The Fog Below

This is a fun romp for anyone who loves an old fashioned dungeon crawler and clicker games. I got the chance to see The Fog Below late in its dev cycle. When I first saw it, I'll admit I was confused. I was charmed by the ANSI graphics interface, immediately reminded of NetHack and BBS door games, but the interface didn't quite make sense until, well, I started clicking around. Then I realized - you're not navigating a dungeon, you're revealing it, Clicking around revealed tiles around me, Minesweeper-style. I'm exploring, picking up loots and equipping paltry pieces of gear, until the screen suddenly shakes and the music changes. A cave spider bares it's gnarly fangs at me! The combat screen shows up, and I start clicking the shapes as they pop up, I'm "doing things', but it's not quite clear to me what. I defeat the encounter though. I'm not still totally clear what's going on, but I'm intrigued. Fast forward 3 hours, and I realize I've completely lost track of time. I'm a warlord, stomping through the caves, completing quests, quaffing concoctions I'm brewing in the alchemy interface, swapping out gear and spells depending on the encounter ahead of me, and racing against th…

This game feels like sweet blend of old school dungeon crawler and a modern day aim trainer. It's been a while since I've had the feeling of pure fun panic seeing all the targets in a fight come at you, seemingly at once, just to enter a sort of zen state and pop the targets instantly as they appear.

This game is a nice mix of classic ascii visuals with modern gaming design. Crafting, skill trees, RPG elements, boss battles, the whole pie! You can feel overwhelmed with what is going on and what to do, but the game has a great in-game manual you can refer to. The sound is very well done too and fits in very well. It's easy to pick up.

The Fog Below has quickly become one of my favorite roguelikes/dungeon-crawlers. Its disparate systems mesh in a way that consistently surprise and delight. Uncovering the map though tile selection (ala Minesweeper) is both inventive and engaging. The arcade combat component works better than I would have thought. Armed with up to four spells and your cursor, you'll do battle with myriad foes, from the lowly cave rat to a yoked obsidian sentinel and everything in between. Loot abounds, and its implementation and variety are some of my favorite things about the game. The sound of unlocking a chest triggers something primal in me, satisfyingly familiar yet ever filled with unknown potential. There's also crafting and alchemy, but I've really only scratched my hoarding itch thus far and have yet to delve into those systems. [i]I just figured out today that there are equippable companions, too, which I must remember for my next run.[/i] The UI is functional and intuitive, presenting information in a way so that it never overwhelms. The ASCII art is deceptively adept at conveying environmental details and manages to immerse the player in the game's world despite its seeming simplicity…

I've really enjoyed playing this game over the playtest. For me, the game has two sort of phases: The first, where you get to build up your character, where locking into a specialty early can really pay off when low-tier loot is still common. Then, you get the second phase where you really get to put the build to the test, and see how far you can push before you become overwhelmed (and I think this is where the minesweeper-inspired mechanics really shine best). You can also sort of choose how much you want to get stuck into the finer mechanics, and delving into them definitely feels rewarding. On top of that, the soundtrack is great and I would definitely buy it if it ever went up as a DLC :D I think my biggest criticism at the moment would be that I've had some trouble running it on systems with less powerful graphics, but it runs well on the machine I'm attaching specs from. Overall, would recommend.

The Fog Below surprised me at how engaging the game loop is. It feels like an old dungeon crawler with simple Fruit-Ninja-like combat. The combat is not at all the main point, however. It's the itemization and itemization. As the dungeons scale in difficulty, so does your player via the various crafting modes, loot, and levelling up. The text-mode-inspired graphics may not technically be authentic to the actual old system limitations, but the game still captures the vibes nicely. What really captures my attention though, is the pacing. The game can be played as slow and meticulously as you want, or fast and aggressively to your own risk, and you'd still find an engaging experience. The only downside is that the game is a bit easy. It definitely feels like a player-first experience, rather than an intense one. It's not passive and cozy by any means, but it isn't a moment-to-moment challenge either. Lower depths can get tougher, but you'll need to reach them first which takes time - so if you're looking for an intense challenge, you might find the early depths a bit tedious. If you're looking for something engaging while being chill, it's a perfectly active game that you can …