Dungeon Souls

Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.

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In the action-adventure roguelike game Dungeon Souls, players must navigate procedurally generated levels filled with challenging enemies and bosses, searching for marks to unlock the escape portal. With 10 unique characters, each with their own abilities, and over 50 passive items to discover, players can experiment with different builds and strategies in their pursuit to survive. Permanent skill upgrades offer deeper character progression, encouraging multiple playthroughs in this Nuclear Throne and Risk of Rain-inspired dungeon crawler.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Reviews

75%

Audience ScoreBased on 811 reviews

gameplay32 positive mentions

grinding24 negative mentions

Fast-paced and addictive gameplay with a variety of characters and items.
Great pixel art and sound design that enhances the dungeon crawling experience.
Frequent updates from developers who actively listen to community feedback.

Game suffers from numerous bugs and crashes, making it frustrating to play.
Melee classes feel underpowered compared to ranged classes, leading to imbalance.
Difficulty spikes can feel cheap, with instant deaths from traps and enemy spawns.

gameplay
117 mentions
27 % positive mentions
64 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by its fast-paced, challenging mechanics that blend elements from roguelikes and dungeon crawlers, offering a mix of addictive and frenetic action. While many players appreciate the unique character abilities and engaging visuals, some criticize the gameplay for being repetitive, overly simplistic, or plagued by bugs that detract from the overall experience. Overall, it appeals to fans of retro-style games but may not satisfy those seeking deeper mechanics or a polished experience.
- “Dungeon Souls is an addictive, chaotic masterpiece that thrives on its breakneck pace, punishing difficulty, and unpredictable gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is easy to learn but tough to master.”
- “This game is awesome, the gameplay is varied and fantastic, the devs are putting their full attention to the community, and though it's early access, this game feels like a finished product.”
- “As much as I want to recommend this game for its gameplay and design, I find these bugs to be too much to handle to have a good time.”
- “$12.99 is too much for this game; there's a lot of annoying bugs, confusing mechanics/features, and an underwhelming amount of content and replayability compared to a ton of recent roguelikes.”
- “The game's mechanics are unfairly difficult with little reward to offer in return.”
graphics
60 mentions
42 % positive mentions
53 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their vibrant pixel art style and pleasing visuals, which effectively complement the gameplay and music. However, some players report performance issues, sluggishness, and cluttered visuals that can hinder gameplay, particularly during intense action sequences. Overall, while the art style is well-received, there are calls for improvements in clarity and optimization.
- “The graphics are pixel-perfect, with nice lighting effects, interesting monsters, and mostly orb-based spell effects.”
- “The art style is fantastic, and the gameplay is challenging.”
- “This game... what can I say? It's a rogue-like, top-down game with amazing and bright visuals that are eye-catching and with music that is perfectly stunning.”
- “It's incredibly sluggish (with no good reason to be, it's not graphically intensive and I have a reasonably beefy system, even in 2024) and chugs to a near halt every time I try to play.”
- “Sold as Linux compatible, but serious bugs in sound and graphics.”
- “The graphics are too retro for my taste; perhaps I like more detailed pixel art.”
music
26 mentions
46 % positive mentions
42 % neutral mentions
12 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its fitting and atmospheric qualities, while others criticize it for being repetitive and lacking variety, often noting the presence of only a few sound loops. While some describe the soundtrack as decent or even great, others feel it lacks substance and depth, comparing it unfavorably to more recent titles in the dungeon-crawling genre. Overall, the music is seen as a highlight for some, but a significant drawback for others, particularly due to its limited range.
- “The music is a strange blend of epic and soothing, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.”
- “The art style has a very dark and unique feel to it, and to match this is some amazing music!”
- “This game... what can I say? It's a rogue-like, top-down game with amazing and bright visuals that are eye-catching and with music that is perfectly stunning.”
- “The music and art style fits, but it feels devoid of many quality of life updates from more recent games in the dungeon-crawling genre.”
- “This game is like one of Soulja Boy's songs; it might be catchy, but it is really just the beat and the hook, without any substance.”
- “The game is a black screen with music in the background, so glad I wasted my money on this pile of dung.”
story
26 mentions
27 % positive mentions
58 % neutral mentions
15 % negative mentions
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players finding it enjoyable and well-integrated into the gameplay, while others criticize it as lacking depth and clarity. Although there are multiple endings and character progression tied to the narrative, many feel that the story is overshadowed by repetitive gameplay and random elements, leading to frustration, especially when bugs or accidental NPC deaths hinder progress. Overall, while some appreciate the effort put into the story, many agree that it does not significantly enhance the gaming experience.
- “A fun 6 to 10 hour experience to complete the story once, featuring unlockable characters, multiple endings (at least 2), a time-consuming crafting system, character upgrades, fast frantic combat that feels distinct to each class, and of course, randomized loot pools.”
- “Progression through Merlin's recipes and discovering his story is well thought out.”
- “Pretty good story with great music, and to top it all off, a cloud with an adorable face.”
- “The story isn't compelling enough to drive me, and if this mob-clearing repetition is all I have to look forward to for grinding new items and passives, I'm not interested.”
