The Bard’s Tale Trilogy
The Bard’s Tale Trilogy
Simply the best way to play these classic dungeon crawlers today
The Bard’s Tale Trilogy is a fantastic remake of the classic dungeon crawlers, The Bard’s Tale: Tales of the Unknown, The Bard’s Tale II: The Destiny Knight, and The Bard’s Tale III: The Thief of Fate. I’ll get right to the point—if you’re a fan of these games (maybe you played or even finished them back on your Commodore 64 or PC) or if you enjoy classic computer RPGs like Wizardry or Might & Magic, buy this game. It’s an amazing value for money, and if you enjoy RPGs like I do, you’re in for at least 70-80 hours of fun.
– Real player with 79.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best RPG Classic Games.
TL; DR the Bard’s Tale Trilogy, is cool and has a lot of content for the asking price, however, it can get tedious and repetitive especially the second game. Therefore, I mostly recommend it to people who already have some experience with dungeon-crawlers or otherwise know what they are getting themselves into.
One important feature to note is that the game can be played without the keyboard or without the mouse.
Be aware that the original editions of these games are from the 80s, and while one game-mode has a lot of QoL changes it is still noticeable at times.
– Real player with 59.3 hrs in game
Legend of Grimrock
I just finished the game and I can’t say I really loved it. It has good and bad sides. Overall though, it was mostly bad. I will still recommend this game because I might just be getting too old for this type of game. I was curious and once I started I just had to finish it but it was mostly not fun to finish. More like a chore.
I felt that the game was difficult, even on normal. Luckily, you can save in the middle of a battle and the game persists the HP of the monster you are fighting. So you can abuse this. The game did not reward me for being patient and efficient. In the end, I had tons of potions but never really had time to use them. I also had tons of bombs but similarily, the action was too fast for me to really make use of them. I am saying this because this is an ARPG. ACTION role playing game. You need to click fast on your screen to be good. There are no hotkeys to attack or cast spells - on purpose - and combat is real time.
– Real player with 60.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best RPG Indie Games.
Grimrock plays like Eye of the Beholder with better graphics and actual depth of field. If you liked EotB, that’s a good thing. If you hated it (or have no idea what EotB even is), this game is PROBABLY not for you. It doesn’t feel like a modern game. It feels like an upscaled version of a game from the DOS era. The puzzles are vague and cryptic, there are no “directional arrows” pointing you where to go, very few map notations, you have to memorize (or write down) spells and recipes, and your supply of… everything is limited. If you do stupid things, you will die.
– Real player with 42.9 hrs in game
Dwerve: Prologue
This review is further detailed in the video below.
Dwerve is an incredibly charming game that is simple to pick up but requires strategy and dedication to succeed in! As a huge fan of Tower Defense games and the NES style classics, this game is a match made in heaven that resolves the shortcomings of both genres. I am super excited for the full game and can’t wait to cover it again when it releases!
|
✔️PROS
|
|
✔️Tower defense done right! Exploration, dodging enemy attacks, replacing towers and manually attacking keeps the game from getting stale like your typical tower defense games.
|
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best RPG Action-Adventure Games.
I Kickstarted this game based on the first 5 minutes or so of the demo. It seemed super fun and like an innovative mix on the Tower Defense genre. Now that I’m playing the prologue for a bit longer, that impression hasn’t changed. The game oozes style, and has a challenging but fun format.
So far I’m very pleased, but the two things I did notice were 1; the walking speed is SUPER slow. This seems to be on purpose for mechanics, but wow it feels like I’m taking forever to get from point A to B. I assume the levels are smaller based purely on that for the sake of getting around, but I hope there’s a way to increase that speed more than a very slow recharging dash. 2; destructible items aren’t very easy to tell apart from non-destructible things. I found myself just stopping quite a bit to see if anything was destructible nearby.
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Legend of Grimrock 2
Legends of Grimrock 2 is a Dungeon Crawler with real-time combat, lots of riddles and secrets, magic and potions, all wrapped up in gorgeous graphics. I’ve just replayed it after a couple of years and it is still fantastic, the best dungeon crawler out there.
Highly recommended!
-
77 secrets, 11 buried treasures, 17 “epic items” to find in 34 different areas
-
Lots of different enemies with various attack types and weaknesses
-
The game looks fantastic, the enemies and the different areas are very unique and memorable
– Real player with 157.9 hrs in game
Legend of Grimrock 2 is one of those games that improves upon the prequel in (almost!) every way, and I can’t do anything but whole-heartedly recommend it – Even for people who haven’t played the first. As it stands right now, there are several problems, but I’ll address what I liked about the game first.
The combat is just as fun as the first game, though now with arguably more strategy involved as most enemies are keen to your side-stepping ways and will have methods to counter them. Most enemies can now be countered by simply walking backward, as they lack lunging attacks save for a few smarter enemies, but at least that involves knowing the area and not simply moving into a 4x4 grid and keeping combat in that small, controlled area. Some enemies can still be conquered with that strategy, but they are few and far between.
