Reviews

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  Vincent L

  Dec 2, 2021

  It is hard to recommend Diibs dilemma... really hard. Its a free web java game from 1999. It is buggy, glitchy, not very smooth, the controls can't be remapped so you'll be using arrow keys and numbers... still, despite that, I am going to cautiously, with a million disclaimers, recommend this game. In Diibs Dilemma you play a wizard's apprentice challenged to go through a tower of 100 levels, with each level presenting one or more monsters you must fight. Monsters occasionally randomly drop 1 of 4 types of soulstones that you use to buy better spells. There are 40 different types of spells, some of which are just upgrades of previous spells. The bones, the core mechanics of this game, are very good. The game doesn't tell you what spells can be unlocked, they just appear as an option to build when you have built the prerequisite spells. I tried to find a spell list online and couldn't, so you are basically forced to discover the spells. This is actually pretty fun because of how varied and balanced the spells are. Ranged attacks, aoes with long cooldowns, traps of various kinds, summons, heals... there is a lot to choose from. And there are varieties of monsters to try them against such as quick ones, high damage ones, ones immune to types of damage, ranged attacking ones and others. Discovering all this is pretty fun, so long as you don't mind dying in some unfair ways. Luckily you can save between almost all levels so you never lose much unless you forgot to save. But here come the caveats. There are a ton of little glitches and quirks. The exact moment a monster starts moving into a new square it no longer occupies the old square, even though 90% of its model is still there. Monsters can also become invisible and uninteractable when two move into the same square at the same time. Your character faces the way they moved into the square, and facing cannot be changed without moving squares. This all adds up to the actual levels feeling sluggish and messy. AoE spells are really good because aiming anything in this game is a nightmare. Also some monsters are immune to many types of spells, so you can literally enter a level unable to complete it (looking at you blue slimes), and level 99 is infamous for being impossible except with VERY specific spells. You can have fun experimenting with spells but you will need to be OK with save scumming, starting over, and just dealing with the jank involved in actual levels. As a quick note, the graphics are and sound design are obviously pretty minimal, but they are actually quite effective. There is one song that plays over and over during levels, but its a bit strange and bombastic. Knights have loud human screams when they are hit and its the only noise they make. When you die there is a really dramatic cross with a blood red sky. Sure its minimal by modern standards, but they made some interesting choices and I think it works. Bottom line, if you enjoy older games and don't mind overlooking a bunch of problems, don't mind what would now be considered really low quality assets, and don't mind starting over a lot... there is a really fun experience to be had here.
• 

  galox-♥

  Sep 11, 2022

  asd
• 

  CJ HUNTER

  Oct 15, 2022

  This is old, bad and boring.
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  GhostFrog

