Indie The 7th Circle - Endless Nightmare - single character dungeon crawler with TB combat and permadeath

[68kStudios]

68kStudios
Upgrading weapons needs an insane amount of scrap at higher levels. once you get by the rocky start (floor 1 to 2); and get the +50 dmg unarmed feat, unarmed is a bit better compared to light weapons due to low stamina usage.

How exactly does base unarmed damage (before bonus from str) scale other than the +50 damage feat? For weapons it requires upgrades to increase the base damage. But in the equip screen i noticed that after a few level ups (in str, levels and unarmed skill); the damage shown in the equip menu increased.

Unarmed skill gets +5 dmg every level other than the +50 perk

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

68kStudios
Upgrading weapons needs an insane amount of scrap at higher levels. once you get by the rocky start (floor 1 to 2); and get the +50 dmg unarmed feat, unarmed is a bit better compared to light weapons due to low stamina usage.

How exactly does base unarmed damage (before bonus from str) scale other than the +50 damage feat? For weapons it requires upgrades to increase the base damage. But in the equip screen i noticed that after a few level ups (in str, levels and unarmed skill); the damage shown in the equip menu increased.

Unarmed skill gets +5 dmg every level other than the +50 perk

Thanks for the reply also whats the maximum floor? I don't want all my ~150k+ blood to go to waste accidentally clearing the game.

 

[68kStudios]

68kStudios
Upgrading weapons needs an insane amount of scrap at higher levels. once you get by the rocky start (floor 1 to 2); and get the +50 dmg unarmed feat, unarmed is a bit better compared to light weapons due to low stamina usage.

How exactly does base unarmed damage (before bonus from str) scale other than the +50 damage feat? For weapons it requires upgrades to increase the base damage. But in the equip screen i noticed that after a few level ups (in str, levels and unarmed skill); the damage shown in the equip menu increased.

Unarmed skill gets +5 dmg every level other than the +50 perk

Thanks for the reply also whats the maximum floor? I don't want all my ~150k+ blood to go to waste accidentally clearing the game.

Don't worry, if you beat the last boss (on level 16) you can still use the blood drops to upgrade the pillars (but after the last boss you have to start over with a new Alter Ego).

Also, remember that when you complete the game you can play it again at higher difficulty, try the other game modes (like the randomly-generated dungeons or the "challenge" dungeons) or continue with the "postgame" dungeons that I'm going to publish in the next few days.

 

[68kStudios]

Steam Sale! Save 15% on "The 7th Circle". Is available for Windows and Linux https://store.steampowered.com/app/832710/The_7th_Circle/

 

[newtmonkey]

I've had this on my wishlist for a while, and had some Steam cash from selling cards so ended up getting this! I've only played for an hour, but I really like what I've seen so far. Looking forward to putting some more time into it in the following weeks.

 

[LESS T_T]

"Re-launched" with a subtitle Endless Nightmare:

The 7th Circle - Endless Nightmare is a First Person Dungeon Crawler RPG for hardcore gamers. Inspired by classic games from the '90s, the game try to add new juicy features to modernize a classic genre of role playing games. Available now with 4 new dungeons and Inferno mode!

And it now has a publisher, their Italian fellow Gamera Interactive (the developer of Alaloth, doing this kind of re-launch publishing service).

 

[Darth Canoli]

I wanted to like this one but what the hell did he do with the battle system?

It's probably the worst TB battle system ever made, a kind of first person jrpg combat with that weird movement system on top, really disgusting.

 

[Contagium]

This game was...ok. After the first few dungeons it became a repetitive slog. The combat got insanely easy as your character gets stronger.

The setting has a lot of potential for a really good blobber...if the dev makes a sequel with party members and less monotonous combat.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

68kStudios
So a relaunch and everything.
Does it actually add any new updates?
Or is it just standard publishing shekel-grabbing?

 

[newtmonkey]

This started out intriguing, but now I'm halfway through exploring the second level and already starting to get REALLY bored with it. It's like a roguelike without random maps where enemies stay completely still and you have no way to interact with the game other than hitting monsters, casting healing/damage spells, and throwing switches. The game is ridiculously easy on normal and I can't imagine dying in this game. Higher difficulty levels simply inflate monster stats; I guess you'd have a higher chance of actually dying, but I couldn't see wanting to start the game over several times considering how massive the dungeon levels are and how little there is to do outside of combat.

You find little story scenes here and there, but I don't think it's enough to keep anyone going. Other than that, the game seems just to be running around in a maze to find combats to level up so that you can continue to run in the maze and enter more combats. For this to work it would need a really interesting and tactical combat system but it's far too simple to hold my attention for two dungeon levels, never mind 19+!

