Roguelike, RTS, tower defense, and escort, perfectly executed all at once | Review: ENDLESS Dungeon

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✨Overview

Endless Dungeon is a genre-defying rogue-lite that merges elements of dungeon crawling, twin-stick shooter, and tower defense genres. Developed by AMPLITUDE Studios and part of the ENDLESS franchise of video games, this co-op action roguelike takes players on an adrenaline-pumping journey through the ruins of a long-abandoned space station.

🟩Pros

+Masterful execution of multiple genres +Gorgeous visuals +Fluid performance +Varied gameplay; from action to survival to resource management +Engaging progression

🟥Cons

-Missed opportunity for local co-op (it doesn't have one) -Commanding AI companions and Crystal Bot feels underwhelming ⭐️Score: 9/10

📖Story

Endless Dungeon's narrative centers on recruiting a team of shipwrecked heroes who are on a perilous quest to navigate the eerie corridors of an abandoned space station. Their goal is to safeguard a valuable crystal against ceaseless hordes of hostile creatures, all while attempting to reach the station's core. Whether you embark on this journey solo or with friends, Endless Dungeon offers two distinct experiences. 🎨Graphics And Art Style

The game is absolutely gorgeous with its vibrant and finely detailed low-fi visuals. The game's world is brimming with detail, thanks to gorgeous lighting to highlight the space station’s both lighting and darkness. The developers have gone to great lengths to create a world that feels alive and thriving, despite its desolation. Even the presentation with its dialogues is done via cartoonish art style that fits perfectly with the tone of the game. The game has a unique approach to its dialogue by omitting fully voiced lines and instead opting for mixing text-based interactions with murmured voice lines. Overall, Endless Dungeon boasts a Space Western setting that captivates players with its ambiance, lighting, and a meticulously crafted soundtrack. The game takes you on a rhythmic journey, seamlessly transitioning between moments of calm planning and frenetic battles against incoming waves of foes. I definitely love the vibe of this game. 🎮Gameplay

Endless Dungeon's gameplay is a tapestry of various genres, seamlessly interwoven to create a multifaceted and engaging experience. The game features several key gameplay elements that work together harmoniously to create an ever-evolving and captivating adventure. The game hooks you right in from the very start, from its initial tutorial to its actual rogue-lite gameplay, you’d want to keep playing for more. Roguelike Exploration: At its core, Endless Dungeon presents a traditional roguelike experience. You explore room after room, uncovering unique challenges, enemies, and secrets that vary from run to run, ensuring that no two playthroughs are the same. When you die or the crystal bot explodes, you restart, but keep some persistent progress to bring in to new runs, eventually pushing further and further. Endless Dungeon keeps the gameplay fresh with its procedurally generated levels, so not every run is going to be the same. RTS-lite Elements: Real-time strategy elements are expertly blended into the gameplay. You have the ability to construct buildings strategically, position turrets, and manage resources on predetermined slots around the map. Buildings called generators will generate resources for every door you open, which functions as “turns”, and is used to construct more buildings or unlock upgrades. This aspect adds a layer of complexity, requiring thoughtful planning and resource allocation. Tower Defense Mechanics: Of course, with the turret-building comes tower defense, the game incorporates classic tower defense mechanics, where building and positioning turrets is crucial for surviving enemy waves and defending key elements like generators, shields, and your crystal bot. Players must carefully choose turret locations and decide on upgrades, which significantly impact the success of their strategy. Escort Gameplay: Endless Dungeon introduces an escort mission dynamic, which feels very similar to Payload from Team Fortress 2 and Overwatch. Players are tasked with protecting the Crystal Bot. You must create a protective path throughout the space station and ensure the crystal bot's safety, especially when it tries to mine crystals or unlock new doors. In addition, you can command the crystal bot to follow you, and teleport to it at any time. ⚔️Combat

Endless Dungeon is basically a twin-stick shooter when it comes to combat, you can activate your basic ability and ultimate ability, and pick up and switch between two different weapons. Each hero in the game possesses a distinct role and set of abilities, adding a tactical dimension to the combat. Real-time combat keeps players on their toes, making precise shooting and strategic decisions paramount for survival. 💎 Resource

Managing resources is a central component of the game. Balancing resources, including Science, Industry, and Food, is crucial. Decisions about allocating these resources affect your ability to face the challenges of each district. The game constantly demands risk assessment when deciding to building new structures, defenses, opening new doors and creating entry points. Personally, I found some success by prioritizing Industry, as I really love filling the map with turrets. 🎮 Perfectly executed all at once

These diverse gameplay elements seamlessly merge into a cohesive and engaging experience. Players have the freedom to explore roguelike dungeons, employ RTS tactics, fend off enemy waves in a tower defense style, and engage in thrilling escort missions. The game's dynamic gameplay ensures that players remain captivated and entertained throughout their adventure. Overall, the gameplay offers a great deal of variety. It combines the simplicity of a roguelite, where you clear room after room, with RTS and tower defense elements involving the construction of buildings and turrets. The escort mission dynamic is also another nerve racking aspect that pressures players to be more careful and think outside their own lives. This amalgamation instills resource and risk management into all of the above aspects, ensuring that players are continually engaged with a never-ending variety throughout the expansive randomized levels. ⏫Progression

Endless Dungeon offers a robust progression system that rewards players with a sense of accomplishment and a drive to delve deeper into the game. Each death serves as a learning experience and an opportunity for gradual progress. The game provides rewards such as new information, district keystones to unlock additional areas, resources for upgrades, and the discovery of new heroes and questlines. Resource management is critical once egain, as players must strike a balance between investing in defense, character upgrades, and exploration. 🎮🎮 Solo or Coop?

These exciting gameplay, are all playable in either Solo or multiplayer, which offers two distinct experiences. Solo play allows you to bring in one or two AI companions with you, and seamlessly switch between them at any point. This solo experience rewards cerebral gameplay and strategic thinking, as you are all on your own, only slightly assisted by the AI. The command system is a little too basic for my liking, as it only features hold and follow commands. A more comprehensive command system would have been a great icing on the cake. Multiplayer gameplay, on the other hand, introduces a whole new level of excitement. Here, you collaborate with your squadmates, sharing resources, strategies, and the thrill of battling together just like any other twin stick coop game. You also share all rewards, including unlocking new heroes, enhancing the sense of camaraderie. My only gripe about the multiplayer experience is the missed opportunity to include local co-op play. The addition of either shared or split-screen local co-op would have been a welcome intermediate option, bridging the gap between solo and online co-op play. Personally, I'm more of a singleplayer gamer, and my experience with the singleplayer mode has been absolutely amazing. I've always enjoyed having AI companions in my games, and this one gets a bonus point for including that. 📊Technical Performance

The game ran without any issues for me, aside from occasional micro stutters when loading new areas. The game is almost at locked 120fps on my i7-8700k RTX 3080 PC, and achieves a stable 60fps frame rate at medium settings on the Steam Deck. It is well optimized and the fluidity of the game really helps with its action-packed twin stick shooter nature. The game supports both mouse and keyboard, as well as controllers in a twin-stick format. On gamepads, shooting benefits from a slight aim assist, which significantly aids in making the gameplay smoother without diminishing the challenge ⚖️Conclusion

Endless Dungeon is a masterful execution that blends various gaming genres to create a fun and addicting roguelite experience. The game's premise of defending a crystal in the ruins of an abandoned space station is brought to life through its gorgeous visuals and fluid performance, and it keeps players engaged and entertained with its ever-evolving and multifaceted challenges.

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