Dungeons of Hinterberg

Dungeons of Hinterberg was provided by Curve Games for review. Thank you!

This review used an LCD Steam Deck. OLED details will be coming later.

I wasn't thrilled about Dungeons of Hinterberg when I saw a trailer a few months back. It seemed like a generic game without much charm or anything to make it stand out. Even the frame rate seemed a little off in the trailers. Well, I'm pleased to say that my initial impressions of Dungeons of Hinterberg were well off the mark, and having gotten the chance to play it, I am thoroughly enjoying my time with this fairly easy-going and fun adventure.

Dungeons of Hinterberg takes place in, you guessed it, Hinterberg! This fictional Austrian mountain village is where two worlds collide: the human world we're all used to and a magical world filled with monsters and the unknown. Enter Luisa, the game's protagonist, who, tired of her everyday routine, is off on holiday to Hinterberg to become a monster Slayer.

What follows is largely up to you. Days in the game are broken up into 4 sections. These are Morning, Noon, Evening, and Night.

During the morning, there's usually a short introduction to the day, often a conversation with one of the many characters in the game. Then, at Noon, you will explore one of the four regions of the game, dotted with dungeons and scenic views, both of which offer rewards. Then, time will advance to the Evening, where you can wander the town of Hinterberg and chat with the locals to boost your friendships and social stats. At night, you can either go to sleep or take a penalty to your HP for the next day and boost your social stats.

While Dungeons of Hinterberg is fairly linear in its layout, the exploration of regions and choice of what to do gives you a much-appreciated sense of freedom. The social stats you gain from spending a chunk of your time at a scenic view or talking to a villager can boost you to certain weapons or armor and relationship perks you get often give you the upper hand in combat with buffs to Luisa and her abilities.

The hub worlds are quite pretty and generally relaxing places to explore. You occasionally fight the odd group of enemies, but they are less dangerous than you will face in the dungeons. There are also plenty of things to find and loot, so it pays to spend a few minutes each day looking around.

You'll also find both dungeons and scenic views, which are the 2 main ways to advance time and spend your day. However, dungeons tend to progress the story, give you equipment, and earn you that lovely dollar bill. Scenic views boost your stats, much like socializing with the villagers, which could make a difference for you if you're struggling with a particular dungeon. You can also do little puzzles and objectives in the hub worlds, which can snag you some nice loot if you figure them out.

The dungeons themselves are usually fairly confined spaces, and the vast majority of the time, you will either be figuring out puzzles or fighting enemies. It is a fairly even 50-50 split in the dungeons. The puzzles aren't too complex, and what you're aiming for is often quite straightforward. There were a couple of times when I was confused, but I never got to the point of feeling frustrated with the puzzles given to me. The game does a good job of giving you a puzzle with only a couple of ways to solve it, so if you get it wrong, you can probably realize your mistake and get it right the next time.

The combat in Dungeons of Hinterberg feels pretty good as well. Luisa can use light and heavy attacks with her sword, as well as 2 special attacks, which can be swapped out depending on what you have unlocked, and can let her unleash shockwaves, absorb health from projectiles, and much more. Finally, you will have 2 magical abilities, which change depending on which of the 4 regions you are in.

This switch-up of magical abilities is fairly ingenious. It keeps the gameplay fresh, and it can be used at any time. The game makes liberal use of these abilities to solve puzzles, as well as to fight foes. Whether you're throwing a projectile to rotate a crank, summoning a magical ball to activate a pressure plate, or catching yourself up into a tornado to traverse areas you normally couldn't, there's a bunch of ways Dungeons of Hinterberg makes use of this change in abilities.

That being said, difficulty isn't the name of the game here. While there are different difficulty settings, I played on "Normal," and I found the game pretty easy, both in terms of puzzles and combat. You will have to dodge some attacks from more powerful foes and use magical abilities to break down the shields of some enemies, so although it is on the easier side, it isn't just mindless button-mashing when you're in combat.

