There’s a unique flavor that old-school dungeon crawlers offer to fans of the genre, and the far too rare offerings that take a nod from the late 80s titles whet the eager mouths of players. With unique grid-based movement, uncovering labyrinthian designs, solving puzzles that require some brainpower, and relatively complex combat that rewards tactical approaches and the diversification of skills across the active party, it’s not entirely too difficult to note why the genre continues to hold such a steady fan base.
One such title that appropriately nods towards its predecessors is Operencia: The Stolen Sun, and it is an absolute blast to experience. It’s currently live on the Xbox Game Pass for PC and Xbox One, although slated to leave the subscription-based service at the end of this month as it stretches beyond its initial platform to bring the dungeon-crawling experience to everyone. Coming from Zen Studios acting as both developer and publisher, it’s hopefully the first in a long line of dungeon-crawlers coming from the studio.
It’s scheduled to be arriving to a much wider audience on March 31st, and that schedule appears to be holding true thus far in spite of the current global climate. It’s coming to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Steam, and GOG on that date, bringing old-school crawling back to the forefront on an international scale.
#Operencia is coming to PlayStation 4, #NintendoSwitch, Steam, and @GOGcom! Chase the missing Sun across the magical lands of Operencia, and experience our modern homage to classic first-person dungeon-crawlers on March 31! pic.twitter.com/mTqvX7kGIr
— Zen Indies (@ZenIndies) February 11, 2020
Despite Operencia being a homage to the dungeon-crawler titles that we’ve cut our teeth on, it’s decidedly modern gen with crisp graphics, impeccable audio, and dialogue that actually manages to appropriately convey the feeling of sudden alliances being forged across an overture of darker evils at work.
Even the puzzles, while they’re sure to give you a moment of pause or two as you stumble across them in the wild variety of dungeons that the title offers, show a fantastic understanding of complexity while not interrupting the overall progress of dungeon crawling.
The title is currently in the Steam Game Festival event on Valve’s platform, featuring a free demo that can be downloaded and explored to figure out if the game is a solid match with your personal flavor profile. You only have one full day left to explore the Steam Game Festival that again prominently displays a multitude of indie games that are slated to arrive to Steam in the upcoming weeks and months.
If you’ve been chomping at the bit for a classic reimagining of grid-based dungeon crawlers, this should absolutely be on your list of upcoming titles to check out.
