Dungeons of Hinterberg (Xbox Series) Review

Has life got you down? Are you disillusioned with your career choices? Do you have that nagging feeling that maybe, just maybe, there’s something more for you out there? Then come visit the Dungeons of Hinterberg. Beautiful scenery, clean air, crystal clear water… and monsters to slay all day. Let the friendly people of Hinterberg make your stay the magical journey you’ve always wanted!

Somewhere, in another world, there’s this small, vacation town of Hinterberg. You know the sort. Hidden away in the mountains. The backdrop that’s used for postcards that say, “Wish you were here”. Where you can ski even in summer and probably need a loan just to visit. Now imagine if, in that world, magical portals suddenly opened up all over the place, bringing not only monsters and magic, but also dungeons galore. And imagine if, instead of rolling out the army to deal with it, the governments decide to turn those monsters and dungeons into tourist attractions.

That is the concept behind Dungeons of Hinterberg, as you take control of Luisa, a lawyer disillusioned with life and her career, who makes the decision to try her hand at monster slaying in Hinterberg on a much-needed vacation. So, packing up her bags, and probably signing a ton of life, death, and injury disclaimers, she heads on over to Hinterberg to reassess her life.

In practice, Dungeons of Hinterberg combines a bunch of different elements to create its stunning cozy, sim-life, action-adventure. And that’s what it is, a cozy game that mixes up its story with compelling sim-life elements and a fair bit of action to draw you deeper into its fantastical world. And it does so wonderfully by being as down to Earth as it can amidst its more fantastical elements.

Like Luisa, you’re encouraged to treat this like a holiday. Both from the stresses of life and the stresses of other games. It unfurls at your own pace, presenting you with different ways to pass the time. You’re encouraged to spend time with others, or by yourself to relax, just as much as you are to solve monster-filled dungeons.

Dungeons of Hinterberg’s lazy days are split up into mornings, afternoons, evenings, and nights. It takes on elements from the Persona series by breaking your day up into “time management sections” – but there’s no pressure and you’re left to your own devices on how to spend that time. You can explore the overworld areas, talk to people, find spots to relax, and, of course, conquer regional dungeons.

Evenings are where you get to flex your social muscles by choosing who to spend it with or by relaxing in the cinema yourself, with the social aspects contributing to your character development in one form or another. Befriending the residents and other slayers opens up perks, such as more health, stamina, or money for you. Other activities, such as watching a movie or relaxing on a mountain path, can increase your health along with one of your stats. Unlike many traditional RPG’s, Dungeons of Hinterberg uses a simple grading system, with 1 being the lowest. Naturally, the higher your gear, the higher your level. Other character stats are less obvious, like renown and amusement, which make it easier for other characters to connect with you, opening up friendship options and favours to complete as sidequests.

You can choose who want to get to know through their interests, or by being mercenary about it and choosing your initial friends based on the perks they might provide. Characters have their own backstories and personalities and several sidequests that need your help in solving – such as helping boost their renown to stop the town from closing down their stores.

Dungeons of Hinterberg’s social elements and story are its two most impressive aspects. That’s not to say that the dungeon delving is weak, far from it, but I certainly loved the day-to-day bits between all the fantasy role-playing. While there is a larger story at play about something rotten in Hinterberg, it’s the smaller, intimate moments that breathe life into it and ask you to evaluate what’s important in life. Moments such as getting to know pro-slayers, helping to keep a store open, or just taking some relaxing time above a waterfall to question when and why life became such a rat race, are exceptional moments. That everything you do adds to your stamina, health, or other attributes, is a bonus.

Exploration, dungeon delving, and combat make up the rest of the systems. There are three large areas to explore, each with a fixed number of dungeons that you need to find first. The easy ones are signposted, while the later ones take some time – i.e. in-game progression – to unlock. There are plenty of fast travel points to ease the journey of travelling, but each area also sports its own magical skills that you can’t use in the other areas, such as the magical snowboard in the snowy mountains, or the explosive mine from the first area. These skills work both in dungeons and the over-world, to unlock new areas, solve puzzles, and fight monsters.

Monsters don’t only appear in dungeons, sometimes they’re roadblocks to the next area or just to break up the pacing. Combat is hack-and-slash orientated with light and heavy attacks, a stamina bar for dodging, and the aforementioned magical skills. You can add charms to your weapons and armour for buffs, along with further offensive moves on a charm board that gives you extra passives, such as more HP, or active skills like an AoE meteor shower. Combat can be challenging but it’s never going to make you break a controller. The challenge versus relaxation ratio is near perfect.

The dungeons, of course, are the gameplay highlights and befitting the title. As they increase in difficulty, so to do they increase in size and become very puzzle orientated, much as you’d expect from a good Legend of Zelda dungeon. Your magical skills coupled with a bit of timing and quick reflexes will see you to your goal of reaching the end of a dungeon, which gets you a stamp in your notebook proclaiming you’ve cleared it. You can expect water levels that need to be raised or lowered, bombs delivered via whirlwinds to specific points, mine carts to be raced in, just to name a few. The challenge level here is also set to a low, chill setting but, just like the combat, it’s spatially confounding enough to keep your brain cells active while you remain relaxed at the same time.

There are still monsters to fight, new gear and monster parts to collect, and large bosses to fight. Not every dungeon has one, but when they do rock up, they’re an awesome combination of combat and puzzle-solving, requiring you to use your magic and the environment to beat them. None of them are particularly difficult, but they’re another highlight in a game full of them.

Visually, I think Dungeons of Hinterberg may be an acquired taste. The use of cel-shading and cross hatching, along with other comic book illustration techniques, give the game a very defined European graphic novel look. It’s a beautiful game in its own right, especially when you’re snowboarding on rails across an empty space to land on a giant snowflake, but it’s one that took time to grow on me. The soundtrack and animations are also great, but the one negative for me was the on-foot movement speed, both in and out of combat, which is a little on the slow side.

Minor gripes aside, Dungeons of Hinterberg is a fantastic, cozy, dungeon-delving adventure that finds a near-perfect balance between its narrative and gameplay elements. A down-to-earth story is coupled with amazing puzzle-dungeon design, topped off great social sim mechanics and fun combat. It makes this a game that manages to be both familiar and unique, and I urge everyone to take their next vacation here.

Dungeons of Hinterberg was reviewed on Xbox Series S|X using a code provided to gameblur by the publisher. It is also available on PC.