Dwerve [Review]

By: Mithrandiel

There are a handful of games that have my attention in the indie space right now: the forthcoming Sea of Stars from Sabotage studio, Below the Stone from Strollart Studios, Phantom Brigade from Brace Yourself Games...to name a few.

However, this last weekend one of the items formerly on my hype-list finally came out: Dwerve from Half Human Games.

A tower defense game that also borrows from the action/RPG realm of Legend of Zelda, Dwerve caught my eye early on with its unique combat mechanics and retro aesthetic.

After the sudden return of trolls, long considered extinct after an extended conflict with their rivals, the dwarves, a young man named Dwerve is tasked with proving their existence, and rising to his destiny as a Warsmith - legendary warriors of old who constructed towers of various types to dispatch of their foes, with the assistance of crystals.

And indeed, this is the crux of combat mechanics for our determined dwarf as he navigates forests, dungeons, volcanoes and more in his quest to avoid broader conflict and war between the various factions in the world.

Dwerve builds on the genre of tower defense by providing much more freedom than you typically would have. In previous tower defense games I've played, such as Pixel Junk Monsters, there are specific areas where towers can be placed, typically along the path of the monsters. Dwerve is able to freely move about the field, even dash, and place the towers wherever he chooses, granted you have the crystals necessary to build them.

This freedom is not just limited to Dwerve, however. While other tower defense games direct enemies down dedicated paths (which require a strategy of their own), the enemies typically go straight for you, the player. This means there's quite a bit more kiting involved, and can also result in more hectic gameplay as you're trying to explore the best strategies to address the enemies at hand.

At first, I found this to be quite frustrating. While I was drawn by the idea of an action/RPG and tower defense combo, I wondered in my early time with the game if that was really the best combination. However, I began to see the gameplay loop as more of a roguelike in that regard. The auto-save is pretty generous, and learning the flow of enemies after a death or two led to eventual victory. That being said, this early frustration can be enough of a blocker for some players who may opt for more time to strategize accordingly before their enemies begin to deploy.

Your towers can be upgraded over time, granting them additional damage, sustained time on the field and other goodies. In addition, your storage of crystals also goes up over time, allowing more towers to be deployed simultaneously - a key upgrade as the game progresses.

While the diversity of strategy was appreciated, more often than not a couple well-placed spinblades and rock-shooters often did the trick. This took a little wind out of my sails from a gameplay and strategy perspective, as it didn't really encourage me to utilize the various towers the game has to offer.

The narrative is easy enough to follow, though I would agree with some other comments that have been made regarding the oscillation between serious, war-related themes and childish humor.

The aesthetic and soundtrack are delightful - really pulling me back into a world that I could easily see having been initially brought to life during the 16-bit era. Some might not like that idea, but for me it was a charming draw of the game.

In short, while it didn't quite live up to the hype I had built for the game over the past year or so, I had a great time with Dwerve - hell, I'm still having a great time with it! I would definitely recommend checking it out if you're a fan of action/RPGs with a twist.