The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos – Where Satire and Adventure Collide in Glorious Fashion
I must admit that I wasn’t aware of Artefact Studios or even the John Lang’s Le Donjon de Naheulbeuk French audio adventure series, The Naheulbeuk universe. However, that all changed when I discovered who would be voicing the Magician in this tactical RPG game. It is none other than the actress who plays the character, Charlie, in the CW TV series, Supernatural. She is also the author, and creator of The Guild comedy web series, the Geek Queen herself, Felicia Day. As an avid fan of her work, I knew then I would have to see what she would bring her voice too and I am so pleased that I did.
Developer Artefacts Studio and publisher Dear Villagers have put a lot of time and effort into one of the most hilarious and difficult tactical RPGs that I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos is like sitting around with your best friends who have had a long day. They want to play a game, but they don’t want to be all serious about it. They just want to relax, talk bullshit to each other, and just have a great time doing so. This game delivers on such a task. Each of the characters in The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos has their own quirks that you can’t help but find them alluring and the dynamic between them is astounding, to say the least.
The Naheulbeuk universe is a fantasy world parodying role-playing games and heroic fantasy tropes that even the most diehard fan of these genres could not help but to find humor and relief in. The rag-tag group is made up of individuals who, if left to their own devices would surely perish within moments in any adventure. Yet when they work together, their willingness to be stubborn and fight amongst their selves and a good amount of unbelievable dumb luck seem to help get them to complete quests repeatedly.
The group is made up of your typical role-playing squad. There is a Ranger who declares himself the leader of the group and who wants to keep the group moving forward until his libido gets in the way. The Dwarf is out for himself and for all the gold, and his biggest annoyance is the Elf. She is about as bright as a blown bulb and they both wish the other would be lost in battle. Next, there is the Magician who is basically the moral compass for the group, if they have one. She is also the translator for the tank of the group the Orc. He is basically the packhorse of the group and he wants to eat all the things they kill. Then there is the Barbarian who looks and sounds like he just stepped out of Konan with the catchphrase of “Crom!”. Finally, there is the Thief, who is afraid of everyone and everything and believes that the world is out to kill him.
This trope of characters has come together to find a statue in this dungeon that none of them really can remember how to say. As they explore this vast dungeon, they come across traps, puzzles to solve, enemy encounters, and the best part for me was that there is a Tavern. There is always a Tavern in the middle of the dungeon, for the questers to repair, sell goods, heal up and even have a chance to recruit other adventures that would help them on their journey.
Each character has their own equipment screen and skill tree so you can help mold each character to the way you want to play them. The items that drop for the characters are just as crazy and entertaining as the characters themselves. There is a sword that you get for the Barbarian that is called the Lame-Ass sword, with a description to let you know how lame it really is. The Thief later finds a pair of Daggers of Betrayal, which states these make great back massagers for your friends.
I was able to find even more entertainment with this game when I wasn’t even playing it. One of my children needed help with something, so I had to walk away in the middle of combat. Since it is a turn-based game, I knew it wasn’t going to continue until I returned. When I got back, I realized that the characters have been clowning on me while they waited. I listened for a while to see if I was right. The Magician said, “You know they didn’t just walk away in the middle of the fight did they.” The Dwarf stated, “I have better things to do than just wait here, I need to make some money.” The Ranger said, “This is bullshit, they better hurry up.”
Being that I was still in the beta for this game there were a few issues that I did come across. During one of the first boss fights, the game froze when the boss used his first spell which was stealth. It took almost 3 minutes for the game to catch up. It then happened again when he did it the second time and it took only a minute for the game to catch up. This issue has since been corrected. There were a few other glitches along the way but Artefacts Studio and Dear Villagers were on top of things and I believe all other bugs have been corrected as well.
The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos is a hilarious and outrageous fun-filled game. The constant banter and the fights make this game ever consuming. After playing this game, I am now going to have to find the English audio for this world so that I can learn more about it. This game is a blast to play and should be on anyone’s list of games who just want to sit down and enjoy some relaxing, hilarious, sexual innuendo tactical role-playing fun. There are hours and hours of enjoyment that will keep you not only entertained but waiting to hear what they may say next. I truly hope this is the first of many adventures for this universe. The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos costs $34.99 and is available on PC only at this time on Steam and the Epic Game store.
This review was written based on a digital review copy of The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos for PC provided by Dear Villagers and Artefact Studios.
