When you play it, Away: Shuffle Dungeon is one of those simple "duh" concepts that makes you wonder why noone has done it before. I'm sure if I really did my reseach, I could find something that is comparable, but so far I've yet to see it on the DS. This trait alone makes it worth a look - at least if you're into dungeon crawlers.

Visuals are split between 2D dungeon crawls and 3D village segments. Each is blocky and simple, though this is by design as to not distract players from the gameplay. Characters are blocky and might even conjour up visions of Windwaker in some player's heads, though it lends a nice bit of charm to the game. This carries over into the voicework. Though it mostly consists of the first few lines of character dialog, its enough to grab your attention. This is rounded out by a repetative, yet serviceable soundtrack and some great sound effects.

Webb Village is peaceful, seaside town with a big problem. Every couple of years, a mysterious force called the Away sweeps through like a sea-brought breeze and takes away one of the villagers. Sword is next on the list, though just as the Away grabs him, a girl from the village interferes. Instead of taking Sword, the Away instead takes the entire village, leaving Sword in the unenviable position of savior.

Away: Shuffle Dungeon is, for the most part, a typical dungeon crawler. Each of the dungeons plays host to mazes, traps and enemies for Sword to overcome. What sets these mazes apart from others is the unique "shuffle" feature. Dungeon floors appear on the top and bottom screens and are attached to a timer. Every few seconds (around 10), one of the sections will "shuffle" and display another layout. The trick is to reach the next staircase by hitting switches that alter what is happening on the other section.

As simple as the mechanic is, it adds a lot to the overall gameplay. The system is fast-paced and has a frantic feel that forces you to think on your feet and make split-second decisions. However, the system isn't enough to carry the entire game.

The challenge provided by the shuffling dungeons is the best thing Away: Shuffle Dungeon has going for it. The accompanying mechanics aren't as well designed and are more of a backhand to gameplay than a compliment.

Most of the play mechanics are cumbersome and get in the way. When fighting enemies, the hit detection box is incredibly small. You can take a swipe at an enemy, but unless you hit a small section in the middle of the enemy sprite, you won't do damage. However, the hit box on Sword is much more generous. If even a small pixel brushes Sword, he'll take damage. With enemies, you can usually get around this by constantly swinging your weapon - hopefully taking them out first - though this isn't possible with traps, so expect cheap deaths until you can up your life bar.

In some respects, the mechanical issues are probably a good thing, otherwise the game would be incredibly easy. The penalty for getting caught in a shuffle is only a minor setback and only serves to make gameplay more monotonous. Additionally, exploration is very easy and does everything it can to handhold you through the experience.

Even though you have access to four weapon types, combat is incredibly simple and lacks any meaningful depth. Regardless of the type of weapon you're using, combat consists mainly of hacking your way through enemies with short, cumbersome combos. Even with the "faster" weapons, the combos are clumsy and work against the faster pacing introduced by the shuffling dungeon floors. I'm willing to accept that combat is supposed to slow you down, thus adding to the strategy, but enemy placement is so erratic that after a few floors, it is easy to refute this claim.

Enemies will sometimes spawn right next to you, guaranteeing at least one cheap hit. Some can even pass through walls, which doesn't work well considering the tight spaces introduced by each maze. Even worse, the controls somehow manage to become less responsive when you're placed in a tight situation.

Magic is handled through a monster-collecting system. As you run through each dungeon, you'll rescue blobs called fupong that allow you to cast spells. Fupong will follow you around the dungeon and can be combined into stronger types while in the village. It's an interesting system, though it falls well short of its potential. There's no way to cycle through fupong, so you have no control over the type of spell you can cast. If you want to cast a specific spell, you need to waste the spells in front of it. It is also disappointing that the fupong-raising aspects don't go beyond making fupong more powerful by combining like-types.

Away: Shuffle Dungeon is great idea that turns out to be little more than an alright game. The core concept is solid, but the surrounding mechanics don't support it. Hardcore dungeon crawler fans will be able to look past or deal with the deficiencies, but most players probably won't.