Overview
- Number of Players
- 1 (Single Player)
- Genre
- Release Date
3DS eShop
- 19th Feb 2015, $4.99
- 26th Mar 2015, £4.49
- Series
- Official Site
- teyon.com
Reviews
Dungeon crawling on a budget
Like most dungeon crawling RPGs, Excave builds its core upon slashing and fighting your way through waves of enemies in multi-floor dungeons, collecting various weapons and healing items, all while trying to escape with your bounty. The risk-reward tension combined with the thrill of the unknown awaiting you on each...
Screenshots 6
Excave News
Nintendo Download 26th March (Europe)
Trine, Mega Man, RPGs and discounts galore!
It's time to brighten up Monday mornings in Europe, with the latest Nintendo Download Update having decent odds of achieving that goal. There is a whole smorgasbord of games and discounted goodies to consider, so let's get to it. Wii U eShop: Trine Enchanted Edition (Frozenbyte, €12.99 / £10.99) - Its...
Nintendo Download 19th February (North America)
Kirby, Axelay, RPG goodness, microtransactions, DSiWare and more
It's that time again, North American gamers, for details of this week's download goodies to warm us up for the weekend. There's a tempting Wii U retail release, along with a classic SNES shooter, some interesting RPG options on 3DS, the return of DSiWare and more. If that's got your...
News Excave Aims to Bring Dungeon-Crawling RPG Goodness to the 3DS eShop
Arrives in North America on 19th February
Teyon remains one of the most prolific publishers on the 3DS eShop, and it's now announced another release; in this case it's an RPG that's making it out of Japan - Excave will arrive in North America on 19th February for $4.99, with Europe "following soon". As you'd expect on a dungeon-crawling RPG the...
About The Game
Imperial City is at war! The King needs you to explore the perilous and ancient Labyrinth beneath the city – find out why this mysterious magical laboratory now spews out an army of powerful monsters bent on destruction, and descend to its lowest depths to rescue the missing Magician.
Triumph in a test of your weapons & magic, or perish trapped deep within the twisting halls of the Labyrinth. Explore, fight and win fame & fortune, then return to the city above to heal, identify fabulous treasures and repair & upgrade your equipment. Are you brave enough to explore the treacherous depths?
Game Features:
- Classic dungeon exploration RPG from Japan
- Choose and fully customize your character with hundreds of treasures and equipment items to collect, modify, upgrade, repair and sell
- Test your courage & skills against hundreds of unique enemies
- 50 terrifying dungeon levels to explore, with 5 massive boss fights
Comments 5
I like this. I think I shall acquire it.
Portable dungeon crawling? Sounds good to me, but I'll probably wait for a review.
After playing the game for a few hours, I found it to be a simple yet fun dungeon grinder. You choose which of the two main characters you want to be, outfit them appropriately, dive into the dungeon, defeat monsters & collect items (including special keys to unlock more of the dungeon), exit, repeat.
For an on-the-go game, this is actually a nice way to do your dungeon delving in short bursts. I like the tight controls of this one — wielding a bow proved easy to aim and it was not jumpy or sensitive at all, while the melee weaponry is varied and being able to switch on the shield no matter the weapon works seamlessly.
If you are looking for a deep story or RPG elements, so far I have not seen much of that. The intro is about all I have seen for any sense of story, and there is no experience or leveling other than equipping stronger-starred weapons, armors, and boost items. There are boss creatures, and the first one you encounter is deceptively simple but could be a problem for the unprepared, but it leaves you wondering how far the experience can be held before boredom of repetition sets in.
Melee weapons also tend to break when you use them too much, which is annoying since you have to quickly swap out the weapon for another via dragging with the stylus or your finger. This is also why I feel the bow class is the best weapon in this game, as it never needed repair whenever I have used it and the arrows penetrate through creatures.
Overall, this is a good game of the quick adventure type — despite the melee annoyances and being really short on story, it is still an engaging game that is meant for short burst, on-the-go adventuring gaming with some progression as you play. It all depends on how much you enjoy grinding and item-leveling as to if this will keep your attention.
@GloryQuestor Thanks for the review!! I've been waiting for one from NL, but after reading yours, I think I'll pick this one up. How's the gear? Is there a lot of loot to pick up?
@cbkummer There's quite a lot of item drops. The challenge becomes how much you take in to the dungeon every cycle and what to prioritize, because your inventory space is pretty limited.
As for the items themselves, they do give you a lot of flexibility how you want to do combat. For weapons I really like the dual blades (hits multiple enemies in a group) and bows (as noted above, I like the penetration aspect). The swords and rapiers are pretty good for more close target precision — it's all about what weapon you would prefer. There are also various magic books to collect, so if you want to focus on magic it gives you that option. I also started finding special messages and map pieces, but so far haven't gotten far enough in to see what these lead to. You also get accessories that you can add more than one of to focus on a particular aspect — greater attack, greater speed, etc.
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