  Nov 26, 2022

  best browser game from its era of the internet
• 

  Opal Knight

  May 28, 2016

  A very old-school, action battle game that was definitely made in the '90's, Diib's Dilemma is an RPG about discovery rather than exploration. The meat of the game is to survive through increasing levels of difficulty by upgrading the spells in your spell book with elements found battling in the levels. Unlike other games of this type there are no maps to explore, instead each level will be the same-sized, square, isometric grid (presumably one floor of Diib's Dilemma Tower) which you then have to defeat all the monsters of the current level in order to progress. You have a limited number of spell types to take into battle, 2 at the start of the game, and you must be able to cast spells to defeat monsters, and then dodge enemies as your spells slowly recharge. Your character does not have levels or stats that increase as the game progresses, just the spells in his book. At first there are 4 spells to choose from including attack spells, a trap and a heal spell. After you have collected some of the 4 elements found defeating monsters, you can start creating newer and more powerful spells. The real fun and strategy of the game is to experiment with different spell combos, and to discover new spells as you build up your spell book roster. But be warned, this game has an old-school difficulty to it, traps you lay will be invisible once you have set them, and if you are the first to walk through the square then you will spring the trap and take the damage. Also, many monsters require several hits to defeat and there are no shown lifebars, plus the mosnsters move all over, so it gets hard to keep track of which ones you have weakened and which you have not. But all of that is designed to keep the strategy of the game interesting as there is not much variety to each level other than monsters types and the spells you choose. This is an old-school game and it's graphics and audio lack the polish that simple games of today have. The game doesn't even utilize the mouse, this is a keyboard game only which uses the arrow keys and the number keys in order to play. And there are almost no options other than turning sound and/or music on and off. However, given the fact that this game was made in the 90's and the game's low price point, I'm willing to overlook those points. The overall movement of both your character and the monsters has a slight delay to it, making dodging and moving through the enemies a bit of a prediction game but I feel the quirky movement actually adds to the strategy and difficulty of the game in an interesting way. Another point to mention is that this is a survival game more than a story driven RPG. You are expected to die, and you will die and you accumulate a score as you play so that when you die you will have a top score chart to keep track of your best playthroughs. This is not a global leaderboard but a personal top score chart. And while you can save your progress, there is something to keep in mind: The save files only keep track of your current tower level, the elements you have earned, and the spells you have purchased. If you exit the game or die your score will be set to zero when you load up your save file and your currently selected spells will be reset to the basic fire spell, so keep that in mind when choosing to exit the game if you have worked up a nice score. All in all, the age of the game shows in its graphics, sound, and play quality, but it has a unique strategy and style to it, which makes it an interesting game to play, even today. It's super cheap and a little different than most games out there, so I recommend trying this game out if you don't mind playing older games and want a challenging game to play.
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  PennyReviews

  May 28, 2016

  Ah this game brings back memories. I wasted too much time long ago trying to beat this one. Minutes to learn, lifetime to master, this game shows its age but the core game is still solid and fun. A warning to everyone right up front, this game can only be played with a keyboard. Clicking on menu options or spells does nothing. The sound and music and art also do not appear to have been upgraded at all since the original version was available. I don't mind the retro feel, but know before you buy this one that it really was released 20 years ago. The game is a devilishly deep puzzle game about strategy and resource management. Take in a limited number of spells and figure out a way to survive to.... well to as far as you can make it, I've never beaten it in all the years. There are a huge number of strategies to employ. You simply put a spell in a slot, and then after you cast it you have to wait for it to reload. Spells can be direct damage, summoning, traps, healing, score boosting, aoe, teleportation and on and on. You command so much power, but when you are dead, you are done. It is back to your last save or level 1. The levels play very quickly, allowing you to build up power early to try new strategies in how to beat the levels. Also, some monsters are immune to certain spells, but the game does not warn you of this, so some levels are a bit of trial and error. This does make it so there is no one "super build" of spells that will let you get through every level of the game. Or not that I have ever found. Make no mistake though, this game is hard. A kind of hard that doesn't exist in modern games. You were warned. If someone tells you they beat this, screenshot or it didn't happen. Pros: - Clever design - Lots of spells - Freedom to find your own strategy - Lots of weird secrets and bonuses Cons: - Clunky, keyboard only controls - Old art - Old sound - Hard as nails There is still an addicting game in there though. 7/10
• 

  Unormalism

  May 28, 2016

  This game is such a mixed bag, largely due to its age (which you can immediately tell when the game loads and you can see 'Copywrite 1999-2002'). Diib's Dilemma is an arcade style game where you are given a selection of spells to choose from which you take into a chamber to fight foes. More spells can be unlocked (built) by gathering soul stones, which are either dropped by enemies or given in groups of five each time you beat four rounds without taking damage. The battle screen is a grid, and its really up to you how you play. This game is not for the faint of hard, as it is quite hard. The gameplay allows you to pick your own strategy, especially as you gather more spells, and rewards a player for performing well. You use the arrow keys to move on the grid and the number keys to fire the spell assigned to them. However, as soon as you begin moving to the next square, you can be hit as though you are on it, and the same rules apply to enemies, making it risky to step up to enemies, especially if you want to get that 0 damage. The game is RNG heavy, as not getting the right soul stones means not getting the right spells and you can fall into what feels like a hopeless situation. A lot of little quality of life improvements could be made to make the game flow more smotthly, but is it really worth the effort? If the game was completely remade with no grid as a fast paced arcade game, I could see it as an instant classic or even an app to be played on the go, but for now I'll just have to enjoy it as a fun (and frustrating) piece of nostalgia. It's great to see old games like this come back and not be lost forever. For its current humble price, I can definitely recommend this game.
• 

