Dungeons of Hinterberg immediately captivated me with its stunning art style. The vibrant, comic-book aesthetics and bright colors drew me into the game’s whimsical yet mysterious world.
This RPG action-adventure seamlessly combines Zelda-like puzzles, hack-and-slash combat, and immersive exploration, promising a good cosy time and exciting adventure.
An Unassuming Beginning
The story begins with an unassuming scene: Luisa, our protagonist, daydreaming in the back of a taxi. As she arrives at her destination and steps out, sword strapped to her back, it’s clear she’s ready for a change — no more mundane desk job for her.
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Luisa, a lawyer in the real world, seeks adventure and, like hundreds of others, makes the trip to The Hinterbergs, a village in the Alps surrounded by dungeons teeming with magic, monsters, and mysteries. After her initial brush with death in the dungeons, Luisa questions her decision. However, she quickly forms new friendships and finds a renewed sense of purpose.
As Luisa ventures through the lands, completing dungeons and making new friends, a dark mystery begins to unfold. Strange occurrences plague the village, and it’s up to Luisa and her newfound allies to solve them. Although the game starts slowly — I completed about ten dungeons (there are 25 total) before the game truly gripped me — it ramps up with satisfying twists and turns.
Exploring the Hills of Hinterberg
Luisa’s day starts with a drink and a chat with a new friend, deciding how to spend the day. Whether diving deep into dungeons to fight monsters or exploring scenic mountain lookouts, the choice is entirely up to the player.
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Each area grants two magical abilities, from summoning giant bombs to creating goo blocks – there’s plenty of magical variety.
The game offers four main areas to explore, each a semi-open world with its own dungeons and secrets. My favorite area was Kolmstein, mainly because of the hoverboard ability you obtain, which essentially allows for snowboarding. With enough speed, you can take out a large group of monsters in one sweep!
Navigating the world took some getting used to. There’s no sprint button; holding forward gradually picks up the pace and leads into a run. Additionally, there’s no manual jumping. Instead, Luisa climbs ledges and leaps over gaps similarly to Kratos in God of War. She can also scale highlighted (white paint marked) cliff faces and walls to reach higher areas.
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The world is filled with various enemies blocking paths, but not all encounters are bad. Occasionally, treasure goblins spawn, and defeating them rewards you with plenty of hinterbucks – it’s very Diablo!
Entering the Dungeon
You’re usually granted a fast travel point upon finding a dungeon entrance. Each dungeon is labeled by difficulty, and while you can attempt harder ones early on, it’s a challenging endeavor.
Dungeons are filled with puzzles and enemies, providing a satisfying mix of brain and brawn. Whether it’s adjusting the water level, rearranging minecart tracks or shooting electric balls to unlock doors – there’s an excellent variety of puzzles.
Dungeons themselves are also full of variety. While most of them fit the zone, they each offer something new and exciting.
After a long day in the dungeons, you can return to town to run errands, go shopping, meet friends, or simply call it a day and head back to your room.
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At the end of each day, you return to your room at the inn, where you receive a summary of the day’s activities, what you collected, and the monsters you slayed.
You also level up certain stats depending on your pursuits that day. It’s a slow grind — I would have preferred to tackle multiple dungeons in one day, but the in-game time forces you back to town.
Becoming the Ultimate Slayer
Weapons and armour are upgradable, offering various stats to make Luisa stronger, though there’s no cosmetic change to her character. I’d love to see this added in the future. Instead of equipping cool-looking gear, the focus is on enhancing her magic and attack speed. In practice, this works well, but a physical change to the character would add an extra layer of immersion.
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Various stores in town sell weapons, armor, potions, and charms. Charms provide additional perks and take up inventory space. Later in the game, you unlock the ability to shrink charms, fitting more into your inventory. This was a wonderful addition.
The RPG elements in this game are detailed and shine brightly. However, NPCs around town initially appear as grey figures in the distance, turning to color as you approach. Unfortunately, their models are awkwardly similar and don’t feel very alive or fitting to the area.
Making Friends
Monster hunters in Hinterberg are known as Slayers. You’ll meet many along the way, and the closer you become to them, the more rewards and perks they grant Luisa.
The NPCs that do have more detail are outlined in your notebook, each with relationship levels and perks for getting closer to them. It’s rewarding to see what benefits come from building relationships with certain characters. For example, Thea grants the ability to unlock chests in the world after spending time with her.
Tracking down characters is relatively simple with the help of the game’s map. Icons represent their locations, but some may move to new spots in town each day or may not be there at all.
Evenings can be spent with someone in town, relaxing at the spa, or participating in various activities. If these sequences aren’t your style, thankfully there’s a fast-forward button to skip through the chatter.
Fighting it Out
Combat in Dungeons of Hinterberg is robust, offering light and heavy attacks, equippable special moves, weapons with varying power, and unique spells for each region.
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While combat isn’t the game’s primary focus, it evolves significantly as you unlock new abilities. It’s also easy to run into enemies in each zone that are way higher level than you can take on.
Initially, combat may feel a bit clunky, but it becomes much smoother and more enjoyable as you progress and unlock new abilities.
Should You Buy Dungeons of Hinterberg?
If you’re seeking an adventure that’ll keep you coming back for more, Dungeons of Hinterberg is the game for you. It may suffer with its personalisation, but took me by surprise with its stunning visuals, engaging gameplay, and captivating story.
Dungeons of Hinterberg is coming to Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam on July 19th. There’s a PC demo available now.
Quest Daily scores Dungeons of Hinterberg:
8.5/10
A copy of Dungeons of Hinterberg was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.
