Video Game Review - The Land Beneath Us

Anyone for Cyberpunk chess? 

The followers of Geek Culture Reviews will already know that I do love a good roguelike. Yet, The Land Beneath Us somehow slipped me by. However, I’m quite glad that I didn’t have any prior expectations as this allowed me to dive into what FairPlay Studios have created without comparing it to the likes of Hades and Dead Cells. 

Taking inspiration from Welsh mythology, The Land Beneath Us throws you into a cyberpunk world that reminded me more of Tron than the Welsh countryside. I won’t try to unpack what the narrative here is as a lot of it did go over my head. From what I do understand you work with a friendly AI to venture across the digital realm of Annwn. Across the journey, you’ll have to defeat the Seven Lords to save The Creator. 

My only real gripe with The Land Beneath Us does come from its complicated narrative. At no point did I feel particularly invested in the protagonist’s journey. And aside from knowing about its Welsh origins from a press release, I’d have been none the wiser. It’s also unfair of me to compare The Land Beneath Us’ storytelling to that of Hades but it’s hard not to. Where most of us are familiar with some aspects of Greek mythology, Hades still gave us great insight into the wider goings on as Zagreus attempted to escape his father’s hellish domain and find the answers to some questions about his origins. 

Yet with The Land Beneath Us, it feels like you should already know what story it’s telling you. This did lead me down a rabbit hole on Wikipedia as researching Annwn then led me to the likes of Gwyndion fab Dôn, the Mabinogi, and even J.R.R. Tolkien. If the vagueness of the title's narrative is indeed intentional to get you looking into what aspects intrigued you the most then it’s a stroke of genius, however, most gamers won’t necessarily go out of their way to do so. 

Even with its mostly forgettable story, The Land Beneath Us captures you with its engrossing gameplay loop that’s so simple you’ll lose plenty of hours before you know it. Rather than packing in a more action-oriented game, The Land Beneath Us engages you with a simple grid-based combat system which sees you and your enemy attempt to outwit and outmanoeuvre each other. Think of it as chess and you’ll be on the right path. The trick here is that when you move so do your foes. As such battles become slightly tactical as you navigate trying your land your hits whilst avoiding the enemy's attempts to do the same. What did bring a smile to my face was that some of the smaller enemies stuck to the same move set which along with the soundtrack turned the game into a rhythm battler. While it’s probably not what the developers had in mind it’s an interesting “addition”. 

While they may sound daunting it’s not. As you progress you’ll unlock a variety of weapons that are mapped to each direction you move - up, down, left, right. If you happen to move in that direction towards an enemy the game will automatically attack with whatever weapon is assigned to that direction - whether it be ranged or close quarters. In true roguelike fashion, there’s a whole bunch of different weapon types available for you to utilise with some that give you a two-square ranged attack, to others that favour the more direct approach. As always you’re not entirely alone on the journey and at random points, you’ll encounter friendly people. In true form, these friendlies are all out for themselves and will offer you tantalising opportunities to hand over your hard-earned credits. There are quite a few different weapons, abilities, and upgrades available at these vendors so it is well worth checking out what they have. 

The level designs all feel like a dungeon that’s leapt straight out of Diablo IV. Each self-contained map features branching paths which will take you through a multitude of different grids before you confront the world boss. Most of these rooms also have two exit portals with both being marked by a symbol to highlight what the next room entails. One might reward you with souls which act as your persistent upgrade, while another may reward you with a weapon or passive ability. There’s no right or wrong way to approach which path to choose. For me, it mostly came down to the situation. Early on I’d prioritise weapons and charms, while later runs I’d switch to focus on souls. In reality, whatever you do goes towards the end goal of finding the Creator, so regardless there is some sense of progression. 

All in all, The Land Beneath Us is quite a niche title that’s going to fly underneath quite a few radars. While its gameplay is rewarding and extremely unique, it’s not as action-packed as other titles within the genre. However, if you’re after something different that strays away from the typical roguelike mould, then The Land Beneath Us is for you.

Rating: 7.5/10 

A code was kindly provided for this review. 

Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow us on X/Facebook @GeekCultureRev, TikTok/YouTube @Geekculturereviews, and BlueSky @geekculturereviews.bsky.social