[PC] Dungeons of Hinterberg review: a breezy action RPG that’s as pretty as a postcard

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Dungeons of Hinterberg review: a breezy action RPG that’s as pretty as a postcard | Rock Paper Shotgun

 

Usually when a game makes me want to stop playing and go outside it’s a bad sign, but with Dungeons of Hinterberg it’s different. It’s an action RPG that made me pine for the outdoors and want to be whisked away from all my responsibilities and just exist for a bit. Each time I would finish playing I’d be thinking about my next getaway, and although dungeon delving wouldn’t be on my holiday itinerary Dungeons of Hinterberg is making me think twice.

Protagonist Luisa is stuck in a place we’ve all visited before: Burnout City. She’s a busy lawyer who yearns for some downtime so has decided to escape to the picturesque Hinterberg, a whimsical alpine Austrian village. Hinterberg is essentially a recreational holiday destination where you can hike through the wilderness, knock back a few beers with the locals, and slay some monsters when the feeling strikes you.
Outside of the game’s home hub of Hinterberg are four regions with their own handful of dungeons. You decide which region you’d like to visit in the morning, hack and slash your way through a dungeon during the day, hang out with the locals during the evening, then finish the day by returning to your hotel room. It’s a routine you settle into quickly thanks to each area’s distinct charm. From the snowy peaks of Kolmstein with its white wonderland of majestic mountains and ice caves, to the lush meadows of Doberkogel complete with cows, cable cars, and flowers - I was forever taking screenshots, slowly compiling a bumper book of holiday snaps.

Each of these regions will grant you two special magical abilities that can only be used in that area and its dungeons. For example, in Doberkogel you can summon a giant, spherical bomb that blasts through blockades and a ball and chain which you can fire at items and pull them towards you. Dungeons will test these abilities through a mix of combat encounters and puzzle-solving, all presented in wildly different ways. You might need to navigate an underwater castle, snowboard across a winter obstacle course, or survive a rickety minecart ride through a monster-invested cavern. When you reach the end of a dungeon you’ll get a satisfying travel stamp in your notebook.

Puzzles hit that sweet spot of being minimal effort where nothing is going to majorly stump you, but their breeziness and intuitiveness still makes them satisfying to solve. All the environmental puzzle-platforming regulars are here - switching buttons, pulling levers, moving platforms and the like - but because of each area's regional magic, the puzzle design is constantly switched up. They push you to use your powers in interesting ways, and dungeons feel like they’ve been designed with the puzzles first and foremost, with the level being built around the core idea.

Magic isn't only for puzzling but also a part of your fighting arsenal, alongside plenty of other abilities. Luisa doesn’t carry round a big sword for the drip either, as you’ll be hacking and slashing your way through hordes of monsters too. The way she moves feels incredibly fluid, and together with some equippable abilities, fights are often a frenzy of activity and action. I might leap in with 1, 2, 3 quick sword swipes, dodge away, hit ‘em with an ice beam (thanks to the magical power in Kolmstein), and then activate my Blade Tornado, a devastating spinning ability that’s as deadly as it sounds.