Dwarf Quest is a dungeon crawler with a turn-based combat
system. Playing as Morrin Firebeard you could not have a more classic Dwarven
name. Using a simple, but effective system Dwarf Quest pits our hero against
monsters, traps and bosses throughout his journey. While Dwarf Quest harkens
back to old school dungeon crawlers can it stand up in modern times?
First off, Dwarf Quest is not a game with a grand story. It
is, however, one with a loose story that gives you a bit of background. You are
playing as Morrin Firebeard as he journeys through The Foundry on this year’s
tournament. Along the way poor Morrin discovers nothing, but various creatures
with pointy weapons and the corpses of his friends. The reasoning behind this
brutal tournament beyond me, but it works for the premise of the game.
Dwarf Quest's graphic are not the most polished. However, the
enemy models are quite detailed and varying. I like to think it was the developer’s
choice in making the rooms look very similar in order to enhance the feeling of
being a lost in a dungeon. If this is the case it is executed perfectly. Even
with the ability to see where I had been previously, Hansel and Gretel style, I still felt a bit lost at times. Atmospheric would be a good word to describe
Dwarf Quest's graphics, if a little uninteresting at times.
Combat in Dwarf Quest is turn-based. Each action performed uses up one of the dots above each characters head. These actions
include: moving, attacking, blocking and using health potions, but not battle
cards. Blocking makes shields appear above Morrin’s head equal to the number of
dots he had left and reduces the amount of damage he takes. The same is
true for his enemies. The real strategy comes from utilising blocking,
attacking and moving to the best of your advantage. Certain encounters are
trickier than others forcing you to alter your tactics.
Throughout Morrin’s journey he finds a range of items.
These span from your ordinary health potions and treasure chest keys, to
battle cards. Battle cards buff Morrin’s abilities in a range of ways. They can fully heal him instantly or make his next attack really pack a punch. They can
really make a difference in Dwarf Quests more difficult battles and
especially in both boss battles. Using a battle card can really turn the tide
in Morrin’s favour and should be used accordingly. You find them frequently in
crates and chests and even though there is a shop to buy them in, you rarely
need to.
Now, onto the shop. What would you normally expect a shop in a dungeon to like? Well, whatever you were expecting I bet you were not
counting on it being a coffin. The first few times I
saw it did not even realise it was a shop and passed it up wondering "What
am I meant to do with all this gold?”. Anyway confusing store managers aside
the battle cards can be a tad overpowered, but they can also really make a
difference in a tough fight so be sure to stock up.
Now we come to the issue of balance. Dwarf Quest is,
unfortunately, riddled with these. Firstly, at the beginning of the game
blocking means you take no damage. So it is easy enough from this horde all
the health potions in case you need one - which isn't very often to begin with.
However, once you progress far enough, finding a shield and another axe,
blocking becomes less viable. So you would assume equip the shield, do a bit
less damage, but stay alive easier. Wrong. By this stage unless you have two
axes equipped the enemies will not take any damage. Puzzler, no? We it goes on.
Even with enemies being able to hurt you through your guard they rarely pose
much of a threat. this is due to the ample numbers of health potions and battle cards
you find. However, in spite of all this Dwarf Quest is highly
addictive. I simply could not stop playing even though I found myself
complaining about all these balance issues. When it comes down to it, Dwarf Quest is
a highly enjoyable dungeon crawler with an interesting combat system. Would I
have like some things to be a bit more polished and balanced? Yes. However, with
a second one on the works maybe these will be addressed.
I would say that Dwarf Quest is worth a play. It is a fresh dungeon crawling experience and is unlike many other games today. I am definitely looking forward to the second one.
Score:
- Gamplay 4/5
- Graphics 3/5
- Story 2/5
- Enjoyability and
Addictiveness 4/5
Overall 3/5
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