LEAVING THIS REVIEW FOR VERSION [ALPHA 6.5].
Okay, this is an extremely solid foundation for a great 18+ roguelike that I've lost a couple of afternoons playing already and it's not even close to being out yet, so I figure I should probably talk about it a bit.
PROS
+Very nice artwork; even though the developer has said themselves they aren't an artist the portraits, the backgrounds, the icons and everything else are all great as far as I'm concerned.
+Solid gameplay; unlike a lot of roguelikes where emphasis is placed on a player's input skills (i.e. Dead Cells) this is more along the lines of Darkest Dungeon, though the comparison isn't very sturdy. You are 'the guy in the chair' for this game; your job is collecting information, managing resources and occasionally deploying some long-range assistance. There will be plenty of times when you simply have to take a risk, and times when it won't pay off for you. I find it a very interesting way of making the player's ability to strategise important to victory, while also preventing the game from turning into a complete cakewalk.
+Replayability; the game has already implemented a New Game+ system where you can carry over certain benefits from previous runs by purchasing them prior to starting a new run. The currency with which you do so isn't consumed when you use it, so it's less like 'currency' and more like 'capacity'. With every new run you'll be able to start the next one that much stronger.
CONS (bear in mind this is a review of an alpha build; a lot of the stuff here is probably gonna change)
-Limited Content; at the moment just about everything to be done in the game happens in the dungeon, and the camp is just the place you spend a couple minutes re-arranging spells and doing research before heading back in. The developer has already stated they'll be fleshing out the camp greatly in time, so this is less an issue with the game overall and more with just this build.
-Lose to Win; I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of this particular style of implementing 18+ elements in a game. Not in RPGM games, and not here either. Pretty much every 18+ scene I can think of in the game requires you to position a knight in such a way that they're at pretty severe risk one way or another, and if you want to try and collect every scene you're gonna end up doing some serious damage to them over time. Effectively, you can either play the game to reach the end of the dungeon—in which case you can get there with well under 20 corruption if you play carefully and methodically—or you can play it to unlock scenes, in which case you'll more than likely lose the run before getting that far. Now, the scenes are good, and once you've witnessed them you'll be able to replay them on the Research screen after completely researching the trap or monster that caused them, but I'm not sure they're worth the sting of defeat, especially in a game that does demand a certain time investment. Perhaps I'm just not quite compatible with roguelikes in general, but either way I count it as a flaw. That said, the developer has mentioned that other H-content will become available with time, including content outside the dungeon, so this issue may well be resolved.
-Considerable Grind; some people might call this a bonus, and honestly I don't mind it personally, but I feel like it should be talked about. If you want to unlock every scene in the game for your gallery, it's going to take you a while. With a number of monsters and traps totalling somewhere around fifty at the moment (I think, count may be inaccurate but I don't think it's any less than thirty) and an average of somewhere around four or five scenes for each (though some have only two, and one has something like twelve) it's gonna take time – especially when many of those scenes have rather specific requirements for them to trigger, and those requirements can be difficult to finagle, not to mention risky. You could view it as just another aspect of the game's difficulty, but I think that's just a matter of interpretation.
CONCLUSION
Going Deeper, in its current state, is a pleasantly challenging and occasionally titillating way to spend a few hours. Frankly, it's very impressive for an alpha build, and the developer's dedication to bugfixing and their active engagement with the community is both promising and worthy of respect. I'd encourage anyone who's looking for a tactical roguelike with interesting story, surprisingly complex gameplay and the occasional lewd surprise (more if you're actively searching them out) to give it a shot and stick around for its development. This one feels like it'll only get better.
