Tangledeep Switch Review

Whether it's ADOM, IVAN or (arguably) Dwarf Fortress, let's talk about it!Rules:. Be nice.

Limit (self-)promotional material to once per three months, especially when not relating to traditional roguelikes. Video reviews/plays of 'roguelikelikes' will be removed. No low effort posts or memes. Cons: The game has boss fights that are exactly the same in every run, so it’s not rewarding to replay it, especially when there’s many of them. The hunger clock is simulated by respawning monsters and health being slow to restore, YMMV.Pros: Tons of content. Classes have a decent skills and you can pick your favourites from them by multi-classing. Decent gamepad controls (for a roguelike).If you decide to pick it up I recommend one permadeath run, followed by a run where you restart in town after dying.

You’ll have unlocked a class or two and you’ll know which classes you like and which you should ignore. The boss fights are ultra tedious the 2nd time round so it’s best to approach it like roguelikey-RPG than a full permadeath roguelike.The game has issues, especially when it thinks its boss fights are worth repeating (they really aren’t in any way). But it has enough quality content to put it way above average in terms of gameplay. I agree that the boss fights could have used some variety, although relatively speaking they are a pretty small% of the whole game. That being said, in Legend of Shara (first DLC) you can play 'Wanderer's Journeys' which are like microcosms of the whole game.

No towns, no bosses, just a dungeon crawl of 12-50 floors (depending on which Journey you pick.)Each one also has various parameters for extra mechanics, gimmicks, stuff you can bring in & out of the dungeon, etc. So if you like the Tangledeep gameplay and flow, but don't like playing through the same core dungeon, you can run a Journey instead for more of a coffee-break experience (although the 50 floor dungeon is definitely more in the 4-5 hour range. I did it live on stream recently and it was a ton of fun.). Tangledeep is charming and fun, there is a lot of good gameplay to be had especially with mixing and matching your classes to tailor your abilities to what you want your character to be.It is definitely a streamlined version of the roguelike experience compared to something like ToME or ADOM, but there is something to be said for a clean, simple product.The biggest thing Tangledeep has going for it, imo, is being a genuine roguelike that's playable on the Switch, so if that's a platform you like to play on its absolutely worth it. The DLC isnt on switch quite yet but the dev is actively working on getting it ported and it seems like it should be coming pretty soon.So ultimately yes I think it's a good game though not quite as complex as some other roguelikes, but being able to get it on Switch can be a big plus. I haven't played the expansions.The game is definitely a bit shallow, and the randomness of each run isn't enough to make more runs interesting usually. I got to the area before the final boss and died, at which point I kinda lost interest.I will say though that it is by far the prettiest roguelike i've played and the animations and sound design are top notch.

There are a lot of fun mechanics like pets, item dreams, the casino, etc. If you really like roguelikes but are looking for something a bit simpler, it might be worth it.Edit: I forgot to add that the UI and control scheme is the best i've seen in a roguelike so far. Personally I loved it when I first got it. Played on and off for a couple months and after a few months now checked it out again. It's still decent but the magic is definitely gone.I'd say for the price it's worth trying out.

It doesn't have much depth, there's some replay value, it ends way too soon and is repetitive if you play a few different characters.I still enjoyed it though, the monster ally mechanic was my favorite and the art was charming. It's really just a simple game that has charm but doesn't go out of it's way to do anything new. I don't like Tangledeep, personally. I've done 4 runs through, the most recent was yesterday, trying to get myself to enjoy it and I just don't.The town management is a neat idea, but think it actually detracts from the game as a whole. I can't put my finger on why, though.The gameplay itself is kind of mediocre. I think I'm missing some level of depth, because by the time I killed the first boss I already maxed out my job so there was no progression left at all. The lack of HP regeneration means that basic enemies can't pose any threat to you else you'd be put in a position where you're just waiting to lose.

Mar 24, 2019  To note, a code for Tangledeep was supplied for review from the game’s developers. Tangledeep has had my eye ever since I saw it in early access on Steam. Just by looking at it I could tell it just oozed nostalgia from the times long past. A great looking RPG mixed in with some rogue-like. Nintendo Switch review – One year on, the Switch is not only potentially Nintendo's best console, but the most exciting console on the market.

This makes 95% of the game feel like filler and the bosses are the only interesting part. I didn't find the bosses compelling enough to enjoy slogging through the rest of the game as a whole, plus the massive difficulty spike between chaff and boss is very jarring. You'll feel very strong taking on basic enemies, and then boss fights will take 40% of your life in a single turn. You can indeed max out your first job by the first boss fight. But you know that you can mix and match jobs, right?:D There are tons of uses for JP. Weapon masteries, job trials, multi-jobs, skill orbs, pet breeding & training, etc. But more importantly, a lot of your progression comes from your gear choices and how you customize each piece with the mods you want to match your play style.I'm also curious how far you got.

