trees don't lead to 3 different playstyles in my opinion like the description says. There's maybe more emphasis on certain elements, but the combat is too simple to really support that.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

"The Enchanted Cave 2" (TEC2) is a casual roguelike with turn-based tile-based movement, stationary enemies, lots of different items, an expansive skill tree, several diverse biomes, and competently drawn pixel art.

While it inherits most of its mechanics from the classics of the genre, gameplay feels very different due to the fact that the enemies never move. This makes the game easier, but also more tactical. Combat only takes place if you initiate it, so you keep looking for the most efficient way to grab all loot in a level while minimizing dangerous fights. You can also (usually) leave the dungeon any time you want, so once you face tougher enemies, you constantly face the decision to either leave and keep your loot, or risk another fight and potentially lose it. This constant risk-reward management is probably the most engaging mechanic in the game.

Progress in TEC2 is very fast. The deeper you go, the more dangerous the enemies become, but naturally you'll also find better loot. Enemies that can kill you in 4 hits, may be unable to harm you at all just 2-3 delves later. Due to this fast progression, the game never felt grindy for me.

TEC2 features an expansive skill tree with three main branches (combat, magic, utility) and 40+ nodes per branch. Most of the nodes are just stat upgrades like "+1 Attack", but their effect is noticeable in-game, and there are also a few unique skills. While there isn't as much build variety as in class-based roguelikes like ToME, you can still do a lot with equipment choices, enchantments, and skill tree choices. TEC2 features a rich combat system with 6 different elemental types of damage and protection (plus physical and a few extra damage types), and the enemies all have their specific strengths and weaknesses.

Graphics and sound are decent for an indie game. The UI is pretty efficient for mouse-and-keyboard controls, though the game can't be controlled with keyboard only, and key rebinding is not possible either. Occasionally the game crashed, but since it autosaves at the start of every level, and the levels themselves are fairly small, I never lost more than 2-3 minutes of progress.

I recommend TEC2 especially to players who are new to roguelikes, but may feel a bit intimidated by the full-fledged classics like ADoM, ToME, or NetHack. For fans of the genre, TEC2 is probably too light in its mechanics to become a favorite, but it's nevertheless very enjoyable if you're in the mood for something casual.