BELOW Reviews

BELOW is ranked in the 40th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
7 / 10.0
Dec 18, 2018

Below hhas a precise idea but transmits it reluctantly. Finally, not everyone who understands it might want to indulge it.

Review in Italian | Read full review

7 / 10.0
Apr 7, 2020

A maddening eschewing of basic exposition makes Below feel like something of an arrogant work - but ultimately it wields a tremendous audiovisual aesthetic and weaves an interesting, if not an always thrilling, take on the roguelike adventure template.

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70 / 100
Apr 18, 2020

Below is a roguelike that excels at making players truly feel like they’re a lone adventurer on a dangerous island filled with secrets. I liked its simple, colorful art style, its music, and atmosphere, but the gameplay pushed me away.

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Gameplanet
Brandon Yeager
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Jan 25, 2019

Below is a solid and well-designed game that will challenge every level of gamer. Steeped in mystery, fans of Roguelike dungeon exploring will feel right at home in this subterranean adventure.

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7 / 10.0
Dec 22, 2018

Below's maddening edge is an open rebellion to its quiet sophistication. It's loaded with intrigue but resistant to modern methods of approach, creating a Rorschach test where losing patience with its internal contradiction is as credible of a reaction as relishing its idiosyncratic isolation and adversity. Ultimately, Below is a curiosity in which gratification is dependent on personal resolve.

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7 / 10.0
Dec 18, 2018

Below is a good game, but it could have been something great with some more attention to things that were bound to frustrate gamers from the get-go. It's a solid adventure, and a wonderfully interesting mystery. But it's not always fun to play.

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3.5 / 5.0
Dec 21, 2018

After five years of waiting, though there are some frequently fantastic examples of sound used to further the tone and aesthetic, a similarly plentiful amount of contradictory design choices and unnecessarily tasking moments leaves BELOW with many rough edges.

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Cubed3
Top Critic
7 / 10
Apr 23, 2020

Below is a niche title if there ever was one. Beautiful, haunting, and downright demanding of the player, it's a game of little victories. Explore mode is only moderately easier, but it does make this a bit easier to grasp for those who aren't particularly adept at dungeon crawlers. However, the price of death feels too steep, and it's hard to recommend Below to anyone who isn't a diehard fan of the genre. It's very good, but definitely not a good first dungeon crawler.

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Dec 23, 2018

If you have Xbox Game Pass and are not scared away by the potential struggles ahead, then Below might be worth a try. At a somewhat high asking price of £19.99 though, you may wish to consider other, better options.

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3.5 / 5.0
Jan 9, 2019

It’s not cutting edge. I mean “Souls-like” is a genre of its own now, not just an interesting experiment. So we wind up with Below, which is like one of those weird evolutionary offshoots that is never quite successful.

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T.J. Hafer
Top Critic
6.9 / 10.0
Dec 20, 2018

Below is a gorgeous, atmospheric dungeon crawler that is difficult to take in at the pace it deserves because of oppressive survival mechanics.

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68 / 100
Dec 17, 2018

Capy's tough-love approach and well-worn survival systems makes it harder to appreciate Below's singular look and feel.

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Gamersky
Top Critic
6.7 / 10.0
Jan 17, 2019

The art style is so beautiful to enjoy, but the gameplay is too repetitive to bear.

Review in Chinese | Read full review

6.5 / 10.0
Dec 18, 2018

Some players will relish the challenge, but I just couldn't. Not in this game. Below puts its best foot forward in its early hours and then never stops losing steam. If the experience were somehow compressed into a tighter six- to eight-hour adventure, I'd confidently recommend it to a wide audience. As it stands, the game has a masterful command of ambience, but it comes with too many caveats.

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65 / 100
Jan 10, 2019

Even though it doesn’t always feel cohesive, it’s certainly worth playing, especially if you’re a fan of roguelikes —just know that your mileage may vary in the enjoyment department.

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DualShockers
Max Roberts
Top Critic
6.5 / 10.0
Dec 28, 2018

Below's hand-crafted design is constantly at war with itself and the player, despite the gripping world Capy Games has created.

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65%
Dec 19, 2018

BELOW evokes a fantastically ominous air of foreboding with its soundtrack, and its visual style is unquestionably superb, but as an example of the roguelike, Capy's game does nothing new. Perhaps it's intentionally pared-down, but the resulting game is enjoyable for an hour or two, and a relentless chore thereafter.

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6.5 / 10.0
Jan 1, 2019

Below isn't revolutionary or even a risk taker among its peers. It borrows bit by bit everything it needs from other games. In Below, the means justify the end, but is the end even worth it? A vast but shallow sea is what we got after all these years

Review in Persian | Read full review

6.5 / 10.0
Apr 4, 2019

Below is divisive. Few will argue about the bleak beauty of the game, but everything else sets it up as a title you'll either love or hate, with few reservations.

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6 / 10
Jan 6, 2019

Below's foreboding atmosphere and slow, purposeful pace works in its early stages, but numerous frustrating design choices make its back half a nightmare.

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