DarkLight Dungeon Eternity is out

[Bruma Hobo]

http://www.darklightdungeon.com/


$10 for an old school dungeon crawler.

 

[octavius]

I'm reminded of Sleeping Village by Black Sabbath.

 

[Jasede]

Those production values... come on.

 

[Phelot]

Yeah... but the creatures look very nicely drawn and some of the textures look nice, but the items look awfully drab.

Yeah yeah, I Know graphicwhore blah blah, fuck you I'd rather not play Excel: The RPG.

 

[Metro]

I guess it's good that there is more choice but there has been a glut of these indie dungeon crawlers lately. Some variety would be nice.

 

[felipepepe]

There's been loads of those games, all with the same medieval dungeon crawling....and weird names too. I know it is the easiest type of RPG to create, but c'mon, this is getting lazy. A text-only "choose your own adventure" kind of game would be more exciting at this point.

 

[Phelot]

I really like that menu art, though.

When I get home, maybe I'll try the demo of it. Maybe it'll surprise me. Ya never know!

 

[Mortmal]

I am not even bothering to try that, why would i. Choose your own adventure text book are more exciting than that indeed, ah lone wolf, the way of the tiger...

 

[Murk]

There's been loads of those games, all with the same medieval dungeon crawling....and weird names too. I know it is the easiest type of RPG to create, but c'mon, this is getting lazy. A text-only "choose your own adventure" kind of game would be more exciting at this point.

Based on how much fun "Choice of the Dragon" and "Choice of the Broadsides (?)" were, I'd agree.

 

[ForeverdarkWoods]

I don't know. Looks pretty standard fare. Could be fun, but I'm having real trouble getting over how ugly it looks. It's not that the graphics are dated (non AAA graphics are to be expected), it's that it's just so fucking ugly. Like, it hurts your eyes to look at it.

Maybe it's the inconsistency of the godawful UI (looks like it's made in flash) in contrast with the pretty well drawn monsters, but there's just something cringeworthy with the entire graphical layout.

Probably pass on this one.

 

[Malakal]

They sell roguelikes now? Oh wait, its not a rogue... erm isnt it? FP one of course but still.

 

[Peter]

Maybe it's the inconsistency of the godawful UI (looks like it's made in flash) in contrast with the pretty well drawn monsters, but there's just something cringeworthy with the entire graphical layout.

That's an insult to Flash.

Anyway, I agree. This shit is ugly. The drabbest textures and most uninteresting lighting you cold find combined with clip art that doesn't fit the rest of the game.

Seriously, stick figures would be more visually pleasing than this. Look at Kingdom of Loathing. The art there really works. The key is consistency.

 

[JarlFrank]

While yes, the graphics are mostly ugly and a turnoff, I'm mostly not going to bother with it because... what exactly does this do better than other first person dungeon crawlers? The video doesn't show any innovative or exceptional gameplay ideas, neither does it show exceptional dungeon design. Thanks, I'll just keep playing M&M, Wizardry, Dungeon Master, etc...

 

[Phelot]

I tried the demo. It has some nice touches, as I mentioned, I like some of the art... it's actually kind of strange because some art is really fantastic like the village screen and the monster art, but the items look like random geometrical shapes. The textures are nice even if they are bland. There also doesn't appear to be much scenery.

The music is actually pretty darn good, I especially like the village theme. The only problem is that it's short and it gets repetitive quickly.

Character generation is pretty lame... You pick how many HP and MP you want then you distribute points to a standard STR, CON, DEX, INT, WIS, and CHA attributes. OK, sounds good, but the problem is that according to the help INT and WIS only determine how much MP you gain at level up and they take the highest of the two.... soooo what's the point of having both? I don't know. The rest of the attributes are equally pointless. STR increases damage while CHA increases the chance that enemies won't attack you. *sigh* Not very exciting, in fact it's down right disappointing to hear.

As for combat, it's mostly mostly clicking as fast as the attack icon lights up. Pretty basic stuff, really. You click until things are dead and there are plenty of enemies to kill, but it's not satisfying. There's no depth to the combat, no tactics beyond spamming attack or spell and healing via potions when appropriate. I can't imagine trudging through an entire game of this.

The few decent art that I see makes me wish the game had a bit more to it other than tedious grinding with no apparent end. There was a monolith type thing with some cryptic message that hints to a greater story. Maybe it's an excellent story, if so, it's a shame that awful combat that has no end is in the way.

I'd steer clear of this one, at least for now.