  WanderingHero

  Jul 8, 2016

  Fun, original, cerebral and challenging game. You play as a mage fighting against various groups of monsters at a time, crafting and choosing from a variety of spells. The game plays in real time, but with the cooldowns the game emphasizes careful strategy over twitch reflexes. Its very hard, the graphics weren't even good for there and it can get repetive, but its a lot of fun and incredible value for money
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  Kawakji

  Oct 26, 2016

  Well worth it for the nostalgia alone. Random Thoughts made some of the BEST games of its time, and it's great to see one of them again. I hope they'll port stuff like Mercenaries of Dosbar and Silent Frontier, next! Definitely buy this if you grew up in the age of the java game!
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  Comedy Tree

  Jan 15, 2017

  I've been playing this game since middle school, sneaking in rounds on the library computers. Diib's Dilemma is one of those games you keep going back to. The gameplay is simple but the spellbuilding system gives it a great personal flair. The game is old enough and hard enough that a complete guide for it just doesn't exist, so you don't know everything in the build tree. Cooldowns in this game are LONG. You'll spend a large chunk of your time running around the board, avoiding being utterly ransacked and destroyed by primitive but relentless AIs. If you can survive long enough for you spells to pop back up, you'll juggle remembering which squares you left traps in, timing your attacks just right so they hit before you get smacked, or crossing your fingers and hoping your summons attack the enemy chasing you instead of the others one or everything, including you, at once. Diib's Dilemma is a game of another time. Chunky, deep, and hard as #&$%. It's worth the delve.
• 

  Jacob200X

  Feb 22, 2017

  I could see someone buying this game back 20 years ago in a bargin bin and thinking it was alright, but now you can find much beter options for this small price or smaller.
• 

  purple

  Oct 8, 2017

  actually pretty fun game for 1 hour
• 

  Dweger Design

  Nov 14, 2017

  Game completed!
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  nartin9

  Nov 20, 2017

  very fun game and worth the $1 I spent if you like these kinds of rpg games get it. this game had been on my wishlist since I got a steam account got during the last steam summer sale. most dissapoting part of this game is that there are to many steam games.
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  tbqhmhsfamilam

  Apr 6, 2018

  I used to play this game on the library computers every day. It was a pain to set up a desktop icon but otherwise works fine in wine.
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  Saint Aaron

  Jul 2, 2018

  I remember playing this when system shock 2 and age of empires 2. The game doesnt have much to go off of, you mainly slay the monsters till you die. I got to level 25 and was like im bored!
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  Gavenoth

  Apr 3, 2020

  I loved playing this game, along with all the other Random Thoughts games. I wish the other games would also become available for purchase.
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  Mangus

  Mar 4, 2021

  I played this game when I was in gradeschool and tooled around with it every once in a while since. I've grown up (a bit), got my first job, gone to university, had my heart broken, paid bills, found a career, and married the love of my life with a kid on the way. Are you looking for a game that runs well, has depth of gameplay and inspired sound design? Look elsewhere. Do you want a game that harkens back to sites like themetalbox and runescape, runs like dog shit and will kill you instantly, not by design but just because games hadn't learned those lessons yet? Look no further.
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  jasmindersvirk

  Mar 6, 2023

  Anyone know why we cant make dispel or shield anymore?