Dungeon Rats - RPG Codex Review

RPG Codex has reviewed Dungeon Rats and thinks it should be called a dungeon brawler rather than crawler.

Don’t be stupid, be a smarty

At first glance, Dungeon Rats looks and plays just like Age of Decadence, so veterans should feel right at home. However, there are a few tweaks and additions that set it apart from its parent.

The biggest changes can be found in the character system. Since the game focuses solely on combat, all civic skills have been removed – all that is left are combat skills, crafting and alchemy. Following this, the few instances of non-combat skill checks that have made it to the game are now governed by stats or the crafting skill (this includes lockpicking). A big change has also been applied to Charisma, which now has a tangible function, as opposed to a vague “reaction bonus” – the statistic determines how many companions can join your party (from 0 to 3). Character slots are maxed at Charisma 8, so it may seem useless at first to pump CHA all the way up to 10, but some of the followers also happen to be gated by individual Charisma checks.

Indeed, party-based combat is in. There are 11 pre-made companions of various kinds and trades just waiting for you to recruit them at specific places in the game. Except for a trio of bumpkins that are little more than a trap choice, the companions are fairly competent – they might even be better than your character, and thus are handy to have around. If there is one thing that some may find disappointing about them, it’s that they are basically walking character sheets, which don’t say a thing after their initial conversation. There is some truth to this, because they would profit from a quip every now and again, but on the other hand, who really gives a damn?

More information.

…come and join the Nazi party? Hmm. *pokes it with a stick*

rpgcodex.com is a nasty place and they are chock full of Iron Tower Studio shills

Well, AOD is an excellent game and the game's design philosophy is very superb. Although it has a poor graphic, it make up with a complex, believable and multiple ending plot, which is very memorable.
After AOD, I am playing Divinity: Original Sin. I really appreciate the quality of graphic in D:OS, which is the most beautiful turn based game I have played so far. There are many detail which can make players smile, like when in Hiberheim characters will hug their hands around themselves and complaint about the cold weather all the time.
IMO, D:OS has a better graphic, not to mention the full voice over and the character animation, but it's story, items and crafting system are plain shameful. I had to spend a lot of time in crafting, opening containers and picking up items rather than actually play the game and enjoy the story and combat in D:OS. I have to say I have a complicate feeling about D:OS. I hate and like D:OS at the same time.

Originally Posted by beldurax
rpgcodex.com is a nasty place and they are chock full of Iron Tower Studio shills

That's very true, but Age of Decadence happens to be a good game. I haven't gotten around to Dungeon Rats yet, but if you liked the combat in AoD, which I did, I imagine you'll like Dungeon Rats.

A surprisingly negative review from Infinitron, who tends to be pretty positive about most of the games he reviews (I think one needs to keep the individual reviewers at the codex separate as they all have there own styles), and especially when you consider the positive reception AOD had at the codex. I haven't got around to the game yet, but I did think AOD had a good combat system. Its too bad though if Dungeon Rats really has such a poor variety and placement of enemies.

Originally Posted by forgottenlor
I haven't got around to the game yet, but I did think AOD had a good combat system. Its too bad though if Dungeon Rats really has such a poor variety and placement of enemies.

I'd say that DR has a better encounter design and variety than AoD and overall the reaction has been fairly favorable.

Originally Posted by beldurax
rpgcodex.com is a nasty place and they are chock full of Iron Tower Studio shills

I've got bad news for you, Vince has a whole army of "shills" here too!

Shill army reporting for duty !

Originally Posted by forgottenlor
A surprisingly negative review from Infinitron, who tends to be pretty positive about most of the games he reviews (I think one needs to keep the individual reviewers at the codex separate as they all have there own styles), and especially when you consider the positive reception AOD had at the codex. I haven't got around to the game yet, but I did think AOD had a good combat system. Its too bad though if Dungeon Rats really has such a poor variety and placement of enemies.

The review is from Roxor. If you did think that AoD had a good combat system and encounters, expect the same from Dungeon Rats. In my opinion, Roxor has overblown the "issue" of fighting creatures. There are quite a few variety of them, representing different challenges and difficulties. While I agree that some encounters didn't provide an interesting or different challenge, it's something we are working on, and we are committed to improving the game.

If you are unsure about the game, wait for a sale and buy it. It's not really expensive and if you liked AoD's combat, I'm completely sure you are going to like it.

