If you’re a long-time consumer of indie games, you’ll be aware of the Nidhogg series by Messhof. This unique blend of one-vs-one duelling and side-scrolling platforming has been helping players settle disputes since it first appeared back in 2014, and the sequel went on to finesse the formula a couple of years later.
Now the developer is back with a new game, a side-scrolling platform action-roguelite, but this time, instead of one-on-one combat, Blood Dungeon is a 2D bullet heaven where you must battle hordes of monsters that come at you from all angles. Messhof has taken its signature side-scrolling art style, injected it with a bunch of different abilities, and then turned up the intensity to 11. It’s pretty good, too.
What is Blood Dungeon?
Blood Dungeon is a fusion of bullet hell gameplay, side-scrolling traversal, and roguelite progression. Over a selection of dungeon-themed stages, players must explore and battle a seemingly endless swarm of enemies, harvesting their blood and then using it to level up.
It’s a simple formula that has been evolving steadily since Vampire Survivors popularised it, but I like the side-scrolling implementation of the core loop. It feels like a notable point of difference for a game that sits in a genre that is often bereft of interesting variety.
While it does have a bullet heaven loop, the game itself is an action platformer, and it’s a bloody good one at that. In terms of gameplay feel, I think Blood Dungeon is up there with the very best in the genre. There’s no hiding poor controls in a side-scroller like this, and anything loose and unresponsive would have been a terminal problem for the game.
The controls and level traversal are, in fact, my favourite things about Blood Dungeon. It’s a joy to play, frankly, and the stickiness of the player character makes the gameplay accessible at first, and then allows for a high amount of player skill and expression later.
What’s in the dungeon?
There are nine different characters to play around with, and they all feel great to control. There’s also a store where you can buy permanent stat upgrades between runs. Back at base, there are also new levels you can open up over time.
The various levels are structurally different from one another, but the proc-gen within each one is fairly limited. I think if there’s going to be one thing that holds the game back from extreme longevity, this is probably going to be it. There is some variety, and colour-coded keys get moved around, that sort of thing, but ultimately the levels do feel a bit too familiar after a while.
When it comes to the in-game progression and run variety, things get better. The process of unlocking new items and experimenting with them is refreshing here, and I’ve been enjoying trying to make working builds out of the gear I’m given. Some items do feel overpowered, so maybe there’s a bit of balancing to do to make sure that players can explore different builds with confidence, but there’s nothing here that feels broken, either.
The audio-visual side of the presentation is another area where Messhof is able to demonstrate its credentials as a top-tier indie developer. There aren’t that many indie studios out there with such a distinctive style, and I love the overall aesthetic in Blood Dungeon.
In fact, there is a lot to like about Messhof’s bullet heaven roguelite. It looks and sounds great, there’s a decent selection of items and unlocks, the controls and level traversal are best-in-class, and the first couple of hours are true magic. Oh, and the in-game nudity is some of the best I’ve ever seen.
There is still room for fine-tuning, maybe even a DLC down the line to give more heft to the late game, but otherwise, there’s nothing negative to report. In fact, I’d happily recommend Blood Dungeon to anyone who loves Vampire Survivors and wants a bit of a palette cleanser.
Blood Dungeon is out now on PC (Mac, Win), PS5, Switch 1+2, and Xbox Series, and I played via access provided by the developer and their PR bunkmates.
