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.
