Yet another indie pixel roguelite sidescroller in a randomized gluttonous dungeon. Is Dungreed worth playing in 2023?
Table of Contents
Background
You know the deal by now. So what makes Dungreed different? Well, there are a few gimmicks.
First, there’s a persistent character level. You don’t take anything with you out of the dungeon, but you level up depending on your performance. Each level gives you skill points that you can sink into a few different categories, which include standard bonuses like health, defense, or attack power, but also evasion. That’s right: you have a chance to evade attacks, even if they hit you.
This is important because dodging is on a charge based cooldown. You have multiple charges that refresh relatively quickly, but it also doesn’t grant invincibility frames until you’ve sunk 20 skill points into the swiftness skill tree. This means that early on you’ll end up eating a lot of attacks, though it is nice when RNG rules in your favor and you evade an attack from a boss. There’s no penalty for moving through enemies though, so feel free to punish their slow attack animations with extreme prejudice.
The dungeon itself is a random selection of rooms. You start each run with some basic items but are able to buy a few things before you enter the dungeon. You bring some of your gold back when you die (the amount is level dependent), so if the run doesn’t look promising, then hold onto it and pour that resource into the next run. Otherwise, you can eat food in the dungeon to boost your stats for that run.
Spoiler: sink all your points into Mysticism so that you can carry an item over between runs.
What does Dungreed do well?
The platforming works well enough, but it’s hardly anything new. If you’ve played enough of these games, then you’ll recognize attack patterns and commonalities between designs.
What could Dungreed do better?
This game was clearly made for short bursts. The background tracks are on a short loop, and you’ll notice the limited number of rooms quickly. I observed a few framerate drops, which is concerning for a game that doesn’t exactly appear to be pushing the Switch’s limits. Builds can be very inconsistent, and I frequently found myself just at the mercy of drops rather than actually cobbling together something planned.
Is Dungreed fun?
Runs where you have a good item combo can feel great, but too often are you stuck with the short sword or something crappy for too long. You’re likely to hit the wall early on, and it’ll feel like you’ve seen all that there is to see with the same rooms and enemies.
Who is this game for?
Players who just need one more roguelite. Nicalis fans probably had this on their radar, since Isaac makes an appearance as a weapon.
Is Dungreed good value?
There’s a decent amount of game here for 14.99, and you can get it on sale. If you’re the type to really want to master a game then it has enough to keep you occupied.
Is Dungreed worth playing in 2023?
If you’re just now hearing about this game, then you can go ahead and go on about your day. I gave this one a shot because I saw it on Nicalis’ website and was like “how did I not hear about this sooner?” Turns out it’s because Dungreed is incredibly average. The aesthetic is cute and the gameplay is serviceable, but it doesn’t stand out against other notable titles in the genre.
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