Studio Harebrained Schemes became famous after releasing a turn-based cyberpunk RPG in 2013, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign Shadowrun Returns, created in the universe of the board game of the same name. At that time, this genre was, let’s say, not the most fashionable. And three years later, after several additions to Shadowrun Returns, the studio releases another RPG, but this time much more trendy – in real time, with procedurally generated levels and with clear influence Dark Souls. Although without fires.
Uniformity of species
However, you will see bonfires (where you cannot save and restore vital energy) in Necropolis: A Diabolical Dungeon Delve regularly – this is an obvious ironic reference to creativity From Software. You also regularly come across identical dark gray rooms with pedestals, statues, the remains of some huge monsters, chests and pots hidden in the corners. The composition of enemies at the first levels is also not very diverse – skeletons, aggressive bearded old men, knights clad in armor with shields, flying and painfully shooting spheres.
In the roguelike genre (which is Necropolis) such monotony is par for the course – “random” only shuffles rooms and opponents. But in this case, all this causes irritation at first. Moreover, after death you will have to start the entire passage all over again, which means that all these statues, pedestals, “old men” and skeletons await you again and again.
However, in the end, it is the increased complexity that motivates you to try again and again and try to complete all nine levels of this strange Necropolis in one sitting – you want to use all the opportunities to take on the challenge, win and show your enemies where the crayfish hibernate.
Easy to learn, hard to fight!
And the opportunities in Necropolis A little. There is no full-fledged character generation and class selection – you only configure the gender and color of the costume in which your hero (or heroine) will go to certain death. The combat system allows you to use a regular strike, block, dodge, and a particularly powerful attack that consumes stamina reserves. You can restore them, as well as health points, by consuming various potions and food. You will also have to use bombs and scrolls with spells that paralyze enemies, make you invisible, or, for example, temporarily increase the speed with which you will scurry away from the next crowd of skeletons.
We buy all this for gems https://bingovillagecasino.co.uk/ that fall from the carcasses of defeated opponents, as well as from broken pots. True, you come across merchants very rarely – only at the beginning of each level and (on major holidays) somewhere in the middle. In addition, various ingredients fall out of the same corpses and pots, with the help of which you can prepare scrolls, potions and food yourself.
Finally, there are also “codes” – books that give a permanent passive bonus, improving your defense, damage, dodge, shield mastery or, for example, immediately opening all available recipes. You are allowed to take only one such codex with you, and you unlock them for special tokens, which are issued for successfully completing a level and completing tasks – breaking so many pots, killing so many monsters of a certain type, eating or cooking five servings of food, and so on.
Naturalist
However, even with such a limited set of features, the game, I repeat, is addictive and motivating with the challenge it throws at you. Enemies easily kill in literally two hits and also actively block, dodge, and use super attacks. And after another death, when you have to start everything from the very first level, only open codes are saved from the previous playthrough.
Additional problems are caused by the fact that Necropolis there are often no clear descriptions of weapons, potions, scrolls and food you prepare. Or there are no identification scrolls that allow you to determine what kind of unknown liquid you found. Everything is learned through experience: what the “Burp of the Frost Giant”, “Dragon Bile” or, for example, “Potion of Growing Up and Punishment” gives; what kind of super blow will this “Unpronounceable Staff” of the second level have; what will happen to me if I drink a bottle of Lapis Primus??
Therefore, there is always a risk that by consuming or using something, you will harm yourself – the hero can easily get poisoned (he will actually vomit) or, for example, he will be paralyzed. In addition, during the process of production and use, the character becomes completely defenseless and will be easy prey for enemies who love to materialize in droves right out of thin air behind your back.
In principle, there are no pauses, as well as the usual “saves” – you can only go to the main menu and save the game in this way. Add here traps and unpleasant surprises when a stone unexpectedly falls on you or, for example, a huge statue hits a passing hero with a sword..
When playing with four players in co-op, don’t expect any concessions either. In this case, there are even more opponents, and in the heat of a fight you will regularly hit your own people – friendly fire here works by default for both enemies and teammates.
Death as a lesson. And reproach..
"Random" of course affects your chances of staying alive. You can almost immediately get hold of a decent amount of gems and good weapons, or you can run through almost the entire level with a broken sword and meet stronger enemies and more insidious traps along the way than last time. But still, the main secret of success is properly growing hands, dexterity, reaction and knowledge of equipment.
As in Dark Souls, to survive in Necropolis you need to die dozens of times before you understand how to fight effectively, what habits, strengths and weaknesses each of the monsters have, and how many times you can hit that evil one before you have to block or jump to the side. But as you get comfortable and learn to win, going lower and lower through the levels of the Necropolis, discovering new types of locations and opponents, a feeling of deep satisfaction and confidence in your abilities grows. What is evil.
You become stronger, get more powerful weapons and equipment, rejoice in a new, scarlet sword or shooter’s armor, which – lo and behold! – fell out of another chest. And you begin to think that you are the immortal king of this Necropolis, who will still reach the lowest level. And then you happily run to try it all out in battle and die again..
The difficulties of survival are brightened up by the humor and irony that are inherent Necropolis: A Diabolical Dungeon Delve, in contrast to the deliberately gloomy Dark Souls. On the loading screen and on the walls you regularly read something along the lines of “The first veil was torn off and Abraxis fought the demon Ulisteraxus. The third veil was torn off and Abraxis defeated Belgorath the Cruel. And then he came back and tore off the second veil. He forgot about the second one. Doesn’t happen to anyone". The same irony is evident in the comments of the invisible guardian of the Necropolis, and in the descriptions of potions and weapons. Coupled with the semi-cartoon picture, this certainly gives the event its own flavor. But otherwise, this is the same tough and cruel role-playing action game, where laughter does not prolong life at all.
Pros: increased difficulty, which motivates you to try again and again to complete all the circles of the Necropolis; many different potions and scrolls; high-quality combat system; exciting co-op mode; unusual picture; humor and irony.
Cons: there is some monotony; few interesting weapons and equipment; no plot.