Do not judge a book by its cover. We are taught that at a young age, right? But we do. We are human. So when the trailers for Dungeons of Hinterberg dropped, I was not impressed. I was interested in the idea of a mix between Zelda-style dungeons and Persona-style social links, but the art style and character design really turned me off. So much so that I was pretty sure there was no way I would play this one, ever.Then Humble Bundle included it in a monthly batch, and I tried it. I quickly realized how silly I was for ignoring it.Sure, the character design never got much better in my eyes. Everyone looks like they have been a pro boxer for years, and their noses took the brunt of the damage. But the art style absolutely did improve for me, and it really grew on me. The “hatching” effect over everything gives it a modern yet retro feel that I have not seen done elsewhere. It is pretty, full of bright colors, and each of the four zones and their respective dungeons has charm.Dungeons, for me, are where the game shined the most. Each has a theme matching the specific magic you obtain in that zone. Nearly every one of the 25 total dungeons had something that tripped me up, but nothing overly challenging that required looking up the puzzle answers. I loved those “ah ha!” moments. There are clever uses of different camera types, such as a few isometric dungeons or a few side-scrolling ones. The bosses were great too; I just wish there were more. Enemy design beyond bosses was only okay—not enough variety, and not much fun to fight.I think the social link side of the game was its weaker aspect, as this is where the devs lost balance in the content. You will easily clear all the dungeons well before you max even a third of your social links. You have to actively grind more relationships if you want to, which I think is odd—especially because the combat and dungeons were not hard enough to warrant replaying. Most players will likely end up in the same situation. Some social links were great, some were okay, and some were boring. Without the big narrative focus of Persona or Metaphor, it is harder to feel connected to the side **** overall narrative was good, and it did inspire some thoughts. I love the idea of the main character trying to truly disconnect from reality, to go on a real vacation and not worry. There is a part where they mention how nice it is just to sit outside for an afternoon, and how in their normal life they feel like they always have to be doing tangible things and making progress to feel fulfilled. I relate to this a lot, and it inspired me to find ways to relax more often and just be in the moment.Overall, a good game—held back from being great by the tried and true saying: less really is more.

It's a cute, snacky game.. but I couldn't help but feel a bit bored. All the mechanics are okay, but it just lacks challenge and complexity to make it interesting. I imagine it's at the right level for a very casual gamer, but overall: simple puzzles, simple combat, simple story, simple character growth and inventory management. It's nice to have an European feel though.

Original story and theme with captivating start but it becomes a bit repetitive with more puzzles and less action/RPG elements.