Dungeons of Hinterberg is a fantastic game. When it dropped on Game Pass in July last year I completed the whole thing (100% achievements and all) over the course of a week. The game is an exciting blend of action, adventure, and puzzle-solving set in the scenic Austrian Alps. You play Luisa, a lawyer feeling stuck in a rut in her day to day, venturing into mystical dungeons hidden within the picturesque town of Hinterberg.
By day, you fight off monsters and conquer cleverly designed dungeons; by night, you enjoy the charming town life"”meeting quirky locals, forming friendships, and uncovering secrets. One of those friendships is with a brooding badass called Renaud. He teaches you the ‘Dance of Death’, recites poetry at the campfire and makes cryptic comments about magic destroying the world.
And now in Dungeons of Hinterberg’s new DLC you get a chance to go dungeon diving as Renaud himself.
Rift Breaker
Well, not quite dungeons. Episode: Renaud has you playing as Renaud tackling 7 rifts that have popped up around Hinterberg on the orders of the mayor. The DLC is a prequel, but you’ll have to get to a certain point in the main game to unlock it – and good thing too as it has quite a few spoilers for the mystery surrounding Hinterberg’s dungeons.
The rifts themselves are miniature versions of the main game’s dungeons. As with the main game, each one has you utilising magic and combat to solve puzzles and fight monsters. With a bit of a twist.
In the main game there are 4 areas, each with 2 specific spells that Luisa utilises to work through the enemies and puzzles. The rifts are different – they’re unstable and the selection of spells you get in each one varies based on the puzzles and combat on offer. I enjoyed the mix up, even though the rifts are all pretty short, using a new mix of spells to overcome the challenges was fresh and the puzzles were fun little brain teasers to work through.
Enjoy your Slay!
Another difference between the rifts and the dungeons is the focus on combat. You do fight monsters (even some bosses) in the main game, but the fights aren’t particularly difficult – especially with all of the perks and upgrades you can get from making friends and exploring. But Renaud is a lone wolf – fighting back against the evils of magic with his ferocious broadsword and frankly insane workout regime.
As such Episode: Renaud leans heavily into the combat of the game. Some of the rifts are full blown combat challenges, with the puzzle element coming from how you dispatch the hordes of germanic folklore creatures hellbent on killing you. And they certainly will take you out if you’re not careful. You can’t stock up on potions before each rift, and apart from the hardest combat challenges you won’t have any charms so you’ll need to use all of your skills to become the best, most badass Renaud you can be!
You still have your attack conduits (the one that rains a barrage of giant water balls all over your enemies is particularly cool) so be on the lookout for the yellow floating orbs that drop. It’s easy to get overwhelmed in some of the smaller enemies while you try and focus on the big guys and I did die a few times in some of the tougher encounters. A top tip! Your potions regenerate each day, so don’t desperately try and hold on to the all in the first rift like a dummy (me!).
A Man and his Dog
Altogether Episode: Renaud is a great little addition to Dungeons of Hinterberg. It’s a short romp through fun puzzles and tough combat, and you get to learn more about one of my favourite side characters from the main game. Renaud is a complicated man, striving to take on the forces of magic threatening to overwhelm Hinterberg on his own and turning away from the human connections Luisa strives to make in the base game. But much like every dad that claimed they didn’t want a pet, even Renaud can find the purpose in companionship with a trusty partner by his side.
Gamer Social Club would like to thank developer Microbird Games and Publisher Curve games for providing a PlayStation 5 copy of the game including DLC. Dungeons of Hinterberg, including Episode: Renaud launches on PlayStation on March 13th, the same day the DLC drops on Xbox and PC.
