Undungeon is available on the Nintendo Switch and PS4, and I can see a lot of time is needed to finish this game. It’s very dialogue heavy, and when I thought I could play it on the go, I’d rather spend time with it like a cinematic experience than a random arcade game that it isn’t.
Here, I can’t help but be reminded of Ultima IV in the beginning moments of this game. Anyone who played this game won’t find anything new here. Like the classic game of yore, I had to answer questions that will define my character. This game by publisher tinyBuild and developer Laughing Machines has a lot of surface level design to like.
Here, the point of the game is to “Restore the order in all dimensions, influence and determine the fate of the worlds, create and decide what will happen in the new Multiverse.”
I’m playing a Herald, who looks like a mediaeval plague doctor travelling the many planes of existence and taking on missions which may lead to an end-game to which even I’m still uncertain is “holy.”
What I appreciate more is the artwork than the story. The only problem is that unless you’re invested into reading each passage presented to you, much of this world building is for naught.
However, I can’t help but wonder if this game wants to be that backstory of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, which this author doesn’t want fans to know. If the similarities are mere coincidence, that’s because the “Avatar” is a Herald, which was born from nothingness, created by The God of the Void. The player’s purpose is to find six seals to open other realms–which may represent each side of the cube known as the Lament’s Configuration.
The fact I recently saw the reboot has my imagination wanting to make connections. It’s more than likely the ideas are not meant to connect. I’d love this game even more had it used this cinematic template. One detail that makes it perfect is in how culling organs from others gives the Harbinger power. That this game uses this idea is just haunting.
After going through Undungeon’s a very lengthy tutorial, I feel as though I’m only scratching the surface of this huge game. The mechanics are nothing to rave about, since it’s merely a top-down navigation style adventure. The design of the worlds I’ve visited so far is very jam-packed with rich detail. However, without a tighter narrative focus, I won’t be playing this game every day to reach the end.
That weeding through the long narrative choices doesn’t help. But I’ll keep on pecking at Undungeon, much like the raven-like creature the Herald is, until the treasure is found.
Key Features
- Colourful Pixel Art Aesthetics—We have invested countless hours in drawing and animating environments and characters by hand.
- Mind-Bending Science-Fiction Story—Undungeon is set in the Multiverse, where seven dimensions find themselves on the verge of virulent turmoil. You are Void: a messenger created by your dimension and sent to an ancient city of Archaban to collect six seals that belong to other worlds. As you travel through space and time, the Multiverse gets rocked by a devastating cataclysm of unknown nature, leaving you stranded in a barren, alien land. Our game includes over 150 000 words of text and dialogue. Decisions you make during your journey can have enormous consequences on the ending.
- Heated Real-Time Combat—Loot organs from enemies or craft them from organic matter to give your body various powerful abilities. The Core is the main viral organ of your body you can enhance and customise, allowing for different builds: from recruiting companions to talk to apply damage-over-time / critical damage.
- Vast Open World—Explore distant lands beyond belief and meet their exotic inhabitants—merchants and bandits going about their lives regardless of where you go. You can trade with locals, recruit them to help you in battles, or even destroy their camps.
Undungeon Trailer
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