RPGWatch Feature - Dungeons of Chaos Review

Myrthos

Cave Canem
Administrator
Joined
August 30, 2006
Messages
11,223
Forgottenlor reviews Dungeons of Chaos, which looks to take us back in time to the good old days.

Dungeons of Chaos is a throwback to the first open world rpgs, like the early Might and Magics and Ultimas. These games weren't about crafting or finding something to interact with every thirty seconds, but about exploring huge open areas, fighting off monster, solving an occasional riddle, and figuring out what you had to do next. Near and far were hidden treasures and monsters both easy to defeat and way to powerful for your party. In these kinds of games you often learned brutally where you could not go until you got more powerful. Dungeons of Chaos recaptures the feeling of these types of games in their entirety, including combat and dialogue systems that you hardly see now of days. While the game is purposefully nostalgic, it at least understands what made these games fun, and offers the player a game of epic scope and a huge world to explore.
More information.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
11,223
Thanks Forgottenlor.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
11,223
Although I don't plan to buy the game (grind), I love the review.
gj Forgottenlor!
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
Great review, thanks Forgottenlor. I bought this on my phone a few months ago but never got round to really playing it, you've inspired me to re-install.
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
1,901
Location
UK
If this had been turn-based I probably would've gotten deeply into it instead of asking for a refund an hour in.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
2,470
Location
USA
I played this several dozen hours. If the developer had focused more on content and less on special ways of playing the game, it could have been really good. Remember Eshcalon and how you could play with certain types of characters or types of penalties? This game does the same thing. Plus there are tons of perks for people who have finished the game x number of times and ways. It's just stupid because it penalizes new players to the product. It'd be like, hey you have to finish the game 3 times to be able to have a cleric in your party :)
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
8,821
It'd be like, hey you have to finish the game 3 times to be able to have a cleric in your party :)
Nier Automata says hi. But that one at least has boobs. ;)
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
This game has a surprising amount of depth that isn't apparent when you first start playing. I keep meaning to go back and play some more because I've seen updates for new content since I finished, and some day I will get back to it. It didn't make my top three of last year, but it was in the top five.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2011
Messages
18,788
Location
Holly Hill, FL.
I really tried getting into it. But the grind is just too much, sucks all the fun out of it.

Multi-hour phases of doing inane braindead busywork just to advance... I don't know what switch in my brain I'd have to engage to find that even remotely enjoyable.
 
Joined
Dec 13, 2010
Messages
620
Agreed. I played it for a while. My main complaint is that most combat movement is one square at a time. In manual mode, that just makes the battles drag on longer than they need to be. Then I started tinkering with the automated combat. By that time I was high enough level that most battles could run themselves. Kind of lost interest after that because there was little sense of accomplishment.
 
Joined
Mar 22, 2012
Messages
5,521
Location
Seattle
I really tried getting into it. But the grind is just too much, sucks all the fun out of it.

Multi-hour phases of doing inane braindead busywork just to advance… I don't know what switch in my brain I'd have to engage to find that even remotely enjoyable.

I agree about this part, which is why I'd often then stop and go do something else in between, even though this meant extra backtracking. At least the game is wide open, so you can always explore somewhere else if a dungeon gets tedious.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
2,716
Location
Vienna, Austria
This game has a surprising amount of depth that isn't apparent when you first start playing. I keep meaning to go back and play some more because I've seen updates for new content since I finished, and some day I will get back to it. It didn't make my top three of last year, but it was in the top five.

I agree the character building is truly well thought out. That's what kept me coming back.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
2,716
Location
Vienna, Austria
I'm sick and tired of all these throwback-old-school CRPGs. Yay nostalgia, but please... A game isn't fun or good just because it has archaic graphics and controls. Push for something new. I'm not talking more AAA Bioware stuff, just be innovative. I think a lot of developers jumped on this bandwagon because it's cheap and a current craze.

I'm over it personally.
 
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Messages
1,561
Location
Downtown Chicago, IL
At first I was sceptical, but then it started to click. This definitely has more depth then first apparent. There are some very intricate fights to have.

I ended up putting almost 120 h into it.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2015
Messages
2,164
Location
BW, Germany
Oh, no way in hell - those graphics are way too damn primitive and retro for my taste! You gotta be kidding me...call me a graphics whore, if you must, (even though I have played and appreciated games like Eschalon, which no one would call advanced or say they are "eye candy") but the graphics can't look twenty to thirty years out of date if you want to catch my interest and attention...
 
Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
2,244
Location
Pacific NorthWest, USA!
More precise to say it's really really poorly implemented turn-based, and also has wonky movement.

What do you think is poorly implemented outside of the movement, which I also don't like? There are a ton of different spells with all sorts of effects, a lot of different weapons, again with varying effects, different weapon styles and some unique class combat abilities. I thought these were all well done. The various enemies also have differing abilities. Boss fights, like against the Liche, Ant Queen, Undead Dragon or Kratos, or the Ancient Evil, play out very differently.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
2,716
Location
Vienna, Austria
Back
Top Bottom