Customer Reviews

Dungeon Explorer: Warrior of Ancient Arts

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm a huge fan of hack n' slash games; Baldurs Gate, D&D Heroes... all great games. Dungeon Explorer is similar to all of them theme wise. It's a real time hack n' slash that should more than satisfy your craving for zombie slaying, loot grabbing, level grinding fun.

It has it's strong points;
9 different classes
Lots of inventory functions
Fast leveling (nice feature on a portable where you don't plan on spending a lot of time playing)
Targeting system is very good compared to some others
You get a lot of money FAST.

It's also got its weaknesses;
Not many different items (I'd gone through four levels before I found a new type of armor)
Controls (like nearly all handhelds controls range from, "that's not right..." to "WHAT THE HELL?!")
Limited level design
Very poor graphics (barely a step above the Baldur's Gate GBA port)
Annoying music (it sounds totally out of place, it really does)
Nothing to buy with all the money you earn.
Save system kicks you back to the town whenever you restart.

In short; it's a definite keeper, but it's not the perfect hack n' slash!

I have to admit I kept reading the reviews fearing the worst. Like so many DS games that look amazing while in production end up failing by the time they ship. So I almost didn't buy it, but being a fan of both the gaunlet and diablo series games I sucked it up and gave it a shot. So far I am pleased. Yes it is flawed graphicaly and the control reminds me of old keyboard controlled DOS games, but I am hooked, and that's where it counts.

Over the years that I have played video games I have noticed that if one reads reviews of hack'n'slash rpgs in professional gaming websites and magazines, one will find mediocre scores. The reason for this is because of the reviewers will claim repetition of hacking up enemies, level grinding, gathering items, and lack of an epic story as keeping the games from being enjoyable. Also, they like to claim that many of these titles are Diablo "clones" (which is true for some). Though if I am not mistaken, Diablo isn't as original as some would like to claim, but just popularized this sub-genre to some extent. Now what does all this have to do with this game? Well, Dungeon Explorer: Warrior of Ancient Arts is such one game. When this game came out, it too received many so-so scores from the professionals. But I didn't let that get in the way of me buying this game; as I and many other gamers of this genre can attest, games of this type are highly addictive and fun, and one can lose hours upon hours playing them. Unfortunately I finally agree with some of those professional reviewers. When I got this game I was really excited and and wanted to like very much. Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting the game of the year or anything like that, but something very enjoyable nonetheless. Normally, I try to get halfway or farther into a game before I review it, but I just couldn't with this one. Instead, I became very bored after a couple of hours and simply turned it off. I tried playing it again but didn't get much farther and haven't played it since (in fact, I traded it in at Gamestop). And now I am going to tell you why. First off, the controls. Controlling your character is choppy. Part of the reason is the lack of an analogue stick or pad on the DS, but most is ingame. Baldure's Gate: Dark Alliance for the GBA and LotR: The Two Towers and Return of the King play better than this. You just feel like you are trudging along. The next reason, and the biggest one for me, is that it is just a lack luster. It's hard to explain, but I just didn't have fun. That addictive quality was missing that many games of this type have. It's alright for an hour and a half or so, but that is about it. Another problem I had was the graphics. I am far from being a graphic whore and actually don't care if a game is 2D or 3D. The problem I have here is that everything seems bland. Nothing is really bright nor does it ever gets dark, it's just dull and grayish. Overall it's not a real bad game, just not that good in my opinion. Is this going to deter me from my love of dungeon clawlers and hack'n'slash rpgs? Nope. Not one bit. But it isn't the best example of the genre and not the one for those interested into getting into this type of the game to start out with.

I've been looking for a good dungeon crawler for the DS for a while and while not a huge fan of the anime style ones common to the DS this one seemed a bit different. Storyline looks good, character classes are interesting but I didn't get far in the game. Quirky controls made it painful to play and I gave up on it pretty quickly.

I rarely used my DS prior to finding this game. Most adventure games I found were just disappointing. I wanted a Diablo/Baulders Gate-like game. Something of a hack and slash style that gave me dungeons upon dungeons and endless amounts of loot. I found that with this game.

