Kingdoms of the Dump Review
The Dump Promises, The Dump Taketh Away
Varied premises are one of the highlights of RPGs. With Roach Games' Kingdoms of the Dump , there's a take on cleanliness with a dose of struggling to survive against an overwhelming foe. This heroic tale is set with interesting backdrops and charming characters against an inspired and nostalgic backing soundtrack. However, while the premise is definitely sound, the execution is unbalanced, as the tone fluctuates wildly between serious and comedic, while gameplay feels undercooked at times. Though some parts drag it down, the charming characters and nostalgic presentation make up for it to leave an enjoyable experience overall.
The Lands of Fill found peace nearly a full generation ago due to the heroics of Garbamesh, the king who united the kingdoms of Garbagia, Mammolon, Insectia, Tabletop, and the Laundromancers to defeat the evil Grimelins that pooled out from the Waste to threaten everyone. However, peace is threatened again as King Globespin of Garbagia is kidnapped during apprentice knight Dustin Binsley’s watch. Sleeping off a hangover at the time, Dustin must venture forth to clear his name and save the king.
A simple sense of wordplay is ingrained into character and place names of Kingdoms of the Dump that makes it tough to take the title seriously. Sometimes, when the game leans into the puns, they elicit a wry chuckle, other times, it draws out the type groan that could only come from an unamused teen rolling their eyes at yet another dad joke. Having a sense of humour is not a bad thing, and when the balance works, it really showcases the best of both worlds. However, the shift is often jarringly quick, especially when conversing with the common citizen, who seem to only exist to further the puns. This makes all the betrayal, political intrigue, and heroic deeds feel a bit hollow when they often just set up another joke.
[caption id="attachment_182120" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Really!? There's just no suitable expression for this word choice.[/caption]
Dustin Binsley is a garbage can knight. That is a sentence not found in a typical RPG, and neither are the primary party members that tag along. Joining him is his best friend Ratavia, a rat thief with a hidden past, and the pair also stumble upon Walker Jacket, a librarian and Garmentian (a race of sentient robes) investigating the kidnapping as a member of the librarians of Book’s End that maintain neutrality in global affairs, and his young wooden instrument apprentice Lute. With the mystical Garmentian Laundromancer Cerulean and a nonchalant shapeshifting sting bug called Musk rounding out the roster, it makes for an unusual party of characters derived from the richly designed races of Kingdoms of the Dump . They fit into the typical party roles well and each undergo a journey of self reflection and growth that, when it gets the chance to shine between all the puns, can make the world feel grounded.
Moving from town to town, the party travels through a nostalgic SNES-styled Mode 7 overworld map. This overworld shines in how it captures the past so eloquently, though there are still some bugs, with areas that look like they could be travelled ending up being hidden walls, including colourful entry points that go nowhere. There isn't any combat during this traversal, so players can just move around looking for treasure chests, or if they're lucky, a hidden area. Most of these areas go to side quests or quick spots with treasure, but sometimes players can gain access to the dungeons before intended and bypass parts of the story.
[caption id="attachment_182121" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Time to take out the laundry! Oh no, the puns are invading here too![/caption]
The dungeons of Kingdoms of the Dump consist of interconnected isometric set pieces containing visible encounters, obstacles to get past, and platforms to jump between. When progression focuses on their character-specific abilities, overcoming these obstacles can be fun, but there's a visual quirk where the character cuts into the background or unintuitive ways to progress that take a bit of getting used to. Some of the more basic abilities include: Dustin rusting metallic objects for a source of metals (magic points) or breaking gates that bar the way forward, Ratavia climbing vines and pipes, Lute shooting out a chord to connect to posts farther away, and Musk transforming into another character during stealth segments of the main story. There's an "unstuck" option in the menu at all times if players jump themselves into a corner, which is helpful, but still quite telling that it needs to exist at all.
