If there’s one factor I hate in gaming, it’s dying and having to both replay a portion or begin once more from scratch. But for some cause I’m commonly drawn to the roguelites and roguelikes of this world, with that small morsel of hope that new unlocks will see me by means of on the following try, solely to die about two steps additional forward than the earlier effort. Nonetheless, it may be bloody good enjoyable when achieved proper.
So upon listening to there’s a brand new turn-based, roguelite, action-packed dungeon crawler available on the market, my curiosity was piqued. It’s The Land Beneath Us from builders FairPlay Studios, whose final title on the Xbox got here within the type of the somewhat mediocre Fallen Knight. Might The Land Beneath Us behold one thing nice to dive into, or will it’s a grim and uninspiring affair?
Get your ass up! These are the phrases of a speaking PC on the fritz and in want of assist from the Final Soul Harvester (U.S.H.) 001. Its Creator has gone lacking and the united statesH. (quickly renamed as Sven) should journey by means of Annwn, the Underworld, in the hunt for solutions. A thriller awaits within the depths of Annwn, the place you possibly can anticipate to satisfy quite a few foes hellbent on prematurely ending Sven’s journey. He has to attempt to overcome them utilizing the ability of Soul-Expertise.
Usually, video games of this ilk endure on the narrative entrance, however surprisingly, The Land Beneath Us gala’s effectively. It’s fascinating because it explores numerous features of Welsh mythology in each the situation and character departments. Whereas I’m not well-versed within the mythological lore, I can recognize the thought and it’s cool that there seems to be inspiration taken from Irish myths too. That alone doesn’t make an satisfying story, however a touch of humour sprinkled into conversations helps take all of it in.
Gameplay-wise, it’s a case of delving right into a world and clearing every ground till you attain the boss residing there. As soon as the enemies are defeated, gates open for the following ground with symbols denoting what sort of reward it provides, resembling weapons, relics, and gold. As a rule of thumb, each tenth ground is a mini-boss, with the thirtieth being the actual deal. Some flooring have enemies, whereas others might characteristic rewards to gather and retailers to spend gold at. Upon completion, or failure, you’ll return to the primary hub with any Souls garnered. However earlier than stepping into the aim of Souls, let’s change focus to the fight.
Each ground in The Land Beneath Us is cut up into tiles, and each transfer you make will instantaneously see the enemies round you’re taking a flip. You’ll be capable of equip as much as 4 weapons, with every assigned to a route – up, down, left, and proper. To assault an enemy, you press in direction of it and the corresponding weapon is used. It sounds easy, however I discovered it fairly intelligent because it forces you to suppose forward and plan strikes to place Sven successfully. Every thing is completely defined by means of tutorials as effectively, with demonstrations guaranteeing all of it sinks in.
The weapons encompass pistols, swords, hammers, spears, and extra, with some bringing particular bonuses to the desk. Killing an enemy may present therapeutic advantages, deal additional injury or inflict ache upon anybody inside a sure distance. There are additionally relics to take into consideration that undoubtedly support your probabilities of survival; relics which might improve the dodging potential, accrue extra Souls in your efforts, get vital injury boosts, and decrease the value of chests. Regardless of a restricted availability firstly, the variety of weapons and relics quickly grows as you obtain aims as this often provides new ones into the potential pool of loot. Experimenting with completely different mixtures is nice and, if luck goes your method, sure setups flip Sven into an absolute tank.
To maintain the enjoyable going, development will unearth recent and more and more tough enemies. The Land Beneath Us eases you in with pitiful slugs, slimes, and skeletons, earlier than drafting in mages, toxic spiders, and fiery hounds. The minor bosses aren’t any pushovers, nonetheless it’s the large dangerous bosses that require additional consideration as you be aware of their arsenal of assaults and hope to keep away from a slaughtering. It’s robust, however there are issues to assist enhance your odds of success.
The flexibility to teleport to a different tile is one such ability, whereas the introduction of chips is one other extraordinarily helpful addition. These chips activate everytime you repeat the directional sample throughout your motion, which offers therapeutic, fireballs and different neat expertise. That’s not all both, as a result of the Souls you earn could be spent on rising the beginning well being, the variety of equipable relics, gold earnings, and even the teleport vary. The upgrades bought by way of Souls are the one everlasting features that carry over from run to run, which is ok. There’s simply sufficient on provide to present you that perception that subsequent time you’ll do it.
Sadly, the urge to only bounce into The Land Beneath Us for a go right here and there may be barely curtailed by the omission of a reasonably essential characteristic – the flexibility to save lots of throughout a run. There’s nothing worse than beginning a run, solely to be missing the time to complete it and having to forfeit the progress in that space. The chance to save lots of at will on any ground could be such a easy, but vastly useful, addition.
One other slight annoyance is regarding the prompt exit to the following ground upon standing on a gate, particularly when achieved by chance. It might be from a knockback or the over delicate motion stick, however both method a bit of affirmation display screen would assist so that you don’t find yourself leaving any loot behind. Moreover, the sensitivity when transferring and attacking can very often result in the actions being carried out twice, which has performed an element in a good few failed ventures.
The largest praise to present The Land Beneath Us is that even after struggling a number of deaths, you’ll immediately come crawling again for extra. It’s not simply the mildly amusing narrative or the raft of enemies and executives which can be alluring, but in addition the number of upgrades, weapons and relics to get your fingers on. The intelligent, directional-based, fight system performs a significant function in rising the enjoyable issue too. Sadly, a handful irritations do have an effect on the enjoyment considerably.
There’s definitely an excellent dungeon crawling expertise available in The Land Beneath Us, so decide it up and delve into the Underworld the following likelihood you get!