For roguelike veterans, the early game is not difficult. But the further you get, the more deadly the enemies become - not just stats, but the abilities they use and their tactics. Eventually, regular champion monsters become huge threats. The game itself is huge. The pixel art is really well done.

Combat and classes are a little different from regular roguelikes, maybe something between TOME and final fantasy 5. Due to the various abilities/jobs, weapons and branching paths through the game you can take, I think it is hard to say it is shallow. If anything there is so much content it is a touch overwhelming (in a good way).Objectively, it is a really good game and I recommend it.

However subjectively, it may not be for everyone. Something about it personally didn't click with me.Also the dev seems to be very active. Both in terms of community (hell, he's in this thread) and patches.tldr: worth it. I mean it is very shallow in terms of systems and content. You just constantly get assaulted by infinitely respawning enemies with nowhere near enough variety and fight them off with fairly boring abilities. Apparently you can turn the shitty hp regen system off and just regen normally now but the game was balanced around infinite enemies and limited regen for you so I doubt that's an ideal experience.Didn't buy the DLC since I don't buy DLC for games I don't like.I know a lot of people like it, but I found it a generally terrible experience all around.If you want a game with cool classes and such, play Tome. Hell play Dredmor.

Dredmor is miles better than this and I don't even consider Dredmor very good. Its just not actively bad, like this is.

Review by Matt S.“Roguelikes” are dime a dozen these days. Any game that takes a procedural approach to the level design (i.e. The level is randomised) is proudly broadcast as a roguelike, and it’s easy to understand why; random levels means unlimited replay value, or something. If that’s not a killer selling feature, nothing is.Tangledeep is a little different.

Tangledeep is a genuine roguelike, in the sense that it’s a direct descendent of the classic game that gives the genre its title (Rogue, obviously). It’s not exactly the most playable experience out there, but once you unpack its dense layers, there’s many (many) weeks of intense grinding campaigns in there.Tangledeep’s biggest problem is that its UI is absolutely terrible. There are multiple menu systems, a convoluted process of button presses to use special abilities and the like, and there are even multiple movement systems; using the D-pad has your avatar wander around as you’d expect from any RPG, but pressing down on the control stick anchors your character in place, giving you a 360-degree movement wheel, and waiting for you to select an angle and then press a button before the character will take a step. This is all done for a good reason. For example, as Tangledeep is a turn-based game of tactical depth, it’s important to be able to have precise control over direction for special abilities and attacks. The control stick option effectively allows you to confirm a direction before doing something (either moving the character there or attacking whatever’s in the space).

The multiple menus help to space out the overload of detail and options, and the only reason that selecting special abilities and the like is clumsy is because there are so many of them to choose between. Tangledeep was initially a PC release, and clearly designed for mouse control. In fairness to the developer, the team has done the best it can to make the game work on a device that doesn’t have a mouse (and touch screen input would have been too finicky in practice).That being said, there’s still so much going on in Tangledeep that it can be overwhelming, especially when you’re still trying to come to grips with how to play. There’s a pet system that allows you to drag companions into dungeons with you. There’s such a depth to the equipment systems that even figuring out what kind of character you want to play is a process. Tangledeep transitions from bewildering to intriguingly deep after a few hours, and actively encourages players to get creative with it, but it’s a process to get there, and the tutorials and guidance are of limited help.Finally, Tangledeep is visually clunky. Sprites show a nice level of detail, but lack animation and, when playing in portable mode on the Switch, are too small.

Text is also difficult to read, and the retro vibe, while generally pleasant overall, means the font used is painful to read. Tangledeep was clearly made for people who not only remember Rogue, but would still play it if they could, and while that’s admirable, it’s worth emphasising just how inaccessible it all is upfront. Once you get going with Tangledeep, though, it is so rewarding. It’s difficult, as roguelikes tend to be, and that difficulty escalates rapidly. You might be cruising on one dungeon level only to hit a wall with the next. One small point of difference makes the game much fairer on players than Rogue, which just loved killing them; you’ve got access to an ability that will teleport you back to the hob town at any time, giving you a chance to rest and recoup before tackling the challenges of the dungeon again.

This makes character death surprisingly uncommon in Tangledeep, but without sacrificing the difficult battles and grind that players tend to enjoy from the genre.Exploration’s also a delight. Each individual level is relatively small in scope, but there’s often multiple exits, sub-levels to explore, and side challenges to deal with. You’ll be encouraged to really comb every inch of the dungeons, too, because many of the quests that are given to you from the procedural questing system will ask you to track down specific monsters in specific sub-levels within the dungeon. These quests can easily be skipped or ignored if one doesn’t tickle your fancy, but it’s there to help give context and purpose to the relentless grind, and it achieves that nicely.There are also plenty of different character types to play with, and enough randomisation that even familiar parts of the adventure can throw up some surprises. Truly, once you get over the initial hump with Tangledeep, you’re looking at a game that you can play over the long term. If nothing else, it’s lovely to know that there are some developers out there that understand what Rogue when creating their “roguelikes.”.