PC
I went into The Crazy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles (CHDC) with all the wrong expectations. I was sure this was going to be an old-school dungeon crawler, with its cartoony approach to a top-down 2D world revealed as you walked around. I immediately felt nostalgic for that Ultima-era, and was very ready for that. Turns out, that’s not what CHDC is at all. Turns out it’s something else that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.
This is, in fact, closer to the excellent Dungeons of Dreadrock games, a sort of RPG puzzle game, each floor of the dungeons its own contained challenge. You pick to play as either the Hero or Heroine, the other becoming your frenemy cousin as the story plays out, and then begin making your way down, down and down in an effort to discover the legendary Sacred Groowl.
It’s also a tremendously daft game, with lots of fun writing and daft, recurring NPCs and enemies, and a huge amount of variety in the sorts of challenges each level offers. On top of that, levels are procedurally generated (to a point – many have crucial features that have to be a fixed collection of tiles, but even these can be located differently), so the rooms you need to reach, the people you need to talk to or attack, and the keys you need to find won’t be in the same place if you have to start over.
A level might have you chased by wood spirits as you chop down trees (or conversely infuriating a tree-hating witch by choosing not to), or ploughing through rooms filled with enemies to reach a goal, or cooking and crafting from the vast amounts of loot you’ve gathered on your way. There are some that are about stealth (which suck, and we’ll get to that), some about solving elaborate floor puzzles, some all about talking, others about dodging traps and finding secrets. Point is, there’s a huge amount of variety.
The big twist here is the combat. It’s barmy. Imagine if a turn-based RPG battler had a baby with a golf game and you’re most of the way there. Each battle takes place with enemies located within in a circle of boxes, with you in a central box. You can face anything from one to six enemies at a time, each with different attacks, and each taking their turn to hit you based on a speed meter. When it’s your turn to dish out damage, attacking is about clicking when your marker is in the middle of a target on a meter. Each defence about clicking when your shield slides along a meter to align with the enemy’s attack. In other words, it’s all about timing, and the closer you are to hitting the centre of the target, the more powerful your attack. You then get a bunch of extra abilities, gained as you progress, that let you affect all this, perhaps significantly slowing down the speed the meters move at, or doubling your shields, or reducing the efficacy of enemy attacks, each ability using your stock of Rage and lasting for a set number of attacks.
It is… almost great. Oddly, it works best when it’s at its most cluttered, with say five enemies of different types, and you trying to juggle from five different spells between attacks, while chugging potions and food to stay alive. This way it’s a challenging frenzy, but when things aren’t so complex it becomes a lot less engaging. OK, I have to hit and defend from these two guys until it’s over… And yes, absolutely, that’s true of pretty much ever turn-based RPG, but it feels a little more egregious here given all that golf clicking. So yeah, sometimes it’s too dull, but it often finds its pace and provides good fun.
While I’m griping, let’s deal with the stealth. It only comes up twice in 50 levels, and it’s important to note you can skip it the second time, but both times becomes infuriating. I nearly gave up on a level set around an orc school, so pissed off did I become with baddies suddenly turning 180 and spotting me. But I stuck through it, swore a lot, and got back to the fun.
What’s important is that I’ve been so determined because this is a game I’m really enjoying. It’s incredibly meta, with NPCs complaining about their programming, sardonic comments about the developer’s reliance on cliché, and a lovely moment where, if you choose to go for a wee, the character appeals to you to leave a nice Steam review. It feels charming in so many ways, and there’s just so much going on all the time.
CHDC is a very peculiar game, in both senses of the word, and I mean them both positively. While it definitely reminds me of Dreadrock, it’s certainly a unique little creation. It’s also packed with bonkers details, asides, letters sent between NPCs hinting at deeper stories, incredibly silly jokes, and a constant sense of variety. I wish to god that there were more opportunities to sell crap from your inventory. I wish the magic storage chest and cooking stations appeared a bit more often in the first half of the game. And I really wish there were a way to save mid-level, given you have to start each over no matter how far through. But I’m really enamoured with it despite all my wishing. It’s daft and breezy and very cleverly put together.
I’ve not even mentioned that there are three different weapon styles to choose from, or if you’re mad you could pick from all three. Or how you need to manage food and water, but it’s never onerous. Or just how much it delights me every time I light a torch and the word “Fwoosh” appears on screen. I just love the word “fwoosh”. And the art! The drawings between levels are so splendid. It’s all a good time.
Fwoosh.
- Fix-a-Bug, 2P Games
- Steam
- £11 / $13 / €13
- Official Site
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