If there is one thing that I have come to enjoy about rogue lites, its that they can offer countless hours of fun while still keeping the gameplay both engaging and exciting without running stale. It gets even better when the game is able to incorporate the rogue-lite elements into its story. Endless dungeon did a wonderful job of bridging the gap between gameplay mechanics and its story and while there were some minor frustrations to be found, I was pleased with my time here.
Endless Dungeon will have players exploring an abandoned space station after watching a crew of explorers meet their untimely end after crashing into it. The only person to survive was a janitor who claims that he is not quite up to the task but fortunately for him, he doesn’t have to go through the journey alone. With a multitude of characters to pick from with various loadouts and abilities, we will have to explore the space station and uncover the mysteries found here while trying to find a way to escape.
The space station is filled with monstrosities that are out to provide our heroes with all kinds of roadblocks on their journey and will succeed in this more often than not but thankfully the space station is equipped with the ability to have our heroes “reload” back at the home base every time they die. I love seeing this mechanic catching the new member of the crew off-guard because it is a foreign concept and not something you would expect to run into in a real situation and it also gives an explanation as to why we are able to have so many runs through the station.
Before each run, we will select a character and two more supporting characters to help aid us on our journey. The game does offer 3 player co-op but I played through this with the support of the CPU controlled characters and found them to be helpful in their own way. They manage enemies well and would focus their fire on whatever was being destroyed in the general area so the extra firepower was nice.
Each character has their own specific loadout and abilities to help move through the game so there is something for everyone out there. I found myself playing as Bunker since I enjoyed the shield bash area of effect attack as well as their voice lines when adventuring through the hallways of the station. You are able to upgrade the characters and their weapons with the resources you find during your runs so not every player will have the same experience.
After selecting your load out and heroes, it’s off to pick a mission and the location that you will be exploring. There are difficulty options that can be picked before each run so if you are wanting a more laid back experience or want to get some friends together for a tough run then you can do so. There are a multitude of locations to choose from as you unlock more areas during your journey so it is important to fully explore each room in order to find the key that unlocks the next area. I enjoyed having the option to change scenery and tasks after each run so I did not grow tired of the same hallways.
Your goal during the runs will be to establish a route for your crystal bot to reach a specific area and this is done by unlocking rooms that connect to one another. The room layouts change with each run so there is no need to worry about things getting stale and repetitive. I always felt a sense of unease and excitement since I didn’t know what the next room had in store for me. Was it a generator to get extra resources so that I could boost my defenses or was it a nasty nest of creatures waiting to get ahold of me? There was no way of knowing without heading in and I loved this.
As you explore the rooms and prep yourself for the wave of monsters, you will find stations for you to set up turrets in anticipation for a tower defense style of action. Each turret will function differently with some focused heavily on taking out enemies while others focus on hindering their movement. It is important to set these up accordingly because you and your companions will not be able to handle the amount of enemies thrown your way on the normal mode since they come from all directions and have one goal in mind, to destroy your crystal bot. If they succeed then the run is over but if you manage to hold them off and protect the little robot then you are able to continue exploring. As you wander through the hallways you will pick up keys and other items that will provide more context in regards to the nature of the ship. Taking these items back to base will also reward you with options to build up your characters and prep yourself for the next run.
I found myself constantly going back for more and had a hard time putting this down. As someone who focused on the solo aspect of the game, I had a ton of fun and can only imagine how much more fun it would be with friends. This is definitely a title worth checking out for those who love rogue-lites and want something new to playthrough.