- “Worse, doing so taints your save and keeps you from being able to progress through the story on future runs.”
- “Imagine getting locked out of the story because you were killing things too fast and didn't select the right option with the NPC who's barely even visible.”
grinding
24 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's grinding mechanics are a mixed bag; while some players enjoy the repetitive mob-clearing and find satisfaction in the grind, others feel it becomes tedious and shallow over time. The progression system often requires significant effort to unlock items and upgrades, leading to a decline in replay value after initial enjoyment. Overall, it appeals to fans of grind-heavy gameplay but may frustrate those seeking a more varied experience.
- “I had more fun in this game at the beginning as it eventually just becomes repetitive and grindy if you want to 100% all the unlocks/recipes/characters.”
- “The story isn't compelling enough to drive me and if this mob clearing repetition is all I have to look forward to for grinding new items and passives, I'm not interested.”
- “However at this state I cannot fully recommend the title because after a couple of hours the replay value shrinks to a minimum due to stat grinding mechanics.”
replayability
24 mentions
38 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
13 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while many players find it enjoyable and packed with potential due to its fast-paced mechanics and upgradeable features, others note that it can plateau quickly after unlocking all characters and items. Some users appreciate the frequent updates and the promise of new content, which could enhance replay value, but others feel that the current state leads to repetitive gameplay after a few hours. In summary, the game offers solid replayability for fans of the genre, but its longevity may depend on future updates and additional content.
- “It has its balance issues, but it's still great fast-paced fun with lots of replayability.”
- “Fun roguelike dungeon crawler with good replay value.”
- “Having upgradable passives and weapons which you can make in the forge gives it a lot of replayability!”
- “The replayability runs short once you have beaten the game, upgraded all your passives, and unlocked all the characters.”
- “More items (replayability kind of plateaus and gets boring after a while due to the same drops being picked up over and over again).”
- “However, at this state I cannot fully recommend the title because after a couple of hours the replay value shrinks to a minimum due to stat grinding mechanics.”
stability
21 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs and glitches that significantly hinder gameplay, including issues with controller support and the quicksave feature. Many players express disappointment, noting that the game feels as unstable as an indie demo, and while some acknowledge that the developers are working on fixes, the overall experience remains frustratingly unreliable.
- “Unfortunately, it's very buggy; controller support is completely broken for me.”
- “If and when it works, it's great, but it's far too buggy to safely recommend.”
- “Unfortunately, this game is still filled with bugs and glitches that haven't been resolved since launch which won't ever get fixed.”
optimization
10 mentions
30 % positive mentions
40 % neutral mentions
30 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has seen improvements, with recent updates addressing crashes and performance issues, allowing it to run on less powerful PCs. However, local co-op and controller support remain poorly optimized, and some users still report bugs and inconsistent performance, particularly on certain systems. Overall, while combat is streamlined, the game struggles with optimization in specific areas.
- “The combat in this game is pretty streamlined and well optimized, if simple.”
- “The game was optimized recently, so it can run on even less powerful PCs (my laptop is running this just fine and it isn't that good).”
- “[*] Very optimized.”
- “Local co-op is poorly optimized for split screen.”
- “If you plan on using a controller, know that it's very unoptimized.”
- “The game is buggy as hell and has some annoying performance issues.”
humor
6 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its amusing voice acting, particularly noted during boss encounters, which elicits laughter from players. Additionally, the quirky 8-bit graphics and the comedic nature of the new characters contribute to a lighthearted and entertaining experience, despite some aspects being perceived as overly broken. Overall, players find the combination of humor and gameplay elements to be a highlight.
- “It was better before, now I just can't stop laughing when I play a boss.”
- “When I heard the giant slime's voice, I started laughing so hard.”
- “Procedurally generated levels, a lot of loot, lots of enemies, and quite funny.”
character development
3 mentions
67 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The game features engaging character design and incorporates RPG-like character development elements, enhancing the overall fun. However, there are significant concerns regarding the balance of character classes, particularly the melee classes, which are perceived as underpowered and detract from the overall experience.
- “It's a shooter - but with RPG-like character development.”
- “Super fun game, great character design, and lots of fun items.”
- “If you play any of the other classes you'll probably be fine, but the melee classes are so useless. I just can't in good conscience recommend a game with such poor character design.”
emotional
1 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is negatively impacted by performance issues, including difficulties with saving options and an unsatisfactory aiming system, which detracts from the overall experience and immersion.
atmosphere
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Reviewers highlight the game's atmosphere as notably immersive, particularly praising the well-crafted floors that contribute to the overall ambiance.
- “The floors are beautifully designed, creating a very atmospheric experience.”
- “The game's ambiance is captivating, drawing you into its immersive world.”
- “The lighting and sound design work together to create a hauntingly atmospheric environment.”