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»Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground
"Now you can make dungeons...OUTSIDE."
There are many companies out there bringing port after port to our
beloved PSP, but few companies have felt the desire to craft a truly
genuine experience on the little portable that dared stand its ground
against the big bad Nintendo. XSEED Games dares to break that mold.
Their last game, Valhalla Knights was a great idea with a somewhat
flawed execution. If dungeon crawling is what you desire, but Valhalla
Knights failed to quench your thirst for hack and slash goodness,
Dungeon Maker may prove to be your beverage of choice.
Dungeon Maker takes a bit of getting used to, but once you do, it’s
almost certain that you’ll keep coming back for more. This may take a
bit to explain, but it’s important to know what you’re getting into
before just making a purchase you may regret.
The gameplay is a strange mix. First off, the only town in the game is
presented to the player as a fairly simple, yet detailed top-down
static image with bullet points you can go to, much like in Monster
Rancher. When people need things, they’ll usually come to you and ask
you to fetch them like a dog. There is your traditional magic shop and
weapon smith that will provide you with the things you need for
questing. For buying non-battle items, you can head to the market.
Every now and again, you’ll be pestered by an old bum that’s really the
game’s way of teaching you how to do certain things in the game.
Once you get through all the talk, you can head over to the East of
town where your plot of land resides. It’s in this plot of land that
you will craft your own dungeon that will, eventually be a gathering
place for monsters and other baddies that would otherwise be menacing
innocent people. You see, monsters need a place to hide and what better
place than a well-furnished cave or mine? That’s where you come in.
When you first arrive, you’ll be in a room with four doorways but no
exit. By hitting the triangle button, you will bring up your building
part spell book. Simply select the part you would like to place and
your avatar will cast the spell, creating your corridor or room.
You can craft boss rooms when you’ve killed a certain amount of enemies
and before long, you’ll be building your own multi-level dungeon,
custom made for a day-dreaming Demon. As you gain prestige in the town,
people will give you interiors and layouts that will change your
corridors from rock to wood or paved stone. Certain monster will only
come if specific criteria have been met while others will just plague
your dungeon regardless of your floor plans. You’ll even be able to
create guest rooms and storage depots for the monsters to stash their
most beloved treasures.
With all these monsters being drawn to the town, someone is going to
have to dispatch of them all. Seeing that you brought them here, it’s
only natural if you take care of them. Each day, you may visit your
dungeon one time. In just about every visit after the first, you’ll
encounter enemies that’ll drop items and money to further your dungeon
making excursion. During that time, you’ll have to manage both slaying
monsters, keeping track of your health and crafting a bigger, better
dungeon.
Due to the once-a-day dungeon visits, I found myself constantly saying
to myself, “Just one more day.” Some people may not like this aspect,
but it is essential to the game’s unique form of “leveling up”. You
see, each night you can eat a meal that will invariably increase your
stats, depending on what food dish you’ve made. Using the items you’ve
found in your exploration, you can create some mighty fine dishes that
enhance your stats quite a bit. These stats are permanent so it’s good
to have a constant flow of all aspects of the gameplay in order to take
on some of the stronger bosses.
If graphics are your thing, this title may elude you as it’s not the
prettiest game to come along, but with good reason. There are so many
varieties of monsters to encounter and quite a few on-screen at once.
As with the monsters, there are quite a few things you can create in
your massive labyrinthine dungeon.
As with the graphics, the sounds are a bit generic. Every time I back
out of a menu, I feel like I’m activating my car alarm. It’s a strange
sound to hear in a video game for sure. Musically, the game has a great
score, but it’s a rather small one. I think there are maybe 4 tunes
altogether. That’s not to say that they grow thin or get tiresome. They
are good, as I said.
With its “just one more day” gameplay, I found myself playing this much
more than I had originally thought. I guess that’s to say that first
impressions aren’t always accurate ones. Don’t judge this book by its
cover. If you’re looking for a decent dungeon crawler with a twist,
give this a shot.
Article by: Bloodspoor
Posted on: Jul. 5th, 2007 |
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Review Recap |
| Gameplay |
| The idea of crossing Diablo with SimCity may seem a bit off, but it’s quite entertaining when you get down to it. |
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Graphics |
| Meh. I've seen better 3D on the DS, but there is a lot going on most of the time. |
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Sound |
| The music score is tasteful and downright good at times, but the sound effects are lacking quite a bit. |
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Replay Value |
| "Just one more day, mom!" Seriously...it's addicting. |
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