RPG Maker Dungeon #8: Random Dungeon
Link: https://archive.org/details/rmn-game-12847-random-dungeon-english-version
Originally published on May 23, 2023
Random Dungeon starts abruptly. The title screen has no title. Selecting "New Game" puts you into the shoes of Ananta, an elf girl who lives in a small town with her friends and party members Shizuna and Bennett. There is no introductory cutscene to explain this to you. You have to ask around town for the locals to fill you in. Other games like Helen's Mysterious Castle make a virtue of their lack of exposition, telling their stories through shorthand. Random Dungeon does no such thing. The story is told through long dialogue sequences with the distinct cadence of comedy anime. It just takes a little while for those sequences to appear. In the meantime, the player might look at the haphazardly plotted maps, stock RTP graphics and simple battles, and wonder if they should move onto something else.
Stick with the game long enough, though, and it sinks its hooks in. The Random Dungeon of the title bursts with items and equipment that appear at random. Find the right item, and the cast will talk about it at the inn. A fairy synthesizes extra equipment into stronger weapons. A lottery awards items after enough battles fought in the dungeon, while a farm grows stat-boosting produce (and equippable potato launchers.) Each of these places have their own stories too, that unlock the more you use them. Random Dungeon has loops, and it evokes that dreaded "just one more run" feeling even though its component pieces are simple.
Random Dungeon uses touch-based symbol encounters for battles, but the corridors of each map are so narrow that it's tough to avoid combat. Basic encounters are easy to escape, but tougher enemies are impossible to run away from. Fighting common enemies in the game inevitably becomes a chore. Boss battles, though, are great. Here the game reveals itself as a fusion of Nepheshel and Diablo, requiring that the player utilize their whole inventory for each fight. The right weapon or armor can make the difference between victory and defeat. It feels great to defeat a powerful enemy many levels before you are supposed to. Later optional story duels have a sense of theatricality reminiscent of the best Japanese RPGs.
Random Dungeon, first released by hamusuta in 2009, is a cult classic in Japan. A 2014 Mogura Games article recommended it alongside the likes of Ruina: Fairy Tale of the Forgotten Ruins and Demon King Chronicle. Also on that list is Hero and Daughter, a popular 2014 game that in retrospect owes a debt to Random Dungeon's run-based structure. It has me wondering just how many other Japanese RPG Maker developers were encouraged to add randomized, run-based mechanics to their games by the success of these two titles. Could they have inspired the randomized equipment tags in PlainSoft's Capella's Promise? Or is there another game that predated Random Dungeon in its randomized elements?
hamusuta's newest project is Zakuzaku Actors, which continues to be developed to this day. The game has original (if amateurish) art and a vast cast of characters, many of whom can join your party. A Nepchan review compares Zakuzaku to Homestuck in its subcultural reach. It's an unpolished game that won an audience through earnestness, humor and sheer size. Random Dungeon is far more stripped back, but perhaps closer to Zakuzaku than you might think. Beyond the hamster wheel of its unlocks and item gacha, the game's best moments come about when the characters sit around and talk to each other. Over the course of many many battles, you learn that Ananta is strong but single-minded, Bennett is a multi-talented technician and Shizuna a powerful buffer and healer. Their functions in battle mesh perfectly with their silly personalities during their time off.
Random Dungeon's most famous mechanic is its item book, which holds a description for every single item in the game. Press the A key, and the player is given a full paragraph about where it came from or what it does. Only an indie developer would take the time to spend so much of the game's word count on something so trivial, that a player may in fact miss were they to lose track of the item book in their inventory. But then, that's the kind of game Random Dungeon is. I'm still working my way through it, and while aspects of it absolutely try my patience (too many encounters on these maps!!) I'm curious to see what other surprises lie in wait.