REVIEW – The title is inspired by the series Der Bergdoktor (The Mountain Doctor), which is partly produced by the German and partly by the Austrian public media. It too is set in the Austrian Alps, so the title is absolutely appropriate, as this is the location chosen by Dungeons of Hinterberg. It is, by the way, an action RPG that was released almost a month and a half ago.

The game was developed by an Austrian studio, Microbird Games, so it would be hard to find a more authentic representation of the country and the location in an RPG that takes about twelve hours to play.

Louisa’s big vacation

Dungeons of Hinterberg (shortened to DoH until the end) won’t sell itself with the story, as Louisa went on vacation to Hinterberg to explore the dungeons. That’s it. There are time-of-day changes in the game, and each portion has a meaning. If it’s daytime, you can go shopping, see the local sights, or go into one of the dungeons. In the evening, you can sit in the cafe or maybe chat with the others. Socialization is not a negligible side task or extra content, it becomes a necessity. We can get new equipment, information, spells or even help if we don’t become antisocial. You can’t use the Internet either, because magic gets in the way. Oh, and by the way, it’s the only way to advance the story. So you have to stop and talk to people. In fact, it is so important that the DoH itself encourages players to spend a little more time in Hinterberg. Of course, that is not the focus. The reason it’s going to be weird is that no one is talking about the dungeons, which are very retro in style.

The same goes for the combat. It’s a typical action RPG with weaker and stronger attacks, rolls, defenses, magic and the odd ability. But beyond that there will be a lot of puzzles. You might be surprised when you realize that. But this might be a weakness of DoH, because the puzzles can be a bit annoying in some places. There are other problems as well, but we will talk about that on page 2. Anyway, the dungeons are rated by difficulty, so you know which ones are easy and which ones will mercilessly beat you to death. Things get progressively harder as you progress through each area. But it’s not worth finishing them all at once, it’s better to keep rotating. Once you’ve completed a dungeon, go back to town, get some better equipment and rest. Once you’ve done that, go back and fight, and those two elements are worth rotating. This is a great idea, by the way, because it means that the bigger negatives of the game won’t be as distracting, because you’ll be able to focus on other things while you’re in Hinterberg. But let’s talk about those negatives, too.

Claustrophobics beware

DoH has real-time combat, which is fine. Fighting in very small, almost disturbingly small areas, in the arenas, is more of a problem. It’s just not effective to cram a bunch of enemies into a small area and then go out and beat them all. You can’t really roll because of it, but at least you can use it because it’s effective. Apart from that, the combat is not bad, as there will be a wide variety of spells and weapons. The handling is good, but beyond that the control is problematic.

The platforming elements are simply weak due to the below average controls. But beyond that, DoH is not very violent, as there is no blood and no mercilessness. If you fail, the game takes you back to an earlier point and you have to reequip the consumables. The rhythm of the dungeons could have been a bit more varied, as there is a boss at the end of each one. If you ignore the frills, you get about a white label fantasy RPG. But the visual style is somewhat convincing or even appealing, the animations are not bad either. There are no voice-overs, though. So DoH is a bit lacking in almost every aspect, but it’s not that bad.

Alpine chocolate that has been on the shelf for months

This definition can be applied to the Dungeons of Hinterberg, as it is a tasty, edible product, but it has a slightly dry texture. It’s not that bad, but you can still tell it’s an indie game. However, the lack of budget does not mean that it is a forgettable title. Since it’s made up of fair elements, it deserves a 7/10 anyway. It’s not revolutionary, but it wasn’t meant to be. It could have been a tourist game if it had been released in winter, because it could have been used to lure skiers to Austria. But apart from that, it’s really a fair action-RPG, made of familiar things and offering a lot of things to do for the action-hungry.

-V-

Publisher: Curve Games

Developer: Microbird Games

Style: Action RPG

Release: July 18, 2024.