Originally Posted by beldurax
rpgcodex.com is a nasty place and they are chock full of Iron Tower Studio shills

Better than a place full of Bethesda shills

Originally Posted by Elhoim
The review is from Roxor. If you did think that AoD had a good combat system and encounters, expect the same from Dungeon Rats. In my opinion, Roxor has overblown the "issue" of fighting creatures. There are quite a few variety of them, representing different challenges and difficulties. While I agree that some encounters didn't provide an interesting or different challenge, it's something we are working on, and we are committed to improving the game.

If you are unsure about the game, wait for a sale and buy it. It's not really expensive and if you liked AoD's combat, I'm completely sure you are going to like it.

First off, I loathed your company efforts with AoD. It was a horrible game. I completed the game a number of times and still found it's system lacking in a number of ways.

DR was nothing more than a bad combat simulator with a flimsy storyline holding it together. The NPCs choices were laughable.

Lastly, your forum username, both on this site, and on rpgcodex.com is borderline blasphemous. I say borderline because you have cutely swapped the position of the 'h' and the 'o' in what is the word 'elohim' - the Hebrew meaning for a name of God, the Almighty.

Originally Posted by beldurax
First off, I loathed your company efforts with AoD. It was a horrible game. I completed the game a number of times and still found it's system lacking in a number of ways.

DR was nothing more than a bad combat simulator with a flimsy storyline holding it together. The NPCs choices were laughable.

Lastly, your forum username, both on this site, and on rpgcodex.com is borderline blasphemous. I say borderline because you have cutely swapped the position of the 'h' and the 'o' in what is the word 'elohim' - the Hebrew meaning for a name of God, the Almighty.

Did I post on the Codex or RPGWatch? I thought this place was more serious.

0/10, try again.

Originally Posted by Elhoim
Did I post on the Codex or RPGWatch? I thought this place was more serious.

0/10, try again.

Yes you do post on the Codex with the same username.

Ho there, Infinitron. Y'know, a cousin of mine works in Inxile if you need to be hooked up with an interview.

Originally Posted by Elhoim
Did I post on the Codex or RPGWatch?

Y'know what? I honestly can't remember I've ever seen you before.

Means the answer is codex. As I don't visit trolling wannabees kindergarden.

Originally Posted by Infinitron

About the actual topic, I still didn't buy the game as I don't have enough time for all games out there and my backlog grew too fast in past couple of years. It might easily happen I die before finally playing Blackguards 2 which would be a shame.
Eventually I'll get my hands on Dungeon Rats as I'm very interested in it. I mean hopefully.

Originally Posted by beldurax
First off, I loathed your company efforts with AoD. It was a horrible game. I completed the game a number of times and still found it's system lacking in a number of ways.

DR was nothing more than a bad combat simulator with a flimsy storyline holding it together. The NPCs choices were laughable.

Lastly, your forum username, both on this site, and on rpgcodex.com is borderline blasphemous. I say borderline because you have cutely swapped the position of the 'h' and the 'o' in what is the word 'elohim' - the Hebrew meaning for a name of God, the Almighty.

If you loathed the game (AoD) why did you play through it "a number of times" and then proceed to buy and play Dungeon Rats which is clearly marketed as having the same combat and character system but focuses heavily on combat? My advice is to spend less of your time on things you loathe and focus on doing things you like. Then we might not have to put up your infantile and negative posts here on the Watch.

That would be a fine advice if information was provided.

As it stands, reviews only inform on the tastes of the reviewer and not on the product itself.

As to spending time trying things in and out, it comes from the same lack of information.

There has been a number of RTwP products released lately, and from reviews, it is not possible to know if they can be played RTwP, what it means to play them RTwP and the quality of their RTwP.

Degree zero in informing.

Only chance is to test by yourself.

Originally Posted by Elhoim
The review is from Roxor. If you did think that AoD had a good combat system and encounters, expect the same from Dungeon Rats. In my opinion, Roxor has overblown the "issue" of fighting creatures. There are quite a few variety of them, representing different challenges and difficulties. While I agree that some encounters didn't provide an interesting or different challenge, it's something we are working on, and we are committed to improving the game.

If you are unsure about the game, wait for a sale and buy it. It's not really expensive and if you liked AoD's combat, I'm completely sure you are going to like it.

Then I stand corrected. Roxor reviews tend to be very critical, so I'd say this could even be considered a somewhat positive review coming from him. Sorry for the mixup. By the way, I already bought the game, its just sitting with about 30 others in my backlog.