1UP writes: "At some point in the evolution of the MMORPG genre between EverQuest and World of WarCraft, developers learned an important lesson in carrot-on-a-stick psychology: Gamers are much more willing to spend hours grinding away in a virtual world if they have quests pushing them along, even of the most bare-bones variety. Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts for the PSP is a (mostly) single-player RPG that incorporates this quest-based structure in a well-designed, addictive way, transforming what could've been a bland hack-n-slasher (see the DS version) into a fun, portable, level-up marathon.
While the actual plot of Dungeon Explorer is unrepentantly linear and unbelievably clichéd, the developers at least did players the considerable favor of keeping cut-scenes very brief. Most of the story sequences take place before and after "special quests" that are available only after clearing out a set number of regular quests, which can be performed in any order. Running to the guild in between missions to grab some new objectives, change jobs, and load up on party members lends the feeling of being a true free-roaming adventure, even if the area you're walking around is still fairly concentrated".
Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts is Hudson Software's new release, which has strong similarities to a Diablo type game. Dungeon Explorer is set in ancient times when evil monsters terrorized the lands by coming up through dungeons. The inhabitants of the land banded together to fight off the demons, but after all the demons had disappeared they had to fight with something more powerful than demons. Hatred, greed and anger threatened to break the people apart. While everyone was fighting each other, the monsters below were feeding off this hatred and began multiplying so that one day they could come back and threaten the people once more…
If you've ever played Diablo before you'll know the concept of this game. You begin by creating a character, everything from his name to the color of the outfit and of course attributes. Once your character has been created you go on to begin your first quest, creating a seal between the dungeon and the above ground.
CheatCC writes: "RPGs are certainly one of the most venerable video game genres ever. And with something so old, you've really got to work hard toward ensuring it doesn't die. Thankfully, RPGs have had some pretty excellent taking-care-of from various different franchises who are excellent at developing the genre to give players what they really want. Other titles in the genre, however, kind of seem to be stuck in the past. "
Graphics are decent, but the sound is obnoxious... No significant voice acting, either, which could've livened things up a bit. Co-op games are great, but Dungeon Explorer failed to excite GamePro.