Dwarf Journey feels like a diet Rogue Legacy, and that's not a bad thing. You have the same procedurally-generated maps and the melee-range combat, but without the systems on top of systems; no random buffs and debuffs, no dice-roll classes, just your dude and the enemies - nice and simple.

"Simple" might even be understating it; there isn't very much enemy variety. You've got homing flyers, projectile tossers, and straight-chargers, and that's pretty much it. But enemy counts and placements always feel right. Always challenging, rarely overwhelming. Almost every hit I took in Dwarf Journey felt like my own fault, and that's no small compliment. I beat the campaign in 3.5 hours, and that feels right for a game that's $7 full-price.

Here's my problem: There are achievements for upgrading every piece of equipment in the game, including those that are straight downgrades to the endgame gear, as well as for dying five hundred times. Do you know how many times I died before beating the campaign? Twelve. According to Steam statistics, more than 80% of players beat the final boss before dying even 50 times. What in the world was the dev thinking?

So. If you're a completionist, and you try to only play games you can 100% without monotony, this game is probably a miss. But if you like simple, casual 2D combat and can look past those few achievements you almost certainly won't bother with, you can probably pick this one up.

Recommended.

[h1]A surprisingly well-tuned action platformer that's undercut by grindy achievements[/h1] Dwarf Journey feels like a diet Rogue Legacy, and that's not a bad thing. You have the same procedurally-generated maps and the melee-range combat, but without the systems on top of systems; no random buffs and debuffs, no dice-roll classes, just your dude and the enemies - nice and simple. "Simple" might even be understating it; there isn't very much enemy variety. You've got homing flyers, projectile tossers, and straight-chargers, and that's pretty much it. But enemy counts and placements always feel [i]right[/i]. Always challenging, rarely overwhelming. Almost every hit I took in Dwarf Journey felt like my own fault, and that's no small compliment. I beat the campaign in 3.5 hours, and that feels right for a game that's $7 full-price. Here's my problem: There are achievements for upgrading [i]every piece of equipment in the game[/i], including those that are straight downgrades to the endgame gear, as well as for dying [i]five hundred times[/i]. Do you know how many times I died before beating the campaign? [i]Twelve[/i]. According to Steam statistics, more than 80% of players beat the final boss before dying even 50 times. What in the world was the dev thinking? So. If you're a completionist, and you try to only play games you can 100% without monotony, this game is probably a miss. But if you like simple, casual 2D combat and can look past those few achievements you almost certainly won't bother with, you can probably pick this one up. Recommended.