It's too bad as the artwork and atmosphere are both fantastic. It's a good foundation on which to build something interesting, but it's just not interesting enough. I might finish up the second level before I decide for sure, but I can't imagine myself exploring another 17 of these massive dungeon levels, unless something changes radically from that point.

 

[68kStudios]

This started out intriguing, but now I'm halfway through exploring the second level and already starting to get REALLY bored with it. It's like a rougelike without random maps where enemies stay completely still and you have no way to interact with the game other than hitting monsters, casting healing/damage spells, and throwing switches. The game is ridiculously easy on normal and I can't imagine dying in this game. Higher difficulty levels simply inflate monster stats; I guess you'd have a higher chance of actually dying, but I couldn't see wanting to start the game over several times considering how massive the dungeon levels are and how little there is to do outside of combat.

You find little story scenes here and there, but I don't think it's enough to keep anyone going. Other than that, the game seems just to be running around in a maze to find combats to level up so that you can continue to run in the maze and enter more combats. For this to work it would need a really interesting and tactical combat system but it's far too simple to hold my attention for two dungeon levels, never mind 19+!

It's too bad as the artwork and atmosphere are both fantastic. It's a good foundation on which to build something interesting, but it's just not interesting enough. I might finish up the second level before I decide for sure, but I can't imagine myself exploring another 17 of these massive dungeon levels, unless something changes radically from that point.

Thank you for your comment, I'm taking note of every feedback about The 7th Circle because I'm currently working on the "spiritual successor" of the game (it is called Inferno - Beyond the 7th Circle https://store.steampowered.com/app/1251850/Inferno__Beyond_the_7th_Circle/). You will find more variety, more focus on the exploration (it will feature a sigle huge map with different floors and a surface level), some survival elements (collect food, water, find a place to rest and stuff like this), riddles and some new game mechanics.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Thank you for your comment, I'm taking note of every feedback about The 7th Circle because I'm currently working on the "spiritual successor" of the game (it is called Inferno - Beyond the 7th Circle https://store.steampowered.com/app/1251850/Inferno__Beyond_the_7th_Circle/). You will find more variety, more focus on the exploration (it will feature a sigle huge map with different floors and a surface level), some survival elements (collect food, water, find a place to rest and stuff like this), riddles and some new game mechanics.

I'm not sure trying to bank on the first title "success" is a good idea but i'm not expert on the matter.

Did you play classics blobbers at all?
Maybe playing some Wizardry 8, Might & Magic VI and Might & Magic III is a good idea before you're too deep in the game's development.

 

[68kStudios]

Did you play classics blobbers at all?
Maybe playing some Wizardry 8, Might & Magic VI and Might & Magic III is a good idea before you're too deep in the game's development.

Of course I've played these games, however I've chosen to try a different battle system; I know that you "don't like it" (to put it mildly), I've read every comment and feedback about the game, but it's a game design choice, and you have to consider that - judging by reviews - for some people the combat mechanics are very interesting while some others don't like them...so I think that it's just a matter of taste.

 

[Infinitron]

This was also released on GOG today alongside its sequel: https://af.gog.com/game/the_7th_circle_endless_nightmare?as=1649904300

 

[rusty_shackleford]

is this any good?

very cheap on steam btw

 

[Modron]

I liked it, can be quite unforgiving at the start but once you hit your stride it's nice. Fairly meaty got about 40 hours in it mostly from one run and a couple failed starts. Rewards replays with bonuses depending on skills mastered, bonuses you can invest in via blood spilled in the last run, and a few I guess I'll say relics acquired since I can't remember the specific term 2 years later. Sequel is pretty decent as well but I did like the 7th Circle more between the two.

Will probably pickup their third crawler which is going the blobber route when they get around to releasing it:
https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...devs-set-in-dark-fantasy-roman-empire.145055/

 

[Zurat-Yarkuch]

Got this on GOG for 90% off a couple days back. Just started playing it yesterday and now I can't stop. This is really good.

First run I made the mistake of not reading the manual and got my ass destroyed. Second run has been going great so far. Focusing on light armor and twin weapons for low weight and stamina use and high combos.

Oh, something I wish I knew before starting my second run is that you can manage your deck so you are more likely to draw the cards you want for your character. Unfortunately the changes I made to the deck won't take effect until I start a new character.

But most important thing is to read the manual.

 

[Zurat-Yarkuch]

God dammit. Died due to my own hubris.

So I had made it to the 12th dungeon floor and had gotten super powerful. I decided to try and experiment with the different difficulty settings and discovered on max difficulty the enemy have a huge armour rating and maximum reflex saves (dodge chance) making melee weapons do barely any damage to them. However, magic ignores both armour rating and dodge, making it the only way to effectively play on higher difficulties. I decided for my next life, I would be a spell caster. And if I was going to be a spell caster I was going to grind all the magic skills to the max level of 30.

