Years of work, designing, developing, tuning, bugfixing, iterating, releasing...

...and then there is a review "no X language, 1 star rating"...can't even imagine how frustrating this must be...

Odd, I see one 5 star verified rating and 3.6 overall.

I have not rated it yet or played the final game but based on what I played of the early public demo and early backer demo the game will be very good. I see a lot of comments talking about the game being a lazy release and low effort because of some of the cut content but there were development issues and restructuring. I feel they did the best they could to salvage the game and put their heart into it.

I do hope that it is does well enough that they can consider adding some more of the playable characters and areas that were cut. I think it is fair to hope that people base the game on what it is now rather than what it was hoped to be 4 years ago.

Reviews and comments criticizing it poorly based on what they hoped to deliver and not the game it self (is it good, fun, etc) will only hurt it's perception unfairly and definitely insure that the chances of seeing it expanded on are less.

The game and the developers deserve better.

I agree. I didn't know much about the game until shortly before its release. It looked interesting, so i tried to find out a bit more. It seems they had severe problems during their development, delayed their release over and over again and cut content that was originally planned. If i would have been one of their Kickstarter backers, i would have every right to express my anger about it.

That said, the game looks great, the story sounds interesting, and I'm definitely looking forward to play it!

The review i was mentioning was in german, probably you only see reviews written in english? The review says nothing about the game except for it not supporting german language. Yes, maybe it is a german studio, and personally i like games supporting my language if the story is complex like in deep rpg games. But i understand that indie studios have very limited resources and must try to invest them to cover the maximum of the market. That's what i meant with my original post: years of hard work, and the only thing a reviewer says is "no german, 1 star". Not "i didn't like controls/story/art style/music/bugs/checkpoints/writing", just that. A language not being present says nothing about the quality of the game. That is just my opinion of course.

I see the post now. I thought I had all languages selected but for what ever reason it was not showing up. The person does not even own the game and they are basing it completely off that. I find this off putting. I dont want to say it is review bombing exactly as It is a legitimate criticism. I just dont feel it has any place in a game review section and is something more appropriate to the discussion forums where the developer can read it and address it directly. It is definitely not something to give a game 1 star over. Though I suppose some may view a game as being 1 star if they cant read any of the text. From my stand point I would not bother to leave a review for a game I did not play because it was not in my language, operating system, etc. I would simply ask the developers if it would ever be an option down the road. Expressing interest is a far better way to see it happen than saying the game is bad because it lacks something you want or need to play it.

I did not know they are a German studio. Interesting. For some reason I thought they were from Poland, the Ukraine, or another eastern European country. Anyway, regardless, I backed this game on kickstarter and I sincerely hope they bring back some of the other playable Heralds at some point. I am not too concerned about the missing KS exclusive items promised me because they are trivial as far as I am concerned. But I get how some may see that as reflecting on the studio as a whole. Regardless of if they backed the game or are viewing it as some one considering the game.

I have played it since my last post and can honestly say that the game world is what I hoped. There are multiple places to visit, missions, and variety. Is it as large as was originally intended with the early scope? Probably not but the developers have said that it will take 8 to 10 hours and for completionists about 30. This feels like a decent amount of time for the game.

The inventory and UI screen is really nice with options for different weapons, armor, buffs, and upgrades. It reminds me of Death Trashes in a way. The combat is a little floaty but over all feels good. Slowing down mouse acceleration helps with that. That is pretty much my only mechanical criticism for the game and its not game breaking in anyway. It is such small thing easily fixed.

The story and the world writing is very well done as is the dialogue writing aside from a few minor grammar choices of words but that is just me nitpicking. I think that what I miss the most from the original vision is the Heralds. They are still mentioned in the game as part of the story but I really fell in love with some of them, the girl with demon shadow, The alien, the blob, and well pretty much all of them. I would have loved to play as them and learn their individual stories. But I get this this fell out side the scope of the game considering the problems development had.

