UnderMine Reviews
A well designed, entertaining, and black humoured roguelite that does a great job of balancing long-term progress with the need to extend individual runs.
UnderMine may look like a Super Nintendo game, but it takes some of the best (and sometimes frustrating) elements of games like Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon and brings it altogether to create an addicting journey.
It isn't perfect; using the floaty jump as a dodge can sometimes land you in even more trouble, aiming your throwable pickaxe is imprecise, and some rooms just feel unfair. We also noticed some odd visual hitches, although these can be smoothed out by enabling vsync in the settings. All that said, if you enjoy a rogue-lite, particularly those with meaningful upgrades, UnderMine is well worth delving into.
There isn’t much more that needs to be said about Thorium’s UnderMine. I don’t care if you’re a fan of roguelikes or if you hate them – this is one of the easiest recommendations I’ve made. There’s a ton here to keep you busy, and the subject matter and setting seamlessly lend themselves to DLC. Given the response UnderMine has received so far, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of more content coming along sooner than later. Now, excuse me, I’ve gotta get back to work.
UnderMine is a ridiculously easy game to recommend. If you are at all a fan of roguelite games, you owe it to yourself to pick this up at your earliest convenience. UnderMine demonstrates clear mastery in its overall design, controls, upgrade systems and presentation, which all come together to make for a thoroughly engrossing experience. The one caveat is that those of you who are sick of roguelites won't find anything to change your mind here; if you fall in that camp, it's perhaps best to take a pass, even if you're essentially missing out on one of the best examples of the whole genre. Otherwise, we'd give UnderMine a high recommendation; this is absolutely worth your time.
Enjoying UnderMine hinges on what you find important in a roguelike. There are tons of items to unlock, deeper mechanics like some items fuse for different or better perks, there are a lot of secrets and it's all set up so skill means more than luck. It just doesn't have that sensation that this is going to be a good or bad run that makes similar titles exciting. Instead, UnderMine has a distinct set of rules, and players are expected to see just how far their skill can take them. It's fun, especially as a fan of the genre, though it absolutely isn't for everyone.
UnderMine smashes, blasts, and hurls its way onto the PlayStation scene, bringing with it a nearly endless dungeon crawling, roguelite adventure. So grab your trusty pickaxe, stuff as many bombs as you can fit into your pockets, and get ready to assume the role of a countless series of generic peasants who will soon meet their untimely demise. There is a surprising amount of fun to be had dying over and over in this UnderMine PS4 review.
Undermine is a clever rogue-lite with plenty of pixel art charm. The gameplay and design elements come together to create a fun, addictive experience that'll appeal to action arcade gamers and RPG fans alike.
Fans of games like Gauntlet or Rogue Legacy will probably find something to enjoy in UnderMine. However the game’s heavy focus on RNG with the Relics and constant enemy spam will alienate roguelite fans that like to succeed with strategy.
Roguelike game with good mix of gameplay elements, but with a lot of grinding and dying.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
UnderMine on Switch is a strong, quirky roguelike full of personality that strikes a healthy balance between challenge and accessibility.
The secrets and characters you encounter truly give every attempt a unique feeling, and once you make it through the Undermine's five areas and bosses, you unlock the Othermine, which is a true roguelike without the base game's progression mechanics. There are dozens of hours to be spent with UnderMine, and many more if you want to complete the 96 in-game achievements and find every partner familiar, item, and potion. Without question, Thorium Entertainment has struck gold with UnderMine, and it's a worthy addition to the Switch's stable of rogue-ish titles.
Overall, a solid title in the genre which offers plenty of content to enjoy and some well-implemented visuals; only let down by some frustrating mechanics and slight graphical flaws.
With a slew of dungeon-diving roguelikes on the Switch already, is this pickaxe-wielding title yet another gold mine of addictive gameplay or not?
A frustratingly addictive fun action-adventure RPG
Overall, I quite enjoyed my time with UnderMine. It takes a fair amount of time to beat the game, at least 20-40 hours. That’s highly dependent on your skill level, of course. There is also a hidden mode to unlock, called OtherMine. To overcome it, you’ll have to push forward without the benefit of permanent progression upgrades like you’ve had in the main campaign. Naturally, this means you’ll have to make do with the random items you find along the way. UnderMine is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $19.99. You can also find it on Steam and Xbox. Do you have what it takes to conquer the mines, and the OtherMine?
For some people, that’s not going to be enough, just because… well, as mentioned, this is not an underserved genre at this point. It’s not hard to find a variety of roguelikes out there, and I’m sure there are people who will take a look at what the game has on offer and determine that they hardly need another one in their library. But if you like this genre? Well, you’re in for a solid treat, because it does what it’s trying to do well. What more could you ask for from a game?
If all rogue-like titles were like UnderMine, I would be an avid fan. Yes, it still has all the annoyances associated with the genre, but these are forgotten because of the light-hearted gameplay. The RPG elements with the upgradable equipment, the variety of enemies, and the curses and blessings make each playthrough different. Lovers of this genre, will either already have this, or have considered trying it. If you normally give these a miss, I recommend giving this a go. If you don’t have Gamepass, you can buy a copy here! Can you solve the mystery behind the earthquakes beneath the city? Grab your pick and venture into the deep. If you die, don’t worry as there are peasants lining up to take your place.
Overall Undermine is a really good roguelike with a lot of well implemented mechanics. Is it breaking any molds? Not really, but the implementation was well done. The environments are large enough that you don't feel guided, but stages are small enough that you don't start getting frustrated being in the same location. There are plenty of randomized power boosts, and the upgrade system is pretty fair about when you need upgrades vs. How much they cost. While my luck may have screwed me over, there wasn't a design choice that did. I was really pleased with Undermine as a roguelike, and with the shorter nature of the stages, it lends itself really well to the Switch and its portable nature.
All in all, Undermine is a lot of fun and it lived up to the hype I had for it. While there are small issues, I never felt my overall enjoyment was tainted in any way. I would love there to be a physical release and I want DLC.