#Dolmen game software
#Dolmen game ps2

Looking at Steam reviews (which, at the time of writing, sits at a Mixed rating), many players have complained how Dolmen feels like an Early Access game, and they’re not wrong, I can attest to that. It’s going to take massive work (pun intended) for them to improve in the future. Cutscenes don’t really do anything besides introducing bosses and new enemies, while most of the lore exposition is accomplished via terminals you have to access, which rewards you with a text you have to read (that’s not particularly interesting). In addition, while I know that the story isn’t usually the strong suit of many soulslike games, Dolmen features bland and non-existent story that doesn’t really motivate you to push forward. There’s also no map or mini-map, so good luck trying to remember which metal corridor is the way to progress. This translates to exploration that’s not that rewarding either. Unfortunately, the level design can be simplistic and leaves a lot to be desired. The one and only highlight of the game is its sci-fi setting, which reminds me of Dead Space or Aliens with an atmosphere of dread. Most soulslikes tend to skewer towards fantasy swords and magic sort of stuff, but Dolmen is closer to other soulslikes games like The Surge or Hellpoint. What sets Dolmen apart from most other soulslike games is its sci-fi setting. Of course, along comes indie developers’ attempts at replicating the soulslike magic, such as Massive Work Studio’s Dolmen. It’s not easy to balance a soulslike game, or make it challenging yet fair to play for those willing to get good.

#Dolmen game software

Soulslike games are probably one of the most popular genres right now, but From Software titles (like this year’s Elden Ring) are clearly still AAA kings. Makes sense that I hadn't heard of it til literally last month.Kakuchopurei reviewed the Action RPG Dolmen: Dolmen Is A Dull Sci-Fi Soulslike That Needs Massive Work

I kind of like how cheesy it is, it's like it's trying to be way cooler than it actually is and i find it a bit humorous.Īll in all, it's just a very uninspired, generic game. A couple of bosses were enjoyable, one in particular was a 2 part fight where you have to utilize moving singularities to disable a powerful close quarters enemy and then fight it's counterpart after which is a primarily long range fighter. Also a personal gripe, the developer doesn't seem to understand what cosmic horror is.Īll that said, i did have some fun. There are only a dozen or so items for crafting, and it uses a generic 'commom, rare, epic' variant system to determine value of items. Level design is extremely linear, and yet they tried to add in shortcuts, but said shortcuts don't actually save any time and generally are pointless as you almost never need to backtrack for anything. (Ice, fire and corrosion) If you don't youre basically useless against certain enemy types. The weapon system is basically rock paper scissors where you have to craft multiple weapons of the 3 different in game elements. Enemy designs for the most part are very generic and uninspired. The player character actually looks like one of those generic test models in unreal engine.

#Dolmen game ps2

Some character models look like the could be straight out of s PS2 game. (One i recall was basically a worse version of bed of chaos) animations look robotic and janky, especially in the cinematic sequences. Enemies are unvaried, bosses are either too easy or straight broken. The story itself is essentially the same story as dead space and doom humanity is mining in space, finds ancient tech, unleashes all chaos. The story is overtly spoon fed, rather than allowing the players to discover the story in classic souls fashion. For starters it literally calls itself a soulslike in it's marketing material and while it does use the souls control style, that's where the similarities end. I'm not OP but i can attest to his dislike.