The Land Beneath Us

The Land Beneath Us is a fun Rougelike adventure with an excellent theme in Welsh mythology while also well with keeping players on their toes and think in a strategic way to the point that I felt more like playing a dangerous game of chess at various points. Though some characters, like Sven's PC Companion may get on player's nerves, the game's replayability is high and it's story and finding out more about Sven's past keeps the player on board and makes them want to clear each area of Annwn and get every ending the game has to offer.

The Land Beneath Us looks like a classic turn-based roguelite with pleasing pixel art and very tiny levels full of dangers, in which every move must be carefully weighted. The weapon equipment system, however, grants a great variety of scenarios, making our hero sometimes very powerful only when moving upward, sometimes stronger in lateral movements, forcing us to adjust our strategy according to his position and the direction in which it would be most appropriate to engage enemies. A good variety of monsters, bosses and power-ups should keep roguelite lovers entertained for quite a while.

The Land Beneath Us is a good game for anyone who likes fast action, quick but thought-out decisions, and a rogue-lite structure. It doesn’t do much to innovate in any of these spaces, but the mechanical implementation is strong. The idea of wielding four weapons, one for each movement and attack direction, creates interesting tactical possibilities. There’s also plenty of variety for both relics and weapons, which keeps runs fresh. The presentation and story are competent, although nothing special when compared to other titles in this space. The Land Beneath Us delivers a fluid and fun experience as long as players don’t mind some runs that simply go nowhere.

Quotation forthcoming.

If you enjoy turn-based gameplay and get a kick out of dodging attacks and outmanoeuvring enemies, The Land Beneath Us might be worth a try. Its innovative design, with a four-weapon system mapped to directional keys and Helldiver-esque command combinations, is both creative and quite engaging. Unfortunately, the levels are rather monotonous, with few surprises throughout the game, and the overall content is relatively sparse.