Dungeons of Eternity [Quest 2] | REVIEW

I’ll be honest, Dungeons of Eternity wasn’t even on my radar a few weeks ago, but after spending hours hacking-and-slashing through perilous dungeons with a couple of friends, it has quickly established itself as one of my go-to multiplayer virtual reality titles.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Dungeons of Eternity follows a simple gameplay loop, with up to three players working together to traverse through dungeons, slay the enemies in their path, gather valuable loot, and complete the objective of the level. It’s something you’d have seen a million times before in other dungeon-crawlers over the years so you shouldn’t expect too much originality on the gameplay front, but where it truly shines is with the fantastic combat that feels incredibly immersive in virtual reality.

Armed with the likes of swords and shields, bows, crossbows, axes, magical staffs, throwing daggers, and so forth, Dungeons of Eternity arms players to the teeth as they vanquish the enemy threat in their path. More importantly, each weapon feels great to use, with a real sense of weightiness found in the melee weapons and nimble accuracy in those that you’ll use from range. I always preferred fighting up-close, especially since the game’s parry system works wonderfully and each strike of your weapon captures the impact of your swing perfectly, whilst using a shield in the other hand ALWAYS felt satisfying when deflecting incoming attacks. Alternatively, there were plenty of occasions where I found myself enjoying fighting from afar, with the bow intuitively implemented to ensure lining up shots feels accurate and immersive (you can also just throw an axe at enemy if you want, it’s up to you). And another cool thing about the bow? You can use it to block attacks, which was a really pleasant surprise when playing.

“I always preferred fighting up-close, especially since the game’s parry system works wonderfully and each strike of your weapon captures the impact of your swing perfectly, whilst using a shield in the other hand ALWAYS felt satisfying when deflecting incoming attacks.”

Initially, players will only have access to a sword and a bow, so you aren’t able to experiment with weapons from the word go. Fortunately, it won’t take too long before you do start to open up some chests in levels to gather loot, but it does feel a bit weird that it’s restrictive to begin with – especially since so many gamers enjoy playing as magic casters in dungeon crawlers. The magic of the game can be REALLY cool (I loved using my staff that would literally launch enemies away from me), but with loot randomised, it might take a few runs before you’re actually able to use it. In fairness, the random nature of the loot does encourage experimentation from the player and there are plenty of cool weapons to find, but it also means it can take a while to find something unique or befitting of your playstyle.

Still, with combat being so much fun, it’s hard to complain too much. Whilst it gets all of the basics right, it also allows players to unleash their inner warrior and go all out on killing sprees, whether that’s when running and jumping toward an enemy with a sword swing, turning around at multiple degrees to strike at enemies from all angles, or simply coordinating with an ally to attack at the same time. Dungeons of Eternity does a good job of making players feel like a badass when in combat, with the versatility of the attacking mechanics making for some really cool scenarios in-game. The enemy selection is rich with variety too, with plenty of different attack types to deal with and hulking bosses to overcome when at the end of a level. They all lean into the fantasy aesthetic perfectly, and whilst some are admittedly easy to take down, the variety and number of them that you have to face ensures combat scenarios are always a thrill. The bats, though? I f****g hate them…

Check out some screenshots down below:

There are three different types of missions players can embark on in-game: Dungeon Raids, which act as your typical dungeon-crawling levels with loot to gather and enemies to kill, Soul Harvests, which see you killing hordes of enemies as means to unlock new variations of potions, and Crystal Hunts, which see players having to collect and defend crystals to earn special points that can unlock stat buffs. Whilst they’re each different enough to feel worthwhile, they mostly consist of the same actions from a gameplay perspective, so you won’t find too much variety outside of the rewards they offer. With loot feeling like the most worthwhile reward in the game, don’t be surprised to find yourself focusing on Dungeon Raids for the most part.

With the player levelling up as they progress, unlocking new stat buffs and potions, and earning plenty of cool loot, there’s enough going on in Dungeons of Eternity’s gameplay loop to keep players fully invested in the experience – each player gets to share the loot chests you find too, so there’s no arguing over who gets what (though the gold you find scattered around isn’t shared so be quick to grab it). It was always a treat to get a cool piece of gear or unlock an upgrade that feels substantial to my playstyle, whilst simply being able to take on enemies with my pals always felt great thanks to the sublime combat mechanics. However, with a lack of real diversity in the game modes, Dungeons of Eternity will have to ensure it keeps releasing new content to keep players hooked in. Both the levels and loot are randomly generated so there is some aspect of unpredictability to the experience, but it is starting to feel like we’re doing a lot of the same things over and over now. But hey, the developer has mentioned that more biomes, dungeon varieties, mission types, enemies, and loot is coming to the game post-launch, so I’d say the future is bright for Dungeons of Eternity…

Developer: Othergate
Publisher: Othergate
Platform(s): Quest 2 (Reviewed), Quest 3,
Website: https://www.othergate.com/