Darkwood

Best horror top-down view game I ever played.

EXCELLENT GAME. CREEPY ATMOSPHERE. COOL LITTLE UNIQUE LOCAL COLOR FROM 1980s WARSAW PACT COUNTRY (POLAND?) I was actually shocked by how good this game was and that I haven't heard more about it. My only regret is looking up some things while I was playing instead of just immersing myself in the game. Resist the urge to look up things that don't make any sense and just keep on going as best you can. It's one of those games were you can pretty much kill anyone and lose the vast majority (if not all) of your inventory and I think still finish the game. Your choices matter and have a real impact on the story and the ending. No gross-out gore or shock stuff, just a bunch of strange stuff that creeps you out as you try to make sense of it (and stay alive). It feels very real and immersive. And even though in my playthrough it was never 100% made clear what happened in the story, I still feel like I got the general idea and it didn't feel at all like the writers were too lazy to put everything together in a way that makes sense, it actually feels like the more you play it the more things make sense but also new info raise new questions, but it still all connects together in a way that feels real. I dunno, it's hard to explain... it's just good, play it! Don't read about it, don't watch the trailer, don't look for it on YouTube, just buy it and play it alone in a dark room for a few days. Honestly, I get the feeling that there are probably lots of different ways to end / play the game. So much so that I am tempted to play it again. I NEVER play story-based games more than once. But I THINK I might play it again... Its that good. If there was any part of the game that was a tiny bit weak, I guess it was the controls. Maybe I just never got the programming for my mouse buttons right or maybe I should have just used the controller, but I felt like I was struggling in some of the melee fights for a lot of the game. don't use middle mouse for 2nd melee AND inventory...

The game stands out because of its special visualization. It's always a pleasure to look around the world. Furthermore, a good soundscape ensures good immersion. The gameplay is challenging but fun.

Best game. Bumping up the ratings. I have this on steam and will buy it again here if it goes on sale, which I woudn't say about any other game I own on steam. Tips: play with keyboard and mouse, change the initially-bad bindings so they're comfortable. For me this was: Space to run, V to jump, C to dodge. As others have said, this game is immersive. The world Darkwood is set in felt complete and the characters feel like they really exist within it and as a consequence of their conditions. The world does not revolve around you and you are in fact made to feel like an unwelcome intruder in it (as are most other characters). Also through the game's mechanics, this setting is delivered to you with a well-executed "don't show, don't tell, you have to poke around but you will be punished for poking around" approach that effectively uses inaccessibility and difficulty as storytelling devices. If you need to see yourself as an elevated "main character" and the other characters as "NPCs" then you will have to immerse yourself, get to know the setting, make good decisions and work hard to make that happen. Gameplay consists of time and resource management, intentionally clunky combat, deciding whether to run or fight, and finding ways to do things without relying on mechanics considered staples in modern gaming. Also I don't know what the developers think a jump scare is, but this game absolutely does have them.

First of all this game isn't for everybody. It's extremly difficult and gives you very little information on what to actually do. Majority of players don't even leave first small tutorial location as you can say by achivements earned. It's quite long and has very slow pace forcing you to plan your every ingame day. Everything in Darkwood has this rusty/rotting vibe and creates this unsettling and unique atmosphere that slowly drains your sanity. Your vision is narrow and doesn't allow you to see what's going on behind or even next to your character forcing you to listen to every rustle or footstep. Enemies are unforgiving and the game surprises you with dozens of random night-time events, quite often rewarding you for beeing brave. It has a lot of weird technics that you need to master if you want to survive so if you find it too chelenging you can find some usefuill tips on Darkwood wiki. If you have some experience with challengeing horror games than you will absolutely love this one. Although, if you haven't really played classic survival horrors like Silent Hill 1-4, Resident Evil etc then most likely you will find this one exhausting and forget about it before it even really starts. It has no jumpscares and lets you make all of decisions.