The Depths of Tolagal

About

The Depths of Tolagal is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Matthew Jennings and was released on January 5, 2015. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"The Depths of Tolagal" is a tactical roguelike dungeon crawler where you search for your missing apprentice in the dangerous, procedurally generated dungeons of Tolagal. With various monsters, unique weapons, and action point-based combat, each run offers a new challenge and the chance to discover more about the dungeon's inhabitants. Play with permadeath or story mode, and test your skills in the endless infinite mode.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

80%

Audience ScoreBased on 35 reviews

music3 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The Depths of Tolagal offers a satisfying and streamlined roguelike experience with engaging tactical combat that requires careful planning and strategy.
The game features a unique focus on a single character and combat, providing a fresh take on the roguelike genre with a variety of weapon and skill combinations.
Despite its simplicity, the game is challenging and addictive, making it a fun distraction for short play sessions.

The game suffers from a lack of depth and variety, with limited items, no class selection, and repetitive gameplay that can become boring over time.
Visual quality is low, relying on retro pixel art that may not appeal to all players, and there are no graphics options to improve the experience.
The procedural generation does not compensate for the absence of meaningful content, leading to a feeling of sameness in gameplay and environments.

gameplay
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
46%
27%
The gameplay of "Depths of Tolagal" has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it shallow and reminiscent of outdated mechanics from classic games like hack/rogue, while others appreciate its minimalist approach and tight mechanics. Although it lacks depth in customization and complexity, certain features, such as shield mechanics, provide a fun and accessible experience for players. Overall, the gameplay is seen as either inessential or enjoyable, depending on individual preferences.
- “Nice rogue-like with attractive gameplay.”
- “Gameplay is very tight.”
- “Depths of Tolagal might not feature a lot of customization from other roguelikes or a deep stat/item system, but it does its gameplay very well.”
- “Inessential, no interesting or new mechanics, skippable.”
- “The Depths of Tolagal is a ripoff of hack/rogue (from 1980), but with shallower gameplay, and slapped together with Node.js.”
- “Gameplay consists of ambling around a procedurally generated map and being hacked up by the various enemies.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The game's graphics are characterized by a retro pixel art style, which some players appreciate for its charm, while others criticize it for being outdated and lacking customization options, such as resolution changes. Despite full-screen support, the visuals are often described as poor quality and repetitive, leading to a mixed reception regarding their overall impact on the gaming experience.
- “Graphical roguelike and very well put.”
- “Really love this game, the music and graphics, and humor in the gradually unfolding story drew me deeper and deeper into the damned castle Tolagal with each play.”
- “When I first saw the game's title at the store, I thought 'what a Lovecraftian title and artwork, I wonder if it's just the title.'”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “While there is full screen support, there's no graphics tweaks, resolution is locked and can't be changed, so there's no way for the gamer to try to improve the very poor quality visuals.”
- “The game is starting to feel a little bland (obviously graphically it's retro over modern) in terms of variety.”
story
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The game's story is polarizing; some players find it forgettable and criticize the lack of proper level design and plot progression, attributing this to repetitive procedural generation. In contrast, others appreciate the engaging music, graphics, and humor that enhance the unfolding narrative, making the experience more immersive.
- “Really love this game, the music and graphics, and humor in the gradually unfolding story drew me deeper and deeper into the damned castle Tolagal with each play.”
- “While it's intentional, the game features no proper level design or game/story flow/plot, as they opted to try to use samey repetitive procedural generation algorithms as a substitute for adding such content to the game.”
- “- The story is forgettable.”
- “The story lacks depth and fails to engage the player, making it easy to lose interest.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game is praised for its ability to enhance the atmosphere, seamlessly blending with the graphics and humor to create an immersive experience. Players appreciate the soundtrack's contribution to the unfolding story, making each playthrough more engaging. Overall, the music is considered a strong aspect of the game, with many finding it enjoyable.
- “Really love this game; the music, graphics, and humor in the gradually unfolding story drew me deeper and deeper into the damned castle Tolagal with each play.”
- “I must also emphasize how well the soundtrack blends in and gives it a nice atmosphere.”
- “I thought the music was pretty decent.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised, particularly for its effective soundtrack that enhances the overall experience and immersion.
- “I must also emphasize how well the soundtrack blends in and creates a captivating atmosphere.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game offers little to no replayability, as players feel that once it is completed, there is no incentive to revisit it.
- “For me, this means zero replayability once the game is completed.”
- “The lack of meaningful choices makes it feel like there's no reason to play again.”
- “After finishing the game, I found no incentive to replay it; it felt like a one-time experience.”