Test The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk, The Amulet of Disorder: 100% fan-service

Almost like a gift to celebrate the twenty years of the first “season” of the Donjon de Naheulbeuk, the original author of the MP3 saga – John Lang – has teamed up with Lyonnais from Artefacts Studio to add a (final?) stone to the "naheulbuesque" building. In twenty years, the saga had been entitled to all derivative products, but – strangely – never to the honors of a video game adaptation. It is now done, for the worse and (above all) for the better.

Test The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk, The Amulet of Disorder: 100% fan-service See the priceRead the conclusionThe Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Disorder

Jokes, cult replicas
Successful, Complementary and Scalable Heroes
Full dubbing and in Spanish with very good voices
Cartoon aesthetic that goes well with the subject

Some uninspired voice actors
Lack of rhythm, accuracy compared to MP3s
Fights that can become long after the discovery
Some freezes and crashes

Six seasons of audio delirium in MP3 format, four albums composed / interpreted by the Naheulband, several dozen comic strips, multiple novels, an animated series, a role-playing game and even a board game, Le Donjon de Naheulbeuk was entitled to almost all variants, but this is the first time that a video game development studio has looked into its case. If The Amulet of Disorder is available simultaneously on Mac, PC, PS4 and Xbox One, it is the Windows version that we were able to discover and that we are testing today.

"I'm not inferior. This is my normal size”

Undoubtedly among the first audio soap operas broadcast on Interne, Le Donjon de Naheulbeuk came from the fertile mind of John Lang. The pitch of this generally zany comedy, sometimes even satirical, is simple: it is about telling the often preposterous adventures of a group of heroes who are determined to try the adventure: a ranger, an elf, a dwarf, a magician , a thief, a barbarian and an ogre launch an assault on the famous Dungeon of Naheulbeuk when their sponsor has asked them to get their hands on a relic, one of the twelve statuettes of Gladeulfeurha.

A pitch that the screenwriters of Artefacts Studios took up to the letter and The Amulet of Disorder therefore begins with the arrival of our adventurers in front of the entrance to the dungeon. Unlike many role-playing games, it is therefore not a question here of creating your characters: we take those of the soap opera. In reality, only one parameter is available at the start of the game: the level of difficulty. It is a question of adjusting the power of the enemies and the probabilities during the innumerable “rolls of the dice”. You should know that if Le Donjon de Naheulbeuk is presented as a role-playing game, it is above all a question of parodying – with affection – this universe.

Buy the Naheulbeuk Dungeon

"I stick my ax where I want... and it's mostly in the mouth"

In principle, the adventure of The Amulet of Disorder is largely inspired by the "real" quest for the statuette of Gladeulfeurha told through season one. The developers have however imagined a second scenario, the story of this Amulet of Happiness. Two main threads which therefore come to intersect in order to intelligently avoid repetition for all lovers of the MP3 soap opera who would know the slightest reply. Two common threads which are also an opportunity to integrate new more or less important characters like this Paladine, more enterprising than all the members of our broken arm team.

This title actually combines two styles of play: a kind of adventure game where you have to explore the different levels of the dungeon in search of the statuette, but also to complete various secondary quests and a fighting game XCOM-style tactics as soon as opponents stand in our way. Neither of these two components is particularly innovative and it is in reality each time to take what constitutes the very essence of these gameplays in order to achieve something – if not innovative – at least pleasant to play. .

“I would go to church to play the trombone”

The adventure part is probably a little disappointing. If you're looking for something dense with interwoven side quests, tough decisions to make, moral choices, and long-term consequences... you'll be getting your money's worth. The adventure acts rather as a pretext to delight fans of the Donjon de Naheulbeuk – we will come back to this – and fans of tactical combat. Indeed, this second component of The Amulet of Disorder is much more convincing, despite its classicism: on maps cut into squares, you have to move your adventurers to rout your opponents.

First, we appreciate the system – simple but effective – initiative which takes the form of a bar arranged in the upper part of the screen. We also appreciate the possibility of pushing the actions of our heroes a little further into the turn in order, for example, to have been able to break the vigilance of an enemy. As on XCOM, the fights play the cover management card, using the vigilance and skills of our heroes to win. Buffs, bonuses and interruptions are legion and we appreciate having to manage our characters intelligently. On each confrontation, the ways of proceeding are varied and generally satisfactory.

"I'll have to tell Boromir to bring back my stripper"

"Overall" because let's recognize that this first good impression tends to disappear as the scenario progresses. We regret that the fights do not renew themselves enough and if we take a certain pleasure in testing different approaches, we end up going in circles. The defects then jump in our face like these adversaries who always use the same tactics whether they are goblins or demonic dwarves. We also regret the length of confrontations which are not necessarily difficult, but which play excessively on dodges and missed shots to make the "pleasure" last.

The interest of The Amulet of Disorder does not however rest on its adventure or its combats. No, it is rather a question of plunging back into this wacky universe, of remembering these replicas which are still hitting the mark, twenty years later. From this point of view, Artefacts Studios initially succeeded well, especially on the fan-service side. Entire dialogues of the soap opera are found during the adventure and the dubbing of John Lang is always as effective. For certain characters, he also benefits from the reinforcement of the excellent Jacques Chambon and Franck Pitiot. Alas, we also have to deal with the much more dispensable Benzaie or Bob Lennon.

A hot / cold that we actually find on several levels, in writing for example. This one is uneven and if the nostalgia works at full capacity, there are jokes or remarks that have aged badly. More annoying is the very rhythm of certain situations which is no longer as accurate as on MP3s. In the same vein, some gags lose their power by dint of being recycled and, a more "personal" problem this time: this adaptation emphasizes what the Lyon developers preferred from the Dungeon of Naheulbeuk... not necessarily in phase with our own memories of youth without it being dramatic of course.

JVFR

The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk, The Amulet of Disorder: the opinion of Clubic

Technically very correct for a “small” project developed by a “small” team, Le Donjon de Naheulbeuk, L'Amulette du Désordre can be seen as a true tribute – twenty years later – to the first season of John Lang's MP3 soap opera. A not always very subtle homage which allows itself to take up whole sections not only of the story, but also of the dialogues of the audio saga. A tribute, however, which will delight the fans of the first hour, delighted to hear the Elf complain about the Dwarf or to see the Barbarian show "ingenuity". The situations are still as delusional and the references to pop culture are incredibly numerous. If the fights are well constructed and the evolution of the characters interesting, these "RPG" elements have trouble holding up over time while the plot turns out to be quite ordinary. In fact, fans will undoubtedly take great pleasure in “reviving” the audio soap opera of the 2000s in this way. On the other hand, newcomers and those allergic to this stupid humor will be bored.

Test carried out using code provided by the publisher.

The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Disorder

A mixture of an adventure game and a tactical combat game to which elements of role-playing would have been associated, Le Donjon de Naheulbeuk, L'Amulette du Désordre seeks above all to please fans of the MP3 soap opera of the 2000s. moreover rather well by multiplying the pieces of bravery and the references to pop culture. On the other hand, it lacks binding and rigor on certain points. It also suffers from a less effective rhythm than the soap opera and from a few voice actors who are not in very good shape. 100% fan-service as we tell you.