Dungeon Antiqua

About

Dungeon Antiqua is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Shiromofu Factory and was released on October 9, 2024. It received positive reviews from players.

"Dungeon Antiqua is a 2D, dungeon crawl-type RPG with nostalgic 80s/90s aesthetic and chiptune music. Its replayability is enhanced by varying professions, free party formation, and auto-generated maps. The game focuses on hack-and-slash mechanics and exploration, avoiding repetitive scenarios. It offers modern, comfortable controls and is available for handheld consoles."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 62 reviews

story4 positive mentions

replayability3 negative mentions

The game offers a fun mix of old-school Final Fantasy and Wizardry, making it a nostalgic experience for fans of the genre.
It's a short but enjoyable dungeon crawler that is welcoming to beginners, with a straightforward gameplay style and interesting class options.
The graphics and sound design pay homage to classic RPGs, providing a charming retro aesthetic that enhances the overall experience.

The game is very short, with many players completing it in just a few hours, leading to limited replay value.
Controls and mechanics are outdated and poorly explained, causing frustration and confusion during gameplay.
The dungeon layouts can feel repetitive and empty, lacking significant points of interest or engaging content to keep players invested.

music
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
38%
31%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it charming and reminiscent of classic titles like Final Fantasy, while others criticize it for being repetitive and headache-inducing. Although it aims for an 8-bit retro style, many feel it lacks originality and often feels derivative of its inspirations. Overall, while some appreciate the nostalgic elements, the music's repetitiveness detracts from the overall experience for others.
- “But, I did have fun, and the graphics work and music are great callbacks to FF1 and FF4.”
- “The sound effects and music are charmingly quaint.”
- “There's not a lot of music, but what's there is charming.”
- “I love a good dungeon crawl, but the boring and repetitive tilesets, sounds, and music wear away the charm fast.”
- “The music is really bad, even considering it's supposed to sound 8-bit.”
- “I actually like retro music when done well, but here it drones on repetitively, giving a literal headache.”
story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
42%
25%
The game's story is minimal and lacks depth, focusing instead on straightforward dungeon crawling and fast-paced gameplay. While there are side quests that can enhance playtime through item collection, they may become cumbersome, and overall, the absence of a compelling narrative leaves players wanting more in terms of story engagement.
- “For those wanting to speed-run, the game has a built-in clocking feature for letting you know when you beat the main story and post-game final boss.”
- “All in all, while I can appreciate that the devs put story aside to focus on the dungeon crawl, there just aren't enough pieces to play with to make any aspect of the gameplay feel satisfying.”
- “There's no high stakes story or complex character interaction, but it's good fun and fast-paced and offers enough secrets or interesting items to pick up to not get boring.”
- “That being said, it is very competent and straightforward; side quests can become overly cumbersome if you let yourself get caught up in them, but given they provide you with excellent items, it adds to the playtime while hunting for items.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
37%
38%
The game offers limited replayability, primarily due to its short playtime of around 2-3 hours. While there are elements like randomly generated dungeons and varying class options that encourage multiple playthroughs, the overall content remains sparse, leading to a quick sense of completion. Players may find some value in experimenting with different team compositions, but the lack of substantial additional content diminishes long-term engagement.
- “Because of the party creation, there is replay value in the game.”
- “There is some replay value in terms of different team compositions.”
- “Unfortunately, not much replay value at the moment though, so once you do your ~2-3 hour playthrough, there isn't much else to it.”
- “There is some replay value in terms of different team compositions, but that's about it.”
- “Rolled credits pretty quickly at 2 and a half hours, but seems to be replayable due to a randomly generated dungeon on launch and conflicting class options.”
gameplay
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
12%
38%
The gameplay is a solid introduction to classic dungeon crawling mechanics, though it lacks depth and clarity, with poorly explained mechanics and minimal UI guidance. While some praise the pacing, others feel that the limited elements detract from overall satisfaction.
- “[h2]Outstanding gameplay and pacing[/h2]”
- “Outstanding gameplay and pacing.”
- “Mechanics aren't explained very well, and little to no information is given by the UI or tooltips.”
- “Mechanics aren't explained very well, and little to no information is given by the UI or tooltips.”
- “It's not gonna blow anyone's socks off, but it is a very good onboarding for old school dungeon crawling mechanics.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
The graphics are praised for their pixel/retro style, effectively evoking nostalgia for classic titles like Final Fantasy I and IV. Reviewers appreciate the old-school aesthetic, noting that it complements the game's dungeon-crawling gameplay and enhances the overall experience.
- “A pretty brilliant dungeon-crawling high fantasy RPG with a classic Final Fantasy aesthetic.”
- “But, I did have fun, and the graphics work and music are great callbacks to FF1 and FF4.”
- “It's like a blobber except it has Final Fantasy 1 graphics.”
- “Like the sound, the visuals give me that old-school vibe and I'm always down for that.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability has been criticized for being buggy and unpolished, reminiscent of older NES titles rather than the expected refinement of a modern dungeon crawler. Users express disappointment in the overall performance and reliability of the game.
- “I expected a polished Final Fantasy V dungeon crawler, but instead I got a buggy, NES Final Fantasy I game.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note that there is a significant amount of grinding required at the start of the game, which may impact the overall enjoyment and pacing for some.
- “There is a significant amount of grinding required at the start of the game.”
- “The early game is filled with excessive grinding.”