The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos

It’s a nice classic-style fantasy RPG with turn-based combat, excellent story and hilarious priceless humour in huge amounts all the way long. It’s almost like a parody on Baldur’s Gate 3 before it was developed (actually, it’s a parody on D&D in general).

I’ve started it first on the maximum difficulty and it was a bit frustrating (possible, but barely enjoyable), so restarted on “normal”. In the first chapters it was almost challengeable, but way too easy later on. There is some unusually high random involved in the fights, it would be too much for a serious RPG with turn-based combat, but I see it as a part of comedy and it feels right this way (“cursed dice” etc).

Levelling up is very joyful, the building is also a part of comedy, even the way stats presented looks like getting fun of D&D. Some of the skills are hilarious (and also useful), for example, there is a skill “Dwarf Throw” that can be used to throw a dwarf if there is one nearby (very useful).

I think that only people who fluently understand English, French or German can fully enjoy this game, as only those languages are voiced (I’ve played it in English, not sure how good is German, but French is surely good as this is a French game based on French material). I’ve read some of the text in some other language without voicing and it feels completely different and even bad, too much lost or changed in translation. Humour and voice acting are things that making this game special.

10/10.

The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk
The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk (DoN) is a tongue-in-cheek attempt at a dungeon-crawling RPG. Full of weird humor poking fun at RPG tropes, tactical battles, a story that goes in multiple directions, distinct classes and colorful graphics; this game should appeal to most fans of the genre.
There are two make-or-break characteristics of the game:
1. Let's start with what makes DoN distinct and that's the humor. This is not a serious game. The humor doesn't always work but the entire game is spent poking fun at RPGs, with continual 4th wall breaks (ex. a character stating they weren't rolled that way), party banter that's built off of stereotypes and the occasional sarcasm. This satire of the traditional RPG is what gives life to the game and this will be your first make-or-break point. I found it generally okay with more occasional grins than eye rolls. It's not Deadpool-level writing and some tropes got very old (Thief, Elf) but it was fine.
2. Then there's the combat. You'll command up to 8 players in your party, one of which you get to choose a few hours into the adventure. Each has a very distinct play-style so don't worry about too much overlap. You'll take your heroes into many battles, in many of which you'll be outnumbered, and have to use them as a cohesive whole to win and progress the story. There are synergies between some characters and abilities and you can even use your tech tree to make additional ones. So you will face tactical choices like keeping characters together to improve hit chances while risking AOE damage from the enemy. It's generally well done and this is the second make-or-break point. If you don't enjoy the combat you won't really like the game. Personally, I really don't like this style of combat much any more and this is why DoN will be a one-time, fire-and-forget title for me.
As for the rest of the game, it's like the first two points in that it's a mixed bag.
- The voices are okay if annoying at times. For instance, love the Dwarf, hate the Elf.
- The graphics are colorful but the camera is a bit too top-down for my liking and I would have a liked a bit more variety in the environments.
- The story takes many twists and turns but lacks a cohesion that makes in meaningful. This is on purpose to support the poking at the tropes of the RPG genre but also provides a less "meaningful" experience.
- The skill trees for characters are nice and varied, allowing you to build a party that reflects your personal choices but I never found a respec option.
- Each encounter is distinct though the enemies, all of which were humanoid except spiders, could have used some additional variety.
- Gear is varied but like many games, you'll be broke for a long time and then you'll end up with tons of gold. So you can't afford anything for about 2/3rds of the game and then you can buy everything.
-Performance is solid but I encountered a stretch there where combat encounters wouldn't end, a couple of crashes and the sound cut out from time to time.
- The AI is pretty smart and battles are challenging. However, there's no respawn and no way to grind up a level so if you get stuck you're going to have to replay that battle over and over until you figure out how to win.
As an aside, it took me about 24 hours to finish the main quest. I did some side quests, especially at the start but fewer towards the end. If you're more of a completionist or playing at higher difficult levels, figure about 30 hours.
To wrap it up, I respect what DoN attempted and largely achieved. It wants to be a 4th-wall breaking comedic turn-based RPG that's challenging and yet still light-hearted. And it is. I don't think everything worked well and the combat got old with me, which really hurt my enjoyment of the title. To be honest, I really just wanted to get through it at the end. But it's a good game and one that many RPG fans will enjoy just because it successfully does something different.

I love this game. A great break from thousands of hours of civilization games, fallout and xcom I enjoy the humor. Quirky, fun. I am an older gamer (50s) and started w RPGs with pen and paper. I tried on a whim and even though I only have 3 hrs playtime I am very pleased. Probably first review I have submitted.

Fun combat, funny dialogue and interesting characters (makes sense, it's based on an audiobook) with good banter. Pretty art, very enjoyable music and good voice acting (I'm playing in French, which is the original language, can't speak for other languages) as well. I like it.

This game is the most underrated Turn Based SRPG ever made.
It's crazy how many people leave this game off best tactics rpg lists, like it doesn't even exist.
It's the living definition of a slept on gem.
* Probably the best animated game in the genre. With nice clean but unique almost pixar style of graphics.
* lot's of content with the DLC's that expand the campaign, with a bunch of secrets/optional content.
* Interesting cast of characters based on a group of fantasy Stereotype losers. Every character has a lot of personality.
* The battles are engaging, polished and well crafted. Lots of gear and builds to play around with. Steals smart elements from Xcom like games. (they have now added an option to speed up the enemy turns, which helps to remedy the complaints that it's too slow.)
* Leave the melodrama at the door, this is a comedic game that parodies fantasy tropes, for a change. A big plus in my eyes.
I see most of the time the game is criticised its for the humor, which is admittedly not for everyone. Alot of people say it's cringe, but I think those people need to get over themselves. In a world of games filled with angsty brooding teenagers and political drama. I found it a breath of fresh air that even gave me the occasional chuckle.

Fantastic game overall.

Its a troll version of an RPG dungeon crawl that pokes fun at the genre. Its got just enough choices and replay-ability that its worth taking up multiples times. The fights are challenging but not obnoxious as some can be in these types of games (looking at you XComm). The puzzles are the same, just challenging enough to be fun. Recommend buying, would buy again.

Dungeon of Naheulbeuk is not at funny as it thinks it is. I did chuckle at times but its not a laugh riot unless you think a Barbarian talking about foot odor and a Dwarf swearing at everybody is hilarious. Luckily it makes up for it by being an excellent turn based strategy game. I really enjoyed how unique each character felt and how the team support and cover options worked very well. The battles tended to add twists to keep things from getting too samey too! If you enjoy turn based tactical battles and like your Dungeons and Dragons on the silly side I think you can have a lot of fun in the Dungeon of Nab.. Nubu... This game!