Time to dive back into the dungeon!
Our favorite ragtag group of heroes… well, are they truly heroes? Hmm… Adventurers, then? Adventurers, yeah, let’s go with that. Our favorite ragtag group of adventurers are back in their first ever DLC, The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: Ruins Of Limis. After their initial debut in The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos, the snarky team of seven… well, six, actually (poor Thief, we hardly knew ye)… returns for another rousing adventure in this wacky, weird, and whimsical world based on the French language audio series Le Donjon de Naheulbeuk. And for only $9.99 on Steam, it seems like a pretty decent deal — is it? Let’s find out.
For those of you who thoroughly enjoyed the base game and played it in its entirety, The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: Ruins Of Limis is a few hours more of the same. This means the same excellent writing and witty banter, but also the same tactical battles. If you’ve enjoyed both of those things tremendously, this DLC is going to be absolutely up your alley; for those expecting something a little new, like a new mechanic or an otherwise new twist, you’ll have to wait and see if one of the other two slated DLCs deliver. As it stands, The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: Ruins Of Limis picks up exactly where the original story left off and expands on it ever so slightly.
When I say the story is expanded upon ever so slightly, I mean it — even though the DLC offers hours of additional gameplay, the bulk of that time is within the tactical battles, which, again, if you loved them then that’s fine, but outside of those battles there are about 20 minutes of actual storyline. The most painful of these battles is right upfront, where undead enemies spawn endlessly until you turn off the statues from whence they came. My first attempt took a little under an hour to complete that battle alone (I’m not afraid to admit I’m rusty), which, in my opinion, is a lot to ask of players that probably haven’t played the game in several months.
With all that being said, The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: Ruins Of Limis doesn’t necessarily feel like complete padding — the writing is still fantastic, and it’s nice that you can start a new game and jump right into the DLC instead of having to play from start to finish all over again just to experience it. You’re welcome to load up your old saves into the DLC as long as you have a save from Chapter 9, and, when comparing my old save with a fresh new start, the stats and items from both were pretty comparable. Even though that first fight is one hell of a slog, you’re at least not dumped into an unwinnable situation, which is thoughtful.
Reading through the reviews on The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: Ruins Of Limis’ Steam page, it’s evident that players were expecting something more in terms of mechanics, or in the very least to not feel like the battles were padding the entire DLC. At first, I found it easy to agree with them, but I kept coming back to the fact that it’s of critical importance to remember that this is an adaptation of an already fleshed out story by a French author and team. The already established audio series is driving the game, not necessarily the mechanics.
That’s not to say that the mechanics aren’t important — the base game nailed them — it’s just that story is where the priority seems to be. Even though the storyline was fairly short in this first DLC, it was on par with everything else in the base game, so I feel like that’s where expectations should be. And if you loved The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos, you can do a lot worse than $9.99; The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: Ruins Of Limis isn’t going to sell the base game to you, but if you’re already sold on it, this DLC is worth it.
As the first DLC of The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos, The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: Ruins Of Limis had a lot of expectations placed on the shoulders of the six remaining adventurers. And while the DLC did not add anything new in terms of mechanics, it gave players exactly what they loved about the first game — great story, funny dialogue, and deeply involved tactical battles that would make any DM proud. If you loved the base game and want to spend a little more time with this ragtag group of adventurers, The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: Ruins Of Limis is worth diving back into this dungeon for.
Final Verdict: 3.5/5
Available on: PC (reviewed); Publisher: Dear Villagers; Developer: Artefacts Studio; Players: 1; Released: May 25, 2021; MSRP: $9.99
Editor’s note: This review is based on a copy of The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: Ruins of Limis given to HeyPoorPlayer by the developer.
