#cause there's just been random dice sounds throughout the past few episodes

[my-cursed-brain]

So I'm halfway through episode 6 of Malevolent and wtf?? Are those dice being rolled?? IS SOMEONE FUCKING ROLLING PERCEPTION CHECKS????

#I need answers right now #cause there's just been random dice sounds throughout the past few episodes #I keep noticing because it sounds so out of place and keeps taking me out of the moment #malevolent #malevolent podcast #horror podcast #dahlia's rambling

[operationrainfall]

Title Dicey Dungeons Developer Terry Cavanagh, Marlow Dobbe, chipzel Publisher Terry Cavanagh Release Date August 13th, 2019 Genre Strategy, Dungeon Crawler Platform PC Age Rating N/A Official Website

I decided to play Dicey Dungeons at E3 this year on a whim. At that time, I had no idea it was by the madman behind VVVVVV, Terry Cavanagh, or that it had music by chipzel or art by Marlow Dobbe. All I knew was I liked the rogue genre and it had giant dice fighting through dungeons. That was enough to pique my interest. But now that I’ve been playing the game pretty much non-stop since I got the review code, how do I actually feel about Dicey Dungeons? Let’s roll the dice and find out.

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The setting of the game is a sort of twisted, infernal game show. It’s run by none other than Lady Luck, and as gamblers worldwide can attest, she’s a real bitch. She transforms all the contestants into giant dice and then hurls them through several floors full of monsters and lackeys to win their heart’s desire. Even when they win, the odds are against them, at least until you are able to change the mind of her head minion, the Jester. Then things start to change, and you begin to see a way out. But it’s a long road to that point, and it’s full of delightful insanity.

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At the beginning, you can only select the Warrior. He’s the most basic and easy to understand character, but you’ll eventually unlock 5 others (well, technically 6). There’s also the Thief, Robot, Inventor, Witch and Jester. The 7th kinda sorta character is the Bear, but you can only play as him by stealing a magical potion as the Thief. While the Warrior is best for starting out, each other character gets progressively more complex than the one before it, and the difficulty of playing them is denoted with stars. The hardest to play is the Witch, and she’s no joke. This review would have been done sooner but I had this stupid itch to beat the game as her once, and several hours later, I still haven’t succeeded.

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Which brings us to the difficulty of Dicey Dungeons. This is not for the faint of heart. Not only are the odds stacked against you, they’re so stacked you can easily die in the first floor of a dungeon. Considering there’s only 6 floors total, that’s a challenge. But it’s not an unreasonable one, so long as you comprehend each character’s unique mechanics. Though they’re all very different, they share some similarities. Each one attacks by using dice to activate attacks and cast spells. Another commonality is the Limit Break. After taking enough damage, this meter will be charged, and you’re given the opportunity to use a powerful special ability. For the Warrior, you get to deal double damage with a Fury attack, whereas the Thief uses Unlucky Roll to create 4 extra dice with a value of one each. Each character also levels up as you defeat enemies, granting you more dice to use each turn of combat, as well as increasing your base health. Other than that though, things are gonna vary dramatically.

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Each character is essentially its own unique way to play Dicey Dungeons, and even has unique equipment they’re more likely to find in chests strewn throughout the labyrinth. Take the Thief for example. He lacks the impressive damage output of the Warrior, but trades it for reusable multi-attack skills such as the Dagger. He essentially needles opponents to death, whittling them down 1 HP at a time. He’s also very adept at using Poison skills. But where he gets really interesting is his ability to randomly steal an attack from enemies at the start of every turn. If you’re fighting a snowball hurling snowman, the Thief will get to toss snowballs back at him. Or take the Inventor instead, who deconstructs a piece of her equipment each turn to build a new free to use Gadget. Then there’s the Witch, who has a book of spells she can place and cast at will, so long as she rolls the proper dice corresponding to a specific spell value. It’s a very, very complex game, despite the basic loop being pretty simple. You grind through 6 floors, fight enemies, level up, choose new equipment and try and beat the boss at the very end. The foes and bosses you face are completely random too, and there’s something like 60 unique flavors. If nothing else, you won’t get bored playing Dicey Dungeons at all.

