Ebony Spire: Heresy

Not much to say besides the game just isn't terribly fun. There's no party or even character building, you just pick one of three classes and go. Gameplay is standard gridded dungeon-crawling stuff, though instead of formal turn-based combat it uses the overworld enemies system where you attack in movement. Not a problem in itself I don't think, except the game is kinda just, really easy too. There's no character progression per-se, all your growth in power is from items; thing is it's really easy to get a couple of good items at the start and become pretty much unkillable. I was able to brute force my way through like 7 floors, which mostly consisted of picking up and discarding items that were less effective to use than literally ramming into my enemies and exploring environments I think are best described as inoffensive (not that I could do better). My session came to an end when I tried to cast a spell for the lols and the game crashed. Eh.

I can't say I really disrecommend the game, it costs next to nothing and it kept me busy for an hour or so, so like it you're bored and got a dollar to burn, by all means. It's about what I expected and about what I got, so I'm not really disappointed or anything. It's just, eh.

Fun dugeoncrawler once you get around the controls and the dialoguebox style UI.
The pixel graphics are really nice as well !
The only bad point for me is the lack of music, but that isn't much of an issue nn'

played through with all 3 chars. fairly easy but fun.

This game is cool! I'm not really into roguelikes but this one had a lot of positives. I would describe it as being like Etrian Odyssey except you'll probably win

10/10 turn based keyboard-only dungeon crawler

the controls aren't anywhere obvious but you might like to know them to have fun

* W/A/S/D + Q|E for movement and camera control
* P to pick up items on the floor
* I to access inventory
* O to open/close doors
* L to access the log + PageUp/PageDown to scroll through it
* While the inventory is open select an item and press T to throw it
* Press space / enter to trigger the item in the inventory (or equip it)
* Press P to drop the selected item
* Press V to view/examine your surroundings

also

* up/down arrow : forward/back
* left/right : turn left/right
* m : open the map
* > / . (period) : use stairs
* 0 (zero / numpad 0) : enter portal

references
https://steamcommunity.com/app/725040/discussions/0/3182216552780138830/
http://www.fountainarcade.com/2017/11/ebony-spire-heresy-steam-ramblin-review.html

A fantastic game with a very classic feeling. this is a game that doesn't hold you by the hand but that makes it even better as you can explore and discover many cool things in this game world. So if you like to be challenged and you like having fun and nostalgia this is a game for you ! i highly recommend this game to any dungeon crawler fans

Pretty cool. IMO, worth it for the source code alone.

I hope others can give it some more RPG elements.

Could see this being mashed more on the wizardry side, rather than the rouglike side. Needs a little NPC dialogue system, plus obviously a more refined character system, and a new battle system.

But I dont mind the simple UI choices, perhaps just slightly expand those. And I'm infavor of the simple grapics choices, as it makes it much easier to add more content.

I've bought the game to support its creator after I've read his post-mortem on Gamasutra. The game looked nice: a love letter to the old MS-DOS dungeon crawlers, with mazes to explore, monsters to kill and loot to gather. It turned out to be even a greater throwback to old times then I expected: the game made me remember how awful the interfaces were back then, and how user-unfriendly a game can be. The game doesn't utilize mouse -- instead there's a key for everything: O to open the door, P to pick up an item, I to go into your inventory, T to throw a weapon. Instructions page are barebones too, so the game provides a double journey of discovery: one as you explore the dungeons, the other as you explore the interface, trying to understand how the hell it's supposed to work. I gave up and dropped the game when I accidentaly pressed Esc in the wrong time and found out that the same button is used to exit the inventory and to drop the game and exit to the main menu. This almost made me shed a tear of nostalgia: yes, the MS-DOS games of old times were exactly this frustrating.
Thumbs up to help the game's creator to pay his mortgage.

A fun little dungeon crawler! Thumbs up for the flawless linux support. Also thumbs up for the permadeath mode! :)

For what it is, I'd say it's a decent amount of fun. It's also nice that it will run on about anything.

Cute little dungeon crawler in the old school style. Once I figured out how to open doors, I had quite a bit of fun.

Edit: I forgot to say why I gave the game a thumbs down, and people got mad in the comments, so here goes:

In an age of game engines like Unity, you have to assume that graphics this bad are an artistic choice, and it's not one I approve of. The game itself seems in all instances to be a shareware clone of Eye of the Beholder with some procedural dungeon generation tacked one.

So, a poor execution of old ideas; cannot recommend.

Actually, my original review "I bought this because the creator seemed really sad in an article on Gamasutra." seems kinder in retrospect.

A simple, but very interesting and addictive game. I did not expect to like it so much :-)

Ebony Spire: Heresy is a fun dungeon crawl that I can definitely recommend. It has all the essential elements (you, a dungeon, some monsters), and so far I've found it to be entertaining. I haven't played long yet, just through a few times getting myself killed by these smarter-than-expected monsters. That said, I expect to play a great deal more of it!

To be honest I actually don't really know of any other blobbers (Does it count if you're just one dude?) this casual, especially not with procedural generation. Good for someone who likes the genre and wants something to quickly play in their spare time.

Not my type of game, never played dungeon crawlers, but this one is addictive. Couldn't put it down for a while after just wanted to play a quick round!
Enemies can use the same items as the player, can throw items into the player. If you still think it's easy, the game has permadeath! Pure awesomeness!

This one's an good old dungeon crawler that stays true to its core. I like the visuals, and the game kinda sucks you in right away.
Also, the dev is active and helpful on the forums.

Ebony Spire: Heresy is a throwback to the old days of computer games, for me it brings back memories to my Amiga 500 days, used to play Eye of the Beholder for hours on end and never grow bored.

This game has a lot of that feeling, each level has it's own progression in form of new environments and monsters and of course items! The character does not progress in levels, but by getting more powerfull items as he climbs the tower.

This makes the game perfect for a quick playthrough, I actually like the fact that the game only have 10 levels, you can feel the end goal from the start, the levels are quite big, but it's not hard to find the stairs to the next level, so you can either continue to expore the current level in hope to get a kick-ass spell book or take your chances with the creatures lurking above.

I managed to get to level 7 on my first playthrough, and it was a blast to see the diversity in enemies throughout the levels.

So if you're like me and enjoy a stroll down memory lane, or just like to explore a new take on the rouge-like genre. I recommend you to test this game out!

Dead.

Killed by a "Deformed Slimification" searching for the door key while being chased by bald old men trying to ask me "`bout my day..".
Used my last "Fire bomb" and no more Health potions left..

Oh.. and yes, Perma Death.. clasic :))

I haven't played dungeon crawlers in a while, but Ebony Spire, oh man...
It's so addictive and fun. I've been playing it for 2 hours straight and I can't stop!

The fact that the enemies can pick up and throw items introduces a new level of butt puckering.

Also, perma-death.

Great game!