Dungeon Encounters is a new RPG from Cryptic Studios that’s available on Steam. The game has been met with mixed reviews, but the developers have promised to add more content and fix bugs in future updates.
The Dungeon Encounters review is a game that was released on Steam. It has been praised for its graphics, but criticized for the lack of content that it provides.
JRPGs unplugged – Dungeon Encounters (pic: Square Enix)
One of the greatest JRPGs in recent years is released by two of Square Enix’s most famous developers, yet you’ve probably never heard of it.
If we told you that Hiroyuki Ito, director of the classic Final Fantasy 6, 9, and 12, and inventor of the Active Time Battle (ATB), had just released a new role-playing game with music by legendary Final Fantasy musician Nobuo Uematsu, you’d think it would be treated as a major release with a lavish marketing campaign. In fact, it was published last week with so little fanfare that no one was even given a review copy, according to Metacritic. That may lead you to believe it’s not very excellent, yet that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Dungeon Encounters, on the other hand, is a tough sell. It received just a short mention in the most recent Nintendo Direct, where you may remember its stark 2D mazes that appeared like they were written on graph paper, but with animated 3D people strolling on top of them. Dungeon Encounters’ approach isn’t old school in the sense that it’s not attempting to recreate previous games but rather repurposing its concepts in new and intriguing ways – all while seeming as boring as possible.
Even though the majority of the action takes place in your mind, this is role-playing reduced down to its basic bones. The foundations of the genre are so solid that the game is still extremely enjoyable. In fact, one of the main reasons why the entire affair is so fascinating is because of this.
Etrian Odyssey, one of our favorite Japanese role-playing series, is quite similar to Dungeon Encounters. It’s more a matter of budget than a desire to go completely retro (we’re excited to see what the new Switch game looks like), but having to draw your own dungeon map, as you would on a piece of graph paper back in the day, is oddly enjoyable even though it’s completely unnecessary with modern technology.
Dungeon Encounters is built on a similar premise, but it goes much farther. As you assemble a team of four heroes and begin exploring the grid-based dungeons, you’ll see that there’s no real map, no narrative, and hardly any moving visuals. It’s also simply a grid, with no ornamentation other than the color you fill in as you travel through the squares. When you do trigger an encounter, it’s usually a battle with the dungeon’s different inhabitants, but it may also be squares that replenish your health or offer a puzzle that leads to the location of a hidden treasure.
Given the director’s background, the combat system employs Active Time Battles, which are comparable to those used in Final Fantasy 5 and 6. In that regard, the game isn’t nearly as old school as it might be, since instead of turn-based combat as in Dragon Quest, foes and heroes may strike at any time, restricted only by a timer bar that, when full, allows you to attack or utilize magic and special skills.
If Dungeon Encounters has a hidden agenda, it must be Ito’s desire to show that the ATB system is still a viable combat system, even while contemporary Final Fantasy games have shifted toward more action-oriented alternatives. ATB was once the bold new invention, but Dungeon Encounters is able to play with the norms and offer a surprising amount of diversity in terms of monster and hero powers, as old-fashioned as it currently seems.
Combat is more than simply wiping out an enemy’s health points (HP), since HP is just one of three meters, and you must also knock down a monster’s physical defense (PD) or magical defense (MD) before you can inflict any serious harm. Even then, you can only harm them with the proper kind of assault – physical attacks if the PD is zero, and magical attacks if the MD is gone. The same is true for heroes, whose HP grows as you level up, while the other two can only be improved by acquiring new equipment.
When it comes to video games, old school usually always means tough, but Dungeon Encounters is surprisingly accessible at first, and the first hour or so is pretty easy going, as long as you grasp the idea of what’s going on. It does become a lot tougher as you advance, and although that’s to be anticipated, it’s also due to random factors and sudden KOs that you couldn’t possible predict. Random aspects are considerably more prevalent in Japanese game design than they are in Western games, and although they’ve been mostly phased out in contemporary games, Ito clearly misses them.
Battles in dungeons are more thrilling than they seem. (Square Enix photo)
However, this does not imply that the game is unfair; rather, it is unexpected. You always have a chance, even against opponents far stronger than you, if you level up wisely and equip the appropriate weapons and equipment. And, although you’ll have to restart from the beginning if your party is wiped out, if you can go back to the place where they died, you may resurrect your former squad in the Dark Souls manner.
It would be blasphemy to complain about a new Nobuo Uematsu soundtrack, even if the music is sometimes a little too aggressive for the game’s aesthetic. The generally spartan design is admirably bold, but it’s bolstered by some lovely artwork by Ryma It, who, despite a lengthy career at Square Enix, most notably on the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance series, is obviously underappreciated.
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The designs range from typical fantasy warriors to a sword-wielding dog, a strange tiny robot, and a Totoro rip-off. The artwork, which is equally excellent for foes, gives the game a surprising lot of character, with just enough to spark your imagination and add your own details and context, along with some really fascinating bios (which is strange considering the absence of narrative).
Dungeon Encounters is the antithesis of contemporary Final Fantasy games, focusing on gameplay and exploration above narrative and cinematic extravagance. Knowing doesn’t imply it’s better, but although the game would be a refreshingly simplified experience regardless of who created it, it’s especially gratifying that it comes from such renowned genre experts. It’s simply a pity Square Enix doesn’t seem to care about informing the public about it.
Summary of Dungeon Encounters
In a nutshell, the Japanese role-playing game reduced down to its basic bones is one of the most engaging and smartly constructed dungeon crawlers in recent years, rather than an exercise in nostalgic pandering.
Pros: Far more complexity than it seems at first glance, with a flexible combat system and smartly designed skills and equipment that require careful planning. The artwork and music are both fantastic.
Cons: Even die-hard fans may be discouraged by the lack of visuals and narrative, and the game does get very difficult later on, with a lot of random aspects.
8 out of 10
Nintendo Switch (reviewed), PlayStation 4, and PC are the available formats. £24.99 price Square Enix is the publisher of this game. Square Enix is the game’s creator. Date of Release: October 14, 2021 Age Rating: 7
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The dungeon encounters metacritic is a game that has been released by the developer, Dungeon Masters. It is a turn-based RPG that will have you fighting monsters in dungeons.
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