Been spending some time playing through the game Argus and, although I'm making some progress, it's been a little slow going. Here are my first thoughts of the game.

I like dungeon crawler adventure games, like Argus, and for the most part I'm enjoying my experience. The game controls are intuitive and easy to master. You move through the game using up, left and right on the joystick. The fire button activates your weapon of choice and pulling down on the joystick brings up your inventory screen. The spacebar brings up the dungeon map and the option to save your progress. All of this makes it very easy to explore the caves and dungeons and battle the baddies.

However, there are a few things about this game that I think can be improved upon; maybe for the sequel (hint, hint)? First off, I should comment on the background music. The music is well composed, the problem is that there's only been one tune playing throughout the entire game, so far. After twenty minutes of listening to the same music loop over and over again, it became annoying and I had to turn down the volume. It would be much appreciative if the music changed, at least when moving on to a new maze/setting. Or, if the tempo changed when encountering enemies or treasures. An even better option would be to have the choice of either music or sound effects. I think the game would be much more immersive if, rather than music, we had sound effects to enhance the environments. Like, in the forest you heard wind or crickets or other insect sounds. While, in the temples and caverns you heard dripping water or creaking noises or growls off in the distance; that sort of thing.

Second, the combat is a little frustrating, in the way in which you encounter the enemies within the maze. When you enter a section with an awaiting enemy, the screen and compass colours change to indicate their presence. However, you have no idea in which direction to turn to face them, so you have to start spinning around to find them. While you're doing this, they start inflicting damage on you. It would have been really nice to be given some sort of indication as to which direction you need to turn to face them.

Lastly, the game play does get a little dull during longer sessions, as there isn't much variation in the actions and settings. The mazes are large, which is great, but there isn't many changes as to how they look or what you do as you explore them. So, after exploring several dozen maze sections, it all starts to feel repetitive. Maybe I just need to be a little more patient and things will change a bit as I go on.

These are just things I've notice so far, after a few hours of game play. Overall, I'm pleased with the game and there's enough here to keep me interested. The graphics are really great and the animations are well done. I also like the range of monsters and the challenge of finding the different types of keys to unlock the dungeon doors.

Once I get the game completed, I will do a full game review and share my final thoughts about Argus.

Happy gaming!

the inventory screen	the map
an enemy is near	an enemy attacks