Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Underappreciated"

If you've played the first Grotesque Tactics game, Evil Heroes, you'll know exactly what to expect from Dungeons and Donuts. Gameplay is very similar, humor is identical, and the overall style and atmosphere of the game is the same. Since if you're reading this I expect you've already read about what the game is about, so I'll jump into the core elements and pros / cons.

The core gameplay of Dungeons and Donuts is nothing new or special. It plays just like the first game, or if you haven't played that, it plays similar to other turn-based strategy games such as Heroes of Might and Magic and Kings Bounty. While Dungeons and Donuts doesn't offer anything new or original, it does a good job of implementing the combat and gameplay. Depending on where your hero's and units line up on the battle grid, that will determine your ability to attack the enemy and the power of which you do so. You do have to pay attention to what you're doing, as you will have to play into different characters strengths and weaknesses. For example, a melee focused character can deal significant damage as long as you can move them in close enough, while a range focused character can attack from a few tiles away, but is vulnerable to close range attacks and can die quickly if you aren't careful. Again, if you've played a turn-based strategy game before, this won't be anything different.

I have mixed reactions in the sound and graphics department. While the graphics are certainly nothing special, they get the job done and some interesting character models and world designs make up for what the dated engine lacks in "beauty." I found the sound to be very good for this game. Voice acting is great and fits the characters that are portrayed, and the musical score suits the game as well, though you probably will not remember it when you're done playing.

The technical execution was pretty faulty upon release, I experienced a fair number of annoying bugs and crashes, and a corrupted save file once, but there have since been a few patches through Steam that have taken care of any crashes that I was experiencing, as well as most of the minor bugs, including the savegame issues. Given the condition of some of the major titles that have been released on PC this year and how long it took to patch them (some are still in need of serious fixing), I was surprised at how fast this was fixed, as well as how many of the issues were addressed. There are still a few places where translations are missing, and while it would be nice to have had the dialogue completely translated, it doesn't take too much away. Here's a list of the bug fixes that have been released:

http://store.steampowered.com/news/?feed=steam_updates&appids=46570

Now for what you've probably been waiting for, the humor in the game. Again, if you've played the first game, you'll know exactly what to expect. But if you haven't and you've read the Gamespot review, you may have the idea that it's extremely insulting and even gross...this is simply not true. Every character and event in Grotesque Tactics, both the first game and this one, is exaggerated. Some of the women are ditsy, some of the men are dirty perverts, and some (such as the Holy Avatar) men are stuck on themselves and suffer from a superiority complex. In no way does Grotesque Tactics try to pass this off as serious...the entire premise of both games is extremely sarcastic. If you are easily offended by stereotypes and racial or sexist jokes, you may want to avoid this, but know that the humor is done in an exaggerated and sarcastic tone, not an insulting one. While this humor is not for everyone (just the same way as some people love slapstick and others hate it), it fits the game and the world the developers have created well.

So let's talk value. Grotesque Tactics is not the best game on the market. There are plenty of other games, even in the turn-based tactical RPG/Strategy genre that are executed better and offer the player a lot more. However, Grotesque Tactics is $20 on Steam, and given it's an indie title will likely be on sale for a steal more than once (I've already seen it on sale once for 25% off). While you probably won't come back to it again and again after your initial playthrough (which is about 12 hours or so by-the-way), it's still well worth the money (after all, it costs near $20 to go see a 2 hour movie in a theatre). If you're on the fence about this game I highly recommend you just give it a try.