You level up skills by using them more, like in Morrowwind or Oblivion. If you get a skill to the max level of 30, you start with it on your next life at level 5. I decided I would get all the magic skills to level 30. I was even thinking of getting every skill to level 30 since I already maxed out a ton. You can get White Magic, Necromancy, and Conjuration to max level by spamming spells outside of combat. Black Magic and Elemental Magic only have spells that can be cast in combat. So I bumped the difficulty up to max to make enemies last long enough in combat so I could cast a ton of spells and grind them to max. I had maxed out my defences with my armour at the cap of 900 (90% damage reduction) and 90% reflex saves (dodge) so enemies killing me wasn't a concern if I played smart.

It was working out great, I cleared the entire floor of enemies and was on my way to maxing Black Magic and Elemental Magic. So I decided I would keep the difficulty on Max and fight the dungeon floor boss. Their HP would be so boosted by me upping to max difficulty I could max out my magic and maybe even a weapon skill. So I start the fight with the boss and start casting my magic on him. I'm barely making a dent in his health, which is what I was expecting. But his health bar isn't staying down, it's regenerating. Because he is a plant boss and plants regenerate in this game. Which isn't an issue on a lower difficulty but on max his HP is so ungodly huge he is regenerating all the damage I do to him.

So I exit the game. When I reload it will probably load me outside the battle before it starts right? Nope, brings me right back to the battle right were I exited. Maybe I can lower the difficulty back down in the options menu and that will lower it in the battle? Nope, won't change until the battle is over. Fuck. Only way this is ending is if I win the battle or die. My mana is sub optimal cause this was primarily a melee build and melee does nothing on max difficulty. You can carry a max of 5 of every type of potion. For the first time I use intelligence buff potions while casting the highest level elemental fire spell I have. It's working but my mana is going the way of the dodo. When I use it all up I drink a potion but I only have 3 mana potions (literally the only potions I didn't craft the full amount of.) I get him down to three quarters health before running out of potions. By the time my mana regenerates high enough to cast again he has regained more than what my spell did in damage. He goes back to full hp. It's over.


On the plus side I did get all my magic skills to 30. And when you die or complete the main campaign, you can spend the blood drops you earned on upgrades that make you more powerful on your following lives. Since I tend to overgrind, I got almost 600000 blood drops that I spent giving my next characters huge upgrades.

So I'm starting again but turbo powered.

 

[Cleveland Mark Blakemore]

Very unusual RPG and almost turn-based. Lots of interesting mechanics and the visuals are good, too.

https://af.gog.com/en/game/the_7th_circle_endless_nightmare?as=1649904300

 

[Serus]

Very unusual RPG and almost turn-based. Lots of interesting mechanics and the visuals are good, too.

https://af.gog.com/en/game/the_7th_circle_endless_nightmare?as=1649904300

What do you by "almost turn-based"?

 

[Darth Canoli]

Or, you could throw 1 euro into a fountain and make the wish to never have to play the 7th circle.
It'd be a very well spent coin.

 

[Modron]

Get gud nub.

 

[Parsifarka]

Bought it thanks to Cleve's notice (I had forgotten about this release) and I just reached the second level. So far this is really fun: I'm playing the martial artist pre-rolled class and the pacing of the combat is insane thanks to the combo mechanic (I chose the Combo Master perk) and the bleeding effects. The sound design is excellent, every hit is very satisfying, especially when the special attack, a sort of combo rush, ends up with an overkill and the noise of a body exploding (after defeating the first boss, the game prompted me to keep smashing the attack button in order to maximize the number of blood drops I would get). It reminds me of SantuaryRPG because of how fast and even rhythmic it gets, but of course this one has a many more mechanics going on with all those statuses and particularly the distance system adds some very welcome tactics to it, as simple as they might be, but I've seen sometimes there are traps in the combat stage both the player and the monster can activate by stepping on and I'm sure spellcasters will require more careful consideration on when to advance or step back.

I don't know yet if I'll grow weary of the textures, but up until now I was punished for abusing the rest function with a red tide that reduced the health recovery rate and was represented by the floor being covered by red waters that obscured the traps and added an even more menacing vibe to the dungeon. Very cool, I didn't expect such a transformation. This first dungeon was well designed, way more expansive than I expected and packed with teleports, traps, loot and some secret switches, even though the encounters got way too easy way before I saw the end of it, I hope it gets more challenging but even if it doesn't it looks like there's plenty of levels to the difficulty option that can be modified while in-game so I guess it's on me for not changing it.

My main complaint as of now is that the engine kinda sucks: having to load up every time I check the status (which btw, should have been displayed in the same screen as the equipped items as they might modify stats), close the settings menu or move in or out of combat is tedious. However, I really like playing it turn-based with a Hokuto no Ken character so I can't wait to keep punching my way down.