Dungeon of the Endless

Dungeon of the Endless combines many games, but emerges as something entirely its own.

Dungeon of the Endless blends many different gameplay styles into a satisfying dungeon crawler.

Dungeon of the Endless borrows from many games to create something new, and it's a fun challenge, even if there isn't much reason to beat it more than once.

As for Dungeon of the Endless, there's nothing to rank alongside it. Influences and borrowings be damned – it stands alone and is as brilliantly designed, challenging and cunning a package of ideas and aesthetic choices as anything I've seen this year. Short-form but a long-term commitment.

Full disclosure, in the ten hours we spent with Dungeon of the Endless over the course of this review, we didn't escape from the dungeons. Even playing on the inappropriately named 'Too Easy' mode, this rogue-like can turn on you in an instant. Take your eye off the ball and your previously flourishing band of survivors can be unceremoniously wiped out, taken down by rapidly spawning hordes of enemies without so much as a last breath with which to cry for help. But it's a game that, once it has you hooked, will reel you back in over and over again because you just know you can do better this time, or perhaps you think you've discovered a new strategy - it's all very compelling.

Personally, I don't like having so much left to chance, but I can definitely see the appeal. There's tremendous satisfaction in making it through a floor that you've been stuck on for several playthroughs. Each success is like overcoming the impossible. It's also hard to get bored with a level that's different each time you play it. For hardcore players, Dungeon of the Endless could be the game that will occupy your time and mind for what seems to be... well... endless ages.

While it might miss a trick from time to time, overall Dunegon of the Endless a great little game. Although doing well means you'll be spending two hours jumping from floor to floor, for the most part it feels like a satisfying game to pick up and play for half an hour, vowing to do better next time.

As someone who has no experience with the series but a large amount of experience with roguelites and other genres represented in Dungeon of the Endless‘ mashup of features, I genuinely expected to love it given how much praise exists for it out in the wild. Instead, the journey evoked unpleasant memories of SYMMETRY—a game all about finding the one approach that works and then never being challenged again—only differentiating itself through its merciless RNG cruelty and unlockables that require oodles of grinding.

2008 was the year my love for strategy and tower defence games started. It was this year that I saw Tim Curry escape “to the one place that hasn’t been corrupted by capitalism… SPACE” in Red Alert 3, and Savage Moon had me building mortar towers faster than a charging insectoid. Dungeon of the Endless has recently crash-landed on the PlayStation network; should you plan an all out attack or make a tactical retreat?

At the end of the day, Dungeon of the Endless attempts to scratch a lot of itches by meshing together a lot of different genres, and it manages to do so in a satisfying way. The collection and allocation of resources aren't the most intriguing aspects of the game, but the gameplay is still pretty solid. Meanwhile, the character selection and roguelite elements provide plenty of replayability. The visuals and music are predominantly well developed, but the UI could use some extra attention. For enthusiasts of pixel art, 16-bit music, and games that utilize light strategy elements, Dungeon of the Endless is for you.