Evidently the project lead more or less became an issue and work pretty much halted. So, positions had to be filled again, assets transferred over, etc. It was a mess but they fixed it and completed the game. Thankfully one of the Heralds I liked was kept in the game and was the one used for all the demos.

I hope Undungeon does well enough that the studio and the publisher feel it is worth adding to the game.

Thanks a bunch for your take on the game. I'm still very much on the fence when it comes to buying it, so I appreciate all the in-depth info you gave us.

I was wondering if perhaps you had played enough of the game already to answer a specific question, though: The original Kickstarter campaign had planned to include 7 heralds and 7 intertwined worlds/dimensions to play in, but one of the devs has stated on Steam that they had "fully develop(ed) two characters and two worlds". The GOG store description also still reads "Travels between timelines and dimensions: changes you make in one timeline will apply to all other timelines, altering environments, NPCs, and enemies. Destroyed a forest? A lifeless desert will greet you when you visit this location in the future. Switch between heralds to be able to complete different kinds of objectives in different dimensions."

Can you already comment on that? Like, how many worlds are there to play in, how is the game structured (jumping back-and-forth between dimensions or just a linear progression through 2 different maps) and do changes made in one world actually affect the other one, etc.?

P.S.: From what I've read, the studio is located in Germany, but I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the text was originally written in Russian and then translated to English. So this might be sort of an international effort with contributors from different countries.

That was definitely a lot of great insight into the game, thanks a lot, greyhat! I'm still a bit hesitant buying the game mainly because of one thing: how is the save and checkpoint system handled in the game? I was very happy to hear (thanks, Exsurgent!) that permadeath no longer is a thing in this game. But how often can i save? Are there checkpoints frequently, or can i lose my progress of say one hour cause there are very few save points? Though i don't hold anything against challenging games, I admit my frustration tolerance is not very high, so since I initially connected permadeath with the game I'm hesitant :)

Hi Exsurgent and Woodvine,

I have not payed the game enough to comment on how much the game world reacts to actions and choices with in the game. I know that there are missions that can be failed and have seen comments from others at the Discord about options with in the game and different outcomes. So, it seems that there are.

So far, I did travel to a different dimension from the starting hub area and with in that world the progression is not linear. There are different quest objectives that are side quests and main quests and you are not forced to do one over the other.

I know that there are two worlds and two heralds. I have not unlocked the other herald yet and cant confirm if you can travel between the two worlds at some point at any time (thinking like in Chrono trigger) but I feel like it will be possible just based on this machine in game and the story I have experienced so far but the ability needs to be unlocked.

I feel a bit silly. During my play time of the game I did not pay too much attention to the game save structure and thought it auto saved. I am not entirely clear how it works yet to be honest. It did auto save when I entered a main town however I played a bit passed that and Lost that progression. I am assuming because I did not enter a main town again between.

Based on what I am reading at the discord there are save mirrors but it seems right now they are offering only limited saves but according to the CM they are going to polish it up so at a certain location you can save indefinitely. It seems like they kept some of the rogue like aspects is my understanding but like I said I am not 100 percent clear on this yet.

My play time is too little to fully grasp the nuances but it seems it has a lot of depth. Can I get back to you both when I have played some more?

:)

I am uploading some screen shots. This one is of the game world map . You can see the different locations available that were marked during conversations. Similar to the way the original Fallout games did it. You can also free roam around the map so maybe there are random encounters and new locations from exploring. Time does pass in the game and there is a day night cycle. some missions have a time limit but I am unsure if different events or dialogue options are unlocked at different times.

This must be the mirror they were referring to at the discord. I have asked the CM and others if they can explain how it works and I will pass it on as I learn more.

Woodvine. Apologies for not direct quoting you but for some reason when I tried quoting and posting the message would get stuck in processing and not post.

As I mentioned in my previous post I inquired at their Discord and just got a reply. I think the reply in the screen shot attached will answer your questions about how saving works.

Also, to quote the CM "Regarding the save system: we will polish it by allowing players to save at a certain mirror for an unlimited number of times."

