Cladun Returns This Is Sengoku Review

So Many Dungeons, So Little Story

Later on a six-year hiatus, the ClaDun series, brusque for classic dungeon, returns with the new aptly named entry ClaDun Returns: This Is Sengoku! The retro-style series initially released on the PlayStation Portable appears for the start time on PlayStation four with this entry. With its return it brings dorsum many of the systems and mechanics fans expect, offer a pure dungeon itch experience. What it lacks in story it makes up for with a dizzying assortment of progression mechanics, featuring both static and randomly generated dungeons, and a number of customization systems to continue players' interest.

ClaDun 's story — if it tin be called that — takes place on an island of trapped souls that can't reincarnate. The player, who is likewise one of those souls, is tasked with finding out why souls have lost this ability to reincarnate. In that location isn't really anything more to the story than that, but it's nice that the game doesn't pretend otherwise. Players progress through x capacity, each made up of v dungeons. At the start of each new chapter another soul that cannot reincarnate shows upwardly, and a more often than not short bit of dialogue gives the most vague of motivations to go through the next set of dungeons. These characters are also left by and large undeveloped, though they practise have short backgrounds and some unique dialogue styles.

Gameplay in ClaDun includes both grooming and execution, with much more weight placed on preparation. Players create a primary character and tin can recruit or create additional characters to fill out the party. The game features a Magic Circle organization for setting up the party. A Magic Circle is a grid configuration of statistic bonuses. Ane of the party characters takes the Lord position and occupies the center of the grid, and is the only character who directly takes office in combat. A number of other party characters take on support or Vassal roles and can be placed in 1 of several predetermined places effectually the filigree surrounding the Lord, which link to nodes with stat bonuses. When the Lord is attacked in gainsay, it's actually the Vassal on that side of the Lord on the Magic Circumvolve who takes the damage, and then for example if the Lord is attacked from the left, the Vassal to his left on the Magic Circle is damaged. Certain items players collect in dungeons are placed on these nodes to unlock their bonuses. At that place are also nodes with negative statistics that may become unlocked, creating an interesting balance. When a Vassal dies, any of the bonuses linked to that Vassal on the Magic Circle are lost and the Lord will take damage if attacked again from that management. Every bit players level, they earn many form-specific Magic Circles with dissimilar layouts, and collect more items to unlock more nodes. Each character also has a course, which has unlike benefits when that course is in the Lord or Vassal positions, and characters can be freely swapped between Lord and Vassal positions while outside of dungeons. It'south difficult to explicate the system in a short paragraph, and even when playing the game it will feel unintuitive in the beginning. But when players get the hang of the system they'll accept countless customization and optimization options at their fingertips, using countless arrays of combinations and setups that tin exist tailored to different classes, play styles, and dungeon encounters.

The Magic Circle arrangement offers many options and combinations to explore and optimize.

The execution part of combat is relatively unproblematic. It features several different weapons, from bows to magic staves to swords, each with a unique playstyle, and each better suited to some classes than others. Every bit characters level up, they besides unlock abilities for the weapons suited to their class. Combat is mostly straightforward yet responsive hack-and-slash, with a few abilities thrown in once in a while when circumstance demands. Story dungeons are pre-generated and speedily ramp up in difficulty. Later dungeons are littered with a variety of traps that become visible just when players get within a few steps of activating them, demanding an increasingly cautious mode of play. Enemies gain immunities, area and continuous damage, and other such abilities. The answer to increased challenge is almost never improved execution. Instead, players can typically proceeds an upper hand past rearranging their Magic Circle or completing quests that unlock new, more powerful weapons. Boss battles are also very plain, often made up of groups of mutual enemies. Nevertheless, the combination of interesting dungeon layouts, enemy encounter combinations, utilize of environment, and deep preparation keep dungeon crawling gameplay in ClaDun engaging throughout.

In addition to the story campaign, ClaDun features an endless supply of side content, progression, and customization. There are roguelike random hundred-floor dungeons that must exist restarted if players die, a 2nd fix of optional dungeons that progressively unlock as story dungeons are completed, the ability to place wall stones at a fortress to change character statistics, and fifty-fifty the ability to fully draw your graphic symbol sprites or compose the game's music from scratch. Despite its deceptively uncomplicated advent, the game is simply teeming with all sorts of content and things to do.

Pixel blocks arranged into larger tile blocks. Definitely a plus for the foursquare lovers amongst united states.

Graphically, ClaDun has a bright pixelated style that is unfortunately as well simplistic and not detailed plenty to fare well on today's large screens. It's blocky, without a cohesive visual integration of game tiles, lacks smoothen animations, and lacks variety. Even on small screens, it leaves a lot to exist desired. The soundtrack is actually quite good and varied, covering mod, historical eastern, classic JRPG, and activeness-packed electric guitar tracks. In that location is a notable lack of moody and serious tracks, but that is likely due to the game lacking appropriate situations in which to use them.

ClaDun Returns boasts corking dungeon crawling with countless options for customization and optimization to accept on whatsoever situation. It features a ~25 hr story campaign too every bit endless side content. While combat is simple, the controls are responsive and the dungeon design is fun and increasingly challenging. Unfortunately, the game overall comes off as one-dimensional in this respect. It lacks whatever semblance of a narrative, and the small piecemeal levels and lack of a cohesive world don't offer much in terms of exploration or immersion. It is also graphically unsuitable for the PlayStation 4 and large TV displays. Those looking for a pure dungeon crawl with both roguelike and standard dungeons will detect that ClaDun Returns delivers way more than its fair share. Players looking for a more immersive, story-driven classic RPG experience should look elsewhere.