Neverlooted Dungeon is inspired by RPGs that were a little before my time, but I was getting strong Skyrim vibes playing the absolutely stellar Steam Next Fest demo for this wickedly clever dungeon crawler.
Developer Wild Mage Games explicitly lists Ultima Underworld, Arx Fatalis, and Thief as inspirations for Neverlooted Dungeon, and the demo I played definitely feels like a mix of elements from those genre classics. You start in a dimly lit dungeon next to a sleeping bag and a fire. The only path is too dark to explore without a torch, and I admit that I spent an embarrassing amount of time (and lives) trying to light a nearby log of wood instead of just, you know, taking the already lit and mounted torch. on the wall. That was the first of many tests where I failed repeatedly before realizing that the solution was, A) right in front of my face, or B) not even in the same orbit as my thought process.
My brief time with the demo was like playing an incredibly elaborate and dangerous physics-based Skyrim dungeon crawl. Wandering by flashlight light with a sword in my free hand, fighting monsters, solving puzzles, and navigating mazes defined my experience with Skyrim. In fact, I'd say dungeon crawling and cave spelunking are my favorite things to do in Skyrim, so you know I mean that as the highest compliment.
That being said, everything requires a lot more effort in Neverlooted Dungeon compared to Skyrim. Damage from a trap that would only require a few wheels of cheese to heal in Skyrim will kill you outright in Neverlooted Dungeon. A giant rat that you would normally ignore in Skyrim requires a deliberate and methodical attack to rid you of its threat. The puzzles are harder, the dungeons are more labyrinthine, and it's very, very easy to get lost. Instead of dead bandits, you see a bunch of dead you, because when you die your body is left with the loot you were carrying, like in the old Diablo and Ultima Online games.
Needless to say, I spent most of my time in Neverlooted Dungeon staring at a puzzle, scratching my chin, and backtracking through non-linear levels searching for my body and loot. And I had a great time. Physics-based traps are hugely creative, requiring real thought and creativity to solve, and despite the dangers lurking around every corner, every corner of the map entices and rewards.
I don't want to make RPG soup out of this story, but the seemingly limitless way you can solve puzzles and get around environmental obstacles reminds me a lot of Baldur's Gate 3, which I think tops the list of games I've compared Neverlooted Dungeon to. and it leads me to think that I should let this whole story end.
By the way, Steam Next Fest is officially over, so if you want to check out this demo, I'll do it while it's still available.
Otherwise, choose something from our list of best role playing games and get lost (in an immersive world).