Dungeons of Alethrion Reviews

i like the art, music, and the vampire guys mechanics :)

What this game is, is a classic, pure dungeon crawler game. It's perfect for a good ol' fashioned casual couch co-op with a friend. You go through dungeon floors, Beat Boss, level up, get stronger, get items, advance to next floor. Don't really need much else tbh. I personally enjoy this classic, chill, retro game. Gonna play more now with friends and see how many floors we can go.

After convincing a friend to also buy this game, we had an absolute blast figuring out the ins and outs of this game. Stumbling upon the credits page, I am impressed that it is only developed by one programmer and a few animators. There are countless hidden gems in this game waiting to be discovered. Each item has its unique function to assist you while playing, I would like to see a way to examine the item to understand the use a little more but either ways I was able to manage. I highly recommend playing with a friend; it adds to the excitement, especially since you can revive each other by finding a fairy when one of you falls. My personal highlight so far has been either the cat companion that scours the environment for items or the fire-shooting dog (hint: feed the meat to an animal to tame them). Overall the game is super fun and challenging. As it's still relatively new, I hope to see additional features added, such as a skill point system for enhancing player abilities and health.

I found 'Dungeons of Alethrion' to be incredibly enjoyable and easy to pick up. I love the fact that the game starts off by clearly showcasing each character's strengths and weaknesses, which helped me choose the perfect fit for my play-style. What stood out to me the most was how intuitive the controls were, especially for executing special attacks. Unlike other games where special moves can be complicated, here they were simple and straightforward, making the gameplay experience smooth and enjoyable. Overall, I highly recommend 'Dungeons of Alethrion' to anyone looking for a fun and accessible gaming experience.

A fun, quick to get into Dungeon Crawler. Biggest issue I had with the game was how quiet the music/sound effects were, but other than that it's a fun, charming game!

The 2 player mode works really well both locally and using Steam's remote play. All of the characters shine really well with their specific play style and are fairly balanced. I really appreciate the difficulty selector so you can set how challenging you want the game to be, and the game really challenges you at the higher floors. I wish there were more than 2 bosses to fight, but there's a good amount of replay-ability since you can always try to get to higher floors. Lot of fun, unique weapons to find also. I especially like the animations for the special attacks and boss encounters. 9.5/10 for me

I admire the effort put into this fan project, especially given the goal of helping fund the show's kickstarter. That being said, as a game it feels almost too basic, not really capturing the fun of the genre or the series in any manner. I don't regret buying this because I do like supporting the series but this feels more like a 15 dollar donation with an early game jam demo attached to it than a 15 dollar game. I do hope the game improves but as it stands, only buy if you want to support the series.

Amazing and fun game. Recently I feel like most games are becoming more and more stressful and just after an hour rant I can't even tell if I'm having fun or not. This game is fun, I can guarantee that. It's relaxing, easy to play and when you think you discovered all the gimmicks a new one pops up in a fun and inviting way. It's also an amazing game to play with friends since it has such a low learning curve. You can just actually relax, enjoy your time and have fun with friends, I highly recommend this game.

This game is mostly a vehicle to support Tales of Alethrion, an incredible fantasy YouTube series featuring fluid animation, wordless storytelling, and visual worldbuilding. Those familiar with Skjald know that new seasons are often accompanied by side projects like this. As a fan of Alethrion and the roguelike genre, this was an easy purchase, and I'm glad to keep it to support one of my favorite animators. But as a standalone purchase I feel like neither the setting or the game genre shine here. The bones are there; I like the fluid animation of the pixel sprites, the character's attacks and specials feel feel distinct, there's a core loop that features the dungeons mentioned in the game description. Unfortunately the game isn't very interactive: - I imagine leveling up increases primary stats, but it's such an understated change I would often level up without realizing it; no choices or mechanical changes. I would almost rather start as a weak Vito/Wilhelm without a secondary ability, just to make room for some progression that feels more like The Reward. - Because of the lack of character progression, it doesn't feel very roguelike; there aren't different decisions to be made, just a reconfigured map. - The environment, which is one of the most impressive aspects of Tales of Alethrion, needs some life breathed into it. I know that Skjald plays a long game, and I'm interested to see how this game expands as time goes on. I'm also interested in people's experiences with the local co-op. But it feels like an Early Access title, and if we look at the promise of additional levels/characters, it clearly is. I can't recommend for purchase based on its current gameplay. But if you want to support an awesome animator and get a little dopamine from seeing beloved characters pixelated, go for it, or check out their patreon/kickstarter.

There's the fundamental basics of a good game here, but there are some key elements missing. Information about the characters, their abilities and what they do is only presented at the start of a run. If I have questions about the intricacies of "Darkness vampire stream", I can't find the answers once the game has started. I'm not sure I ever learned what leveling does for my character. A way to view my stats would be helpful. There's a distinct lack of sound effects (especially on hit, both for my character or the enemies). The extremely limited variety of enemies make few noises. The sounds that are there are very muffled. A general audio balancing pass would go a long way. Similarly, there's nothing to break up the very few music tracks which play on repeat. When I exited one floor and the music faded, I thought I was about to get a new track - and instead it was the same song I'd already heard on repeat for 10+ minutes. The lack of "greebles" - details meant to break up the surface of objects - means that every dungeon feels the same. They're also especially small and you encounter dead-end halls fairly often, and they always have no reward other than the enemy or gems you can find everywhere. There are "taming items" you can find (seemingly just two at the moment) which can be used to tame creatures you may find in the dungeon. Thus far, I've found multiple taming items but only one creature to use them on. The taming items themselves often get stuck on dungeon walls or just disappear instantly once thrown. When it did work, I received an allied animal which began to follow me until about 30 seconds later it became stuck on a wall. It also has limited energy and seemed to give up shortly after attacking a few enemies. I don't know that I saw it actually defeat a foe. There are no options, nothing to configure, and no way to rebind keys in-game. The core gameplay is decent enough, but the absence of these elements really makes it feel pretty shallow. As it is (and at this price point) I can't really recommend the game. I love Tales of Alethrion, but I have zero desire to revisit this title as it stands. It doesn't do anything you can't find better elsewhere. I respect that its a "work in progress" but its also being billed as a full release, so I can't even give it the Early Access pass.