Christmas must have come early this year, because here is yet another turn-based blobber on a grid. And just like the demo of Underkeep, the Dverghold demo is excellent too—landing right between feeling genuinely old-school and modern in the form of UI and snappiness. There doesn’t seem to be a way to create custom party members, which is a bit of a bummer. However, I understand the design decision, as it seems death is permanent. Meaning that the run will continue, even in defeat, as long as you have recruits for your dungeon diving gang back at base.
The dwarves have done it again
The dwarves dug too deep again and awakened something that needs to be put back to sleep before it’s too late. The king of the land started to hire mercenaries to tackle the problem, and it’s here where you come in—kinda like the laptop guy of Jagged Alliance 2, but for a medieval fantasy-style setting instead. As mentioned, you pick your crew from a lineup instead of creating your own adventurers. The recruits come in all different races and classes with three usable skills each. What makes this interesting is how two mercs in the same class are different from each other. For example, the two warriors you can pick from come with dissimilar skills from each other, which makes all the hirelings unique in terms of combat.
Just make sure to grab a priest or magician for your party, so you can use “scroll of location”, as that’s your only way to map the area unless you decide to scribble down your own map on paper. The turn-based combat is damn fun, and just like Underkeep, it’s quick and pleasant in a retro way. What also plays a large part in the superb experience is the atmosphere and presentation. The only thing I felt missing was a manual way to rearrange the inventory, as it quickly became a mess with loot all over the place. Like letting a cat organize your IKEA shopping bag.
If you enjoy blobber-styled dungeon crawls, this is another hit to wait for. But it’s set for an Early Access release, without a date for release, so I have a feeling it’s some way out if you want the complete package. Still, the Dverghold demo was great, so it’s definitely something worth keeping an eye on. Make sure to try out the demo for yourself!
Thanks for reading.
– Thomas
Tom's Gaming Vault 