It goes along the lines of a standard RPG/Dungeon Crawler. You make a character from a choice of three races. Each race has three classes. One melee, one ranged, one magic. The difference between races is the weapons and armor they use. One races ranged glass would use bows, to where another uses pistols. Items have generic stats: Strength, Agility, Magic (Which is called 'Art'). Each level you get gives you points to put towards your stats. Makes customizing your character easy.

Gameplay is pretty straight forward. You get quests to complete certain tasks. "Go get this item. Go kill this guy". If you're ever lost or don't know what to do, just look at your quest log. Some dungeons are linear, other have multiple paths to take. All of them go by the same formula though: Kill things, unlock doors, kill boss. WARNING: This makes the game very repetitive. If ever you get tired of killing things with your first character, just make another one. You may find hitting things to be more entertaining than shooting them. The combination of weapons and Arts give you a little variation on how you kill things as well. Also, some of the boss fights are actually pretty intense. That kept me going.

I like the controls. I couldn't get into the DS Zelda games because I hate using the touchscreen to move. This game has no touchscreen integration. Everything is done using the buttons. D-pad for movement, ABXY for attacks/items/spells, right bumper to target mobs. The downside to the controls is with the left bumper which is used with the directional pad to switch spells/items. It would be way easier to have the touchscreen for this. Since your equipped items show up on a bar on one of the two screens anyways, they could have just made it so you touch one to switch them. Instead you have to hold down the L-button and use the D-pad to switch, making it so you can't move. Not really that big of a negative, but still annoying.

The last thing is the title. Dungeon Explorer:Warrior of the Ancient Art. It is really corny. And it doesn't stop there. The names of the towns/characters/weapons. All of them are pretty corny. There is a Goblin, named Gablin. I just ignored it, but take it as you want.

Conclusion:

Pros: Classic rogue-like gameplay. Thats hard to find on DS
Class choice/customization
LOTS of weapons and armor
Pretty long story, multiple characters you can play
Controls; movement and attacking use buttons
Don't want to spoil anything, but Robots

Cons: Repetitive gameplay
Objectives; easy to lose track of what you're suppose to do
Controls; switching items and spells
Corny names

If you are looking for a classic dungeon crawler, this is the game you want. It is by far one of my favorite DS games. Thanks for reading

This is a strange game. The graphics remind me of ancient PC titles, but at the same time, they're strangely endearing and really grow on you over time. It's a straight up hack and slash with only some minor story elements, but it all worked for me. It's one of those games I'm always willing to pick up and play for while.

Well if you are looking for a fair Diablo clone that you can put in you pocket this is it. Despite a contrite art style, goofy story and strange and random "arts system" in place of a true "skill tree system," Dungeon Explorer delivers a lot of fun for the money. Random drops, sets, six character types with multiple builds and the option of multiplayer parties makes this the only Diablo like game for the DS that I have come across. This game will eat a lot of your time.

This game was nothing like what I expected, and I don't mean that in a good way. I would suggest purchasing another game. No dissing to the seller. The item came before estimated. I would just suggest another game

ok, so i had this game dungeon explorer: warriors of ancient arts, for about a week now. i cannot put it down! ive pretty much quit playing diablo completely. this game has almost totally replaced it. its a lot like a combination of diablo1,2 and the system for keeping track of your items is more like final fantasy. and it doesnt require the use of the touchpad, so, no dragging your charcter around with the stylus.

if youre looking for a portable diablo game, definately get this one! i give it a rating of 10+



heres a list of the similarities ive noticed so far::::

3 character classes: ranged, combat, caster. and each class is divided into three others sub classes for basically infinite variety
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customizable stats
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customizable skills and a chance to learn even MORE skills by defeating the three "guardians" (ancients)
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when you beat the game you can move to the next difficulty setting
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the bank= item/gold stash
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rare items
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unique items
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hireable mercenaries
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TP scrolls/ID scrolls
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and theres even a quest where the reward for beating it is increases resistances

This game was quick and easy to get into, that being said if you want a challenging game then this probably isn't the game for you. But if your looking for a pretty creative nice and easy game then this is a good one to get into.

Kind of a combination of Diablo and Gauntlet Legends (with a similar feel). As was said the Gameplay is pretty straightforward, the storyline isn't all that intriguing. It does have some pretty good Artwork.

For COOP seekers the COOP is alright, you can play with your friend through about the last half of the Game (The Pyramid level).

All in all this game is worth it if you can find it at a bargain price.