Into The Underdusk

About

A stagnant world slowly sinking into the depths of forgetfulness. You alone must brave this world on a quest to regain your lost locket and regain your memories before it's too late. Choose your path through an eery pixel art landscape, brave brutal precision-platforming gauntlets, meet strange denizens and grab collectibles to increase your powerset in a bid to regain your very soul.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

59%

Audience ScoreBased on 34 reviews

story4 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game features a unique, story-driven Metroidvania experience with a charming art style and great atmosphere, enhanced by a wonderful soundtrack.
Exploration is rewarding, with a large and varied world that encourages players to discover and collect power-ups, creating a sense of mystery and adventure.
Despite its flaws, the game shows potential and is an impressive feat for a solo developer, making it a noteworthy entry in the genre.

The game suffers from frustrating random enemy behavior and projectiles, leading to a reliance on luck rather than skill, which detracts from the precision platforming experience.
Player movement is excessively slow, and the sprint feature does not significantly improve speed, making navigation tedious and frustrating.
The map design is confusing and lacks detail, making it difficult for players to track their progress and find objectives, which can lead to a disorienting experience.

story
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
30%
30%
The story in "Into the Underdusk" is engaging and well-supported by a captivating atmosphere and soundtrack, enhancing the overall experience of this metroidvania. Players appreciate the narrative's depth, which unfolds through exploration and interactions with NPCs, although some find it challenging to maintain interest in continuing the game. Overall, the game is recognized for its unique, story-driven approach and solid level design.
- “Into the Underdusk is a solid metroidvania with a nice story supported by a great atmosphere (kudos to the soundtrack that does a wonderful job creating it) and solid controls.”
- “Into the Underdusk is a unique, story-driven metroidvania with solid level design.”
- “I was interested in the story the game began to tell, but I can't force myself to keep playing.”
- “You know what you want to get since the NPCs tell you what they want, but how to find it is another story.”
- “Exploration is key to this game, with more story being told as you find and collect more.”
gameplay
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
49%
38%
Gameplay reviews highlight a mix of frustration and challenge, with issues stemming from a lack of an active camera system and unresponsive controls, particularly during precision jumps. While some players appreciate the game's dark atmosphere and exploration elements reminiscent of metroidvania titles, many express dissatisfaction with the mechanics that lead to frequent, unfair failures. Overall, the gameplay is seen as challenging but marred by poor design choices that detract from the experience.
- “Reminds me of a mix of Shovel Knight's art and Hollow Knight metroidvania gameplay added with a creepy vibe. The game drops you into its dark world with only a single goal in mind: you must explore and find your way with what looks like very little hand-holding, with some challenging points that haven't felt unfair.”
- “Some of the platforming is hard just because you're forced to scroll transition mid-jump (there's no active camera system, you just run or jump off the edge of the screen and the next screen scrolls into place). The sprint button does not change the character's speed, and so many precision jumps end up causing you to fall back three minutes of gameplay; that's frustrating.”
- “I love a challenge, but only when I know failing is on me and not the game's poor mechanics.”
- “I promise to never recommend this game to any of my friends unless you improve the wall jump mechanic and slow down the speed of the mask chasing you.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
12%
13%
The atmosphere in "Into the Underdusk" is highly praised for its dark ambience and immersive soundtrack, which effectively enhances the game's mysterious and lost feeling. While many players appreciate this deliberate design choice, some may find the sense of disorientation off-putting. Overall, the game successfully creates a captivating metroidvania experience through its atmospheric elements.
- “Into the Underdusk is a solid metroidvania with a nice story supported by a great atmosphere (kudos to the soundtrack that does a wonderful job creating it) and solid controls.”
- “I absolutely loved that feeling of being lost that's part of the great atmosphere that the game tries to create (successfully if you ask me).”
- “The Underdusk is an atmospheric metroidvania with a dark ambience to it.”
- “It's a deliberate choice from the dev to create a more mysterious atmosphere and make you feel even more lost, but sometimes it can be off-putting.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in "Into the Underdusk" is highly praised for its ability to enhance the game's atmosphere, contributing significantly to the overall experience. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature, complementing the game's solid controls and art style.
- “Into the Underdusk is a solid metroidvania with a nice story supported by a great atmosphere (kudos to the soundtrack that does a wonderful job creating it) and solid controls.”
- “The only positive thing I have to say about the game is the art style and the music.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively slow and tedious, with navigation and exploration described as painfully frustrating. The experience is further marred by lengthy death screens that add to the overall annoyance.
- “Navigating and exploring this game is one of the most painfully slow and tedious experiences I've ever had in my life.”
- “It's very annoying and tedious to sit through the death screen.”
- “The grinding in this game feels excessively drawn out and frustrating.”
graphics
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The graphics of the game have received praise primarily for its art style, which stands out positively among other aspects. However, there are no additional comments on the overall visual quality beyond this appreciation for the artistic design.
- “The only positive thing I have to say about the game is the art style and the music.”