After spending most of the year in paid beta, the official release build of Legend of Dungeon is finally available for purchase on Steam, bringing RobotLovesKitty's amazing rogue-like-meets-beat-'em-up to Valve's digital distribution service roughly 10 months after Legend of Dungeon's Kickstarter campaign came to an end.
In case you weren't already familiar with the project, Legend of Dungeon is a single or (local) multiplayer dungeon crawler that makes use of several game mechanics, which will be immediately familiar to fans of rogue-like and action-RPG games. Players will attempt to reach the bottom of the Dungeon, a semi-randomly-generated underground labyrinth, and drag whatever treasure(s) you find back to the tavern where your journey began. Legend of Dungeon was created by Calvin Goble and Alix Stolzer, the husband and wife tandem who founded indie game studio RobotLovesKitty, and though the game has been available for purchase in other digital store fronts since shortly after the couple's successful Legend of Dungeon Kickstarter began last year.
Each time you play Legend of Dungeon, 26 floors will be randomly assembled from pieces of 244 beautifully crafted tile sets, virtually guaranteeing that you'll be able to spend tens (if not hundreds) of hours playing Legend of Dungeon without encountering duplicate Dungeon layouts.
Along the way, you'll encounter dozens of different enemies, including a couple of surprise appearances from some other ultra-popular PC titles, and collect all manner of loot while playing Legend of Dungeon. Everything from tiny imps to gigantic minotaurs will challenge you during each Legend of Dungeon play session, and there's really no telling what you'll find as you travel from each room/floor to the next. Don't believe me?
Here's a snapshot from one of my recent Legend of Dungeon runs:
Why, yes, that cat is shooting lasers out of its eyes. You'll also be happy to know that I received both armor and strength bonuses from the decapitated zombie hand being worn as a helmet in that picture.
Convinced yet?
Of course, if the 26-floor journey still sounds a tad daunting, that's because it is. For all the smiles and whimsy to be had from the game's item choices and graphical stylings, Legend of Dungeon can be a brutally difficult game, and one that you are unlikely to beat on your first, second, third or even thirtieth attempt. While most excursions will begin relatively similarly, quickly making your way through Legend of Dungeon's early levels while trying to grab a few gold coins and some better gear along the way, it's the ways that each Legend of Dungeon run fall apart that will surprise you.
Casual players will be happy to know that there isn't any extensive armor collecting/swapping to be done in Legend of Dungeon, with hats serving as the only armor type in the game, making the Legend of Dungeon much more approachable for unfamiliar players. The game also does away with many of the stats, traits, and other character modifiers found in many role-playing titles, leaving only health, strength, armor and experience to be improved when playing Legend of Dungeon.
Unfortunately, Legend of Dungeon didn't ship entirely free of problems. Despite spending several weeks in the Steam Early Access program, RobotLovesKitty have yet to include a save system in Legend of Dungeon, meaning any attempt at retrieving the Dungeon's treasures will require players to finish the run before closing the game. While not an overly long game, many gamers don't necessarily have multiple hours to spend attempting to beat Legend of Dungeon, and those who don't feel comfortable leaving their machine running for a few hours may want to hold off on a purchase until the couple behind Legend of Dungeon add a save system to the game.
On extremely rare occasions, players will also end up on a floor that has no exit, bringing even the most promising Legend of Dungeon runs to a screeching halt. They aren't common, but I encountered just such a level during a recent Legend of Dungeon play through, and a handful of other players have reported similar occurrences on Steam. That said, the lack-of-exit issue is far from common, and certainly shouldn't be what keeps anyone from picking up a copy of Legend of Dungeon.
Legend of Dungeon Review - Final Verdict
The game may have its shortcomings, but even projects with massive budgets (ahem, GTA V) still end up with a few rough edges. While a lack of save system will almost certainly deter a few potential buyers, those who decide to take the plunge will find one themselves in possession of one of the most beautiful pixel art titles to hit Steam in the last few years, not to mention a local co-op title which is likely to be a hit if/when you and your friends get together for a night of gaming. Online multiplayer would have been awesome, and is likely to show up in Legend of Dungeon 2, but there's still something to be said about games that encourage you to actually spend time in the same room with your friends and family.
Legend of Dungeon is, without a doubt, the easiest purchase recommendation I've made all year. At just $9.99, with local co-op support included, Legend of Dungeon will provide hours of entertainment, regardless of whether you're planning on chasing treasure alone or with a few friends. At least two free Legend of Dungeon expansions are on the way too, eventually adding the Pets and Class system which were funded during the Legend of Dungeon Kickstarter campaign.Bottom line: If you consider yourself even a casual fan of either rogue-likes or beat-'em-ups, do yourself a favor, and buy Legend of Dungeon.
It might just be the best ten dollars that you'll spend this year.
Score - 4.5 / 5
Have you already had a chance to play Legend of Dungeon? Were you one of the 1,823 people who helped fund the final stages of the game's development via Kickstarter? Think you're going to wait until RobotLovesKitty releases the Pet and Class expansions before buying a copy of Legend of Dungeon?
Let us know in the comments section!
