Rejoice And Own Spelunky, Now Available On PS4

Rejoice and own Spelunky. Impose ownership on it using your money, because this is the only way that you will triumph over it. Spelunky will lull you into thinking that it will offer you a casual play session with an unassuming, endearing hero: His soulless coal eyes, indifferent eyebrows, and mesmerizingly bulbous nose suggest that he wants you to help him find some Mario coins in a cave. But in truth, he is meant to die a million deaths, each traumatic. You will develop fears of pots, of snakes, of yeti, of water, of the dark. Maybe one day you’ll even conquer the first level. When this happens take note, because the rest of your life is an agonizing downhill plummet from this monumental achievement.

So rejoice at Spelunky, because it is now available on PS4 in 1080p.  And remember the days when you thought you were good at video games. Because those days are illusions.

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Legend Of Dungeon: Booming In Name But Whimpering In Execution

It’s refreshing to spend some time away from Breathof Fire: Dragon Quarter. Not that the game itself is bad. It’s just a touch laborious, a sentiment I’m not always inclined to spend my free time involved with.

Enter Legend of Dungeon, a game booming in name but whimpering in execution.

  

Much of Legend of Dungeon is spent aimlessly exploring its endless, drab corridors, fighting internet memes and monsters you’ve seen in other games. You play as a randomly generated pixelated being who must conquer a dungeon 26 floors deep. Armed with a sword, you navigate the game’s world with up to three other friends.

And that’s it. Interspersed between when you start playing the game, and when you decide you’ve had enough are numerous weapons, potions and hats, all of which appear to provide you with some sort of benefit, though none of this is apparent or clear.

I assume what makes Legend of Dungeon worthwhile—the developers’ light-hearted approach to crafting a roguelike—is lost on me because at its core, the game is far too simple. You enter a room, engage any enemies by repeatedly mashing the attack button, then claim whatever prizes are littered on the floor following their demise.

Sure, other dungeon crawlers can be explained in the exact same manner. But Legend of Dungeon lacks the tactical qualities of better games in this subgenre. There are no combos; there is no flash to gameplay; and there isn’t any variety to how you attack enemies. You essentially press the same button continuously, watch as your being flails its arm, watch the enemy bump against you and take damage, and then die. It’s a boring game that tries hard to pretend that its randomness and kookiness can excuse poor game design.  

The music is great, at least. The chiptunes are catchy, and the game’s 2D pixel graphics are pleasant. It’s just too bad the game wasn’t a 2 minute song with a catchy music video to accompany it.

Final thoughts

Legend of Dungeon is an inside joke which I don’t care enough to be a part of. Superficially, much of what makes the joke funny is lost on me. The time and effort put into making sure that I fight the occasional plant or zombie from Plants vs. Zombies can’t hide the stench of mundane gameplay.

What I’m left with is a jumble of nonsense that appears to be little more than human language overlaid by a cryptic semantic password; the game is a husk, clothed in game-like qualities but lacking the enjoyable gameplay which should accompany hip graphics and phat tunes. A great dungeon crawler brims with smart and difficult gameplay. If this game is any indication, a legend of a dungeon crawler brims with internet memes and glosses over everything else.

  

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The Dungeon Delver

This week I've been hacking away at another early access game that goes by the name of Delver. Delver is a first person dungeon crawler with randomized dungeons and retro style graphics; it is definitely worth your attention.

The goal of Delver is the definition of simple: get in, get the treasure and get the fuck out. The meat of the game however lies in the dungeons themselves—between the enemies, traps, twists and turns, and the randomly generated maps combined with the permadeath feature, the game is always pretty interesting and challenging. It also has a wide variety of weapons, potions and gear for you to horde and collect with a cornucopia of enemies to keep you interested and on your toes. The overall look and feel of the game reminds me of a medieval doom with cleaned up and wacky sprites and it really has that old school PC gaming feel that I'd put right up there with the original Wolfenstein.

One of the coolest draws to the game is the mod support, which is really awesome. It allows you to create your own items, textures and even enemies which allows for some really interesting and cool community mods that are definitely worth looking into. If you're the artistic type, you can look into creating your own too.

Delver has a lot of trial and error, which you'll end up taking full advantage of due to the permadeath. The fast paced nature of the gameplay is challenging but makes it fun and forces you to think out certain actions and situations to protect your progress and levels so far. The game itself is easily worth the 8 dollar price tag and with the randomly generated maps the game has a lot of replay value to hold your attention.

I will admit that the game could use more content but that is backed up with mod support and the community. That being said however, it’s no excuse for a lack of content that isn’t community created but like I said before the game is still in beta and it’s only an early access copy. Delver is definitely a game to throw on your wishlist and keep tabs on because the official release is certainly something to keep an eye on. In my opinion Delver isn’t game of the year material but it's definitely worth pumping a few hours into now and then and worth every penny.

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