Game: Mistover
Genre: Rogue-like turn based RPG, Adventure
System: Nintendo Switch (also on Windows PC)
Developer|Publisher: KRAFTON, Inc.
Age Rating: M (AU) | 7 (EU) | T (US)
Price: US $29.99 | AU $38.99| £24.99|€ 27,99
Release Date: 10th October 2019
Review code used, thanks to KRAFTON, Inc.
Mistover, is a strategic dungeon-crawling roguelike RPG created by Krafton, Inc. It was released on the 10th of October, 2019 and can be set to Japanese, English, Korean and Chinese. A timed demo is also available for download on the Nintendo Switch e-shop and Steam! An impression of the demo was written by Paige, which can be read here.
Into the Mist!
In Mistover, you play an unnamed character, who has awaken within the Mist with a form of amnesia; not able to remember who you are or why you are there. Players are then introduced to the game’s combat system, which takes place as a turn-based fight on a 3×3 grid. However, it needs to be noted that as you progress, your moves and positioning of your characters are critical to ensuring your victory. This includes making sure that your unit has a number of balanced abilities that allow for effective buff and debuff stacking, which can be customised within the Training Camp in town. Paige further outlines in her demo impression, the intricacies of the dungeon crawling and combat.
When I first picked up Mistover, I honestly believed that this style of dungeon crawler was not going to be my cup of tea. However, as I progressed through the story I was enchanted by the non-playable characters’ personalities and the way the game made me feel as I embarked on a new expedition. I was always on the edge of my seat, knowing that I was only one poor choice or RNG outcome away from the permanent death of one of my characters.
Although I grew attached to each of my starter characters, it was to my surprise that the weekly rotating roster of additional characters that I could recruit when they died were exact replicas – nothing set them apart. This was something that I felt needed a further rework, especially since there was a spelling error in one of the character descriptors (the Shadow Blade can now apparently “Tranform”).
If I could turn back time
The Doomsday Clock that signifies the time until the end of the world, was something that constantly loomed over me as I progressed through the game. I was always excited to see how my performance during my expedition would affect the clock. But I must say when the clock moved forward due to a mistake or a poor RNG outcome during my time in a dungeon it was especially frustrating. The way that the clock operates heavily depended on the number of monsters that were defeated, chests that you found the keys for and opened and how many Light Flowers you touched.
What I found that negatively impacted the Doomsday Clock most of all, was the death of one of your expedition corp members. When this first happened, I was devastated. It was also at this time where I realized that there was no way to bring back my character, as with most games I would always go, “I will just reset my game” when I experienced a negative outcome.
I was disappointed to learn that the game has an autosave feature with no option for manually saving, leaving me with the reality that my favourite Ronin was now permanently gone with only a lookalike with a different name and set of skills in his place. What was also a surprise was that not only my actions during an expedition impacted the Doomsday Clock, but also the choices that I made in town; as positive actions like hiring new recruits and negative ones such as being jinxed influenced the movement of the clock’s hands.
Overall
Although, the excitement, stress and being on the edge of the seat every time I picked up the game was enough to keep me playing for the first three ‘regions’, it was the random elements that saw me lose numerous units that made me grow frustrated and put the game down often. The replacement recruits was always a mixed bag, and trying the new tactics that came with their different abilities really pushed me to approach each expedition with a fresh set of eyes. I thought this was a great way to ensure that the game didn’t become stale, but I often found it exhausting when I finally found my pacing that I would have to then restart with a whole new set of characters with different abilities because of poor RNG.
When I first settled in with the game I felt that the developers were heavily inspired by Darkest Dungeon, especially with their gothic undertones and the core game mechanics such as famine and ever-encroaching darkness just around the corner. However, I believe that Mistover has taken all of the good from Darkest Dungeon and created a game that is more forgiving while being thrilling, exciting and frustrating all at once.
Because of this, I am giving Mistover a thumbs up because in the end I really liked the game. Although the RNG could often be devastating, I recommend everyone who is a fan of the dungeon-crawling genre to download the demo and dive into the Mist!
Verdict: I like it
That sounds brutal. I like dungeon crawler games that gives you freedom to create your own characters and stuff, but some of those games can be hard enough keeping all those characters up to level only to have them plucked away by perma-death and no way to roll-back. But it definitely sounds fun and challenging in the long run. Some of the character art reminds me of classes from Etrian Odyssey, too.
You’re right, that’s what it reminded me of too, of Etrian Odyssey. Something in the graphics I guess!