Must Know
What’s it? A vacation in another person’s fantasy.
Launch date July 18, 2024
Developer Microbird Video games
Writer Curve Video games
Reviewed on Home windows 11, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS, 16GB RAM
Hyperlink Official website
Luisa is a younger lawyer from Vienna, and she or he’s burned out. Dungeons of Hinterberg leans into this millennial malaise and twists it cheekily: she’s going to depart the town and take just a little break to search out herself and work out what she’s doing together with her life in a picturesque Austrian mountain city that is just lately been rocked by the arrival of magic. As an alternative of ski slopes, Hinterberg has dungeons, the looks of which has attracted vacationers and a spotlight from everywhere in the globe. Absolutely a number of weeks of slaying monsters and finishing dungeons will assist Luisa clear up the aimlessness and concern of being in your mid-twenties and never figuring out what to do along with your life?
In fact, as soon as Luisa arrives in Hinterberg, it turns into clear that issues will not be that straightforward. Shortly after she arrives Hinterberg suffers a serious earthquake, and rumors start to flow into that it is the risky—and closely exploited—magic that’s endangering the village. Louisa’s on the town for a trip, however as she meets the locals, socializes with different vacationers, and does her personal investigating, she begins to agree that there is extra to the glamorous native financial system than meets the attention. She’ll nonetheless discover the dungeons, in fact, however between excursions it is the fact of the village and its magical trade that turns into paramount, and Dungeons of Hinterberg does a wonderful job of hanging a stability between Luisa’s seek for that means and the bigger story of the city.
My time as Luisa was cut up into strict time blocks. Morning she eats breakfast, afternoon she completes a dungeon or relaxes at a scenic spot, night she explores the city and socializes, and at night time she will be able to learn, watch TV, or head straight to mattress. How she chooses to spend her time influences 4 stats—familiarity, renown, leisure, and amusement—which grow to be a little bit of a balancing act however by no means show too difficult to maintain in verify. I tended to be overfamiliar however unamused, which meant I needed to spend a number of evenings binging actuality TV with a purpose to acquire entry to sure NPCs.Â
The majority of Luisa’s days are spent in dungeons, which you entry by exploring 4 totally different areas, every of which grants Luisa two totally different magic powers she will be able to use in fight or to resolve puzzles. The fight is easy, which works in its favor: there are sufficient mobs scattered throughout the maps that they may have grow to be aggravating if I weren’t assured in Luisa’s means to slice them to items (generally together with her magic abilities, however extra usually with an Assault Conduit she will get fairly early within the sport that principally turns her right into a Beyblade). The enemies are unusual little gooey blob-creatures with masks modeled after Alpine mythology, and it is enjoyable to understand that the horrible goat-thing that enjoys sticking its neck by means of the bottom to torture me is in reality a legendary forest spirit. The puzzles in dungeons vary from fundamental push-a-block-to-go-a-place to pretty concerned multi-layer key activation sequences.
