Dungeons of Hinterberg - Review
From the moment that I saw Dungeons of Hinterberg, there was something about the game that drew me in, it might have been the dungeons, the exploration or the interacting with the various characters that live in the world. Whatever it was, the moment I was given code, I had hoped that I was in for a good time and unsurprisingly, I was right.
In the game you take control of Luisa, a young woman who is feeling a little burnt out from her job and opts to take off to Hinterberg, a small town in the Austrian country side that hosts a magical secret. Well not really a secret, but there is magic in the town and those who go there can learn to wield it. You can’t just throw fireball whenever you want, the magic only takes effect when you enter a Dungeon, which have popped up all around the town. However when Luisa enters her first Dungeon, an earthquake hits and that causes her to be a little hesitant about venturing into more. This is where Alex steps in, another traveller who has found herself feeling at home in Hinterberg and she provides insights and tips. Alex is just the first of many people that you will visit, the more time you spend with them, the more they will help you as well. In order not to spoil the story or reveal all of the folks you can meet, I won’t say anything further, just know that this games story will take a few turns you might not be expecting.
As far as the gameplay goes, it is equal parts dungeon crawler and dating sim, except without the randomness of the former, or the romance of the latter. Sticking with the Dungeons, there are around 25 Dungeons around the place and each one of them has been rated for their danger. Venturing into any of them will test you with a few puzzles, some combat and even a boss fight, depending on the dungeon. As they are magical in nature, there is no real growth to them, one dungeon might be based around a toxic river and the next might have you orbiting large planetoid objects. This variety is a real strength of the game, as there is no telling what you are going to get when you venture in, sometimes the names will throw you off. The only real sad part for them is that they are all fairly linear in nature, there are a few that let you explore a little, but most of the time you are going to be just following the path that you see ahead of you.
Before you enter a dungeon, you need to locate the entrance and across the four regions that you can visit, some of those entrances are going to be hard to reach. These spaces are where you will do the bulk of your exploration, sometimes there will be other dungeon explorers, or slayers as they are known, just hanging out and sometimes you will find monsters who have spawned in the area. There are also places where you can kick back and relax for a bit, giving you a boost for your next dive into a dungeon. Exploring the dungeons are fun, if only because you never know what might pop up, however, their linear nature does make them fairly easy to get through and if you are decent at combat, even the fights are not that challenging.
The other half of the game is going to be where the real test comes into effect, because as the say goings, there are only so many hours in a day. The way the game plays out is that in the morning, you will have a little breakfast, before you head off to a region, either for a dungeon or not. One you return to town in the evening, you can spend your time shopping, talking with folks, or electing to spend time growing a relationship with a dozen or so key folks. Much like the dungeons, talking with these important characters will advance time, meaning that you can only talk with one per day. Then again you can ignore them and spend time in the spa or the movies, if you wanted to. This relationship sim aspect was the one area I was unsure about going into the game, but I honestly found it delightful and most of that comes down to the characters.
Early on you will meet Alex and she will introduce you to Hannah, who can help level up your gear, but there are more folks around. There is Jae the former pop star now dungeon slaying master or Marina, the student working many jobs in town to cover her expenses for being there. There are locals and tourists to talk to and finding who to spend your time with matters, as with each level of friendship you unlock with them, you get things. But remember your time is finite, so you need to pick and choose who you engage with, I had a few folks I never spoke with at all and some I only said hi to the once and then never again. You do get a journal where you can keep track who you have spoken to and what you get when you level up with them and towards the end, I often spent time balancing the who against time.
The aspect of time management is going to be something that irks a few folks and I can see why it would be a pain. Not being able to talk with all the people will be frustrating, especially if you are a completionist, but you can work around it. I didn’t talk about the way the game handles spells either, which is a little odd. When you venture into a new region you will get two spells given to you, one ranged and one not, the only real issue is those spells can’t be used anywhere but that region. One region provides you with a magical snowboard, which lets you move around quite quickly and I used it all the time where, which just made the other regions seem slow in comparison. Luisa is not a warrior or mountaineer, so she is not the quickest of folks, so there are times when she just moves a little too slow for my liking. Nothing is bad about it, more just frustrating.
As far as the games presentation goes, the game sports a very cool cel-shaded style, that often at times made me think of old comics. You can see a lot of that effect when it comes to shadows and highlights, it is a simple effect but works well. The game also does something interesting for all the background characters wandering around the place, they are all grey and lack any defining features. Well, at least until they get close to you, once they are within range, they fade from grey to full colour and if they leave the range, it reverts, A similar effect happens with the world, not in terms of colour, but the fading, you will often see trees, objects and even some enemies get more detail as things load in when closer. The real issue with that is that when there are cutscenes, that effect happens all the time, which means trees and other background items will often pop in and out as the camera cuts around.
The games sound design is solid, there is a mystical element to the music when in dungeons and even Hinterberg itself has a wonderful score. You can’t turn on a radio though and listen to the top 40 songs of Austria, but you won’t be let down by the music you do have. There is no spoken dialogue, which is fine, the game has charm enough to get by without it, but a few extra grunts and oomphs, would not have gone astray. There was a weird thing with the sound that it got stuck playing a bolder crashing sound on every loading screen, quitting out of the game fixed it, but then later on, the fast forward sound was doing it.
Dungeons of Hinterberg is a game that is brimming with charm, from its locations to its characters, there is a lot to love about it. The dungeons are the stars for me and as I said before, their lack of a rigid progression means you will never know what you are going to get, until you are in there. I do wish they had a little less linearity to them and let you explore some more, but they are still fun. Interacting with the people around Hinterberg was something that caught me by surprise, with just how wonderful they are, the only downside there is you won’t be able to spend time with all of them. If you are looking for a new adventure that will offer up something different to anything you might have played in a long time, I say pick up your sword and hiking boots and have a slay, I mean play, you won’t regret it.
The Score
9.0
Review code provided by Curve Games
The Pros
Meeting new people has never been so much fun, you will just have to work out who matters more eventually
The world is amazing and has lots to discover from around town to the dungeons locations…
The Cons
… I do just wish the dungeons were a little less linear, they are not straight corridors, but you can’t really get lost
Luisa is not the quickest of characters at times, which can make some elements of the game feel quite slow
