Review | Dungeon Escape

LifeisXbox’s Dungeon Escape Review | Looks like it’s time to jump on enemies’ heads, collect coins and keys, and get through threatening levels in this new 2D challenging platformer called Dungeon Escape. You will notice purely from the title alone that you have been trapped in a dungeon and it’s your job to overcome lethal traps and merciless enemies to set yourself free. Your chance of survival may be small but there is still a chance for you to obtain freedom. Single screen trials will start off somewhat friendly but the further you progress, the higher the risk. Should you choose to risk it all, you will have countless attempts to complete each level as should you die, you will have to start over. Dungeon Escape has been developed by Eastasiasoft Limited and Roenko Games while also being published by Eastasiasoft Limited to bring us both a fun and demanding game to which your patience and preciseness will be tested.

VicciVulpix played Dungeon Escape for two hours on Xbox One S. This game is also available on Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Steam, macOS, Linux, and Android.

What we liked!

• Responsive and minimal controls | The only controls you will have to use will be your analog stick for movement and A button for single/double jumping. I must admit, it was quite nice knowing these were the only two things you could do to clear all the levels. This is because they had to be utilised differently all the time. As an example, your double jump sometimes needed to be used at the maximum range but there were other instances when you had to delay your second jump to reach a particular platform. The controls are certainly minimal but that doesn’t stop their impact from being effective and important. 

• Different level designs | Each level has its differentiating dangers for you to get past, making all levels different. Sometimes you’ll have to deal with sawblades being in your way whereas in others there will be spikes you have to navigate around. Your job is to acquire the key to unlock the door within the same level, allowing you to move on to the next. There are also coins amongst each level but these are not mandatory to collect; they simply just give players an alternate objective in addition to your main, should you be interested in increasing your overall score during the course of your gameplay. There will always be something you have to be careful of. Always be on the lookout.

• Challenging game | When you load up Dungeon Escape, you’ll see there are 50 levels for you to complete. Now, at first glance, this may not seem like much content but I promise you there is plenty when you take the difficulty into account. You have to clear each level without dying. The second you get hit in the face with a boulder or by simply running into an enemy, for example, you will be required to start the current level from scratch. In the first handful of levels, this won’t be as bad but the further you progress, as with most games, the harder it will become. Appearance can be deceiving and that is the beauty of Dungeon Escape.

Somewhere between

• Music quickly became repetitive | With games such as Dungeon Escape, I don’t usually expect much from the audio side but I would have liked to hear more than one song on the soundtrack. As every ten levels the colour changes, it would perhaps have been nice to change the song tempo. I could see a calmer tune being used for the earlier levels, which increases in intensity the further you get into the game to present the difficulty in another way. It could then be seen as the music complimenting the danger element, making players become more hype and allowing you to feel the intensity.

• Frustrating yet addictive | Oh my, did I play multiple levels more than enough times, and my patience was certainly tested. Although it became irritating to repeat levels because of small mishaps and errors on my part, I couldn’t stop going back and trying again. Dungeon Escape unquestionably keeps you interested as you undoubtedly will spend a decent amount of time dying, therefore banging your head against the same wall multiple times. However, I feel like you just can’t just leave a level and once you’ve completed it, you’ll have the same vicious cycle happen all over again with the next.

• Minimalistic visuals | With regard to the visuals in Dungeon Escape, there is not a great deal to talk about. Every ten levels you complete, the background colour will change which is nice but this is probably the only noticeable colour difference you will see. Ultimately, the environment’s appearance remains the same, with the treacherous objects remaining grey and I guess this isn’t a bad thing as you’ll always know to stay away from anything of that colour. The enemies are bright so there should be no problem with noticing them. Overall, it looks good – just a little basic for me is all.

What we disliked

• Completion not necessary | To my disappointment, Dungeon Escape is yet another title that doesn’t require you to finish the entire game for the completion and full amount of gamerscore on offer. You only have to play up to level 18, which I spent more time on than I would have liked, and it’s pretty saddening to see this happening yet again. I understand it’s designed this way to appeal to achievement hunters but in my honest opinion, you should have to at least complete the game to be rewarded. It makes the additional levels seem pointless as many will stop straight after they earn all the achievements.

• Difficulty spike | When I first started Dungeon Escape, I knew the game would get increasingly more difficult the further I progressed. I started to enjoy the first few levels, but it didn’t take very long for the dangerous environments to become far more grueling to pass. Due to this, for me anyway, there was a loss of appeal as the quick jump in difficulty wasn’t subtle. I think this could have been spread out perhaps between some extra levels to make the struggle gradually harder instead of feeling like I’d gone from easy to hard mode in the blink of an eye.

How long to beat the story | Approximately 2-4 hours
How long to achieve 1000G | Approximately 1 hour
Similar with |Dead Dungeon, More Dark, Horned Knight

CONCLUSION

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