I will be the primary to confess I am not a puzzler—my tolerance for frustration is about the identical as that of an eight-year-old, and too many shifting components makes mind really feel dangerous—however I discovered myself not simply fixing the puzzles however having fun with them. The issue curve could be very approachable, and the restricted magic abilities imply that it is not a query of what to do however the right way to do it. I used to be not often too challenged, however after I did discover myself genuinely confused as to what to do subsequent it simply made the eventual stroke of inspiration extra rewarding.Â
The satisfying puzzles are enhanced by wonderful degree design and artwork route. Each dungeon is tied to a area: hilly Doberkogel, foresty Hinterwald, snowy Kolmstein, or swampy BrĂĽnnelsumpf. These fundamental themes are iterated on within the dungeons to nice success. Doberkogel’s mines and caves really feel like satisfying marble runs for Louisa’s native magic talent of “what if I had a extremely large bomb ball,” and lovely Hinterwald is an orange-hued perpetual autumn, with some dungeons ascending into treetops and others winding by means of the woods themselves.Â
They’re picturesque even when ambushed by monsters. The snowy mountains of Kolmstein are a bit extra one-note, however make up for it with a few of the most intricate, kinetic puzzles within the sport and a really enjoyable hoverboard traversal talent. BrĂĽnnelsumpf, the final area Louisa unlocks, is much less historically picturesque, with a green-tinged swamp and perpetual rain, however it’s additionally obtained a few of the most enjoyable and fantastical dungeons within the sport, which exploit the native ruins and lighthouses to create dollhouse-like castles that Louisa navigates with an infuriatingly enjoyable jelly dice that is each a stepstool (for reaching tall locations) and a goldfish bowl (for placing enemies in time-out).Â
The puzzles are interrupted by occasional boss battle dungeons. In idea, they need to present a little bit of respite and let Louisa dig deeper into her fight abilities. In follow, the bosses are missing. They borrow from fascinating native mythology, and it is objectively far cooler to stroll right into a dungeon known as “Tatzelwurm’s Lair” as a substitute of one other one known as “Derelict Citadel,” however not one of the bosses require a lot talent or tactical care. As soon as you determine the right way to chip away at their well being, that’s all you do, in overly beneficiant patterns that really feel like much less of a problem than essentially the most generic dungeon mob. They take the wind out of Louisa’s sails in what’s in any other case an journey with compelling ahead momentum. My finish aim is to gather each stamp in her dungeon log, and I discovered myself staring on the final boss on the checklist and wishing I might simply get one other puzzle.Â
The second half of day-after-day is reserved for social actions. Although this Persona-like setup is deceptively easy—select a personality to spend your night with and obtain stat buffs/new talents/additional scenes—it feels remarkably near the precise social expertise of being a vacationer in a reasonably small city assembly the individuals round you. There are locals and vacationers, influencers and slayers, keen dungeoneers and cynical youngsters. Everybody has their very own relationship with Hinterberg and their very own causes for being there, which makes for a richer setting than if each NPC was targeted solely on their relationship with Luisa. Like her, they’re simply passing by means of, in search of no matter it’s they got here to Hinterberg to search out. The solid of characters would not simply function a mechanic, however integrates Luisa superbly into the city itself.
To start with, as in actual life, Luisa solely is aware of a number of individuals—she bounces between dungeon coach Klaus or pleasant fellow customer Alex, and her socialization quantities to watching different slayers prepare or hovering awkwardly within the background of influencer movies. However as time goes on, Luisa makes associates or is invited to hitch different teams, and the social scene opens up. There is a enjoyable rigidity between the temptation to remain in your consolation zone, spending evenings with somebody you already know to dig deeper into your relationship tree, or to department out and decide up photograph mode by hanging out with an obnoxious journalist or a cool Assault Conduit by making small discuss at a neighborhood sculptor’s store.Â
Some NPCs could be discovered on the identical place each day, however others would possibly disappear for a night, or be part of a gaggle on the campfire. At first you’re not allowed to dine on the luxurious lodge by the waterfront, however for those who befriend internationally well-known slayer Samkele or longtime Hinterberg customer Gertrude you’ll be able to acquire entrance, setting the stage for later dinners with Klaus or the erstwhile mayor. Totally different characters come to go to Luisa as she eats breakfast exterior her B&B, and later within the sport, when magic begins to spill into the streets, Luisa is among the final to reach on the scene: the opposite slayers have overwhelmed her to it, defending their sanctuary in one of the simplest ways they know the way.
The results of this can be a sport that is satisfyingly advanced regardless of its outward simplicity. The strict time division of the times permits for a snug stability between social parts and exploration, and fight’s occasional monotony is simple to disregard with so many enjoyable puzzles and delightful environments. The selection to set it in Austria, in a fantastical model of our actual world, implies that when the story approaches extra severe subjects like commercialization or burnout there’s no whiplash.
Even when Luisa is hoverboarding her approach down a mountainside or using a whirlwind throughout the river it feels rooted in an expertise we have all had—she’s on the market as a result of she felt misplaced and wanted to search out herself. Like all good artwork, it comes from a spot that is actual—and tosses a little bit of magic in.