Kingdoms of the Dump

Very enjoyable game reminiscent of Super Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger. Has a few flaws here and there, but fun writing, likeable characters, and funny and not too serious plot. If you are a big SNES/PS1 JRPG fan, I highly recommend. 8/10.

It's been awhile since I've played this game and I still think about it fondly. Probably the best game I played in 2025. I know a lot of older people praise games like mother or chrono trigger and how they often think back on them lovingly. I like to think Kingdoms of the Dump is that for me. A game I'll never forget playing. Thanks for reading my review! Please play it if you are thinking about it!

If you like classic JRPGs like Super Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger, or Final Fantasy 4-6, you owe it to yourself to play this game, it's fantastic.

What an enjoyable adventure from start to finish. I haven't invested in an RPG quite like this game in a long time, always defaulting to my handful of classics when I wanted to dig into something deep. But Kingdoms of the Dump is chock full of characters, content, adventures and secrets. You're rewarded when you want to explore and you've always got something to do. The story is passionate, elaborate, and takes place across a sprawling world that legitimately feels alive and facing the war of the waste that perpetuates through the entire plot. There are quite a few noticeable bugs in the late game, mostly related to platforming or backtracking, but nothing that made the game unplayable for me or ruined my experience. I genuinely enjoyed trying to sneak through areas and push the overworld mechanics to the test, often being rewarded for doing so with a nice item or outpost. Kingdoms of the Dump is definitely going to be a game that I pick back up again sometime soon, to continue exploring the and experience the story again -- especially because I accidentally saved over my pre-final area save and can't return to finish a few leftover side quests!!

This game is garbage.

A critically flawed masterpiece. This game has a ton going for it. The story is fun, the art, dialogue, and characters are incredible, the combat feels good. This is one of those games that could be an enduring classic, except: Two things. One mid-sized and the other enormous: 1. The endgame is a jumbled, confusing mess of directionless scouring, flawed directions, and quest-breaking bugs. 2. The big one: Who would possibly think that tricky platforming is a good idea in a game where positioning and control are so precise? Worse: There are TIMED sections where you have to bash your head against the wall trying to nail precise jumps under time pressure. The very worst: [spoiler] A timed platforming section right after what is presumably the final boss in the game. In fact, while the timer is running, the very first room on your way back has what appears to be an impossible jump. I tried with Walker for five straight minutes, then bailed. I'm 27 hours in and the game does not appear to be completable. Absolutely unacceptable.[/spoiler] The devs supposedly have a patch coming, but it should not have been released in this state. The truly maddening thing is that there's so much I love about Kingdoms of the Dump, but they whiffed on the last 10% of what was otherwise amazing work. I cannot recommend purchasing it at any price until the deep flaws in this game are resolved. And personally, once/if they're fixed, a good part of my enjoyment of what should be a wonderful game has already been soiled. I'm so disappointed.

This game doesn't allow backtracking. If you've exited an area and want to go back to see if you've missed something, too bad.

Before anything else: I enjoyed this game quite a lot This game is essentially if one of the Final Fantasy games from the SNES era but with a few extra mechanics and modern conveniences The story is clearly inspired by the FF series, although where I've had trouble getting into the way those stories are told this game actually really captivated me The small moments of character interaction might have been small but each one felt like they gave me insight into the world as a whole That insight gives me an idea of what these characters live with outside of the plot which makes the plot stronger to me Gameplay wise it's a turn based RPG that has your party on a 3x3 grid with attacks that hit an enemy on their own 3x3 It adds a surprising amount of strategy for the game because bad positioning can mean the difference between victory and defeat And like SNES FF games, you have an overworld you travel on, areas that to explore, and gear to find (shout out to that Berserk reference) Most music in the game is pretty good, although there are some tracks that stand out in terms of memorability than others I recommend checking this out, the love the developers poured into this is palpable