(Legend of Dungeon does not have an ESRB rating.)

DSBwizzardscall, 2/19/2014

Many people dream of earning a living creating video games. And why not? It’s as good a dream as any other. What is truly notable is when someone has the courage to follow that dream down the dark, uncertain paths it will lead them – such as, say, selling your home and living in a treehouse for two and a half years, which is exactly what the 2-person team behind Legend of Dungeon did. One of the fruits of their labours is a retro roguelike beat ’em up. I was beaten to death by a Cyclops, vaporized by a Warlock, and escaped with the treasure for this review of Legend of Dungeon.

Plot – The Story

(Above: The dungeon’s secret.)

You are a daring adventurer, willing to brave the mysterious and dangerous dungeon. Your goal is to head down to the bottom 26th floor of the randomly-generated dungeon, retrieve the treasure below, and return back to the first floor with your goodies.

Playability – How The Game Feels In Your Hands

(Above: The Coffee Mug hat really puts some zip in your step.)

Legend of Dungeon bills itself as a blend of the “beat ’em up” and roguelike genres. The beat ’em up game requires precise controls and virtually zero lag in order to play correctly and be fair; generally the player is pitted against a sea of weaker enemies, which, while underpowered, are a threat in large numbers, and even in lower numbers can slowly whittle away at the player’s health. Luckily, the game runs seamlessly even with 50 bats whirling to and fro and 20 skeletons tromping around on the screen. In addition, Robot Loves Kitty have crafted a simple yet perfectly executed system of controls. Your character responds very accurately to your keystrokes – there’s even a delay between when you hit the attack button and when you actually use the weapon, meaning you can’t simply dash into enemies gung-ho and escape scot-free. You’re going to take some damage without proper planning.

Presentation – How The Game Looks And Sounds

(Above: The dynamic lighting is impressive.)

This game does simplicity, and does it right. The character and creature designs and animations, as well as the sounds, are basic. The game is built around this, however – it feels akin to a classic arcade game, with 8-bit sound bytes and limited frames of animation. Overall, it’s very charming – it aims to re-kindle the old flame found in every child that grew up with a NES.

Another thing that has to be mentioned about the visuals is the dynamic lighting. Carrying your lantern or other form of light generation in-hand will generate an aura of light around you, and it bends and shifts depending on the things around you. For example, if you are standing behind a crate, your light casts a wide shadow of the crate. Walking closer to or further away from said crate casts a wider and dimmer shadow, respectively. It’s a neat little mechanic that adds realism to the experience.

Musically, the game is much more high-res, featuring full instrument such as guitars, synths, piano, and drums, to name a few. The game features a huge variety of well-written musical tracks, and a new one is picked every time you enter a new room of the dungeon, blending seamlessly in from the last. This helps make every new room in the dungeon feel fresh and mysterious.

Performance – The Sum Of Its Parts

(Above: A flamethrower is a great confidence boost.)

Legend of Dungeon is not so much a game about beating every floor, or defeating every monster. Rather, it is more about planning your attacks so you take as little damage as possible, while gaining the most experience points and gold as possible. It is crucial to level up so you are prepared to face the higher-level monsters the further you go, and gold counts toward your end score, and can also be used as currency in shops found throughout the dungeon. Your health, however, is the most valuable thing you have – there’s an extreme lack of healing items in the dungeon. Apples are somewhat plentiful early game, but they only heal 5 HP at a time and you will quickly run out of them. Potions, on the other hand, have the capability to heal much more health, but there’s a catch: every new game you start, all potion effects are randomized. That Blood Red Potion that gave you an instant level up last playthrough? It may make you vomit rainbows this time around. The Sickly Green Potion that put you to sleep last time may make you hammered drunk and start walking around in a stupor. The only way to find out what potion does what is to drink one; you’ll want to write down which one does what so you don’t fall asleep when you meant to give yourself a jump boost.

The difficulty, as mentioned before, ramps up the further you delve into the dungeon, but luckily you are not entirely alone. Several shopkeepers will upgrade your armour and weapons, as well as sell you goods, for a fee. There is also armour, weapons, and other useful items lying around the dungeon you can use, which possibly used to belong adventurers who also sought the dungeon’s tantalizing reward. Even with a laser-beam shooting visor and giant sword, you’re still not safe. One wrong step or poorly-planned action can leave you devastated. And don’t even think about letting harm befall a kitten.

Postlude – Final Thoughts

(Above: These are my high scores I achieved during the creation of this review! Needless to say, I wasn’t putting my entire effort into these runs. Have you done better? Let everyone know in the comments!)

As previously mentioned, it’s very rare for someone to follow their dreams no matter where they may lead. For some it may mean less time for other things, or maybe having to work at a job you don’t like for a while before you get your feet off the ground. For others, it may be extreme, such as living in a treehouse with nothing but a couple solar panels with which to power your laptops. (Don’t worry, Robot Loves Kitty are in an apartment now.) No matter where life takes you, you can always follow your dreams, and create something incredible, such as Legend of Dungeon.

Legend of Dungeon can be purchased directly from the Robot Loves Kitty website, or from the Steam store.