Microbird Games' Dungeons of Hinterberg was one of many pleasant surprises from Summer Game Fest 2023, immediately landing on players' radars thanks to its eye-catching visuals and Legend of Zelda-inspired gameplay. Though Dungeons of Hinterberg and Microbird Games have been relatively quiet since that initial reveal, the developer recently sent out a preview build in anticipation of the title's launch on July 18. Game ZXC's time with Dungeons of Hinterberg's preview demo shows the title in a great state ahead of its launch on July 18, with its blend of Persona and Legend of Zelda hitting all the right notes for fans of either or both.

While the visuals of Dungeons of Hinterberg immediately call to mind Tango Gameworks' vibrant and stunningly animated Hi-Fi Rush, its gameplay clearly draws from influences both older and more familiar. Mixing equal parts Persona-style social sim elements and relationship bonds with the traversal, puzzle-solving, and combat of a traditional action-adventure game like The Legend of Zelda, Dungeons of Hinterberg is a cozy slice of genre comfort food that will feel at once new and familiar to players. With the bulk of its gameplay having a close analog in Ocarina of Time, the preview build of the game gives the impression that it's just a small taste of a much larger, grand adventure in a vision of Europe bursting with magical realism.

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Dungeons of Hinterberg Has Major Hi-Fi Rush Vibes

Dungeons of Hinterberg's charming art style puts it into the same league as Tango Gameworks' recent Xbox exclusive Hi-Fi Rush.

The Hero of Dungeons of Hinterberg Handles Similar to Link

Dungeons of Hinterberg's preview build starts off with some light dialogue and character interaction between protagonist Luisa and her guide, and this light bit of exposition gives players a taste of what's to come in the game's social systems. After this quick introduction, players get to select the one dungeon available in the demo, and it's off to the races. Interestingly, the "dungeon crawling" areas that players get to fast-travel to include both the interior dungeon structures and the surrounding area, and there's just as much to do in the semi-open map in the dungeon's vicinity as there is in the dungeon itself.

Traversal will strike a chord with any fans of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, as Luisa doesn't have a dash or a jump button but instead organically increases her gait after pushing forward on the analog stick long enough and will jump automatically to clear gaps. Not too far into this first hands-on area, players get access to their first two magic spells, one of which is a hoverboard that allows Luisa to grind glowing purple rails around the environment. If the thought of Ocarina of Time meeting Tony Hawk's ProSkater comes to mind, it's not that far off.

Weighty Combat and Intuitive Puzzle-Solving Round Out the Dungeons of Hinterberg Experience

While the combat in Dungeons of Hinterberg isn't quite as fluid as its traversal, it does have a palpable sense of weight and flow to it that makes it satisfying, and enemies are properly balanced so as to never be damage sponges. Encounters are spaced out more than one might anticipate, with Dungeons of Hinterberg placing a greater emphasis on puzzle-solving and environmental traversal than combat, so that when they do show up they're a welcome change of pace. In addition to using magic spells in traversal, players will be able to use any of their spells in combat as well, and successful melee strikes recharge the MP bar at a reasonable rate.

Exploring Dungeons of Hinterberg's environments and discovering intuitive solutions to the surrounding puzzles therein is the highlight of the dungeons, and even in its current limited state in the demo, its obvious how interconnected Dungeons of Hinterberg's vast world is and how important backtracking and revisiting old areas will be. Finishing the dungeon section transports players back to Hinterberg proper, and the demo caps off with a small taste of the social systems at play in the other half of the game. Like in the Persona games, talking with important characters around town and building relationships with them provides useful perks in battle, making the distinct parts of Dungeons of Hinterberg's gameplay complement one another nicely.

Dungeons of Hinterberg releases July 18 for PC and Xbox Series X/S. Game ZXC was provided a Steam code for the purposes of this preview.