REVIEW : Dungeons & Bombs (PS4)

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REVIEW : Dungeons & Bombs (PS4)

REVIEW : Dungeons & Bombs (PS4)

Video games have been around since the 1970s. One would think that now, in 2021, we would have seen a big number of amazingly innovative ideas. One would be right, but one would also be baffled to see games like Dungeons & Bombs. This unoriginal puzzler is fifty levels of disappointment and boredom that will not be missed.

REVIEW : Dungeons & Bombs (PS4)

Created by PigeonDev, Dungeons & Bombs is a grid-based mystery game where, on every level, you must rescue a princess. What?! This play has you saving a princess? That’s never been done before! Heavy sarcasm aside, the girl in question is different due to her being bearded. This is played for giggles, but it is about as absurd as a squirrel with a necktie. Squirrels do not usually wear neckties. Get it? The competition beats you over the head with this joke, mainly due to the princess’s constant appearance on the right side of the screen. An amazingly annoying behaviour, might I add. She just stands there mouth breathing the entire time, and if you remain to fail a puzzle you will receive one of a few unkind messages again and again.

REVIEW : Dungeons & Bombs (PS4)

Of course, the disturbing princess serves as a goal for gameplay. As you move into the puzzles to save her, you have a restricted number of moves. The princess holds a bit of parchment that reveals how many movements you have remaining during an attempt. Should that figure reach zero, you must start the level again. Losing a level is not too bad since it needs no amount of time at all to reload an attempt. Yet, being capable to get back into the gameplay quickly is not doing the play any favours.

REVIEW : Dungeons & Bombs (PS4)

As discussed concisely above, this is a grid-based puzzler. Running from the grid to grid prices one step, and you also can place explosives. Placing them also takes away one of your opportunities to move, and they will explode after three more moves. Seldom, the levels will contain baddies that move around at the identical time that you do. If an opponent is on the corresponding grid as you are, then you miss an additional move. The same happens if you are hit by a spike in the floor. This all means that you must outline your journey through the dungeons carefully. So thoughtfully, that if you do not complete the dungeon in an exactly specific way, you will not win. This is the most frustrating part of the game. There is no place to explore or find unusual solutions to puzzles. With only a sole right solution, it makes the game feel immensely limiting.

On the other hand, there are moments when solving a problem in the specific way it has to be solved can be delightful. What keeps Dungeons & Bombs from ever feeling this way, however, is the fact that every completed puzzle results in the princess stepping away from your character and into the different dungeon. It may appear like a trivial job to get hung up on, but 1 of the key elements of knowing that feeling of achievement in any play is in seeing your efforts rewarded. Making it to the sovereign only for her to sneeringly thank you and walk into danger yet again is a tremendous slap in the face. Rather than feeling like I was achieving something, I quickly started to feel incredibly bored with the game.

REVIEW : Dungeons & Bombs (PS4)

Additionally, there is a strangely odd glitch that kept me from any sense of achievement. Early on in the play, I inadvertently triggered a bug where my character could move infinitely. This continued from level to level. It eliminated any need to be careful or concerned about my movements. Needing to play the game as expected, I restarted it. This eliminated the bug, but after playing for a bit more it ultimately returned. Having to periodically restart the play every time the glitch happened was wildly disturbing. Of course, I could have just played through the game without fixing the glitch, but then I guess I would have fallen from total boredom.

It is worth noting that Dungeons & Bombs is displayed well. The pixel art is excellent, clear to read, and the music is well-crafted too. One of my preferred options in the settings is the option to place a CRT filter over the game. Not only does it help to capture that nostalgic sense the rest of the visuals are going for, but it allows more immature players to understand the pain that older gamers had to endure through.

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