There’s a common theme you see across gaming, especially in titles that require a lot of crafting, resource gathering, or exploration: Below the ground, beneath the crust of the earth and buried far below the roots of our trees and the soil they rest in, is a secret, often long-forgotten world, full of as much treasure as it is danger. There is something to be said about how the collective imagination is captured by the idea of the world beneath us. The idea that just below our feet could be the ruins of an ancient civilization, some sort of cursed horde of monsters or undead legions, and boundless treasure to boot fascinates us all, to the point where “the deeper you dig, the better the reward” is basic design philosophy in many titles.
This exact philosophy is what inspired Delverium, a game all about bounding bravely into the depths below to reap the underground world of its treasures.
Mechanically speaking, Delverium is an open-world crafting adventure game. The goal is to engage in, and eventually master, a cycle of exploring, gathering resources, crafting new gear, and conquering underground lairs and their associated bosses. The game has a set number of bosses, and you must find and defeat them while progressing through stronger tiers of loot.
The immediate comparison is to Terraria, which is fairly similar except for the different camera angle. That game clearly serves as one of Delverium’s inspirations, if not the main one, as it seeks to replicate that loop pretty closely. Not only are the mechanics similar, but the style, animations, and overall vibe are, too. Delverium is, if nothing else, a love letter to Terraria, and fans of it should immediately be comfortable in this newer title.
What Delverium lacks, though it’s a bold aspiration to strive for, is the same level of depth as the game it aspires to be.
Again, that is a bold ask, considering that Delverium is in Early Access and Terraria has been receiving updates for years. Still, Delverium’s open-ended, directionless world starts to feel hollow, devoid of life or discovery, before too long into your campaign.
Boss fights are fun, and if you’re going for a straight boss-rush style game, I think Delverium can deliver the experience in about eight hours, which isn’t terrible for an Early Access game. However, the path to get there gets boring once the enemy variety starts to dry up, you’ve upgraded through the limited gear tree, and you’ve essentially discovered most of what there is to discover. Side content is currently very limited, and the world feels barren, without many secrets to find or much visible worldbuilding to run into. When I say Delverium feels hollow, I mean the game feels very bare-bones: many core systems are present but haven’t been expanded much, which is to be expected in an Early Access game.
There is a point where advancing your gear starts to feel like it isn’t worth the effort, as the flat, incremental damage increases don’t feel worth the time and resources they took to collect. Every higher-tier sword being just a flat +4 damage over the last one means you quickly run into enemies whose health bars far outpace any damage you can do to them. In this regard, the game could really benefit from an XP or skill system that lets you increase your damage beyond just the tier of weapon you hold. Otherwise, the weapons themselves should be buffed.
The concept of inviting NPCs to live in a village of your own creation is a fun fantasy, but one that the game’s current state unfortunately underdelivers on once again. NPCs can be invited if you build a home and bed for them, but once you do so, all they do is sell you items. They don’t really talk to you or have any personality to speak of. This is an area of the game that could greatly use some expanding, because I wasn’t very motivated to keep growing my village when I realized it was just giving me access to glorified shops.
As it stands, the Early Access version of Delverium feels like a fun fan game. It feels clearly inspired by other titles in the genre, and you can appreciate it for a while, especially if you are a fan of those other games. However, in its current version, it doesn’t do enough differently, nor does it offer the kind of depth you need to really keep your attention throughout. At its most bare-bones, the title doesn’t do much but leave me wanting to go play a more fleshed-out version of the concept, such as the title it takes inspiration from.
Still, it has potential. The core systems, even if some might call them derivative, are fun. The boss fights are fun. The progression needs some work, the world needs more to discover, and overall the title could use a lot of polish and some new features to keep it interesting and set it apart from the rest of the genre. I would keep a close eye on this title as it continues its Early Access development, as it could become a lot more than it currently offers.
Pros
- Fun, albeit familiar, gameplay loop
- Good boss fights
- A solid foundation with room to improve
Cons
- Gameplay loop quickly becomes repetitive, with little depth in the current build
- Little to no story to experience, and the world feels somewhat barren and lifeless
- Core mechanics feel functional, but need to be expanded upon
- Game could use more to set it apart from its inspirations
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