If you want a challenge, there is "Tough Mode," and for those who truly want this game to be a relaxing experience that they can wade their way through, there is a "Vacation Mode," too. I imagine that's very easy, considering the Normal mode isn't challenging. The puzzle difficulty is also easier in Vacation Mode.

Dungeons of Hinterberg is a solid little game. It's oddly relaxing, with the game world and its characters exuding a very "carefree" attitude towards life. Your protagonist is on vacation, and the game does a pretty good job of making you feel like you're joining her on that vacation.

Dungeons of Hinterberg - Steam Deck Performance

Dungeons of Hinterberg doesn't offer much variety in its graphical settings, but we can adjust the game to optimize for visual quality or a higher frame rate. There's not too much to say regarding anything Steam Deck-specific; the controls work great, the UI is scaled well, and I have no complaints.

Recommended Settings - 60 FPS

In your SteamOS settings, set an FPS Limit of 60 FPS / 60Hz and then a 10W TDP limit.

We basically run the minimum graphics settings in-game. Visually, it doesn't actually change much from higher settings. The main difference is the lack of shadows, but in a game with this visual style, the lack of shadows isn't too jarring.

These settings will let you run at 60 FPS almost the entire time, except in very specific areas and a couple of cutscenes when you enter an area that will drop the framerate a bit. Fortunately, the game's dungeons are easier to run than the hub worlds, so when in more intense combat, framerate drops are unlikely.

Using these settings, the device will draw around 16-19W of power, so Steam Deck LCD owners should get 2 hours of battery life, and Steam Deck OLED users at least 2.5 hours.

Temperatures don't get too hot and tend to hover between 70-75C. There is some fan noise, but it doesn't tend to ramp up too high.

If you want to preserve battery life, use these settings but with a 40 FPS limit. The power draw will be around 12-14W then, which might net you an extra hour of battery life.

Quality Settings - 40 FPS

If you want the best visual quality the Steam Deck can offer, these settings are for you.

Set your SteamOS Frame Limiter to 40 FPS and 40Hz/80Hz, then apply a TDP Limit of 12W.

We can run with the settings much higher now. We're only aiming for 40 FPS, and every setting is as high as it can go, except Shadows, which we only set to "Low." Unfortunately, we can't even manage 30 FPS with Shadows on Normal.

I found the stability to be much the same as the recommended preset above, with a solid framerate, with the exception of some specific places and the cutscenes, which don't really affect the gameplay at all.

The power draw is similar to the Recommended preset, hovering around 15-18W. So again, expect a little more than 2 hours of battery from the Steam Deck LCD and about 2.5 hours from a Steam Deck OLED.

Likewise, the temperatures also hover around the 70-75C mark.

Accessibility:

Dungeons of Hinterberg doesn't offer much accessibility. You can disable camera shaking and place a border around the UI designed to prevent motion sickness, although I'm not sure why that would be an issue. You can also entirely disable the player being able to die, which I guess would make "Vacation Mode" even easier. All dialogue is subtitled in the game.

Conclusion:

Dungeons of Hinterberg is a delightful little adventure. It oozes more charm than I thought it would and is a genuinely relaxing experience. I think it'd be the perfect game to cozy up with on a Winter's day and just enjoy life in this tranquil, albeit quirky, Austrian village.

The game isn't too difficult, but I don't think it's meant to be. The puzzles are enough to get you thinking without being frustrating; the combat is simple yet not boring, and the number of abilities available and the variety of people to talk to keep the game fresh even several hours in.

Dungeons of Hinterberg plays well on the Steam Deck, too. Depending on the settings you use, you can play at 60 FPS or 40 FPS with some visual upgrades. The controls are perfect for a gamepad, and the UI is scaled very well; you shouldn't have any difficulty reading text.

I can recommend this game to someone looking for an adventure game that doesn't put too much pressure on the player and has a nice mix of character-building and adventuring.

Our review is based on the PC version of this game.

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