Dungeons of Hinterberg Review: A Light Action RPG That’s As Pretty as a Postcard

Usually when a game makes me want to stop playing and go outside it’s a bad sign, but Dungeons of Hinterberg is different. It’s an action RPG that made me miss nature and want to get away from all my responsibilities and just be a little. Every time I finished playing I thought about my next trip and while exploring dungeons wouldn’t be on my vacation plan, Dungeons of Hinterberg makes me think twice.

The main character, Luisa, is stuck in a place we’ve all been before: Burnout City. She’s a busy lawyer who’s yearning for a little respite, so she’s decided to escape to the picturesque Hinterberg, a whimsical Austrian alpine village. Hinterberg is basically a vacation spot where you can wander the wilderness, have a few beers with the locals, and slay a few monsters whenever the mood strikes you.

Outside the main hub of the game, Hinterberg, there are four regions with their own dungeons. You decide which region you want to visit in the morning, spend the day fighting your way through the dungeons, spend the evening hanging out with the locals, and then end the day by returning to your hotel room. It’s a routine that you quickly settle into thanks to the unique charm of each area. From the snowy peaks of Kolmstein with its white wonderland of majestic mountains and ice caves, to the lush meadows of Doberkogel with its cows, cable cars, and flowers, I was constantly taking screenshots, slowly building up an album of holiday photos.

Each of these regions grants you two special magical abilities that you can only exploit in that area and its dungeons. In Doberkogel, for example, you can summon a giant, ball-shaped bomb that can smash through blockades, and a ball and chain that you can shoot at objects and pull them towards you. The dungeons will test these abilities through a mix of combat and puzzle-solving, all presented in very different ways. You might have to navigate an underwater castle, snowboard through a winter obstacle course, or survive a rickety minecart ride through a monster-infested cave. When you reach the end of the dungeon, you’ll receive a rewarding travel stamp in your notebook.

The puzzles hit a sweet spot where they require minimal effort and nothing really catches you off guard, but their lightness and intuitiveness make them satisfying to solve. All the usual environmental platform puzzlers are here – toggling buttons, pulling levers, moving platforms, and the like – but because of the regional magic of each area, the puzzle design is constantly changing. They force you to exploit your powers in engaging ways, and the dungeons feel like they were designed primarily for puzzles, with levels built around that central idea.

Magic isn’t just for solving puzzles, it’s also part of your combat arsenal, alongside a host of other skills. Luisa doesn’t carry around a substantial sword to keep you from crying as you’ll be slashing and slashing your way through hordes of monsters. The way she moves feels incredibly fluid, and with a few equippable skills, combat is often a whirlwind of activity and action. I can jump with 1, 2, 3 quick swings of my sword, dodge, hit them with a beam of ice (thanks to the magic power in Kolmstein), and then activate my Blade Tornado, a devastating spinning ability that’s as deadly as it sounds.

Enemies are a motley crew of ghouls and monsters, but with an Alpine twist that includes various gnomes in pointy hats, cackling witches, glum goats, and creepy wicker men. You’ll come across them in groups, often nestled (sometimes awkwardly) in different parts of the dungeon. You’ll fight the same types of enemies over and over again, which is a bit tiring, but a nice steady stream of up-to-date gear and abilities keeps the combat engaging. There are also a handful of boss fights that are the highlight of the game. In one, I had to fight an enraged basilisk with a giant beak and too many eyes while grinding on a railing on my snowboard. Fistfights with Krampus are also a thing, so look out for that.

Once you’ve dusted off the dungeons and all the puzzles and monsters, you head back to the central town of Hinterberg for some rest and relaxation. You can drop by the apothecary to refill your potions, visit the corner store to buy up-to-date gear, and chat with the locals. You can choose who you want to spend time with each day, and once you reach a certain level of friendship, you’ll be given up-to-date Persona-style items and abilities. Before you spend time with people, you’ll get a heads-up about the rewards they’ll give you, but that doesn’t matter once you’ve really gotten along with the character. I’d happily spend time with Hannah, the sweet blacksmith, even if all I got was a handful of dust.

Each character has a mini-story that ties into the larger story of the game. The arrival of the dungeons in Hinterberg has brought in a lot of visitors, which means tourism is booming. As money is pouring into the town, there’s a conflict between how the influx of visitors affects the locals and how the bureaucracy has its fingers on them. Like my girlfriend Hannah, her shop is in danger of closing due to pressure from corporate competition, so now I’m booking it around town, trying to get people to sign a petition to keep it open. Talking to the locals and helping them solve their problems gives the town and its characters a sense of colour, rather than seeing them as vending machines for items.

You can have a separate routine, but I love how different the days are. Luisa wants to complete all 25 dungeons, which means you’ll be bouncing back and forth between all four regions, and spending time with different locals each day brings up-to-date storylines and mini-quests. The best part is that you don’t even have to complete the dungeons if you don’t feel like it. Instead, you can sit in various scenic spots and relax throughout the day, which also gives you constant stat boosts. I was racing toward a lake with a dungeon portal at its center when I came across a pretty wooden pier overlooking the water. I sat on the edge of the pier and looked out over the lake. The wind rustled gently through the trees, and Luisa thought about what her colleagues would be doing in her busy office. It looked too cozy and casual, I really wanted to jump through the screen, sit down with Luisa, and share a schnitzel.

That’s what I like most about Dungeons of Hinterberg. You don’t always have to be productive, and that’s okay. When I got a little bored with exploring dungeons, I would just relax in different scenic spots during the day and work on hanging out with the locals in the evening. I did this for a whole week in the game until I felt like smashing some monsters again.

There’s a climactic rush of excitement at the end of the 20-hour playtime, but for the most part, Dungeons of Hinterberg is wonderfully laid-back. There are so many games that romanticize leaving your busy life behind and escaping into nature, but here the theme is explored in a genuine and sincere way. There’s a lesson here about how rest is the foundation of health and happiness, but I also love the way the game conveys that. It’s a gentle, reflective fantasy adventure that will have you reaching for your hiking boots.

This review is based on a test version of the game provided by the game developer.