Games worth discovering

Ten-minute dungeons?!? Dimension Hunter is a bullet hell roguelite that won't waste your time

4K View2023-12-07

Dimension Hunter

ActionRoguelikeShooterDungeon

Get

SHOULD I PLAY DIMENSION HUNTER?

Check this one out if you’re into roguelites and like bullet hell mechanics, but skip it if you’re not that into the genre. Dimension Hunter is a fun and fast-paced dungeon crawler that’s easy to pick up and play, but aside from its awesome pixel art, it doesn’t do anything that makes it stand out from the crowd. It might not be the most original game, but there are plenty of cool power-ups and weird monsters to fight, so die-hard roguelite fans should definitely give it a try.

TIME PLAYED

I’ve played around four hours of Dimension Hunter so far. I can usually finish a dungeon run in under twenty minutes, so I’ve had the chance to fight all kinds of bosses, test out all sorts of power-ups, and unlock three additional characters. I always felt like I had a goal to work towards, and that made the game hard to put down.

WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT DIMENSION HUNTER?

• Fast, satisfying play sessions. Like I said earlier, Dimension Hunter isn’t particularly innovative, but its devotion to tried-and-true gameplay mechanics make it an easy game to pick up and play. The controls are extremely intuitive, and I was able to shoot my way through hordes of monsters without going through any lengthy tutorials.

Not only was it easy to pick up the basics, but the overall gameplay loop was streamlined and fast-paced. A full dungeon run usually took anywhere from ten to twenty minutes, and if that was too long, I could just pause my run and pick things up later. This speedy, no-fuss approach to gameplay is exactly what I want in a mobile game.

• Fantastic pixel art. I’m a sucker for good pixel art, and the colorful pixelated visuals in Dimension Hunter definitely take the game to the next level. Whether I was fighting a giant slime or a miniature werewolf, every monster was bursting with personality. The in-game graphics look fantastic, but I also loved the look of the loading screens, which showed my character in all kinds of relaxing scenarios.

• Stress-free gameplay. I enjoy punishing roguelites, but sometimes, I want to zone out and play something that won’t leave me feeling frustrated. Dimension Hunter has minimal consequences for failure, so I was able to experiment and try different strategies without stressing myself out. If I died before I finished a dungeon run, I could use in-game currency to revive my character or sit through an ad. After that, I could pick up where I left off and dive back into the swing of things.

• Microtransactions that don’t feel scummy. While Dimension Hunter does have ads and microtransactions, they didn’t get in the way of my experience at all. I consistently received free rewards, so I was never tempted to spend real money.

WHAT SUCKS ABOUT DIMENSION HUNTER?

• It gets pretty repetitive. The biggest issue with Dimension Hunter is a lack of variety. I fought through the same monsters and battled the same bosses over and over again. There are a decent selection of power-ups to choose from, but most of them are fire- or ice-based. It’s not unusual for me to spend dozens hours playing a single roguelite, so I’d really appreciate having access to a wider range of monsters and a weirder pool of power-ups and weapons.

• Translation issues. Dimension Hunter isn’t a text-heavy game, but I still spotted a lot of errors during my playthrough. Sometimes, this made it a little difficult to understand how a weapon or power-up was supposed to work. What does “hits have a 10% extra chance to summon the summoner’s pet” mean? I was generally able to figure things out through trial and error, but clearer writing would have made for a much smoother experience.