Games like Darkest Dungeon and Dark Souls really excite us here at Honey’s Anime. Titles like these blend together difficulty and enticing gameplay to create truly rewarding experiences. With the surge of popularity of games that test your patience as a gamer, we’ve seen many titles try to pull off tough gameplay with working gameplay—meaning the game actually plays well—to mixed results. MISTOVER from developer KRAFTON Inc. seemed to be quite intriguing when it came across our inboxes. We downloaded MISTOVER and entered the dreary world within and were surprised with several things we noticed. Is MISTOVER exciting to play and does it reward you with that sense of success or does it fail to deliver like so many titles before it? We find out in our full review of MISTOVER for the Nintendo Switch! Just keep scrolling down to read it for yourself!

MISTOVER is a RPG dungeon crawler where players have just joined a group of fighters/explorers called The Corps. In theory, The Corps job seems simple. Explore a place beyond a strange mist called The Vortex and learn what secrets lie beyond. Unfortunately, hidden in this dark world lies deadly creatures and numerous threats for the unassuming. Gather your party and prepare to make choices that can affect your life and those around you. Welcome to MISTOVER, the world of danger awaits your first move…

The world many knew changed when the Vortex appeared. Lands were swallowed whole by the strange mist and beings from another world ravaged humanity. As fast as the beings arrived though, they disappeared leaving humanity scared of their sudden reappearance. In order to combat the creatures, The Corps was created with the goal of entering the Vortex and learning where the creatures came from and if there is a means of removing this scourge. You have lost your memories and have been saved by The Corps. As a new recruit your duty is simple. Gather a party, enter the mist and learn what you can. Can you survive the Vortex and the peril within?

At first MISTOVER screams Darkest Dungeon, a title that had players enter a dreary world where darkness literally surrounded your every turn. In many ways MISTOVER does have those similar themes, but where Darkest Dungeon nailed the RPG dungeon crawling elements, MISTOVER falters in several areas. However, even with those weaknesses we won’t lie, MISTOVER was a fun game to play.

First, the main thing you’re doing in MISTOVER is entering a roguelike dungeon—meaning it keeps changing with each entry—to explore various locations and find a means of keeping the world safe from the monsters within. In order to enter these dungeons though you’re going to need a team. Like most RPG titles with dungeon crawler elements, you create your team via a guild, buy their loyalty and take them into the dungeon after grabbing a quest via The Corps. MISTOVER nails these RPG elements by providing a bevy of useable characters that range from samurai, magicians, holy guards and so on. Don’t get too attached to one character though. Once you enter the mist and The Vortex, you’ll begin to see that death is waiting with open arms.

MISTOVER is a tough as nails RPG and it’s why we mentioned Dark Souls earlier in this review. From the gate you’ll be thrown into encounters with monsters that seem to always outnumber you and constantly test every action you make. Choices matter greatly in MISTOVER. We won’t spoil it, but you’ll begin to learn that when certain actions are meant to be taken, there’s a gravity to said choice. It can change the story in numerous ways and even how your party reacts to the world just like Darkest Dungeon.

Now here’s where MISTOVER begins to falter slightly. While the RPG combat works well, the RNG doesn’t. When players interact with an enemy, the world changes to a grid-like setting and your party enters combat. You can attack, use items, use skills and/or move in different spots on your side of the battlefield. This all works quite well, but often the RNG of MISTOVER is quite evil to be frank. In the early game, you’ll find attacks missing like crazy, enemies constantly hitting for critical damage and encounters to be quick and constant. While exploring the dungeon, you can regain health if you’re party is fed, but as you empty your stomach, your party will actually lose health and enter battle with a higher chance of death. MISTOVER does have a saving grace during combat that acts as a “last stand” where a character can have their HP zeroed out but if they get hit while in this state…they die permanently. MISTOVER will teach you early on that it holds back to no one.

MISTOVER does also have another issue that can take some of the fun out of early exploration. Progress made in MISTOVER feels slow and tedious early on. You could almost expect this given you need to learn the mechanics to the letter in order to survive but this slow pacing can really make MISTOVER boring for the first several hours. As you master your skills, get better equipment and learn how to navigate dungeons safely, MISTOVER speeds up a bit but even then it can be a bit slow. Dungeon crawling RPGs tend to have this issue often, but it can still be quite annoying to deal with.

The final element we wish to mention—one that MISTOVER nails—is the art design. Everything from the sprites to battle animations—as minor as they are—look gorgeous in MISTOVER. There’s a dark tone to MISTOVER, but this works to make characters look grittier and the environments more threatening. Add to this a haunting but engaging soundtrack and MISTOVER immerses you in this collapsed world filled with danger and mystery.

The MISTOVER is what we call a solid attempt at blending two themes together. On one hand, MISTOVER nails the dungeon RPG theme with some truly impressive—though occasionally dreary/bland—art and some solid gameplay concepts such as the turn based system and RPG mechanics. Where MISTOVER fails is delivering what feels like a fair RPG experience. MISTOVER is brutal and often that feels less like Dark Souls hard but more due to RNG being constantly against you. Get used to dying from cheap bosses, cheap random encounters and a lot of bad luck. When MISTOVER doesn’t hit you with the RNG hammer, it actually is a lot of fun and truly reminiscent of games like Darkest Dungeon. MISTOVER will make you want to break controllers and throw things in frustration but when it works, it provides a fun—and occasionally awarding—experience worth a purchase.

MISTOVER is a game we loved and hated in equal measures. Not too far from Dark Souls, MISTOVER provides a challenge where most RPG dungeon crawlers don’t. Your actions matter and often you’ll realize you’re doing something wrong as the story changes in turn. Akin to Darkest Dungeon, changes in MISTOVER can be cruel and sudden but those changes make for an experience you’ll never have twice. Where MISTOVER misses the mark is some issues with its slow pacing and RNG being quite unforgiving. If you can stomach some truly annoying early dungeons and hard as nails encounters, then MISTOVER will be a game you want. Are you tempted now to buy MISTOVER? Let us know via the comments below! More game reviews and anime themed articles await those who stick with us here at Honey’s Anime!