– Real player with 80.9 hrs in game
The Quest
So, I’m not super far into this game just yet, but, I’ve just binged 3+ hours in one sitting, and it’s now 4am, and I have to be up for work in 2 hours. So. I think I can pretty safely give this a thumb up just now.
As other reviews have covered in great detail, it’s essentially Might and Magic 1 with a single character instead of a party. Overall, despite being a clear throwback to old gameplay and design styles, it’s pretty solid in the playability realm - I do wish they’d improved some of the interfaces slightly, however; buying and selling is kind of a pain, because you can’t really compare what you’re using, to what you’re looking at buying on the same screen. Repairing items at a shop is also somewhat inconvenient, as it’ll list every item that you have, without designating which ones you’re actually using. The map feature is also not really great, in that only terrain features are marked; if you want to keep track of questgivers, dungeons, etc, you literally need to make notes on the map. Kind of a waste of time/effort to have to label everything; I understand fully the value of having the player involved in keeping track of locations, etc, but I think they really swung the pendulum a little too far in the wrong direction. Stuff like signposts are marked on the map, but you need to actually visit them to see what they say. Again - I get it, but it’s not really 1200 AD in a fantasy world, I’m playing this on a computer, and not wasting my time on something pointless is just a nice feature. Regardless, though, it isn’t attrocious, and I’ve only had to look up a couple things to save myself time, and time wandering around aimlessly trying to remember where some stupid goblins were was fairly minimal.
– Real player with 77.8 hrs in game
The Quest captures perfectly the look of old grid-based first-person RPG’s like Eye of Beholder or the Might & Magic series, but not their feel. I started playing the Quest with a gleeful joy and in long stretches of time, but as I discovered the game’s many glaring faults along the way, my impression dwindled to mostly positive status. It looks great, sounds great, the combat is okay, but the writing and the quests are quite bad.
Always Welcomed
The Quest starts with you being the new and untrained King’s Agent, while you discover the mysteries of the lonely archipelago and who are the enemies of the Kingdom. And the world looks beautiful: for a 2D game, the Quest looks life-like, with vibrant colors and sharp, detailed sprites that look great on a widescreen monitor. As you stroll through the sandbox design of these islands, you’ll stroll through the dark and foreboding forests, bustling medieval cities mired in stone and wood, fossilized woods that were terrorized by volcanoes, snow covered valleys and icy lakes, and the dangerous dungeons that taunt you with a promise of dazzling riches. The sound of fight and the chirping birds in the distance help solidify your belonging in this meticulously hand-crafted world, and the music, while simple, effectively enchants your travels in this world. When you enter the houses, castles and vendor’s places, you are greeted with nicely crafted portraits of NPCs eager to engage in a chit-chat about how they’re in trouble and need your help with some minor thing. From beggars to the King, everyone needs YOU to solve their problems, and you are at the center of everything that’s happening in the archipelago.
– Real player with 49.8 hrs in game
Delver
Picked up Delver during the Steam Sale. Definitely worth the $3 it cost.
I wouldn’t call it ‘3d’ in more than a limited sense, it feels a lot more like Doom’s 2.5d- 3d environments, sprite monsters, etc. Still, it’s one save file you can’t back up and one life in a randomly generated roguelike. It actually makes for a pretty cool story:
I started off in a little camp with a couple of shopkeepers and the obligatory guest appearance of Old Man Exposition, who explained that there was a MacGuffin at the bottom of yonder dungeon. He also seemed troubled that people kept going in but never coming out. More on that later.
– Real player with 188.2 hrs in game
Big ol' TLDR:
Me, myself and I actually enjoy this game, and not just because I bought into it waaay back into pre-release and “feel obligated to pretend my money’s worth it”, I’ve had a genuinely good time with it thus far, and what’s here is quality.
I just have a few issues that makes me feel I can’t fully recommend this to someone else, unless I know they like what I do, but that said, I would definitely make this a tentative recommendation was it more stable. And as a sidenote, because I bought in early, my time played isn’t 100% indicative of everything I’ve gotten out of it.
– Real player with 25.9 hrs in game
StarCrawlers
StarCrawlers - a sci-fi first person party-based dungeon crawler with turn-based combat.
Flavor - Shadowrun in space.
In short, a surprisingly solid crawler with impressive polish that delivers what’s expected of the genre with more charm than normal. An easy recommend at its price.
More things to know:
1. Fun class variety. Soldier, Engineer, Cyber-ninja, Smuggler, Void Psyker, Force Psyker, Hacker, and a special optional companion class recruited via mission. Each has a different resource and gimmicks along with three talent trees. Party size limit of 4, but you can recruit all classes and rotate as needed.
– Real player with 123.5 hrs in game
Introduction: (Click Read More and scroll to bottom to see the shortened version)
After spending 70+ hours and hitting L100 in StarCrawlers on Hardcore I felt that I had enough experience to write a review, so let’s begin.