So, it looks like they are working to make it more accessible.

Hope this helps :)

Wow, greyhat, that was indeed hugely helpful! Thanks a lot for taking the time and writing the detailed answer! I guess with this information i would definitely enjoy this game, and if they are still polishing some of the mechanics to be more accessible to gamers like me whose "frustration tolerance" is quite limited, that will be even better. So i think I'll give it a try and buy the game, it sounds like you are having fun playing it, so I'm not doing anything wrong here :) And who knows, the more people buying it, the higher the chances are that they'll add the content they had to cut during development?

Thanks again!

Glad to help. I am indeed having fun with it so far. I hope you enjoy it as well. :)

Hi again Exsurgent ,

Just answering your question a bit more.

"Can you already comment on that? Like, how many worlds are there to play in, how is the game structured (jumping back-and-forth between dimensions or just a linear progression through 2 different maps) and do changes made in one world actually affect the other one, etc.?"

I just reached the point where I can now travel through different areas. At least in this dimension (the first of 2) it looks like there are 7 different areas called piers. It definitely feels like you will be able to travel between them. The Foundation Pier is the hub world and I can freely travel between that and the unlocked Alpha Pier. So, while there is a linear goal the progression is not fully linear. Based on what I have experienced so far and what other people are writing at the Discord the game supports non linear exploration and travelling to different parts of the world. I can't speak for how choices or events effect the game world or the other dimension just yet.

Really makes you think considering this is the scaled back version. Imagine if they had been able to implement 7 different heralds with 1 world for each one.

Hope this answers your question well enough. :)

Thanks for the info, that's actually been very helpful, given the general lack of in-depth reviews for this game.

I think I'll try out Undungeon as well - it's not that expensive, after all, so if it turns out to not be my cup of tea, it's no huge loss. But I'll probably wait for the first round of patches before I buy it. Unfortunately, it's not unheard of for developers to not provide proper support for their GOG builds and since the game was released on GOG without the artbook and soundtrack DLCs in the first place, I need some sort of proof that they'll not abandon this here.

Thanks again for giving your take on the game!

I get that for sure.

I have not verified this but I think it is very possible that the reason the music and art book are not at GOG is simply because the rights holders to them did not want it here, and/ or signed an exclusive agreement with Steam to have them there but not GOG, or they could not come to a amicable agreement with GOG in terms of distribution.
Epic Games does not have the music or art book as add on purchases either. Steam seems to be the only store front that does. So this is not only lacking at GOG.

Most definitely this is the case with the music as that was outsourced to Stone From the Sky. As is often the case the recording artist or the distribution studio hold on to those rights for external sales outside the game. Distribution rights for games music is often an issue as we have seen from other games.

it very well could be this was the case for the art if Laughing Machines out sourced the art assets (or some of the art assets) creation to a independent studio. This is more common than many people think. Not all game creators are good at making game art. Or Laughing Machines lacked the resources to do it all.

I have not looked into it but it would account for the OST and art book not being at GOG. This is mostly speculative but logical.

It could also fall on what ever deal the publisher made with the music artist and Assets artists (if they were separate). I think it was not in Laughing Machines control what ever the case.

As a backer I received the OST and art book via direct download because I selected GOG for my key delivery. So, Laughing Machines held up their end of the backer commitments for the most part. A GOG release was never confirmed during the kickstarter campaign and was only offered closer to the launch date. So, that was actually a bonus as I could have not had much choice and only been offered a Steam key. None of the console stretch goals made it either but they managed to get it on X box regardless and offered that to backers as well.

The only stretch goal they reached that they did not implement was the Ultra violent mode (either that or they made it a permanent thing as opposed to an optional mode. However I tend to think it was mostly cut due to the scaling back of the playable characters anyway. ) but, aside from some scaled back cut content, in terms of store fronts and consoles they offered more than was confirmed in the kickstarter so I feel like they tried hard to deliver on their promises.

Regarding the music and the art book hopefully at some point all parties concerned can come to an arrangement.