Daring into dungeon depths for the love of the game. Our first stop? Dungeon Antiqua by Shiromofu Factory.

Howdy, Skybox. It’s me, the Reviews Editor, the guy who likes to burn himself out writing as many reviews as possible for the love of the game. I’m also doing a column, apparently. This is a new kind of project for me, but if we want this Skybox thing to work we need regular content, baby! But what kind of regular output could a scatterbrained weirdo like me produce? What’s a theme that fits my vibe, isn’t too broad or generic, and is repeatable without taking on too much work? These are questions I put almost as much brain power into as I did my goofy light novel-style title up there.

The answer was pretty obvious. In recent years I’ve developed a hyperfixation on DRPGs (the D is for Dungeon Ed. note: you’re not fooling anyone, Lucas), jumping around from Wizardry to Etrian Odyssey, and the weird sicko stuff in-between like Mary Skelter. There are enough of these games to power a column for a long-ass time, so it’s perfect. Each time I’ll pick a new game to yap about, be it something I’ve played in the past or a more recent discovery. We’ll get into what makes this genre interesting, why it might suck sometimes, and, of course, how I feel about each individual game. This’ll be more casual and less review-like? I think? It’s hard to turn that off; we’ll see how it goes.

We’ll start with Dungeon Antiqua, an odd little gem I happened to see on BlueSky or something that’s only like seven bucks on Steam. And while I was writing this up I discovered it’s free to play on Google Play as well, presumably with ad support. It’s made with Pyxel, a tiny, retro-style game engine in a similar vein to Pico-8, I think. If you buy it on Steam, you even get a little file you can use to play the game on certain Linux-based devices, ones that can run PlumOS. I was mad I sold my Anbernic gizmo when I saw that, but that new Android version might make up for it on my Retroid Pocket.

Anyway, Dungeon Antiqua stands out because of its super gimmicky premise. It asks and answers the question, “what if Wizardry was more like Final Fantasy?” I’m perfectly fine with Wizardry being Wizardry and FF being FF, but as someone who likes NES games, the novelty factor lured me in regardless. 

This thing is exactly as advertised. It’s got the systems of a classic DRPG, but the visual trimmings of the original FF. As a small game, it’s mostly the bare necessities; you build a party, buy items at the shop, then brave the dungeon. Grind some levels, explore, and hopefully survive enough to bring at least one non-corpse back to town to heal or pay a priest for some necromancy. Or, if everyone dies, make a new party and try again. Dungeon Antiqua is simpler than Wizardry itself in some respects.

Aside from the novelty factor, Dungeon Antiqua seems to address something I hear a lot from people who don’t vibe with games like DRPGs, Dragon Quest, or even stuff like EarthBound. What do these games all have in common? First-person perspectives. DRPGs are fully first-person, while the other series I mentioned are first-person in combat. Some people, likely introduced to RPGs through games like Final Fantasy or Pokémon, don’t like not being able to see their little team during regular gameplay. Fair enough, I guess. Here you see everything. Even the dungeon has your little guy walking around with a top-down view. To preserve the mystery and danger of exploring a dungeon, you can only see a certain distance around you. The dungeon also scrolls into itself, adding a disorienting twist I thought was pretty clever. 

This is a neat game, especially one made by one person with a small price tag. It’s not going to blow away more recent and bigger DRPGs, but the novelty is strong and the basics-only approach make it a solid option for a “podcast game.” You do have to pay attention because you can easily get wiped in a single fight gone wrong, but folks who find peace in simple dungeon grinding will have a nice time.

Dungeon Antiqua is easy to recommend, especially if you’re looking for something simple to play on a handheld device. And if you’re one of those first-person haters, this could be a good gateway into learning what’s cool and unique about DRPGs. 

Until next time, dungeon delvers.