I like to think we were congenial and respectful guests. A small, silent anomaly in a sea of orange. After the game, as we walked the cobbled streets along the canal, there was a shared sense of genuine heartbreak among the losing side that we could never really be a part of. In this moment I realised something that’s occurred to me before, but this time with perfect clarity: tourists are a pain in the arse, aren’t they?
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Set in the rural alpine village of Hinterberg, the game puts us in the shoes of Luisa, a “burnt-out law trainee” with a seemingly endless supply of holiday days. She’s come to Hinterberg in search of adventure, since it just so happens that a bunch of magical portals to dungeons filled with monsters sprang up around the village overnight.
Each biome is home to its own special ability that you can only use in that area. For instance, in the snowy mountains you get a magical hoverboard that allows you to shred down slopes and grind along rails, turning a lot of the dungeons in this area into tributes toSonic Adventure 2.In the woodland biome you gain access to a small tornado that can be whipped up to carry you or other items across dangerous obstacles.
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Having these unique skills locked behind individual areas might sound restrictive on paper, but each of the 25 dungeons are so well designed that you’re rarely being asked to step into one and use your abilities in the exact same way twice. The level of creativity that’s been put into every one ofDungeon’s Of Hinterberg’s levels is a joy to see, and when I tell you there are a few levels that put me in mind of classic Zelda, I mean that as the highest possible praise. As with the best of Link’s outings,Dungeons Of Hinterbergis full of moments that reward you for thinking outside the box. There’s no feeling quite like a lengthy puzzle finally clicking into place.
Once you find a dungeon and choose to tackle it, that’ll take up the next chunk of your in-game day. You’ll always get a warning just before you head in to let you know if you have the appropriate gear and stats for a dungeon, but you can ignore these warnings if you want an extra challenge.
It’s not that combat isbad, to be clear. It’s perfectly serviceable hack-and-slash fun that rewards exploration with new abilities that operate on a cooldown, and upgrades that can buff things like health, magic, and time in between being able to perform more powerful attacks. ButDungeons Of Hinterbergcan occasionally overdo it with fights, especially towards the end, where an influx of damage sponge enemies kind of takes away from what really works about the game.
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It’s also here that only having one set of skills per area becomes a negative. Where Zelda games - and many other titles in the same vein - would encourage you to experiment with your entire arsenal in combat, lobbing bombs, arrows, and boomerangs in between sword swings, you’re far more restricted here. There’s also no getting around the fact some of the area-specific skills simply don’t translate as well to combat, meaning some biomes actively make fighting enemies less fun.
Another very small nitpick from me: there’s lots of gear that you can find and equip for stat boosts, but outside of the swords you don’t actuallyseethese changes reflected in Luisa’s appearance. It’s hardly a dealbreaker, I know, but in a game about delving into dungeons for treasure and better gear, it’d be nice toseethe gear and not just be told I have a +2 to my attack.
Once you’ve beaten a dungeon you’ll be taken back to town, where you get to spend the evening working on your relationships with the residents of Hinterberg. Some are fellow adventurers, others have lived in the town all their lives.
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Getting to know every character is a blast, thanks in large part to some really wonderful writing that ensures each member of the cast feels properly fleshed out. My only issue is, at least during my playthrough, it wasn’t possible to properly get to know everyone. Once you complete a certain number of dungeons, the game really starts funnelling you down a very specific path, forcing you to spend some evenings with set characters to progress the story.
It’s an approach that feels very at odds with the game’s original promise of a laid-back holiday, and I was pretty gutted when I realised beating the game meant I couldn’t return to Hinterberg and finish up any relationship paths I’d left untrodden. Still,Dungeons Of Hinterbergis so full of charm and invention that I’ve no doubt I’ll dive back in before long for a second playthrough, giving me the chance to befriend characters I missed the first time.
As a Zelda fan of nearly 30 years, it’s not easy to find a game that comes close to scratching that itch in a truly authentic way, butDungeons Of Hinterbergis the real deal. This is a real gem of a game that has managed to find a genuinely fresh new way to approach a well-worn genre. Like any holiday worth taking, there are some hiccups along the way, but you’ll find yourself thinking about going back to Hinterberg almost as soon as you leave.
Pros: Brilliantly designed dungeons, sharp writing, gorgeous visuals
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Cons: Combat can get repetitive, game forces you down a linear path towards the end
For fans of: The Legend Of Zelda, Stardew Valley, The Witcher 3
