Dungeon of the Endless Reviews
As someone who has no experience with the series but a large amount of experience with roguelites and other genres represented in Dungeon of the Endless‘ mashup of features, I genuinely expected to love it given how much praise exists for it out in the wild. Instead, the journey evoked unpleasant memories of SYMMETRY—a game all about finding the one approach that works and then never being challenged again—only differentiating itself through its merciless RNG cruelty and unlockables that require oodles of grinding.
2008 was the year my love for strategy and tower defence games started. It was this year that I saw Tim Curry escape “to the one place that hasn’t been corrupted by capitalism… SPACE” in Red Alert 3, and Savage Moon had me building mortar towers faster than a charging insectoid. Dungeon of the Endless has recently crash-landed on the PlayStation network; should you plan an all out attack or make a tactical retreat?
At the end of the day, Dungeon of the Endless attempts to scratch a lot of itches by meshing together a lot of different genres, and it manages to do so in a satisfying way. The collection and allocation of resources aren't the most intriguing aspects of the game, but the gameplay is still pretty solid. Meanwhile, the character selection and roguelite elements provide plenty of replayability. The visuals and music are predominantly well developed, but the UI could use some extra attention. For enthusiasts of pixel art, 16-bit music, and games that utilize light strategy elements, Dungeon of the Endless is for you.
Dungeon of the Endless provides a nice mixture of tower defense, RPG and dungeon crawler strategy with a great gameplay experience. The game is challenging, unforgiving, and requires a player who is ready to fail in order to eventually succeed.
Even after that rant about the game crashing at the end, I’d still say that Dungeon of the Endless is a fairly enjoyable and very unique experience. Despite the fact that it’s been out for six years already, it doesn’t feel all too old, and the mechanics, while a little too hectic for my tastes, could easily find a fanbase of its own (and undoubtedly already has).
An almost prohibitively complex roguelike without enough guidance for new players. If you're able to invest the time to the ins and outs of Dungeon of the Endless (or use a guide) there's so much unique strategy/tower defense gameplay to sink your teeth into.
Dungeon of the Endless gives a bad first impression that hides an addictive, fun game. The poor tutorial and unclear mechanics might initially turn off some players, but if you're willing to push past that, Dungeon of the Endless is an enjoyable combination of dungeon-crawling and tower defense. While the Switch version may not have the best controls, its portability is a great combination for the game design, and even those who've played the PC version may want to give this one a shot.
Dungeon of the Endless combines the roguelite and tower defence genres in a way that makes it deeper than the sum of its parts. It's challenging, but rewarding, and if you're a fan of the roguelite genre, then this is one of the most interesting ones from the last few years.
Despite a few niggling issues, Dungeon of the Endless is an incredibly satisfying mix of Roguelike Dungeon Crawler, Tower Defence and Resource Management.
On Nintendo Switch, Dungeon of the Endless is still an excellent and cruel mix of Rouge-like, Tower Defense, RPG and strategy. Port is good, even if it stumbles occasionnally when there are too many ennemies on screen, and it plays well, may you progress with a pad configuration and/or touch screen. It always has something to bring you down, but is charming and deep enough to urge you to go for another try and be more thoughtful. And lucky. Brilliant.
Review in French | Read full review
I’ll admit that when I first started playing this title it was a struggle since there’s a distinct lack of explanation to much of what you need to do...
Personally, I usually require a video game to have a compelling story or character development, or else I get bored, but Dungeon of the Endless was fun enough on its own that I could forget about my need for a narrative. However, those bugs that I mentioned effectively break the game, and I sincerely hope that Amplitude fixes them. I would love to play more without fear that the game will simply shut down on me.
Dungeon of the Endless just isn’t great on the Switch.
Dungeon of the Endless is a clever mix of roguelike elements, tower defense gameplay, and resource management. Balancing these various mechanics, especially the resources used for tower defense, is challenging yet rewarding. The characters are interesting as well, but with some starting characters clearly being better than others, it leaves some of them on the sidelines.
Overall though, what kept me coming back to Dungeon of the Endless was the way every run felt like a different puzzle to be solved. Though each level started to look the same, the wide variety of room types and layouts available meant that it never felt the same. If you’re a rogue-like fan desperate for something new, this is exactly the game you’ve been waiting for.
Brilliantly designed, deep and rewarding, Dungeon of the Endless will be something I will play for a long time to come. Every time I play I learn something new, some nugget of experience to improve my next run. There are so many ways to play, so many things to manage and every game is unique in so many ways. It is a mashup of genres that will please a lot of players, roguelike, strategy, tower defence or RPG. If you like any of those genres then you will love this game. Dungeon of the Endless has a lot to offer and I love it.
While a bit slow to start due to the sub-par tutorial, the game becomes more absorbing as you get a feel for it, research new tools, and try to save the crystal. The recruitment of new characters along the way adds variety, as well as researching new builds with which to beat back the enemy in new and interesting ways. The game would benefit from better explanations and perhaps a glossary of terms, as well as local multiplayer for when the going gets tough. Overall, despite the bugs, it's an enjoyable experience that requires the player to stay on his or her toes while keeping the crystal's light alive.
While it might miss a trick from time to time, overall Dunegon of the Endless a great little game. Although doing well means you'll be spending two hours jumping from floor to floor, for the most part it feels like a satisfying game to pick up and play for half an hour, vowing to do better next time.
One of the more ambitious and imaginative roguelikes of the last few years, that mixes the best of FTL, Tower Defense, and XCOM.
Dungeon of the Endless blends the constituent parts of different genres together to create an engrossing strategy game that offers and incredibly deep and complicated experience.