The Keep

 Switch
Metascore
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No score yet - based on 2 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Apr 4, 2019
    80
    A very good classic dungeon crawler with lots of interesting puzzles and ideas. It just doesn´t always have the most comfortable controls... At least in comparison with the first 3DS version. [Issue#293]
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  2. Digitally Downloaded
    Jan 3, 2019
    60
    Despite those struggles, I loved my time with The Keep, though admittedly I'm part of the target demographic that it's really designed for.

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No user score yet- Awaiting 1 more rating

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. duke_dobo
    Jul 4, 2019
    1
    Awful controls, kill the joy of playing :( This game was developed for different platform and it is just lazy that they didn’t adapt them forAwful controls, kill the joy of playing :( This game was developed for different platform and it is just lazy that they didn’t adapt them for the
    Switch.    … Full Review »
  2. TheFlannelFox
    Dec 31, 2018
    5
    Get ready for this deadly puzzler

    The Keep is a first person dungeon crawler with an old school vibe and a lot of environmental puzzles    Get ready for this deadly puzzler

    The Keep is a first person dungeon crawler with an old school vibe and a lot of environmental puzzles that you will methodically work your way through.

    After a brief tutorial where you are shown the basics, you begin in a prison with all of your gear taken away. So you must collect gear and experience to level up your gameplay. Fighting goblin knights, rats, and spiders will raise your experience accordingly, depending on if you slay they with traditional melee weapons or magic. For a bit of a head start you can enter a dream world before each level that gives you an opportunity to grind for more experience and potions; making your run through the proceeding level a little bit easier.

    The combat in The Keep as mentioned earlier is either melee or ranged magic spells.

    For a melee attack, you must press your R button to open a slashing interface, which you can only do around an enemy or environmental obstacle, then move your right joystick from left to right to complete the attack. Then after that attack you wait for the prompt again, hit the R button AGAIN, then swipe again. Once you have enough charge built of from the previous attacks it gives you options for stronger attacks which require a different input movement with the right joystick basically a right, left, right or up, down, up, not the swirly motion trails that the interface suggests. If this sounds tedious it absolutely is. If you are facing two opponents attacking you head on it is very difficult to quickly deal with this clunky system to defeat them both without taking too much damage. You’ll find that moving around the level physically dodging you’re opponents and waiting for them to walk back into attack range is you best bet for survival.

    As you pillage the dungeons you’ll collect tunes along the way which you can combine to cast different spells, recipes for which you’ll find in scrolls also hidden throughout the dungeons. Once you acquire both, you place your runes in that order and cast them with your right joystick, launching a ranged attack at whatever deadly foe your facing. This is a fresh take on magical combat and if you’re smart with your rune placement you can cast many different spells from your scrabble like rune placement.

    The levels in The Keep are cavernous puzzles which requireexploration, trial and error, and a lot of throwing stones. When moving through the dungeons you’ll encounter many different types of doors which you’ll have to figure out how to open to succeed, this is what you’ll spend the majority of your time doing in The Keep. Whether the doors are triggered by stepping on or throwing weighted items on weight triggered stepping stone squares or stepping on squares in the correct order to open a group of dungeon doors, getting everything to line up just right will take a bit of finesse. Some puzzles, CRUCIAL level completing puzzles, have solutions that are so off the beaten path and monotonous that it removes the feeling of satisfaction when finally nailing it.

    The Keep doesn’t move like your typical first person game in 2018 and with a lot of interface function at all times, it’s easy to understand why. Instead of moving with the left joystick and looking with the right, you move forward and back, then turn left and right, all with the left joystick. It feels pretty good for most of you exploration except when trying to move incredibly quick, like dodging attacks from enemies or running through the level for the tenth time trying to figure out if the combination you entered will work for a door halfway across the level.

    The Keep does run great in handheld mode which is a great place for it as you are certainly rewarded for your exploration, looking for little cracks in the rocks to open secret passageways which are hidden all over and pretty satisfying when they are loot grabs, but not when they’re level required discoveries.

    I was very excited to jump into this first person dungeon crawling experience as it’s one of my favorite genres, but was quickly let down but the incredibly tedious, unclever puzzles, and clunky combat. While the mage combat has a great spell system and there are some satisfying moments to be had, overall, for me, the game is just OK.    … Full Review »
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