I’m still just getting into dungeon crawlers and tabletop RPGs, so when the opportunity arises for me to dip my feet into the blood-soaked earth of these worlds, I’ll take it. This brings us to Gloomhaven, a tactical RPG dungeon crawler based on the 2017 multi-award-winning board game of the same name. I want to thank Twin Sails and Saber Interactive for the reviewing opportunity.
In Gloomhaven, players take control of and guide mercenaries through the world. You also have encounters before the scenario (quests) you’re going to. The choices you make will affect your mercenaries in the upcoming battle. In every dungeon, the combat is turn-based, and players use cards with two options on each. These cards usually have options for movement, attack, and abilities like healing, buffing teammates, etc. There are tutorials, but if you’re new to this gameplay, you should set time aside to learn.
I enjoy the art of the world of Gloomhaven, including the character designs, as they’re a bit of a twist on the heroes you’re used to seeing in any other RPG. The game’s soundtrack and sound design are as good as you would expect in an RPG fantasy, however, I only wish there was more voiceover dialogue, especially in the tutorial, so you can avoid the “Too long didn’t read” habit.
When it comes to gameplay, Gloomhaven is VERY involved. I’m playing the game on the lowest setting I’m still getting my ass kicked. I’m curious if it’s me OR if there’s a bug because there should be no way the enemies can still be so strong in story mode!
Overall, Gloomhaven is for serious RPG players who enjoy planning their moves before they act. Though part of me still thinks the enemies in Story Mode difficulty need to be nerfed big time, I can accept that this game is not meant for me now. On my scale of 1-10, it would be unfair of me to give it a low rating as there’s a high likelihood, that the issues are with me, I give Gloomhaven a 7 out of 10.
Gloomhaven is out now on PC, PlayStations 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
