Desktop Dungeons: Rewind Review (Ikari Oni)
Dear reader, hang tight, as this will be a long one.
Desktop Dungeons and I go way back, and I have many fond memories of this gem, being familiar with it since the early Alphas, dating way back from circa 2010. Ever since then, the seeds of its genre bending, non-conforming, innovative gameplay were already planted,
becoming fully realized in 2013, refining many of the systems and mechanics seen in said Alpha.
Now, in brilliant fashion, we see yet another polished iteration of the game, Desktop Dungeons Rewind, a prety clever addition to the title that I'll explain further down the review.
Now, enough with the reverie. What even is this thing!?
As I mentioned, Desktop Dungeons Rewind (henceforth simply DDR, for brevity) doesn't conform to a set genre, but rather, the interplay between many aspects of established genres is what makes the game tick.
You have top down dungeons with random layouts (with set rules to
ensure it is beatable) from roguelikes, playable classes and fantasy races from most RPGs (each with unique traits), as well as equipment, inventories and other such staples, but in a very unique way of going about it.
Another layer that makes the weird and wonderful DDR sandwich is resource management, but not in the way you might be used to - you are not building a base to survive relentless waves of monsters; resource management is key to be able to outlast and beat enemies.
Health, Magic, Experience, Spells, Equipment and even the exploration of the dungeon itself are resources.
Each "dungeon" can roughly fit in one screen (though there are multiple floors, in many cases) and the overall objective is winning by beating the boss (or, in some cases, bosses) and exiting the dungeon triumphant. Monsters are distributed in such a way that their levels range from 1 all the way to 10 (the bosses).
This aspect of the game could be considered something of a puzzle game; different dungeons have different denizens with their own innate abilities and statistics that need to be taken into account with each engagement.
Combat is entirely tactical and deterministic, with the combat predictor being a large part of how enemies are approached, and utilizing everything at one's disposal (and even knowing when to let go of such things) ends up "clicking" and leads to an incredible feeling of clarity.
There are so many options, synergies, and individual equipment pieces with varied effects
that the ever elusive elation of emergent play happens here naturally.
When defeated, the player is given the option to try the run again, "rewinding" time to roughly the halfway point, restoring the state of play and allowing the player to redo mistakes.
Besides dungeon spelunking, the player has some light management aspects to contend with, mostly allowing for meta progression unlocks that range from items, classes, races and more, allowing for a more customizable, front loaded approach to future expeditions, as
well as practical puzzles for the struggling player (I wholeheartly recommend any newcomer to try them).
All in all, the game is a one of a kind experience that cannot be contained or defined in simple terms, a kind of beautiful genre chimera that one can't help but love once its ingenuity and heart become clear to the player.