I haven't finished the game yet but damn. I love this game and can't wait to see what else these dudes come up with next. Also the music is killer. Next level. Play this game.

First and foremost, this is a *Long* game, much longer than I would have thought. It took me more than 25+ hours on a casual playthrough; which is to say it will take several sessions to chip away at this. That said, I don't see any potential reason to replay it, so it's kinda one and done.

The music while nice, but didn't really leave me with anything to take away. It's just there and sometimes it sets the vibe well. Not much else to say.

The artwork fluctuates a lot in quality. It's usually great, but there are noticeable drops. Some things just aren't animated, or shaded and seem a bit half-baked. it doesn't happen all the time, but to me it was striking when it did.

The story was strangely what I loved the most by far, but there are so many holdups that can break the pacing for too long. Combat was fun at first but got dull fast once they start to recycle moves, animations, spritework, and giving certain enemies arbitrary resistances that never quite let me fall into a comfortable build. As someone who loves to optimize builds and grind, it was odd to want to avoid most of my fights I could just to get to the next cutscene.

I would recommend this game if it's on a steep sale, or just to watch the story yourself elsewhere if it interests you. Kinda rough around the edges and janky at times, but overall an alright time for the hours spent. If a linear turn-based story driven rpg that'll occupy your time for a while sounds like your thing, go for it twin. Just know, it's not gonna all that and a bag of chips.

Kingdoms of the Dump is an equally charming and frustrating game, oozing with potential and passion, yet also knee-deep in jank. I played a full 42 hours, can't say I didn't enjoy it, and can't say it doesn't hit some high notes and demonstrate a rare grasp of mid-90s SNES vibes.

The problem, in a nutshell, is that the game should have been released in Early Access, and given a full year for refinement & polish, to say nothing of fixing little bugs, UI issues, and typos. This is simply not a finished or complete game, and if you buy it now, you are volunteering to help with quality-assurance. My advice is to keep this on your wishlist until the Steam Fall sale (October 2026), which is about 8 months away. Look at the forums and patch history and see if the game is in better shape.

Until then, if you really love this mid-90s era, make sure you've played 2022's Chained Echoes. You could also see if you have access to 2011's Radiant Historia (not on Steam, sadly), which is another incredibly satisfying title in this space.

Kingdoms of the Dump is almost a very good game. I hope that one day, it is.