SteamWorld Dig

Release: 2013
Platform: PC
Developer: Image and Form
Genre: 2d, Action, Platformer
Gameplay Stats: 6 hours, 18/24 Steam Achievements

There's been a lot of hubbub recently about the Release of SteamWorld Dig 2 and I thought it looked pretty interesting. You can't jump into a sequel without playing the first game in the series, so I picked up the first game when it went on sale. Prepared for a hot take? Good! I just completed this game a few hours ago. I normally wait at least a day or two, but this take is hot n fresh out the kitchen.

Visuals: I honestly think this is the strength of this game. It's presented in a lovely 32 bit sprite art style and I think it looks really great. The game mostly takes place underground and there is quite a bit of variation in the textures in both the foreground and the background which keeps it from getting stale. There are only a hand full of enemies and they are very uninspired however. On the other hand, there a hand full of NPCs that are exquisitely designed. So much so that you know a character before you even speak with them.

Audio: The music in this game is lackluster. I didn't mind it at the beginning, but over the course of my playthrough I elected to listen to Pandora or YouTube because the music became grating. I felt similarly about the sound effects. This was probably the weakness of this game. I don't know if this game studio is big or if they had a dedicated sound person, but I hope they do for the sequel.

Plot: The plot here really isn't more than a single line. You go off to a small dusty town to find your uncle. He's disappeared into a mine, so you must dig down to find him. It's not complex, there's really no need for it to be. This game sells itself on it's gameplay and I think that's a smart choice. There's no character development to speak of.

Gameplay: This game plays pretty well! I don't have too much of a gripe about the way it handles. The hitboxes are a little weird, but otherwise the jumping, and pickax swinging seem pretty solid. The game itself is all about digging down. To make this go a bit smoother, you can find a couple upgrades in the mines, but the majority of your upgrades come from selling the ore you find in the mines to buy upgrades from NPCs. As you might've guessed, this actually makes for a bit of a grind. I didn't enjoy this as much as I'd hoped that I would, but I think that boils down to preference. I don't think there's anything inherently bad or wrong about the way it's carried out.

Overall I think this game is fine, just not for me. It ran okay, there wasn't an issue with understanding what to do next. I think it was a bit easy, but overall it was okay. [5.5/10]