Dungeon Nightmares 1 + 2 Collection

Genre: Compilation / First-Person Horror

Players: 1

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Review:

Dungeon Nightmares 1 + 2 Collection, released in 2021 on Nintendo Switch, is a Compilation of two First-Person Horror games – Dungeon Nightmares, first released in 2014 on PC and mobile devices, and Dungeon Nightmares II: The Memory, first released on PC and mobile devices in 2015. These games have you wandering the randomized halls of dungeons stalked by monsters in search of an exit.

The presentation here is nothing special. Somewhat low-poly character models and environments, as well as horrible draw distance and pop-in, all come together to really show the game’s age, but at the very least there are decent textures and a fairly smooth framerate. This is paired with decent but predictable sounds (I swear, if I have to play one more horror game where the only soundtrack is my character’s heartbeat…). There’s nothing atrocious going on in the presentation, but nothing to write home about either.

Beyond that, players are given little in the way of story or flavor. There’s little to explain who your character is or why he’s stuck in these nightmares. The dungeons themselves are fairly repetitive too, featuring twisting corridor after twisting corridor, complete with plenty of dead ends, and with only an occasional room full of rotting furniture to use as a landmark (and of course no map).

The gameplay here is fairly basic too. Run around trying to figure out where the hell to go, encounter occasional jump scares that take a cheap shot at trying to raise your adrenaline, try to avoid monsters when you see them, grab candles that are nominally supposed to provide light (the draw distance remains so terrible that these are essentially useless), and make sparing use of the run button so as not to drain your stamina… of which you’re not given a clear indication of its current state.

This would be a really mediocre and pointless experience even without any control issues, but of course there are control issues, as your character moves atrociously slow, turns like a tank, and is overall a pain to maneuver around.

Oh, and you know how I usually go into the details of each game in a compilation to note what each game contributes? Yeah, not doing that here. Both games are functionally the same here, with only a small change to the sort of dungeons you’re exploring between the two of them. I suppose at the very least the dungeons in the second game are a little easier to navigate… but only just.

If you’re looking for a non-combat First-Person Horror game on the Nintendo Switch, you already have plenty of better examples to pick from than Dungeon Nightmares 1 + 2 Collection. The Outlast games, Layers of Fear, Observer… any of these provides better gameplay, better narrative, more interesting environments, and not only better environments but more imaginative ones. And don’t be fooled by the notion that this collection being a 2-in-1 means you’re getting a better value here – both games are the same kind of awful. Do not buy Dungeon Nightmares 1 + 2 Collection, it simply has nothing worthwhile to offer.

tl;dr – Dungeon Nightmares 1 + 2 Collection is a Compilation of two First-Person Horror games. Unfortunately, both games are similarly ugly, simple, feature poor controls, and offer repetitive, boring environments. You have plenty of better options on the Nintendo Switch.

Grade: D-

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