Bit Dungeon Plus – PS4 Review

Bit Dungeon Plus is a 1 or 2 player, rogue-like endless adventure indie title that comes so close to being a brilliant game but unfortunately just falls short.
Bit Dungeon Plus is a good game and currently is less than £3 on steam and £6 on PlayStation 4 is great value for money but there are a few design issues that unfortunately get in the way of it being a truly amazing game.
Story
First up let’s take a look at the story, well there is isn’t one. I mean there is if you check out the description on the PSN store:
You and your beloved friend were captured by demons… You wake up what seems like hours, maybe even days later trapped in a prison cell, and your friend is missing. You find a sword in your cell and vow revenge against the beasts who took your friend – the quest to find your friend one and destroy the demons begins! Explore randomized dungeons and hack and slash your way through dangerous bosses. The difficulty increases as you become stronger and stronger. Build your character how you want with deadly passive abilities. Just like the classic quarter crunchers of old, if you die you lose everything and start all over. Can you make it to the end and save the day?
That sounds awesome, you just don’t get to see any of that. no premise, no set up just straight into the game.
Gameplay
Bit Dungeon Plus plays very well indeed, I did feel like it could benefit from dual stick controls but once you get used to using your shield correctly then this becomes a minor niggle.  The range of enemies is great, the game itself is fun to play with no dungeon ever being the same.
As you progress through the dungeon you gain armour, weapons and stat boosts which all aid in your progress but are wiped clean upon death.  I was surprised to see a rogue-like permadeath indie game throw you a helping hand with backtracking and boy was I thankful for that.
Basically, you cant progress from a room until you have killed everything in it. When you return to a previously cleared room you will find the enemies have been replaced with demon dogs that are incredibly easy to kill and have extremely generous health drops. The tactic of clearing a room then going two rooms back is a must for progression later on.

Graphics
The graphics are exactly what you would expect to find in an indie rogue-like, 8-bit, pixel graphics that invoke nostalgic memories of filling the Gauntlet arcade machine with a week’s worth of pocket money.
Again another small design problem but when in 2 player mode you often get confused as to who is who and this leads to all sorts of comical but frustrating failures.

Conclusion

Bit Dungeon Plus is a great little indie title and will provide hours of enjoyment for a pocket pleasing small price. Playing couch co-op with a friend gives the game a wonderful twist on difficulty and teamwork but unfortunately, a build-up of small design flaws become impossible to ignore.
With a few tweaks here and there Bit Dungeon Plus can easily become a classic indie title for everyone.
Overall Score – 6/10
 

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