Dungeons of Hinterberg Preview
During the Xbox Games Showcase weekend, I had the opportunity to meet with some of the team at Microbird for a hands-off demonstration on their upcoming game, Dungeons of Hinterberg. During the 20-minute session, I got to watch a variety of different moments from the game being played in real-time while the devs shared some insights into this upcoming action RPG. Dungeons of Hinterberg features a unique setting mixed with a blend of gameplay elements that will appeal to fans of the Legend of Zelda franchise.
Dungeons of Hinterberg takes place in a small village in the Austrian Alps. The village’s claim to fame is a mysterious magical presence that has overtaken the surrounding area. Twenty-five portals, each leading to a unique dungeon, have popped up. Explorers from around the world have come to Hinterberg to complete these dungeons, including our hero. To complete each dungeon, you’ll need to either fight your way through a variety of enemies, solve puzzles, or defeat menacing bosses – each dungeon is different. Fortunately, you’ll have an assortment of magical abilities at your disposal to help you in your quest.
Hinterberg acts as a central hub in Dungeons of Hinterberg. There you’ll find over ten separate locations, such as shops and bars, to purchase items and interact with locals. Dungeons of Hinterberg includes a significant social component. Conversing and helping certain locals will provide you with added items and abilities to aid you in your quest. The more you interact with someone, the higher your friendship status will go. I’m not sure if Dungeons of Hinterberg will go as far as “dating sim”, but during one of the interactions I watched, our main character had a pretty lengthy chat with a fellow at a local bar.
Dungeon Dweller
Surrounding Hinterberg are four different areas, each containing 5-7 portals. Each portal will lead you to a uniquely different dungeon. The ultimate goal, as far as the devs would tell us, is to complete all 25 dungeons. However, they did hint that there could be some twists along the way. Dungeons each feature different biomes, enemies, puzzles and more. No two dungeons are the same. And according to the devs, each dungeon should take gamers approximately 30 minutes to complete. In the menu, you’ll have a handy map showing you how many dungeons there are in each area, and which of them you have completed already.
Dungeons of Hinterberg provides players with a nice selection of abilities to navigate the world and fight enemies. Each area will provide the player with different abilities, and this is key to the dungeons contained within the area. For example, one ability we got to see was the mini tornado ability. With this, our hero creates a controllable tornado. This ability has a few different effects. For example, it can pick our hero up and allow them to hover over low, non-solid structures – such a spiky vines. Another ability was a meteor shower, which bombards an area with deadly meteors – easily killing off low-level enemies. Using these abilities is critical to defeating enemies and solving puzzles. Speaking of the enemies, the developers utilized actual Alpine myths to create these creatures.
Dungeons of Hinterberg is a combination of hack & slash action adventure, with a good mix of RPG elements. I love the idea of utilizing Alpine myths as inspiration for some of the creature designs. And having the Austrian Alps as the backdrop for this game helps it stand out among other action RPG adventures. Dungeons of Hinterberg arrives on PC and Xbox Series X/S in 2024.
