The Deep Paths: Labyrinth Of Andokost
- November 8, 2016
- Steve J.
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"The Deep Paths: Labyrinth Of Andokost" is a first-person, grid-based dungeon crawler RPG, with active turn-based combat and a light-hearted tone. Players explore a vast labyrinth filled with dangerous creatures and treasures to save their city, while enjoying rich 3D environments and tough, old-school combat. Discover dozens of secrets in this modernized homage to 80's and 90's dungeon crawlers.
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a solid dungeon crawling experience with a good balance of exploration, puzzle-solving, and tactical combat.
- Graphics and atmosphere are decent, reminiscent of classic dungeon crawlers like Legend of Grimrock, providing a nostalgic feel.
- The character progression system and the ability to heal out of combat add depth to the gameplay, making it engaging for fans of the genre.
- The combat system is clunky and slow, with significant delays between actions, making battles frustrating and tedious.
- There are numerous bugs and software issues, including unreliable saving and unresponsive controls, which detract from the overall experience.
- The lack of key remapping options and poor inventory management can be particularly frustrating for players, especially those who are left-handed.
- graphics17 mentions
- 59 % positive mentions
- 24 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising their beauty and brightness, while others find them only adequate or lacking polish compared to similar titles like Legend of Grimrock. Overall, the visuals are generally considered good for an old-school dungeon crawler, effectively combining atmosphere and storytelling, though they may not stand out as exceptional.
“The graphics are beautiful, and being able to see what you're doing is certainly not a problem; this might be the brightest gridder/ blobber game I've played since gamma became an option in games.”
“The game features good graphics, excellent title music, and okay sound effects.”
“This game, 'The Deep Paths...', combines good graphics, solid controls, worthy story, and standard team building to give you the best way to spend $7.00 you have had in a long time.”
“Similar in quality to the Legend of Grimrock 1 in terms of graphics and user interface, but not quite as polished.”
“I came to this game because I loved Legend of Grimrock 1 and 2, but it's just not as good. Very poor combat, visuals, inventory, and environmental interaction in comparison.”
“They relied on atmosphere and storytelling to make up for the lack of visuals.”
- story10 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally regarded as decent and interesting, with a lighthearted style and charming character art that stands out in the dungeon-crawling genre. While some players appreciate the narrative and dialogue elements, others feel that the overall experience is hindered by gameplay mechanics, suggesting that the story alone may not be enough to recommend the game. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a strong point, compensating for other basic aspects of the game.
“The story is interesting and I love the character art, and the game definitely has its own lighthearted style and charm.”
“Overall, the story and setup is great.”
“This game, 'The Deep Paths...' combines good graphics, solid controls, worthy story and standard team building to give you the best way to spend $7.00 you have had in a long time.”
“This is my first Steam review, and it's to say that while this game is interesting in many regards, most notably the story and dialogue aspect absent in most dungeon crawling games, it has the most atrocious battle system in any dungeon crawler I've ever played, and I've been playing these since the early 90's.”
“They relied on atmosphere and storytelling to make up for the lack of visuals.”
“Everything else is basic: secret switches (although there are more types here than in log), puzzles (fairly easy) and story.”
- gameplay8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The gameplay features interesting design elements but suffers from a lack of clear tutorials and explanations for mechanics, making it challenging for players to fully engage without external help. It takes time to grasp the game mechanics, with some players feeling stuck due to insufficient guidance, particularly in puzzle-solving. Overall, while the gameplay is not fundamentally flawed, it could benefit from improved communication of its mechanics.
“It also has some interesting gameplay design features, and a basic but decent story.”
“It takes about half an hour or so of gameplay to figure out the game mechanics as there is not much in the way of a tutorial, and overall it takes a few hours to really 'get into the game'.”
“It also lacks to explain some game mechanics like 'why can't I press this button?'.”
“Could use more communication with the mechanics of the game, especially as they are used in puzzles.”
- music8 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 13 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game's music is a nostalgic nod to 1990s dungeon RPGs, featuring epic tracks that enhance the overall atmosphere. While the character selection screen music is highly praised, some players find the main menu music excessively loud and the sound settings limited. Overall, the soundtrack is a mix of old-school charm and occasional annoyance.
“Great intro music harking back to the early days of dungeon hack and slash RPGs of the 1990s.”
“Epic music that sets the tone.”
“All you need to know is that this game has the best character selection screen music I have ever heard in any video game ever.”
“The music is intentionally old school and quite annoying.”
“The main menu music is quite loud, and you can only mute the volume of music, not adjust it down. You can't change that until you're playing the game after creating a party, at which point the minimal settings screen can be opened in the bottom left corner.”
“The main menu music is quite loud, and you can only mute the volume of music, not adjust it down. You can't change that until you're playing the game after creating a party, at which point the minimal settings screen can be opened in the bottom left corner.”
- atmosphere5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is praised for its mysterious and immersive dungeon-like environment, effectively capturing the essence of classic dungeon crawlers despite some repetitive visuals. Reviewers appreciate how the atmosphere and storytelling compensate for the lack of advanced graphics, creating a compelling experience reminiscent of older gaming systems.
“Nice game for its mysterious atmosphere, but it's really a hard nut; I ended at level 5.”
“The environment is dungeon-like; while the walls are fairly nondescript and repetitive, they are still crafted well enough to keep the atmosphere intact.”
“They relied on atmosphere and storytelling to make up for the lack of visuals.”
“The environment is dungeon-like; while the walls are fairly nondescript and repetitive, they are still crafted well enough to maintain the atmosphere.”
“They relied on atmosphere and storytelling to compensate for the lack of visuals.”
- stability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been criticized for its instability, with multiple users reporting significant bugs and glitches that hinder the overall experience. Despite being enjoyable for short play sessions, the lack of optimization and frequent technical issues make it difficult to recommend.
“Fun game for the three hours I played, but way too buggy and unstable to recommend.”
“Not optimized and buggy.”
“I had issues with some glitches.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is well-received, with players finding amusement in both the dialogue and the comedic situations, such as the struggles of others with basic monsters. The writing is noted for its cleverness, enhancing the overall enjoyment of the plot.
“I've read other people's reviews about having trouble killing the early basic monsters in the game, and that made me laugh.”
“I enjoyed the humor that was shown in the videos.”
“The dialogue is funny and well-written for the plot.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is somewhat restricted due to a straightforward character creation process, which may not offer enough variety to encourage multiple playthroughs.
“The replay value is a bit limited because of the simple character creation process.”
“Once you've completed the main story, there's not much incentive to play again.”
“The lack of diverse gameplay options makes replaying feel more like a chore than a choice.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game is criticized for being poorly optimized and plagued by bugs, leading to a frustrating experience for players.
“The game is not optimized and is filled with bugs.”
“Performance issues make the game nearly unplayable.”
“Frequent frame drops and crashes indicate poor optimization.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding mechanics cumbersome, as the process of using keys, picks, and pickaxes involves multiple steps—opening the inventory, double-clicking the item, closing the inventory, and then interacting with the object—making it feel tedious and inefficient.
“Using keys, picks, and pickaxes is tedious as you have to open the inventory, double-click the item, close the inventory, then click on the object in the world to use it.”
