Developer: Skrypious
Publisher:
Ultimate Games S.A., Gaming Factory S.A.
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC
Pangeon – Review
Ultimate Games, a Publisher well-known on our site and one that publishes a lot of varied content. We’ve seen a lot of shovelware from their side of the fence, but also a few games that are truly worth playing. The problem with publishers that opt to represent pretty much everything on the market is that it makes their reputation quite dubious. This time we’re looking at Pangeon, a roguelike game that combines Minecraft visuals with old school 2D pixilated sprites. We were curious to see what this game had to offer. Little did we know that when booting up the title we were almost done playing it.
Story
You’ll be dropped in a dungeon with little to no story value. You are accidentally that guy who roams around a monster-infested dungeon, only to find yourself killing everything in your path. You do get like one dialogue on your way, but that’s about it. The developer clearly did not occupy himself with content for this game, as you’ll have played the entire thing in about half an hour, depending on the difficulty level you choose. The game is so anti-climactic that it does not even have an end-boss, even though there are boss battles in-between.
Graphics
The style of Pangeon is quite nice-looking and it does work for a game such as this. You’ll have voxel-based graphics for the world, and the enemies and NPCs are made out of 2D pixilated sprites. These two styles go hand in hand with each other and the overall whole looks good. Then again, the game only has around three different environments, five enemy types and a handful of weapon animations, meaning there wasn’t that much to create either. Nonetheless, as little content the game may have, things look quite spiffy and attractive.
Sound
Pangeon will blast loud music through your speakers when the game boots itself, but after that, the game is somewhat silent, safe for the attack sounds and some grunting. The overall design in the sound department is very minimalistic, but it doesn’t really bother you, which means the gameplay is somewhat engaging. The game does not have any sound options which you can regulate, which is a bit of a hassle.
Gameplay
Pangeon is a first-person roguelike dungeon crawler. You’ll pick your class at the start of the game, which determines your base stats and your attacks. After that, you’ll have to fend for yourself in the dungeons by killing whatever crosses your path. The enemies are often simply short-ranged grunts and a few that can cast a ranged attack. You’ll clearly see their HP bars, as well as the experience they will add to your current level.
Even though controller controls are in the key binding options when booting up the game, we had no luck in getting a controller to work when playing this game. The keybinds were also only visible in the pop-up menu before booting the game, as the in-game options only deal with the graphical quality. The game only explains to you how to attack and how to interact with items, but other than that you’re on your own. You’ll have to properly learn what does what, and also that you need to equip potions yourself etc. Again, pretty standard stuff, but everything just feels very clumsy.
Combat works as you would expect in a game such as this. You run up to your opponent and puncture a few holes in him, or you use your ranged abilities. Close combat can sometimes make it so that you’re standing too close to your opponent, while he’s still able to hit you. We also noticed a few other hit-detection problems, but overall things work okayish.
The moment you finally get used to the controls, it’s possible the game has already reached its conclusion. Depending on which difficulty option you pick, the game can be cleared in under half an hour, which is simply ridiculous. You already buy your best suit of armor in the second level, and your starting weapons will remain the best ones in the game, which is simply ludicrous. You’ll simply use the merchant to stock up on potions, or to upgrade your armor. As the game is short, it’s somewhat inviting to try out the different classes, but even so, there’s no real incentive to play the game again, or at least for several more times to either amp up the difficulty or change your class.
Conclusion
What Pangeon has to offer is actually quite alright, and with some tweaking, the experience could have been nice, if it at least took longer than thirty minutes. The current build of the game feels like a beta or a demo of a game that is still in production, but it’s in fact a full game that costs way too much for the content it’s offering. If you can get this title for a price of a dollar/euro then it’s certainly a fun treat in-between games, but as it stands now, it’s not even close to being worth its asking price.
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