#171

Take me to the Dungeon!! By Hanabi Fuusen

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[Summary]

Explore the depths of this massive dungeon with your adorable companion Una in this exciting R-18 deck-building adventure!

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Review:

YES!! YES!! YES!!

FINALLY! We were blessed with a Deckbuilding game that was tested and developed by people who actually give a f***.
People who wanted to deliver the closest experience we'll ever get to a full-fledged deck roguelike, but 18+.

Good H games come in all shapes and forms.
We can all argue about the pacing of how quickly the "goods" are delivered, but in all honesty, it all depends on the kind of user experience the devs plan for us. 

To me, as much as I enjoy, and often even prefer a straight to the point integrated  H gameplay, the king will ALWAYS be a real engaging game that has the perfect balance between regular and 18+ content.

I've often came across an attitude by some that a good H game doesn't need to try this hard - "just deliver the porn bro, we'll take it from here".
Understandable, but if you're looking for another fap material, the internet got you covered with an infinite source for your spank bank.

Me on the other hand? Since the old days, when I first heard about the elusive nude "cheat codes" in certain popular games back in the day, and as those titles kept adapting sexier models, all I ever wondered was "why not?"
Why doesn't anyone take that extra step, and give us what we really want, instead of teasing us with ludicrous jiggle physics and tight butts?

Fast forward to 2023, and the future is here.
Say hello to another H gaming masterpiece: "Take me to the Dungeon!!"

We've all played Slay the Spire, Monster Train, etc...
You know the spiel: buffs, debuffs, min/max trying to work the best DPS output without cutting off your defense too much.

It's all there, with its own twist of course.
But before we get into the technicalities, lets talk a bit about the premise:

You're some guy, possibly a neet, chillin' in your room until a sudden earthquake cuts off all the electricity besides your laptop.
After a quick look into the strange phenomenon you get sucked into another dimension roaming with monsters.

Long story short: you meet Una - a sexy female warrior in search of her younger sister, which she believes has went into the last dungeon she haven't explored yet -
THE dungeon.

Una sees you as a reliable strategist after your first encounter with a savage orc, that together you make it as a duo to find her sister and a way to send you back to your own world.

?️ After the intro you're introduced with the town or "the hub":
Shop, Deck setup and Tavern are your main go-to features, where you can set up your deck, your stats, and view the gallery.

As you'll set out to the dungeon, you'll notice the familiar rogue-like forked path, where you can choose the type of encounter or event you wish to engage with:

? Enemy = regular battle.
? Rare  / Infected Enemy = Elite with artifact reward.
? Treasure chest = free treasure. (or mimic encounter with higher grade treasure)
? Shop = Artifact or special card purchase (when unlocked).
⚠️ Event = Random buff to a card of choice (lasts until you're back to town).
? Rest = Recover HP and cards / receive buffs (hot spring).
? Elite = Mid-boss (artifact + cards recovery) / final boss (end of dungeon segment).

During battles, Una will act based on your choice of cards.
Each offensive card has an attribute that works in a Rock-Paper-Scissors fashion against the enemies. Non-attribute enemies won't take extra damage.

Without going into all the technical stuff: Other than raw damage or recovery, each card has 3 enchantment slots with buffs and debuffs that you must figure how to optimize together in order to defeat your enemies.

Cards cost mana crystals. Once all the crystals are used, the turn ends.
Now for the twist - once you run out of cards (or before, if you wish) you must rest and discard a card of choice.
Some cards have discard effects, but overall I'd consider most of these effects as very low impact buffs.

Discarded cards won't return until you rest, get back to town, or when an mid-boss is beaten.
This can and will create some awkward situations where you seemingly have the stats advantage, but can no longer take out the elite / boss, resulting in defeat once they beat you down or your final card is discarded.

So yes, it is very much a Min/Max Deck building game, even more so than how these usually go.
Your goal will always be how to maximize your damage in a race against the bosses extra beefy life bars.

It is certainly a fresh take that I welcome, as you're not given a lot of wiggle room to begin with only 8 cards in a deck (can be upgraded later).
This results in very quick regular battles, which isn't common in the genre, but at the same time a bit of a drawn out boss battles, since your deck constantly shrinks.

Less cards = less damage given = more damage taken.
Becomes a race that can only be won based on your decision making until those final encounters.

? So when do we meet all the other good stuff?

I'm glad you asked.

Thankfully this beautiful artwork wasn't blown only on static CGs, but also smooth Live2D style animations, accompanied by dialogues, sound effects, and voice acting that completes the steamy scenes.

Some events (or a mimic) will trigger a lewd scene. All of these scenes without exceptions are still CGs only that can of course be viewed later at the tavern's "memories" aka "H Gallery".

Unlocking those sweet animations will require getting defeated by the main lair's boss for the defeat scene, or winning for the aftermath more "consensual" scene. 

Keep in mind that all lewd content is pretty vanilla.
No pregnancies, massive schlongs, bukkake parties, golden showers or anything of the sort.
If your prime entertainment expectation is some kind of wild kink, then unfortunately you'll have to look elsewhere.

To me it wasn't just the pretty art that made the scenes enjoyable, but rather the growing relationship between Una and the MC, with some decent and daresay humorous writing that made me interested in slowly unraveling the events instead of mashing through the good parts.

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Overall, you know the devs did a good job when at times you start forgetting that you're playing an 18+ game after getting invested in the writing, or having
"one more try" after a boss beatdown when you know you got more important things to do irl.

I kid you not, these bosses are SUPER well designed.
Perhaps I'm just bad, but so far every battle felt like a strategic clutch with 1~3 cards left, maximizing all my sources of damage to grind out that thicc healthbar.

Even when losing, I quickly got back to where I was, trying things a bit different in hope for a victory this time.
That was very likely the biggest hook for me, and all the merrier with the
sexy rewards that were well worth the journey.

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Take me to the Dungeon!! is available on Steam.

❤️ For relevant H content of this title you may contact me in DM for referrals.