Dungeon Explorer: Same name, Two games

Apparently there was a game called Dungeon Explorer released on the TG-16 back in 1989 that was also released on the Wii Virtual Console last year.  The game was a fairly blatant Gauntlet-clone with additional RPG elements and some nice varied locations, but nothing all that revolutionary even nineteen years ago – it is certainly not one of those historic gems that brings a nostalgiac tear to older gamers’ eyes.  So it is perhaps surprising that Hudson chose this franchise to resurrect for a pair of games on the DS and PSP bearing the same name but otherwise very different.  But neither new Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of the Ancient Arts game owes much to the original other than the moniker, and they are different enough to deserve their own reviews.

Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of the Ancient Arts (DS)

There seems to be some common elements to dungeon crawlers on handhelds: average graphics, decent soundtracks, thin plots, simplistic controls and an almost maniacal focus on combat.  Dungeon Explorer pretty well fits that mold, but let me dig into the specifics a bit.  The game is a fairly basic hack-n-slash affair, and the basic motivation for your dungeon crawling is laid out in the opening scenes and quick tutorial quests.  Simply, there is a ancient evil god who was sealed away, but there are plans by some to bring him back to support their evil schemes.  It is up to you to thwart those plans.  Along the way there are plenty of NPC’s you can talk to who will provide you with loads of backstory and flavor as well as some quests.  It is a nice addition that provides even more motivation for your main quest.

Technically the game is below average.  The graphics are GBA-standard at their best, and lousy at worst.  The soundtrack is fairly standard stuff, but is of pretty high quality in terms of sound fidelity and also the quality of themes.  As expected, the dialogue isn’t voiced, but there are plenty of other sound effects which are all pretty decent as well.  The controls are quite basic – you use the D-pad and buttons to play, with no touch-screen utilization.  Paired with the graphics, it makes the game feel like an early DS game that was originally intended for the GBA and then reworked slightly for release on the new system.  Note to Hudson: the DS isn’t remotely new anymore, so there is little excuse to release a game that feels like it could have been a 2002 GBA release.

Of course, a game like this lives or dies in the dungeons.  Fortunately this is the best part of the game; unfortunately it still isn’t great.  You choose from the standard fantasy classes (fighter/rogue/mage) and enhance your abilities and skills as you gain levels.  You also gain power through new equipment, and also by gaining a pet robot that can gain the ability to evolve into a powerful companion.  Mages will gain new and more powerful spells as they progress as well.  The simple controls work quite well and allow easy access to spells and items.  The different classes provide a fair amount of replayability, which is good because the main quest is fairly short – about ten hours or so.  Unfortunately the only multiplayer option is multi-card (meaning all players need a copy of the game), and the multiplayer quests are also rather short.

There is little reason for me to recommend this game to anyone: if you are not a fan of dungeon crawlers you won’t like this game, and even if you are a fan there are several better options available on the DS: Izuna, Tao’s Adventure, Etrian Odyssey (with the sequel coming soon), and the recently released Shiren the Wanderer and forthcoming Mazes of Fate DS.  Yet if you are a true die-hard fan of the genre, you will not consider the game a waste of money: you know that the graphics will be sparse, the story thin, and the combat system and character classes satisfying enough to carry you through a few playthroughs.  And what else can a fan of classic roguelikes ask for?

Score: 2.5 / 5

Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of the Ancient Arts (PSP)

Taking a somewhat different approach than the DS version, the story takes place a few centuries earlier and focuses on heroes that rise up to battle the emerging evil.  There is political turmoil and you are forced to take up as an adventurer, though your experienced pedigree allows you to advance more quickly through the adventuring classes than a fresh new recruit. The game is also more visually focused than the DS release, allowing you to select your general appearance, your gender, race and basic class before getting started with the adventure.  Depending on what race you select you get a slightly different starting story, all of which end you at more or less the same place.  The game starts off pretty nicely – you help seal off a cave which should seal away the monsters who have been overrunning the world, but strife amongst men creates evil in the land which feeds the power of the trapped monsters and allows them to break free again.

The structure of the game is fairly simple: you go to the adventurer’s guild, take on an adventure, then exit through the town gates into a random dungeon where you battle enemies, collect items and treasures, and destroy ‘monster generators’.  These generators do exactly what they indicate – produce a non-stop stream of monsters until destroyed.  After completing all tasks in the dungeon – or failing – you are transported back to town.  Back in town you can rest in your room, which allows you to store items and save your progress; you can also buy items and allocate attribute and skill points gained through completing quests.  Be careful buying items – unlike so many games in the genre, gold remains tight throughout.  This entire quest process is repeated for the entire game – story quests are pretty much the same as optional quests, but often are accompanied by a cutscene.  There is little compelling content – the story feels incoherent at times, and there is just not much to motivate you to get to the next quest or level.

Technically the game looks and sounds pretty good, but isn’t going to win any awards.  Translations are particularly spotty – they start out badly, but actually improve to be reasonably done for the majority of the game.  Controls work quite well – and fortunately so, since combat is the core feature in this dungeon crawler.  Your character has primary and secondary skills and spells you can assign to various buttons, and you often get to bring a companion or two or three along on a quest.  Added team members allow you to unleash time-based team attacks that can be very powerful.  The game also allows easy changing of your character’s combat class, which keeps things fresh at the possible expense of replayability.

The game rounds out the experience with a solid crafting system and reasonable multiplayer.  You can take up to two other players through dungeons with you, but you cannot do this to gain additional levels as you only gain items through multiplayer.  Items from either single player or multiplayer can be used in the crafting system, which allows all manner of offensive and defensive items.  This helps augment the typical dungeon crawl process of gaining levels and loot to fight more powerful enemies to gain more levels and loot and so on.  This game is better than something similar such as Valhalla Knights, but unless you are a die-hard dungeon crawler junkie there is no reason to even give it a try. 

Score: 2.5 / 5

 

3 Responses to “Dungeon Explorer: Same name, Two games”

  1. Wow, two such different games with the same name… (Well, I guess “shoddy RPG dungeon crawler” describes both…)

    Where do I go to find your current “best of” RPG for the DS?

  2. Well, I don’t maintain it … but that seems like a good idea. I do a ~quarterly review of handheld RPG’s for RPGWatch (one just about done now).

  3. Yeah, I always read your quarterly round-ups… very handy.

    I miss the old SSI Gold-Box stuff and Wizardry type of RPGs, but couldn’t play them now even if I wanted to, because if you go away from them for a week or two it gets hard to remember where you were or what you were doing…

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