The Garmentians are the biggest source of fun and frustration for traversal, as Walker's floatiness makes it easier to manage jumps, is immune to hazards on the ground, and can shoot enemies to temporarily stun them. Cerulean's bubbles are the bane to this platforming, as they create a bounce that's needed to climb a lot of walls. The basic jumps are easy, but stacking them close together or pushing one out to time a bounce to another platform is just an exercise in frustration to those uninitiated with platforming. Since every platform is at an angle and jumps are not always in a straight line, there can be a lot of trial and error trying to master it.
Kingdoms of the Dump utilizes a three-member active party, occasionally joined by a computer-controlled guest. Guests act as additional meat shields to soak up damage while the party does the real fighting. Fights take place on two connected three-by-three grids. While turns are individual for each combatant, the player's turns are usually grouped together before or after the enemy's. Magic points and healing are hard to acquire, meaning fast enemies are particularly frustrating to deal with. Timed presses of the action button when attacking or defending grant some slight benefits that grow throughout the game. Typically, though, it's just a bit of extra damage or in the case of defending, an occasional miss. Getting the timing down takes a few tries and, if successful, is signified by a “wow” on screen.
[caption id="attachment_182122" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Okay, time to get a nice hot iron massage...wait a minute.[/caption]
Positions affect combat; being on the frontline results in more damage compared to the middle or back rows, though this aspect rarely changes the trajectory of a fight. Where positioning in combat does become a more significant factor is in avoiding debuffs, which affect the square and not the character. If the tile underneath turns to water, oil, or mold, players should use the free move action to shift off that tile immediately to avoid danger, such as water being struck with lightning to cause extra damage. Players have a harder time using this to their advantage, as enemies just wander around every turn, so its hard to tie them down to make it worthwhile. Mold tiles, particularly confusion mold, feel broken. While in a confused state, any action is available, including wasting the shared magic point pool. Even if the character breaks the confusion, as long as the mold is on the tile, they will just start their next turn confused again anyways.
Both the timed-buttons and movement mechanics keep the player engaged in each fight, but eventually, combat quickly becomes routine and formulaic. The only time this is shaken up is with party members' Boiling Point skills. Taking damage or using an item are the only way each character's boil bar fills. When maxed, the attack prompt is replaced with Boiling Point, which gives a strong ability that follows its own input mechanic. For example, Dustin has to rapidly press the directional pad to get the most out of his attacks.
The party utilizes metals as shared magic points for using special character abilities. Unfortunately, there's only three ways to regain metals once they are used. The first is from Dustin rusting giant nails and screws found in dungeons, the second is from rare items, and the third is from one of two characters that can MP drain with one of their abilities. Draining ends up used frequently to make sure healing spells are available due to no regular source of healing items, and to make magic users retain their usefulness. Luckily, the return on a drain is more than that used by single spells, allowing players to develop a routine. Ultimately, there are a lot of interesting aspects to the combat system that do not get full utilization in a worthwhile way, making it feel like busy work to accomplish something normal instead of something special.
[caption id="attachment_182123" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Can't even grab a drink in peace.[/caption]
The Lands of Fill are colourful and interesting to behold. From the landfills of Garbagia and the deserts of Insectia to the pillowy clouds that the Laundromancers inhabit and the wooden sections of the Tabletop, every town and dungeon has lovely backdrops. The expressive character designs are fun to see move around, fight against, or yes, even use in platforming if the spot isn't too difficult. The soundtrack is expansive, filled with tracks that follow a sense of playfulness that ties them to the wonderfully weird world, and a few are homages to classic tracks from the SNES era that bring a smile when they pipe in. Two of the constants, the battle themes and flight music, stand out, with the fanfare from the heightening trumpet, synth, and entire orchestra combining into a delightful symphony.
Kingdoms of the Dump displays plenty of effort and ideas stemming from a unique premise. Combat tries something new, but ultimately feels like a complicated way of doing something routine, and the platforming bugs can irritate quickly. However, the heartwarming and remarkably designed party members and its world, with something new to see around every corner, make that irritation disappear quickly. Tone shifts between jokes that don't always land and serious stakes of world altering proportions make the story feel too disjointed to be a win, but the passion is clear and there is still enough quaint charm to give this quirky title a worthwhile look.
The post Kingdoms of the Dump Review appeared first on RPGamer .
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