Roll On for Page 2 ->

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As you progress through each level of the dungeon, you’ll have a few things to make your life easier. One are the aforementioned chests that contain equipment to keep you breathing, such as curative scepters, powerful shields and sharp swords. There are also random apples you can gobble down as you wander, restoring a few health. But what really has the potential to help are the vendors you encounter. One is just a standard shopkeep, and you can spend coins you earn from defeating foes to buy new items. Another trades one of your items for one of theirs, for no price. The last, and my favorite, is the blacksmith. They will upgrade any piece of equipment for free, enhancing their effects and sometimes shrinking their size so you can fit more stuff in your backpack. To store it, you rearrange blocky representations of your equipment from the pause screen.

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If that wasn’t enough, there’s other aspects that spice the game up. One are Parallel Universe Episodes, which are unique challenges with special rules for each character. There’s an early one where the Warrior starts out with two massively powerful axes, but is also Cursed, meaning there’s a guarantee one attack will fail each turn. These Episodes really make things interesting, and are there for you when you feel you’ve gotten too good at the game. There’s also something called Bonus Round, which are the challenging final Episodes you’ll unlock for each character. And as you play, you’ll satisfy challenges, which can be redeemed for collectible trading cards for all the foes in the game. And if all that wasn’t enough, there’s always the final battle against Lady Luck herself.

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In case it wasn’t readily apparent, I’m badly addicted to Dicey Dungeons. A typical successful playthrough can take anywhere from 10 minutes to a half hour, but you’ll be dying a lot in between your rare successes. I loved playing as the distinct characters, and discovering techniques to defeat the varied bestiary in the game. You only need a mouse to play the game, and you drag and drop dice into slots to activate your attacks. Some attacks require odd rolls, others require even, some have a minimum or maximum value they will accept, and others eat a bunch of dice to unleash a powerful effect. My mind is boggled by the amount of elements in the game, though I do find I internalized a lot of it from just playing again and again. Though most enemies can be defeated relatively easily, the bosses are pretty challenging. One example is a goth knight who charges her powerful shield, deflecting attacks and then ramming you with it. Or take the diabolical girl scout Madison, who looks like a lightweight and can defeat you in a couple turns. A personal favorite is Buster, the dragon, who burns all your dice each turn, causing you harm whenever you use them. I keep finding new things to enjoy in Dicey Dungeons, which helps offset my frustration when I die again and again. And keep in mind I consider myself a veteran at the rogue genre, taking great joy in playing games like The Binding of Isaac repeatedly, and nearly 100%ing Guild of Dungeoneering. So be ready for a lot of pain.

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Aesthetically, Dicey Dungeons is a very pleasing game. Each and every character is colorful and cartoony, and bursting with personality, thanks to the art stylings of Marlowe Dobbe. There is a ton of creativity here, from buff snowmen to hungry vacuum cleaners to demonic marshmallows. The music is no slouch either, thanks to the tremendous skill of chipzel. It’s a lively mix of chiptunes with lots of different styles thrown in for good measure. Though I will say, I accidentally spent a few hours playing the beta of the game, and found I liked the music better in that version. Probably cause everything was more bombastic and loud. However, I in no way miss the cruel laughter of the audience whenever my life was nearly reduced to zero. There’s also plenty of great sound effects for the various foes you fight, and wonderfully strange gibberish that is captioned for Lady Luck. She sometimes sounds like she’s saying “stinkalee”, and that made me chuckle on more than one occasion.

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All in all, I can safely say I’m a fan of Dicey Dungeons. I respected Terry Cavanagh after playing VVVVVV, but this adventure is no slouch either. For only $14.99, there’s a ton to experience in the game, and it’s beyond easy to get fully immersed in the art and tunes as hours slip past. My only minor complaint is that this game is not for everyone, and if you’re not patient and ready for the difficulty, Dicey Dungeons can be pretty daunting. But for fans of the rogue genre, this is a must own. Now if you’ll excuse me, I still have tons of challenges and Episodes to beat, as well as all those shiny Steam achievements to collect!

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4.5″]

Review Copy Provided by Publisher

REVIEW: Dicey Dungeons Title Dicey Dungeons

#Chipzel #Dicey Dungeons #Marlowe Dobbe #oprainfall #PC #Review #Terry Cavanagh