Dungeon of Gods Review

Battle for Divinity

In some ways, Dungeon of Gods is very similar to other mobile pseudo-roguelikes on Google Play. However, Super Planet’s cell-shaded action RPG isn’t without new ideas. It’s also a pretty good game in its own right and manages to stand out from its crowd of competitors.

Dungeon of Gods’ story is quite simple and only exists to string together a series of disconnected dungeon crawls. Players take the role of a half-human Demigod trying to claim the title King of Gods. He does this by hacking and slashing his way through increasingly difficult dungeons. These runs culminate in a boss battle against a rival deity. Repeat as needed until the game runs out of gods for you to kill.

Dungeon of Gods reminds me the most of what I call “Archero clones.” Players control their character with a simulated joystick on the bottom of a vertically oriented screen, with the character attacking enemies automatically. The game consists of multiple Chapters divided into several Stages. Players choose between one of three upgrades after each Stage but must start the Chapter over if they die at any point. However, players will still keep any Coins and Experiences found during their run and use them for character upgrades.

Hack and Slash

The main difference is that Dungeon of Gods revolves around Melee combat rather than bullet hell-inspired shooting. The Demigod has two kinds of attacks, standard melee strikes, and a more powerful Assault. The former happens automatically whenever the Demigod comes into contact with an enemy. However, Assaults are definitely the focus of Dungeon of Gods’ combat system.

A red arrow appears at the Demigod’s feet when an enemy comes into range. The arrow grows and shrinks based on the distance, with a “sweet spot” that’s neither too close nor too far away. When players release the joystick, the Demigod lunges forward to Assault the targeted enemy. If the Demigod’s Assault kills the target, he automatically  Assaults the next closest target. If that target dies, he Assaults the next one, then the next after that. This lets players string together an impressive killstreak, potentially clearing an entire room with one attack.

Doing so is immensely satisfying, but you can’t just charge in headlong and expect success in every fight. The later stages of each Chapter can get pretty crowded, and it is easy for players to get swarmed if they aren’t careful. The Demigod also doesn’t have the health to stand there and tank infinite hits. I found the best tactic was to Assault, sneak in one or two Melee attacks, then retreat before the enemy responds with an attack of its own. Dungeon of Gods isn’t Dark Souls or even Pascal’s Wager, for that matter. Still, it offers a simple and fun formula for a mobile action RPG.

Smash and Grab

Players can buff their Melee and Assault damage by equipping and upgrading new and better weapons. Dungeon of Gods has 12 unique weapons in all. However, players can scroll down well past the bottom of the list, so Super Planet might add more later. Dungeon of Gods splits them into six color-coded Tiers, and each Tier has one Melee and one Assault-focused weapon. For example, the Blue-tiered Spear gives a small bonus to Assault and a significant bonus to Melee. It shares a Tier with the two-handed Axe, which does the opposite. However, a higher Tier weapon will almost always be better than a lower-tier item at the same upgrade level. To use another example, the Gold Sword and Shield is that Tier’s Melee weapon. However, it’s better in both categories than either Blue weapon. Armor Jewelry and charms work similarly, with two options for each of the 12 tiers.

Players unlock Weapons and other items from Dungeon of Gods’ gacha boxes. Players unlock the chests with Tickets and Gems, which they get from completing various in-game challenges. I don’t love gacha mechanics in principle, but Dungeon of Gods is better than most when handing out items. Thus, I won’t criticize it too much.

Now, is Dungeon of Gods my ideal game? Not really. I would have preferred at least some effort at storytelling and word building. The limited number of character skins is also nothing to write home about. So, keep those factors when comparing its score to the reviews of other RPGs on this site. Still, it’s a good time, and I think it succeeds at pretty much everything it sets out to be.