Darkest Dungeon®

This game is a niche within a niche. A classic grueling CRPG in one of the most horrific mythos available. Eldritch. And, boy does it love that setting. Some games paint a world with dark outlines, shadowy corners. Subtle horrors and grim details that reveal themselves with familiarity. Darkest Dungeon struts toward you with all the pomp of a swarvy occultist and burps in your face. "H.P. Lovecraft, huh? Let me give you the crash course." And, it does. Every item description, narrative, and shopkeep screams the hopeless situtation of man. Because, you see, man is just a flickering candle in a window on a hill top under the pitch black of the universe. It's this over-the-top presentation that really lends Super-Emo Dungeon its staying power. It challenges you. It puts you in a world of horrible odds (literally. The stats are against you), but then it gives you a sword. That shiny sliver of metal that says "They can be killed, they can be beaten." (-Narrator). And, that fighting chance, glimmer of hope, is what the game expects you to cling to. You improve your heroes, but the challenges increase also (and high level heroes are barred from low level areas). You get impressive, game-changing artifacts, but get butchered by a creature they are null against. The coming and going of heroes is constant. You lose them forever, only to train more. That's the nature of the game. As such, there is no real "winning." This game is about the delve. About the slog through a dungeon. The supplies, preparations, losses, victories. The strategies. The Darkest Dungeon, the final area, looms over you from the start. It promises to be the finale. Sadly, as other reviewers have mentioned, the end-game is not a smooth progression. The difficulty becomes grueling. You'll find yourself taking staggering losses above level 5. However, the game is simple to walk away from at this point. It satisfies a particular itch. It promises a distinct flavor. A flavor you may crave again.

This is an unforgiving tactics games. The art, sounds, and general theme of the game are beautifully executed lovecraftian horror; the game-play is quite fresh and interesting; and the tactics are deep enough to be engaging for at least a couple of play-throughs. I particularly like that there are constant tradeoffs throughout the game of safety vs greed - which is somewhat consistent with the overall themes. For example, in each mission you'll run out of inventory space pretty quickly... so do you discard your food and torches, and hope to finish the mission before you get into trouble? Or do you discard the treasure and play it safe(r)? I've seen a few reviews which say the game relies too much on luck, because a lucky critical hit or whatever can be game-changing. My response to this is that managing luck is part of this game; and if you think that luck is what is causing you to win or lose, then perhaps you haven't yet developed your strategies enough. People routinely do full playthroughs on the hardest settings with zero deaths - so clearly it is possible to overcome back-luck. But more to the point, death and loss are deliberate parts of the game.

Take HP Lovecraft, Mike Mignola, thematic board games, unfair roll results, legacy rules, gothic music, great voice acting, blend it together and you get a new classic game! Are you prepared ? To be masochist ? cos' you 'll lose, rage and love it so much that you'll beg for another try... in the Darkest Dungeon. "A (not so) wise decision !" :Your team is whiped out:

I wanted to love this game. I really did. But the attrition mechanics it uses make it thoroughly unenjoyable. One party member gets injured, they panic, and attack other members of your group. And...panic is contagious!!! That one party member freaking out can cause your _entire_ group to go insane and kill each other WHILE they're being attacked by monters. Then you somehow have to get back to that point and get their gear back.... I can't stand games like this.

I never thought that I may really like any kind of RPG or strategy, as my favourite genres are platformer and 3rd person action. But Darkest Dungeon is exception. When I started to play, the first thought was: "It looks so stylish, I wonder what hides beneath its difficulty". Yes, it is quite hard for newcomers, especially if you don't like to lose a lot, or if you don't like reading help articles (neither do I), but it becomes rewarding and enjoyable with time. The strongest sides are exciting unpredictable quests, intelligible upgrade system, stunning art and animation, authentic soundtrack and, of course, the affliction system. You really have to care about your characters' mental health, to reduce their fears, heal deep wounds and obsessions. I have never seen anything like that in a videogame before.