To note, a code for Tangledeep was supplied for review from the game’s developers.

Tangledeep has had my eye ever since I saw it in early access on Steam. Just by looking at it I could tell it just oozed nostalgia from the times long past. A great looking RPG mixed in with some rogue-like elements, looks like a recipe for a perfect game. Now let’s find out if this recipe creates a batch of nostalgic fun.

Story

Tangledeep is a 2D Dungeon Crawling RPG with rogue-like elements, developed by Impact Gameworks. We begin our adventure with our protagonist Mira. Mira lives in an underground village known as Riverside Camp. Mira yearns to see the surface, but the only way to do so is by traversing the “ever changing labyrinth” Tangledeep. Story-wise, Tangledeep does an alright job at creating a compelling narrative. It’s kind of a sweet simple story, that won’t do too much to draw you in, but it’s a welcome addition.

You can choose between three different ways to play Tangledeep. Adventure mode will let you continue the game, and start back at the village at the loss of half your XP, JP, and gold. Heroic mode will end your adventure if you die, but anything stored in the bank, or any enhancements made to the town will be saved for your next adventure. Hardcore mode is where the game’s roguelike nature really shines, because if you die everything is erased.

The ability to be able to tailor your gameplay experience is really nice. rogue-like games are great, but they don’t appeal to everyone. Having the option to not have to play that way, is an overall benefit to the game’s appeal.

Gameplay

Tangledeep plays like the wonderful “Mystery Dungeon” games (side note please bring those back Nintendo). You will traverse many different settings on your quest, and fight lots of monsters. As you defeat enemies you will be awarded with EXP, JP, and gold.



The amount of customization with equipment and items is fantastic. Unfortunately, going through the menu using/equipping them is a hassle. The menus are are quite overwhelming, and there’s just so much going on. Not to mention you’re constantly getting new items filling up your inventory. Mix that with all of your stat and skill information being there, and the menu just feels way too congested.



I could see how the menus would have been easier to handle on PC, but even still it’s a mess. Now there are touch screen controls which are a nice add on, however they unfortunately didn’t help me very much.



While you traverse the great labyrinth you will have many opportunities to diverge from the main path. It’s nice to see that Tangledeep has made it their mission to bring tons of little side areas for you to explore. Side areas are usually there for quest purposes, or to allow you to gather some extra resources. I feel like having these side areas with different settings really helped add some variation to my adventure.





The Central Hub

When you’re not in the dungeon you’ll be back in the Riverside Camp, which acts as the hub. All of the in the hub’s NPCs are animals which adds nicely to their charm. There’s plenty to do here, with vendors, a bank, a healer and a nice old (lady I think) that gives you quests. One thing about the healer is his prices go up every time you heal and they won’t reset either until your next level up. There’s food items that you can get restore your health, but it was kind of annoying having to pay for healing after narrowly escaping death.

One of the villagers is a moose, and he’s very important so be nice to him. He’s the character that will allow you to unlock new abilities with JP. When you start Tangledeep you get to choose a job. Each job has its own passive abilities, skills, weapons, and stats. The jobs vary from a Floramancer (summoner) to a hunter and my personal favourite; the Sword Master. Along with your job you also get to pick two permanent bonuses to go along with you.

You’re able to change your class at any time by going to the previously mentioned healer. It will cost you, but you get to retain the abilities of your previous class and learn brand new ones. The job system for Tangledeep is fleshed out enough where it offers great customization without being too overwhelming. It reminds a bit of the old Final Fantasy job system, but improves on it substantially.

Riverside Camp offers you plenty more to do in it. You’re able to plant seeds in your own garden and grow trees to harvest resources. Then you can wield the inner lumberjack within you to CHOP them down for EXP.

Once you get far enough you will also unlock the ability to access “Item Dreams”. This is a lot like the item worlds from Disgaea and allows you to unlock the true potential of your equipment. You will be transported into a mini dungeon, which if you complete will give your equipment a stat boost.

Last but not least, Tangledeep offers an interesting pet system. By purchasing an item called a Monster Mallet you can capture a monster and bring it back with you. Back at Riverside Camp there’s an NPC who runs the Monster Corral. Here you can manage up to 12 pets. You’re able to feed them and buddy up with them, to help you when you’re in Tangledeep.

It was really fun to train my own pets and bring them with me on my adventures. Companion systems can be a hit or miss sometimes, but I felt this was a simple, but well though out implementation of it.

Presentation

Tangledeep’s world immerses you with a sense of nostalgia and wonder. The whole game is designed like something out of the Squaresoft Super Nintendo Era.

The colour palette is fantastic, blending well with the dungeon’s luscious looks. Each environment is crafted to look very different from one another yet fit so well together.

Each of the games NPCS is uniquely designed and has character. The enemies all look great and rarely did I ever feel like they were lacking in diversity.

On the off chance that you aren’t interested in the gameplay of Tangledeep, the visuals are almost worth picking the game up for, simply because of the nostalgia they awakened in me.

Technical Aspects

Tangledeep never really gave me much for trouble technically. I never had any problems the resolution or any frame rate dips.

Controls worked pretty well for the combat, though as a whole you could tell Tangledeep was made for the PC. Not just the menus, but everything just felt like it would been easier to manage on a computer.

Summary

I really enjoyed my time with Tangledeep and I hope to enjoy many more experiences with it. That’s kind of the beauty of Tangledeep, it’s a rogue-like worth playing again.

The entertaining battles, diverse job classes and awesome environments to explore make this one of the most enjoyable rogue-like experiences to date.

Yes menus are a bit clunk and overwhelming, and there are some questionable design choices. But if you’re willing to look past some dirt to see the gold you will find Tangledeep shines in two genres that have become very saturated.

If you’re looking for an awesome nostalgic rpg, then Tangledeep is for you. If you’re looking for a tense, yet rewarding rogue-like experience Tangledeep is for you. If you aren’t a fan of either, and you’re not one for nostalgia then even still give Tangledeep a shot. It might just win you win you over



Therefore, I give Tangledeep by Impact Games my score of

Are you a rogue-like fan? If so what’s your favourite rogue-like on the Nintendo Switch? Let us know over on Twitter or come and join the SIF Discord.

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