![]() ![]() At its core, this experience is about finding the tools necessary to complete a set of tasks. Instead of procedurally-generated shacks and scattered resource piles, DYSMANTLE gives players a huge open world so meticulously and delicately hand-crafted that it almost feels like a shame to tear it all apart in the name of staying alive - assuming, of course, that they have tools strong enough to manage it.ĭYSMANTLE is the new top-down zombie survival game from eclectic developer 10tons, and it’s an impressive achievement. While other entries in the crafting-survival genre have allowed players to destroy a world’s elements - houses, cars, and so on - and repurpose them into resources, very few of those elements start out as something the player might feel bad about tearing down. WTF The ancient ancestors left behind… sokoban puzzles?Īs gimmicks go, DYSMANTLE’s is well worth naming the game after it. LOW A few quests have confusingly-worded instructions. This phenomenon would be fairly easy to patch out, of course, but it does detract from the studio’s obvious intent at requiring a certain amount of level progression before even being able to step foot in certain areas.HIGH Getting a weapon strong enough to one-shot the skinless hunters. I have a clip of a 15-zombie train following me around, trying in vain to hit me, as I rolled halfway across the map. However, I found that the player can actually spam this mechanic and essentially be impossible to be 2hit by enemies. There is a roll mechanic in Dysmantle that allows the player to quickly dodge an attack by diving in any desired direction. ![]() Another issue with the combat that I found was a way to sort of “cheese” the zombie dodges so-to-speak. The zombies in Dysmantle seem to have a 30-degree field of vision, making it relatively easy to sneak by most of them however, once the player is seen, they will be chased until the ends of the Earth with the enemy somehow being able to track the players movements and trajectory around rocks, plateaus, and buildings despite an obviously broken line of sight. While the missions and opportunities for exploitation of resources were second-to-none, the enemies battled by the player can sometimes feel too robotic or unreasonable, and the combat can feel clunky. The sole flaw that I managed to find in this, otherwise, outstanding game, was the combat and AI. I also adored the inclusion of cutscenes and easter eggs around the map, very covertly crafting a tight and intriguing narrative that managed to keep the player reminded of their exfiltration goal while still pulling on those strings of curiosity that keeps us saying “I’ll play for just 30 more minutes then head to the exit” all night long. The interactable objects in the environment and the movement from the player never feels glitchy or stagnant and I found almost no bugs during my many hours on the title. ![]() The world is rife with mysteries both ancient and contemporary to be solved, ponds and lakes to be fished, farms to cultivate, cryptic messages to uncover, exciting and rewarding challenges, and a discoverable recipe book that would make Bobby Flay weep.ĭysmantle also looks fantastic, leaning into the creamy, vibrant colors and mechanics that the Proprietary Engine provides. The method of acquiring and storing materials is convenient as well, as your total storage of materials (via campsites which can be discovered and unlocked around the map) is never limited, solely the number of materials you can carry in your backpack as you travel (the backpacks can also be upgraded to add space or slots for material bunches). The fact that Dysmantle can be completed, more or less, at the player’s desired pace, adds to its brilliance, gifting players the agency to decide if they want to simply speedrun their way to escape, or if they want to get a bit cozy and “100%” the game. The design of the game’s progression is outstanding, utilizing the “completely open world, but you’ll get killed in half a second if you go to X region too soon” formula of games such as Witcher 3, a method of game design that gives players the outright freedom that so many desire from RPG games. ![]() RPG games are a slippery slope for developers, as it requires the inclusion of an immersive story, fluid mechanics, an abundance of explorable content, and a leveling system that motivates further exploration. RPG games can often feel incredibly empty or bleak, as seen in the failure of Infestation or any RPG with the dreaded “hunger bar,” or incredibly “grindy” for little payoff as observed upon No Man’s Sky’s sloppy initial release. I think what sets Dysmantle apart from so many other, lesser RPGs that I’ve played, is the game’s unbelievable replay value and reward system. ![]()
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