Dungeon Munchies

还可以，有心情细写。

[h3] Dungeon Munchies is a solid 4/5. [/h3] [i] On my scale, a 4/5 game is great. It goes beyond simply “good” and elevates the experience with a solid story, a particularly noteworthy process of development, and/or innovations in mechanics which are satisfying to figure out and implement. [/i] Dungeon Munchies is quite an experience. You don't play this game for the gameplay, you play this game entirely for the story, the characters, and the worldbuilding. The worldbuilding in particular is top notch, including things such as: the emergence of a fascist, eugenicist state as the first-choice governmental option by sentient vegetables; a well-paced mystery of human societal collapse which becomes more comprehensive in each subsequent chapter (there are 3 chapters); the consequences of a society where food is outlawed for being a gateway to magic and happiness; deep characters who have deep, consistent, and deeply human narratives and grapple with existential questions. If I had to come down on something, it is that the gameplay is... clunky. It is a simple side scroller with light platforming and questionable balance. The "normal" SS Gestapo Pumpkin enemy was a significantly bigger pain in the ass (killed me a fair number of times) when compared to the final boss (who I killed without even realizing it?). Hitboxes are generous, if you're an enemy vegetable. There were many times where I would take a mouthful of damage from some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that was undodgeable or poorly telegraphed or definitely not touching me. Movement is pretty smooth, but the dashing mechanic can be frustrating at times (love accidentally activating sticky keys in the middle of a boss fight). Fortunately, the game makes up for this for making some weapons and their associated recipes absolutely useless. Why would anyone ever pick the melee weapons? You have to get inside the hit ranges of enemies that can 1 shot you to do baseline negligible damage. If you want to get swiss cheesed, build sword. Best weapons are the magic staffs that fire on each click, meaning if you click super fast you can stack ALL your DPS in a single second or two, charge up for another 2 seconds and repeat. Combine these with a secondary weapon that auto-shoots when the right mouse button is pressed and you can basically 1 shot any set of enemies that you come across. This is great, because it meant I could worry less about the jank combat and move on more quickly to the rest of the story. A couple other minor points of observation: 1) I came into this with minor expectations foisted from "Dave the Diver." I expected something where I could kill the enemies, take their ingredients, and then actually make food to power myself up. I had limited expectations in being able to throw ingredient together and create bizzaro combos that would be unique. Instead, you just collect the ingredients as simple enemy drops and then just click in a menu to activate different powerups. Was a little disappointing considering how much the [b] act [/b] of cooking was rendered central in the story. 2) The ending was comparatively underwhelming and felt rushed when compared to the rest of the story. [spoiler] Everyone just magically gets out of the exploding planet on a train and somehow find an intact MC floating through space alive??? Tf? And that little segment at the end doesn't even answer some pressing questions about the society that existed prior to the whole collapse, or of the characters. The revelation that you're playing the son of the dictator isn't even clear, or particularly emotionally charged! [/spoiler] That said, I really think the story and worldbuilding is top-notch. Consider this a relatively interactive (and demanding, and jank) anime. It is some of the most creative writing and explicit worldbuilding I've had the pleasure of experiencing through video games, and is quite unique. I think $20 is a little on the high side, but I appreciate the small (if not solo) developer team behind this project, and consider the writing just worth it enough (although I do wish it were less jank). I hope they can improve the core gameplay loop for what is a clearly set up sequel, and can maintain the quality of writing and worldbuilding. I'd love less jank platforming, less ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hitboxes, better balanced weapon + food combos, more interactive engagement with cooking. But I can tell I'm buying the sequel regardless just to close out the story.