Din’s Curse Review (PC)

The Never Ending RPG

Soldak Entertainment’s “Din’s Curse,” is an interesting contribution from a company I knew little or nothing about until relatively recently. This one of a series of three RPG games, (the others being Kivi’s Quest and Depths of Peril,) based around the same world but noticeably different from one another. It’s nice to see a company that can do something more than create a game and then milk it to death with a hundred and one sequels.

You play an adventurer who has managed to get on the wrong side of Din the god of valor. As you’ve spend your life being greedy, selfish and generally a bit mean he’s decided to curse you with unlife until he’s satisfied that you’ve changed. To make sure you’re doing as he wants he warps you to a monster infested town and gets you to go and save it. When this is complete he’ll send you to another one, and another and so on until you’ve finished your task to his liking, and being a god this guy has immensely high expectations.

As an RPG game Dins Curse has little new to offer. You wander around dungeons killing monsters and completing quests. Items come in levels of rarity and power and as in all RPG games your character levels and gains skills as he or she goes. Now … you’re probably thinking that you’ve played dozens of dungeon crawls and that there’s no point in playing this one. I would tend not to agree with you and I’ll explain why …

The biggest thing about Din’s Curse is its massive replay value. Every town you get sent to is completely different from the last, as is the dungeon underneath it. There’s no chance of remembering where monsters are and what type they’re going to be because you’ll probably never see them in the same place twice.

Every town you get sent to is completely different from the last, as is the dungeon underneath it.

The same rule applies with your character. Although there are a number of set classes to choose from you can also design your own. So for instance, a wizard may have Enchanter, Necromancer and Summoner as its skill sets. Each of these three trees contain their own skills which you can level up as you see fit. If you decide you don’t want to play an all out magic user you can create your own class and have say … Summoner but steal the Assassin skill tree from the Rogue class. To do this you lose a skill tree, (you can only have two with custom characters,) this may seem to make your character weaker but by trimming off the stuff you don’t want you’re actually honing your adventurer into exactly what you want them to be. I think this is an excellent idea in any RPG as I hate being forced into playing one of, say, three characters that I may become bored with later in the game. There are over a hundred and fifty combinations to choose from when creating in this fashion so there will be something for everyone.

Another neat little idea is that you can choose the difficulty of your world from the start and also between each level or town. This comes in incredibly handy if you’ve finished a town but don’t feel strong enough, (or don’t have the right equipment,) to take on the next difficulty level as you progress. This is great because you aren’t likely to find yourself in the frustrating position of not being able to get further because you keep getting killed.

Items in this game need identifying just like in many other games in the RPG genre but it’s an important part of Din’s Curse. Items are just as likely to be cursed and provide negative effects as positive ones. Some of the gear you collect also has an ego rating which can be positive or negative. Wearing items with a negative rating will make it harder to earn the trust of the townsfolk and you need this to progress towards your ultimate goal of making yourself the hero.

Dins CurseSomething about this game that’s both a pro and a con is that your actions actually mean something. What you do in the dungeon directly effects the town and this applies to the dungeon levels you haven’t come across yet, (those below the one you’re playing through). If for instance, you have a quest to find plans before the monsters do and don’t complete it in time, a gate spewing enemies might appear in the town above you. This can happen at any time so you have to be prepared to get out of the dungeon very quickly or you’re likely to get back and find the townsfolk dead and your reputation in tatters. This is a great way to add excitement but might make gameplay a little manic for those RPG fanatics who like to explore levels at their own pace.

I’ve been playing, and enjoying, this title for a good while now and I’m still far from bored with it. The fact that I’m not necessarily playing through a set plot doesn’t bother me so much as there is so many new things to do every time I play. I’m not really noticing that other than my goal of being the hero there isn’t a great deal of story.

As a warning this game does get very difficult very quickly so players unfamiliar with RPGs would be advised to stick to easier towns until they feel comfortable with harder settings.

Graphically this is a really nice title, especially coming from a lesser known publishing company. The sound is minimal but effects are good and very atmospheric which helps. This game is made by its customization value and for people looking for something that isn’t massively innovative but a bit different it’s a solid buy. A well thought out title all round and worthy of an overall 7 in my book.

The Good: Infinitely Playable,; Familiar Control System,; Decent Graphics
The Bad: Gets very difficult quickly,; Can become repetitive,; Little or no Plot,


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Bronze Y AwardBronze Y Award
3.5 3.5 / 5

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