Dungeons of Hinterberg Review (dave)
Really early on, I thought this wouldn't be fun. I was worried that the social interactions would be stupidly trivial and wasn't sure I could cope with the art style. Fairly quickly I fell into the groove and found the game cozy, comforting, and refreshing. I fell in love with the art style. And I discovered that, as the social interactions advanced, most player dialog got meaningful - struggling with real life issues (sometimes in humorous ways). Especially the inner monologue of the main character, working through her issues.
The dungeons are grouped into four separate areas with different geography, season, and feel. It felt like you were visiting four different places in the world. The thing I found interesting was that each area had its own set of two magic spells you could use, unique to that area and only functional in that area. The spells were useful in both combat and puzzle solving. Each area's different terrain showed up in the dungeons there. These things (different area feel, different dungeon terrain, and different spells) kept things from being boring or repetitive as you work through all the dungeons.
The dungeon mechanics seemed to be an actual 50/50 balance between combat and puzzles. And, when set on Vacation (easy) mode, was well tuned to me. (I like a little combat but nothing that actually costs me something or causes my frequent death. I prefer story, exploration, and puzzles.) I found the puzzles frequently challenging but almost always something I could figure out. (I think I only Googled an explanation once.)
I'm not a serious gamer (combat or puzzles), so perhaps this game will feel trivial for others. But I'd hope that the cozy, comforting-ness of it would still shine for those who value that. Bottom line is I loved it.