In this episode, Brad covers:
Dungeons of Hinterberg
Deathbound
Neo Harbor Rescue Squad
Overboss
Phantom Spark
Arco
…And more!
You can also hear the show on iTunes and Spotify!
Please send feedback and mailbag questions to SoVideogamesPODCAST (at) gmail (dot) com, or post them in the comments section below. Thanks!
In this episode, Brad covers:
Dungeons of Hinterberg
Grow Up
Mars 2120
Thank Goodness You’re Here!
Deathbound
FNAF: Into the Pit
…And more!
You can also hear the show on iTunes and Spotify!
Please send feedback and mailbag questions to SoVideogamesPODCAST (at) gmail (dot) com, or post them in the comments section below. Thanks!
In this anniversary episode – the big 4-0-0! – Brad covers the usual smattering of new games, but closes the show with a series of questions from the listeners spanning everything from games to parenting to music… and more!
Games covered in episode 400:
Dungeons of Hinterberg
Mists of Noyah
Aero the Acro-Bat
The Lullaby of Life
Punch Club 2: Fast Forward
…And more!
You can also hear the show on iTunes and Spotify!
Please send feedback and mailbag questions to SoVideogamesPODCAST (at) gmail (dot) com, or post them in the comments section below. Thanks!
In this episode, Brad covers:
Grizzly Man
Dungeons of Hinterberg
Bomber Crew: USAF
Deathbound (demo)
Arranger
TimeMelters
Mudrunner: Expeditions
Flintlock
…And more!
You can also hear the show on iTunes and Spotify!
Please send feedback and mailbag questions to SoVideogamesPODCAST (at) gmail (dot) com, or post them in the comments section below. Thanks!
Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week we push through to get to better times in a game, which we hope are coming; we change our perception of a game after talking to the people who made it; and we find the familiar in a game that also manages to feel completely new.
What have you been playing?
Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We've Been Playing archive.
Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week we push through to get to better times in a game, which we hope are coming; we change our perception of a game after talking to the people who made it; and we find the familiar in a game that also manages to feel completely new.
What have you been playing?
Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We've Been Playing archive.
Dungeons of Hinterberg is part dungeon-crawler and part life-simulator, sprinkled with the indie spirit of the Life is Strange games. More importantly, it feels like an offspring of Zelda and the Persona games, but one that is more relaxed and less outgoing.
I was pleasantly surprised by how unabashedly Dungeons of Hinterberg wears its many notable inspirations and how well it interweaves them into its varying gameplay systems.
The skies roil. The forests burn. The oceans drink themselves, then throw themselves back up, then drink themselves again. That’s gross, oceans. Don’t do that. Wait. Wait. Sorry. I misread the memo. It’s not the end times, it is simply the end of the week. That’s much nicer. Weekends bring with them solid videogame hours, and perhaps even video game hours? We shall have to see. Here’s what we’re clicking on.
The skies roil. The forests burn. The oceans drink themselves, then throw themselves back up, then drink themselves again. That’s gross, oceans. Don’t do that. Wait. Wait. Sorry. I misread the memo. It’s not the end times, it is simply the end of the week. That’s much nicer. Weekends bring with them solid videogame hours, and perhaps even video game hours? We shall have to see. Here’s what we’re clicking on.
The classic vacation dilemma – do we go out, experience this new place, and find activities to do; or do we just sit down and relax? When I started playing the first 5 hours of Dungeons of Hinterberg, I wasn’t expecting a video game to so perfectly capture a feeling I’ve had on every real-life trip I’ve taken. And yet, through a clever melding of action-puzzling and Persona-like social statistics, that’s exactly what I found myself thinking in this game’s early stages.
Dungeons of Hinterberg has a curious, unique set-up – it’s set in our world, but for that fact that, three years ago, mysterious dungeons popped up around the globe, packed with folklore-inspired monsters, and offering magical powers to those that travel there. We take on the role of Luisa, a disillusioned lawyer who’s travelled to Hinterberg – a picturesque Austrian resort town that’s made a tourist industry out of its 25 new dungeons – for a vacation.
While it could be simple story set-up, that vacation forms the entire structure of the game. Each day in Hinterberg is split up into Morning (usually accompanied by a story sequence), Noon (where you can decide to explore the game’s 4 biomes and tackle dungeons – or simply relax for stat boosts), Evening (where you can meet other characters in the town for various benefits), and Night (where you can either head to bed, or add more to your stat boosts for the day, with a penalty for staying up late).
It makes for a cycle that constantly has you assessing and reassessing what’s best for Luisa, not to mention your own curiosity. The overall structure here has the feel of a Persona game – you only get limited numbers of actions per day, and there are many characters to meet and social stats to level up, which come with their own benefits.
