BELOW (2018)

Absolute fire. The rating tanked by casuals.

I like hard games, I like interesting exploration and puzzles, I like atmospheric games. This should have been a game I loved, but they combined instant-death traps with long and tedious walkbacks, and I know there are some people out there for whom that just adds to the atmosphere and gameplay experience but my spare time for gaming isn't what it used to be and this was just tedious. For those looking for this particular brand of masochism I'm sure it's great, but for people just expecting a challenging atmospheric roguelike, my bet is you'll enjoy other games more.

I only did one run so it's probably on me but UGH. All I knew to do was gather ingredients and craft them, I didn't know what I was doing or what the point was, and then I slowly bled out and died with no idea as to why. I get that you're supposed to play as a bunch of different heroes in randomly generated dungeons, but spending half an hour just picking up rocks with no goal while your health depletes with no explanation so that, when you start again you can't even gather those items you spent half an hour collecting sucks. And there's little things that drop out of the enemies you can use to level up but oops, they are magnetically drawn to the chasms all over the place. Also it was lagging constantly and would just go unresponsive mid swing

[b]Do Not Recommend[/b] A survival/dungeon crawler hybrid with excellent presentation, atmosphere and environmental storytelling, but that is otherwise repetitive, frustrating and mechanically shallow. Now, a game that represents the merging of the aforementioned two genres is an interesting idea [i]on paper[/i] -- however, the survival mechanics in BELOW offer scant compelling gameplay beyond merely wasting the player's time, with hunger meters to manage, resources to grind between dungeon runs, and instant permadeath mechanics that plop you all the way back up at the top with (nearly) empty bags that need to be restocked. And yet, even if you were to remove these mechanics entirely, the game still wouldn't be better off for it, as you'd be left with little more than a mediocre dungeon crawler with excellent set dressing. Whatever this game strived to be, [b]The Forest[/b] did it better.

One of the best Indie Rough Like Out there. It is hard as ♥♥♥♥, but I love how deep you have to explore in this game. Not only on the map, but also its mechanics.

Just wanted to give a somewhat early review even though I'm not super far into the game. I was a little hesitant coming into this game given the reviews but so far I absolutely love it. Absolutely no hand holding which I'm appreciating more and more with games, very little explanations, and a lot of trial and error. It's a little like Tunic set in a dark world with less puzzles and more just about exploring. I also feel like the game is missing a roguelite tag, as you will die and have to start from the beginning but can unlock shortcuts and what equates to temporary fast travel points. Definitely not for everyone, but if you like a good atmosphere, enjoy figuring things out on your own, and don't mind the semi-roguelite nature I think you will love this. Edit: just completed this. Everything I said still stands. Something to note though - you need to be meticulous with moving through the floors and search every nook and cranny in order to beat the game. There is also one section you have to go through multiple times with an enemy that continuously attacks unless you have enough of a certain resource to continue to hold it at bay. About the only thing that I really didn't like ab…