BELOW

While the art, ambience, and difficulty are very respectable, this game is boring. You can sink so many hours in and there's never a feeling of being rewarded for it. There's no plot or narrative. Became so frustrating knowing you can put alot of time in to it just to get no satisfaction or sense of accomplishment, which in turn made me lose all interest. It's like asking to be repeatedly kicked in the balls for hours and finally asking yourself why am I doing this? Once you die twice without retrieving your lost items that's it they're gone for good. Waste of time and not worth a $25 stand-alone price. Get it from game pass.

This game from the get go grabs you with the music, art style, and sense of lonliness you you feel as you prepare to unveil the mysteries of the depths below. The game play is simple to learn and as you begin to feel more comfortable with combat and crafting mechanics, enemies that were once a threat now prove lesser, despite making small mistakes on your own account and taking a hit based out of hesitants and bad timing. Even though it is permadeath, through thorough exploration, you will find a multitude of side tunnels and shortcuts that open up and serve as quicker routes to floors you may have been halted on due to those deaths. Taking the frustration of starting from the beginning and replaying all the same areas, out, for the most part. The one flaw Ive found thus far into my play is an instant crash upon death on floor 4. Other than that everything seems to work solid. If youre debating whether to buy this game try it on games pass. That way you save a bit. 😊👍

A beautiful game that you can go back to again and again. The sound and graphics are perfect for theme, but it is the procedurally generated classic zeldaesque gameplay and lack of hand holding i appreciate most.

9/10 This game is great. I love the the aesthetic. The far out view, the sound (and lack thereof), the muted color scheme and the darkness all create a feeling of loneliness and despair thats unrivaled. The way monster souls fall into the abyss unable to retrieved only add the feeling and add a much needed element to the combat. Combat is sword and shield and dodge mechanics but with the added mechanic of keeping enemies away from ledges to avoid losing precious loot to the depths. Combat is simple, smooth and familiar in the hardcore adventure game world. The far out view can be frustrating when it comes to traps. My first run ended with me running into spikes that i didnt see. Hopefully the game continues to intrigue as I explore the crafting system and delve below.

Challenging is way too nice a way to put it. Often times than not BELOW is just annoying. And thats a shame because otherwise i assume it has a lot hidden beneath the surface - stuff i definitely will never get to see. And you know what, i'm okay with that. You'd really have to be a special kind of masochist to enjoy this one.