The Keep - Review

Game reviewed: The Keep

Version: 1.0.6
Created by: Cinemax
Released: 2017

Formats: Pc

Difficulty: 6/10

Price: $14.99

Another Dungeon crawler arrived just a few weeks ago and I bought it almost immediately having only read one or two Steam reviews of it. The game is very similar to last years dungeon crawlers. It is short, linear, limited character development but fun. So let´s dwelve a little deeper into it and see what it brings to the table. And can it compete with the previous ones ?

Gameworld & Story

The gameworld consists only of underground environments so there will be no score in that field. The story for being a dungeon crawler is above average. Between every level you get some new graphics and voices detailing what is happening and how you proceed in your quest. While it is short and have no bearing on the actual play it brings some atmosphere and immersion. Also add the readable plaques found in the mazes that you read out loud like in Stonekeep and that also adds to the atmosphere and feel of the place. The dungeons don´t feel som randomly built with those comments.

Rating 1.5

Economy

There is no money in the game and therefore no shops and no economy.

Rating: 1

NPC & Interactions

There are no NPC in the game at all. But some of the oppnonents you meet will say something to you in short dialogues which adds to the atmosphere. Interactions in the game consists of pulling levers, pushing buttons and weigh down preaussure plates. You can throw items short or long distances and often have to do that or put things behind bars to weigh down preaussure plates. You could also grab torches to light your way instead of using magic.

Rating: 1.5

Monsters, tactics & combat system

The game contains enough different monsters and humanoids to make it interesting. Many of the have their own strength and weaknesses. For example, the ghosts can move through walls which is very dangerous since they also can attack you by surprise. Some use long range magic even though there are very few magic users. Some could heal themselves which I had much problem with initially and had to save after every fight.

Monster never uses any particular tactics. They all fight to the death and will not try to surround you in any way. You could however use some tactics against them. Either by using square dance which works pretty well as long as you have room to manouver and no other monster joins the fray or by using a combination of your magic. I played a character where 2/3 of my skill points where put into melee attributes and the rest in magic abilities. I always used a combination in fights, often beginning with magic. My favourite the last half of the game was to freeze the opponent and then cast lightning on them for more damage. Then shift to melee and empty my stamina before going back to magic again.

Regeneration is slow for both stamina and mana but can be increased by increasing attributes like intelligence. You will need to use potions in tougher fights to be able to survive though.

I think the combat system worked pretty well. What I really liked was the fact that it was possible to use traps against the monsters. In some of the later levels there are some real tough fights but I were able to destroy a lot of enemies by luring them into rooms where I could open trapdoors and let them be spiked. Sometimes I just had to escape from them in order to proceed.

Rating 3

Magic system

By gathering runes - which are quite rare - and finding scrolls with spells you could learn how to arrange the runes on a grid to create the spell you want. When you want to cast the spell you swipe across the bord just like an attack. You have room for  around 4-5 spells at a single time but will seldom have the amount of runes to make so many spells at once.

Mana regenerates faster the more intelligence you have but it will never be fast enough and enemies are tough and require some time to defeat so you will have to learn ways to circumvent them, run around, using melee or whatever to let your mana regenerate enough for new attacks.

I haven´t kept count but believe there are a dozen or so spells in the game. From healing to freeze, lightning and different kinds of fire based attacks. I am not sure if different monsters have different resistances to them though.

In overall, while I am not fond of the swiping effect to attack and cast spells (probably because this is a mobile game in the first place) it did work out pretty well in the end.

Rating 2.5

Character generation & development

You start off with one pregenerated character so there is no character generation. You are a fixed person in the story. When you level up you get some attribute points to spend on strength (increase damage), intelligence (increase mana regeneration and mana points) or dexterity (to increase critical hits and stamina regeneration).

I do feel you have a balance and an interesting choice here but I also feel that it will be very hard to specialise in just a melee or mage way. At least I feel I won´t have come as far without the help of my magic event though I spent the most part on melee.

Rating 2

Map design

The maps are of no predetermined size in x and y widths which is good. You never know when or where it will end with the staircaise down to the next level. There are even maps that spans several levels. The design creates some variety. Especially those where you have to coordinate activities through several levels to succeed.

Rating 3.5

Manual

I was quite astonished to see a really well done manual to this game which was both colorful and with images. Really nice for a change.

Rating 4

Graphics, sound and interface

Graphics in the game are pretty simpel and not very detailed but it is very functional. The sound effects are good and there are some music but nothing that really stucks. The interface is large and clear and is quite easy to use but I don´t like the way you use runes and cast spells. It reminds me too much about Dungeon Master 2. I would prefer to just select a spell but I like the fact that you have to look for the ingredients in the form of runes.

Every three levels or so the style of the graphics in the dungeons change.

Rating 3

Gameplay

Since the game was so short - ten levels - it held my attention to the end and took me only around a dozen hours to complete. I like the game. I was hooked in the beginning when everything felt new and fresh and that feeling sustained for the coming levels. I felt the game was fairly easy combatwise until around level 7 when the difficulty was sharply increased. I had then only spent a fraction of the attribute points I earned when levelling so it wasn´t a surprise but at that point I had to invest all of my saved attribute points into melee in order to succeed in progressing. It was well worth it and I felt the balance in the game is very well made. I had some really tough fights but none that was impossible.