What is StarCrawlers? Well, StarCrawlers is a sci-fi dungeon crawler that puts you in the shoes of a Crawler in a galaxy where megacorps control the lives of the billions teeming in the galaxy. What does being a Crawler entail? Well, every now and then corps need a few dirty jobs done in order to expand and Crawlers are often the individuals they contact in order to do so. If you’ve ever played Shadowrun, this universe gives similar vibes.
– Real player with 115.5 hrs in game
The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians - Enhanced Edition
TL;DR for the Gamers:
If you enjoy a good dungeon crawler and games like Wizardry and Dungeon Master (or more recent titles inspired by these classics), but tire of the classic square-dance mechanics of most modern entries into this genre, then you could easily fall in love with the Fall of the Dungeon Guardians. This game mixes the feel of real-time combat with turn-based strategy through skill queues and a unique pause/play system. It features an optional slider to customize the battle speed (if you would rather handle party actions in real-time) and in-game pause with a menu full of auto-pause options reminiscent of games like Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Pillars of Eternity (for those of you who like to crank up the difficulty and sit back to think). With a variety of races, classes with their own sets of specializations, and the ability to create hybrid specializations, party creation and customization is definitely available here. Mix these features with auto-attacks, cooldown skills, and a solid threat management system, and you get a highly addictive dungeon crawler that plays like nothing I have ever experienced before. And, with a variety of difficulty settings covering the spectrum from casual adventurer to die-hard tactician, there is a comfort zone for anyone.
– Real player with 300.7 hrs in game
Dungeon crawlers
The vast majority of people on this planet don’t know, and will never know, the beauty of it. Every time I play one, I feel I belong to a secret society. Is it all nostalgia? The countless days, nights and weeks playing FTL’s Dungeon Master back in the late 80’s on my Atari ST? Or is it simply a matter of taste, this genre rubbing me the right way? I’m not sure, but I will do my best to analyse my thoughts about this game, The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians (TFotDG), created by French indie developer Mana Games.
– Real player with 100.5 hrs in game
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk
I don’t normally write reviews, since I don’t normally find a game that compels me to do so. But Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is such an unique experience that I had to write about it.
In short: please give this game a try. It’s one of my favourite dungeon crawlers with a rich and dark story to accompany it.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk is a dungeon crawler game where the player controls several teams of puppets to explore the hidden secrets of the Labyrinth hidden under the town named Refrain. The player assumes the role of a soul-possessed book, The Tractatus de Monstrum, and aids the travelling crippled witch Dronya and her apprentice Luca in uncovering the secrets behind Refrain and the Labyrinth.
– Real player with 226.9 hrs in game
The game itself is fun and interesting, but this version in particular is broken and no one is providing support. I’d recommend trying a different platform.
The game crashes frequently and does not let you save while in the labyrinth, only suspend data. If you crash after loading suspended data, you will not be able to load it again and will continue from before you entered the labyrinth. This is extremely annoying and if I hadn’t been able to find a workaround I’d have quit the game for sure. At the very least 5+ hours from my playtime were me replaying sections because of crashes.
– Real player with 123.3 hrs in game
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning is what happens when you put a visual novel, dungeon crawler, RPG mechanics, survival elements, and base building into one unique experience. After spending all this time on this game I can safely give this a recommend, however due to the unique nature of the game it won’t appeal to everyone.
The gameplay, especially combat, is one of the things that definitely will not appeal to everyone. Combat is in real time and relatively simplistic, which can make the gameplay segments of the game feel like a slog or just filler between bits of interesting story. Further into the game gives more variety to combat but for the most part you’ll be using melee attacks and charged attacks to break parts off of enemies while dodging attacks. For me, I was initially turned off by the combat but I did eventually get used to it and enjoyed it but I would highly suggest watching gameplay of the combat or (if you have a PS4) playing the demo. There are five difficulty levels in the game (I - III available initially, then IV - V are unlocked later) that scale the difficulty of combat and the survival elements of the game. Difficulty I gets rid of all enemies in dungeons and lets you one shot bosses while Difficulty V will provide a significant boost to the amount of enemies and their stats in the dungeons while providing better loot so the game does provides the option to just enjoy the story or give yourself a challenge.
– Real player with 109.9 hrs in game
Wow. Just… Wow.
I have a lot to say about this game, and 98% of it is amazing praise. Let’s jump right into it.
Let’s start with the story!
Zanki Zero: Last Beginning draws you into the story shockingly fast. From meeting your fellow party members and learning the truth behind the strange, metallic X-Keys on your stomachs, to discovering each heart-wrenching plot twist and back story, you won’t want to take a break, except to process and maybe cry a bit, something I possibly… maybe… DEFINITELY had to do. I can’t think of a single moment where the story lulled behind, and the second half of the game finds more ways to invest your attention.
– Real player with 60.9 hrs in game