Dark Spire for Nintendo DS Reviews by Gamers

It's a classical first person dungeon crawling RPG in the style of Wizardry (ESPECIALLY Wizardry), Bard's Tale etc.

Most people, even RPG fans, will have a hard time with this game. I knew what I was getting into, but it took a few hours of gameplay for me to really understand what the game is actually about. 95% of games today are about following a nice, cushioned, well-established set path, seeing cool stuff, and finishing the game in however many hours.

Dark Spire is not like that. First of all, it's completely non-linear. Dark Spire is less a story, and more a place in your DS you can visit. You need to set missions for yourself. It's not a regulated process. A great example is locked doors - if your thief fails to pick a locked door enough times that's it, you can't go through that door until your next journey into the dungeon.

The downside of this is that people who are expecting the handholding of a modern game are going to be let down. The upside is there is more freedom, and more atmosphere in this game if you look for it than any other RPG on the DS.

This isn't an epic story about killing an evil wizard in a tower. It's more like a dungeon simulator - the game doesn't CARE if you succeed or fail, which makes all the whacky stuff that can happen to you as you wander around it all the more interesting in a lot of ways.

Also worth mentioning that the game is really funny. I can't really explain this without spoiling a lot of the goofy events in the game, but virtually nothing in the game takes itself seriously. Squirrels, dungeon-sailing pirates, erotic pandas, and hornless unicorns all await you in the Dark Spire.

You also need to use your brain a lot in this game, and either have a good memory or take occasional notes about where you find stuff. It's not really a good game if you're super busy and can't dedicate some mental space.

Fantastic game though, if it sticks to you.