Each level have a few secrets and I managed to uncover most of them until the later levels where my only wish was to survive to the next level. The puzzles in the game was very well made. They are of the typical stuff found in all dungeon crawlers but what I found particular good in this game was that you could use traps against the enemies which is very seldom an option since Dungeon Master.

The fights was pretty nice too with the comboeffects building up after a few hits and which differs with different weapons.

If I compare this game with the other dungeon crawlers released and reviewed the past six months this game has the most simple graphics. Probably because it is ported from a mobile device. The soundeffects are ok and I really liked the digitized voices which reminded me of Stonekeep every time. There are no maintune which is strong enough that I will remember though.

I think it is extremely hard to compare this game with the other crawlers like Ruzar the lifestone, The Dark Path, Heroes of the Monkey Tavern. All are good but I would rank Ruzar, Dark Path and The Keep at around the same level of enjoyment even though they differ slightly in gameplay. If this game would have contained 20 levels I would surely tire before the end and the gameplay value would risk degrade by 0.5 point. I think the this game is a little pricey for the length of it. A better price would have been $9.99.

Anyway, this is a solid bug-free game (for me at least) and I recommend it.

Section	Rating
Gameworld & Story	1.5
Economy	1
NPC & Interactions	1.5
Monsters, tactics & combat system	3
Magic system	2.5
Character generation & development	2
Map design	3.5
Manual	4
Graphics, Sound and Interface	3
Summary CRPG value	22
Gameplay	4

Avadon 2 - The Corruption - Ploughing through

It was a long time since my last post but I can assure you that I have played Avadon 2 since. According to Steam I have played for at least 35 hours. I have no idea how far I have have come but I would guess somewhere halfway and my party is at level 19.

In the Avadon series you play yourself but on every adventure you are allowed to bring two other followers from a list of all those you have met and befriended. For me, that means I have around five other members to choose from and depending on the task I can take those most suitable. That is for the most part impossible to know in advance but you could get back to the Avadon fortress and repick your party. The good thing is that all gain experience points even those that are not participating so you don´t need to train each and every one like in the old Bars´s Tale.

Since last time I have become a Hand of Avadon and have been sent out on various missions that  belong to the mainquest. I have either helped out allies with local problems like cleaning an ogre lair or investigate things or follow the traitor Miranda - a former highranking Hand of Avadon - that collaborates with the rebels in the land. My quests have taken me to the lands of corruption where the evil and chaotic influence is particularly strong and impossible to understand or contain. Avadon have some bases there to keep track of this phenomenon to be able to better understand it but with no success and some of them have already been overrun. I have been part of missions sent there to investigate what is happening and also to give advice of which policy Avadon should take on that. Everywhere you meeet NPC:s that are willing to give you sidequests.

The mainstory is quite good and even though the side quests are very cliché there are some original ones as well. But what really distinguishes Avadon from other similar games is that the dialogues and texts are not boring or tiresome to read. Often the texts are intelligent in the way that they describe what you actually would want to know and questions you would like to have asked. You often have several dialogue options but most of them does not affect much and you can go back to the NPC to repeat them all. For me this is a major thing because I felt that the texts in Pillars of Eternity was just boring to read. Here I don´t tire as easily and the writer manage to keep up the interest. I suppose that is what differs a poor from a good writer.

What I also like is that there are atmospheric texts that elaborate on what you see, feel and hear. They are often really well written and add to the immersion of the game.

I have read opinions that Avadon 2 contains too much fights and gets repetitive and I am inclined to agree to some extent. But there is not more fighting here than in any other Bioware title.

Combat is turnbased and you have action points (AP) to spend on movements, attacking, using abilities or items. The number of AP is derived from your dexterity but if you attack you immediately end your round. There is no flanking bonuses as such but your movement is hindered if you pass into enemies zone of control. Enemy A.I is generally quite good and tries to take out your weakest characters first and surround you. I have found that you can use the environment to your advantage by blocking small passageways or fighting at doors so enemy number superiority won´t count as much.

Enemy spellcasters could be really tough and often I try to take them out as soon as possible. Especially if they summon creatures to fight at their side. Enemies also have a lot of different resistances and abilities like fire breathing or raining poisions so there is some diversity involved.

Looting in the game is not as rewarding as I have hoped. You will find chests here and there but they often contain only potions or some valuables. The merchants in the game have limited stocks and powerful weapons is hard to come by. Most of my weapons have been dropped by bosses. This makes exploration less fun than it could be.

At every level you gain one point to put into an attribute and two skill points. Every character class generally have three different branches in their skill tree. The more you put into one skill the more effective it gets. At level 3 and level 6 it adds another bonus. That causes motivation for specialising. The skills further away on the tree is more powerful but you can only put as many points in a tree node as you have put in the immediate previous skill node which forces you to some careful planning. Fortunately you will meet persons later in the game where you can respend your skill points.

We will see if I have the patience to get through to the end with this game. The fights have generally become harder and harder the further I get. When I first met Miranda in a fight and was held hostage at a demons mercy I thought I had got stuck. I had to change difficulty one step below normal to be able to survive that fight. I had to do that at the ogre boss fight as well. I feel I lack the offensive spells I would like and while my fighters are good there are no better weapons to buy for them despite me having enough gold.

Next post will probably be my review....