You may just want to look around for a while – Hinterberg and its surroundings are beautiful, rendered in a thin-lined comic book style and bold colors, a literal picture-postcard look – but who you choose to meet around the town comes with meaningful consequences. Entire mechanical systems are gated behind their friendship, and it’s a constant compulsion to work out what you want next. Do I want to hang out with abrasive journalist Travis, who unlocks a photo mode, or embittered blacksmith Hannah, who can help me improve my equipment in new ways?
But the other half of Dungeons of Hinterberg holds an entirely different experience. The overworld hubs hide secrets to discover and monsters to take down, while the titular dungeons held within them are tightly wound action-puzzle experiences in and of themselves, bringing to mind the likes of Zelda, Tomb Raider, even occasionally Mario levels.
I won’t go into too much detail here for fear of spoilers – discovering the dungeons’ tricks is a huge part of the game’s charm – but you’ll quickly realize that each new test can be extremely varied. Some are combat gauntlets, others filled with mechanical puzzles, and some bring entire perspective shifts, briefly turning the game into a side-scroller or an isometric adventure. This variety is helped along by the game’s magic system – each biome offers new spells, but they can only be used in that biome, meaning you’re effectively relearning how to use your abilities in each new place, and allowing Microbird to create fresh experiences in each location. That each spell can be used for exploration and combat only adds to the pleasure.
Combat is snappy and action-oriented, offering you a variety of moves, unlockable abilities, and a precious dodge roll, and you’ll quickly help Luisa turn from a tourist into a bona fide slayer. Couple that with RPG-inspired gear systems, and a web of mechanics created and expanded in an order that you help choose, and you have a truly compulsive cocktail.
But holding it altogether is that lazy vacation vibe – this never feels like a stressful game, like you’re being pushed from story beat to story beat. Instead, I’ve been choosing to spend some days exploring, and others relaxing, knowing that I’m always building my stats in some way, free to explore this strange destination at my leisure. It’s a truly unusual feeling for an action game to get across – and one I’m sure I’ll be thinking about well beyond my stay.
Dungeons of Hinterberg arrives for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, and Cloud on July 18. Play it day one with Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.
The post Dungeons of Hinterberg Captures True Vacation Vibes (With Added Monster Slaying) appeared first on Xbox Wire.
What's at stake? In Dungeons of Hinterberg, refreshingly little. But the more I played of this strange and lovely combination of dungeon diver and life sim, the more I realised that wasn't quite the case. Sure, in terms of the stakes of a lot of video games, Hinterberg's are definitely quite low. You're on holiday and your job, in essence, is to relax. But sometimes just getting away and having a break is really pretty important. A few hours in, I realised that I wanted to do it properly.
Dungeons of Hinterberg is a game about Luisa, who's training to be a lawyer and is young and thoroughly burned out. She's come to Hinterberg, which is a sweet Alpine town touched by magic, to do what all tourists here do. They stroll and eat cakes and sit by the lake, certainly. But they also descend into a range of dungeons to whack enemies around with swords and magic.
The dungeons I've played so far are delightful, combining puzzles and combat in a way that feels like you're playing a really good Zelda shrine. Dungeons often have their own gimmicks - one is about manipulating jelly-like platforms that pop in and out of the walls allowing you to access specific areas. Another is all about mine carts, with puzzles that involve switching the tracks around and opening gates.
Dungeons of Hinterberg, the Austrian Zelda-like adventure, finally has a release date.
As announced at tonight's ID@Xbox showcase, it's set for release on 18th July on Xbox Series X/S and Steam, including a day one release on Game Pass.
Dungeons of Hinterberg is the debut game from Austrian studio Microbird, pairing action-RPG and dungeon exploration with a social sim set in the Alps.
Dungeons of Hinterberg’s alpine mix of dungeon-crawling and relationship-tending will be upon us this summer, with the fetching cel-shaded blend of Zelda and Persona now having a fresh release date announcement for July. Before then, though, we’ll all be able to spend a couple of days socialising and monster-slaying in the Alps next month thanks to a public playtest.
Austrian developers Microbird released a new trailer for their upcoming Alpine dungeon-crawler Dungeons Of Hinterberg over the weekend, giving us a closer look at some of the eponymous dungeon environments we'll be biffing monsters in come its release later this summer. In addition to the previously revealed mountainsides and glacial snow peaks, it looks like Hinterberg will have a big green swamp to travel to as well. Question is: will it be a poison FromSoft variety of swamp? Or something more innocuous? Hard to tell with that searingly green water on display, but one thing is certain: with Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree and its confirmed poison swamp launching on June 21st, this summer won't be short on big bog energy.
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