Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground

August 4, 2013 /

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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.

-Originally Posted by Bloodspoor

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