Delver

i played this just because of the graphics. one of the most appealing looks of any game if u ask me. lowpoly and pixelart with solid lighting is just a great combo.

My first impression was pretty good, the game rewards you with new weapons, enemies and most of all the prospect of more interesting items and encounters down the line. Does it keep that promise tho? no, not really.

In my first playthrough i almost finished the game. I just wasnt prepared for the game to have me backtrack through the entire repopulated map (btw I think way more roguelites should do this, its really fun and fits well with the gravedigger/treasure hunter motirvation). On my second playthrough I was prepared and easily finished the game. Thats it. At this point I have seen everything this game has to offer.

Its a fun time for a lazy day, but only if u get it in a sale or free.

₊˚⊹♡

After finally giving Delver a serious play-through attempt, I don't know what the appeal of this game is. Visually, it looks great - the low-poly areas and 2D pixel art is charming. The music is pretty decent, as well. But the gameplay feels extremely lacking. You will just be trekking through randomized dungeons across several areas, each with 2-3 enemy types. This doesn't change until you get to the "final" level in the run, which was a meatgrinder of a room full of enemies.

There's an assortment of melee weapons (one-handed and two-handed), a few bows, and some magic wands that essentially send out blasts of various types. The melee combat is basic - you can do a regular attack or hold the attack button for a charged attack. Melee weapons range from daggers, to hammer, maces, short/long swords, but all of the melee weapons I found would eventually break. Magic wands have a finite number of charges, and can't be recharged (if I'm I'm wrong, please let me know). You can also find a few bombs to throw at enemies, but outside of that, Delver's combat doesn't have much going for it. The enemies are pretty uninspired, and have basic A.I. You'll just stunlock them in combat and move on your way.

The level-up system is also bare-bones; you choose 1 of 3 randomly-selected stats to invest a point every time you earn enough experience to level-up. Sometimes you find single-use scrolls that come in a variety of flavors - ranging from enchanting your armor, granting levitation, identifying unknown potions/items.

The last level was where I lost interest in continuing the game. It was a "meatgrinder" room, or one where there's a few difficult enemies, and a swarm of add-on enemies that just peck at you if you don't clear them out. Not difficult, except for the fact most of my wands were used up, and using melee weapons resulted in me taking a bunch of ranged damage from add-ons.

There are much better roguelikes/roguelites to play than Delver. Barony does what this game wanted to do, and then some. But as for this game, I think I'll just shelf it. There's just not enough depth to it - no pun intended.