9.6 hours played
Written 8 years ago
Super Dungeon Bros strikes me as a light-hearted & accessible rogue-like/lite isometric hack-&-slash ARPG-lite that's aimed more at casual fun rather than hardcore grinding... but that does not mean it's easy.
Here are some of my first impressions after my initial few hours playing Super Dungeon Bros (purchased myself directly through Steam for Windows on Nov. 5, 2016 & played solo/local using a wired/USB Xbox 360 controller/gamepad).
[h1]Things I enjoy about this game so far[/h1]
+ Simple to pick-up-&-play.
+ Good visuals, audio, controls, action, atmosphere, & functional quality/stability for the price.
+ Vibrant comical fantasy art design.
+ Well-designed user interface.
+ The overall "fun factor" is there for me (though I know "fun factor" is very subjective).
[h1]Things I find a bit frustrating as a new player[/h1]
- Hordes of many types of enemies (close-range/melee, long-range/shooters, traps, etc.) often cover the screen, leaving you no room to safely maneuver and unable to attack/escape without taking lots of damage (and/or dying).
- When you melee (sword/hammer) attack, you stand still momentarily, which leaves you vulnerable to the legions of slashing enemies, flying arrows/beams, & traps all simultaneously coming at you from every direction.
- I feel like there's a slight delay (extra/long frame data?) between each distinct player action (attack, jump, grab-&-throw, dodge/roll, move, etc.) that makes combat less fluid than I wish it was. This brief delay continually leaves me vulnerable to more enemy attacks. A more rapid flow/transition between my actions could really help deal with enemy mobs better.
- The game spams big mobs of enemies, but players have no effective "spamable" attacks or moves.
- The rate that summoners spawn new minions is too fast. After dispatching a round of summoned minions, there's no time to attack & eliminate the summoner because he instantly spawns more minions infinitely. This makes an area with multiple summoners virtually impossible to pass (for me). After eliminating summoned minions, there should be a delay before the summoner can spawn more minions.
- Despite the twin-stick-shooter-style controls & mechanics, strafing (moving one direction while aiming & attacking in another direction) is significantly slower than normal non-strafing movement.
- Some enemies appear to have a damaging aura around them, and the sword's & hammer's ranges appear to be too short to attack those enemies without taking damage yourself (or maybe I'm just going about it wrong).
- Ranged enemies can attack you from upstairs/downstairs, but your ranged attacks cannot reach enemies that are upstairs/downstairs.
- The initial crossbow's small ammo capacity, weak damage, & eternal reload time makes the weapon woefully inadequate. It constantly leaves you helplessly running from mobs waiting to reload.
- Achievements don't seem to pop until you close/exit the game.
-- The best way I can think of to try to describe what I think is the biggest fundamental problem with much of the combat in this game is what seems to me like (in fighting game parlance) unfavorable frame data... For example: you swing your weapon to attack an enemy & (hypothetically) say it takes 30 frames for your attack animation to complete; you are locked into that entire 30 frames of attack animation & unable to do anything else until after it completes entirely; but a few frames after you've initiated your attack & before your attack connects with your target, the enemy you're attacking (or multiple other enemies in the screen-spanning mob) takes a shot at you with their own attack that (hypothetically) takes 20 frames to complete (10 frames faster than your own attack); you cannot avoid taking that damage because you're still locked (& can't even move) in your own attack animation while you're being attacked. This puts you at a vulnerable disadvantage every time you attack, especially heavy attacks, and/or attacking with hammers, and/or when dealing with hordes of enemies. I would love to see this re-balanced somehow, either by speeding up (reducing) the player's attack frames, or maybe by giving players some way to cancel out of their attacks before they complete (perhaps with the dodge/roll move), or maybe by some way of having player attacks interrupt/cancel enemy attacks, or maybe even by giving the player some invulnerability frames while attacking, or by some other better solution.
[h1]My wish list for improvements[/h1]
• Faster flow/transition between player actions (shorten/decrease frames/delay between actions).
• Faster strafing
• Ability to repeatedly dodge/roll more before waiting (dizzy) to recharge the dodge/roll ability, along with faster recharge of dodge/roll ability.
• Instead of finger-cramping button mashing, let players hold down an attack button to automatically swing melee (sword/hammer) attacks repeatedly.
• Ability to attack while jumping.
• Free pick-ups to recharge your ultimate attack (or auto-regenerating ultimate charge).
• More health pick-ups (or more frequently/easily-obtained health/armor power-ups/buffs, or auto-regenerating health).
• More noticeable indicators when the player takes damage (the first couple times I died, I didn't even realize I had been taking hits).
• Longer "magnetic" reach/distance to pull in coins/pick-ups.
• Access to game options from pause menu while playing.
• Built-in configurable frame-rate cap/limiter option.
• Built-in support for borderless full-screen window option. (I have not yet had any issues with Alt+Enter to switch between full-screen & windowed, nor any issues yet with Alt+Tab to switch back-&-forth between the game & other apps.)
[h1]Summary[/h1]
So far, Super Dungeon Bros has definitely been fun enough to make me want to keep playing more. The game delivers on its claims, and it works without crashing/freezing or suffering from major game-breaking defects (for me, so far). I've tried playing public/online co-op, but I guess there aren't enough players yet (so soon after launch), as the game doesn't match me with anyone after several minutes of waiting in a lobby.
As it is (at launch), I think Super Dungeon Bros is a reasonably well-made & decently fun little indie game... but if some simple improvements to some of the game's basic mechanics were to be updated/patched in (like some of the items I previously mentioned above), I think this game could explode into something spectacularly addictive. :)
Of course, this is all just my opinion based on my own preferences. Others may have different opinions & preferences.
(I may edit/update this review later as I progress further in the game and/or as the game evolves.)
[h1]Quick beginner's tips[/h1]
• Jump... As the game's title hints (for retro gaming fans), you can jump on some enemies to inflict a small amount of damage. If you get surrounded & trapped by a swarm of enemies closing in around you, try to jump on them & over them to get away. Holding the jump button while moving is sometimes a good way to bounce around & avoid enemy attacks.
• The Howling Gale Wand is one of the first unlockable weapons, and I have found it to be the most useful weapon in the initial arsenal, as it combines infinite (no-reloading-needed) piercing ranged attacks with close-quarters melee attacks, along with a minor heal in its ultimate attack.
• I haven't noticed any functional differences between playable characters, just visual/cosmetic & audio (spoken lines/taunts) differences. Your stats & abilities appear to be affected only by your weapon choice, not your character choice.
Good luck & have fun.
