Darkest Dungeon

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 846 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 627 out of 846
  2. Mixed: 134 out of 846
  3. Negative: 85 out of 846

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  1. Vortyrion
    May 14, 2023
    4
    A game that is full of bad design decisions.
    A sequel that is missing most of the things that made the first game great.
    A rogue-lite with mechanics and RNG hell that force you to suffer many hours before you manage to achieve some meaningful progress.
    And that is the main difference, where the first game makes you struggle this is make you suffer.
    And it's simple, not fun.
  2. Komoto
    Jul 26, 2022
    0
    You will spend weeks or even months manicuring your teams to attempt any of the end game content only to have it all be destroyed because of bad RNG. Nothing about this game respects your time and you're better off playing any game from the vast roguelike options available today.
  3. chialeos
    Sep 12, 2021
    0
    this game cured all of my friends longing depression
  4. F3T1W
    Aug 27, 2021
    4
    A stuffy toy, dropped, unable to bear to lose your favorite fighters after hiking, torches one love
  5. Jaddel
    Aug 12, 2021
    0
    Unbalanced RNG heavy game.. Thx, but no... These days i have enough games RNG-heavy... (50% progress in the game)
  6. OberiousLocke
    Jun 3, 2021
    0
    Not a bad game, necessarily, but it is incredibly (and deliberately, I think) harsh on the player to the point of being unfair. Further, with Red hook doing business with Epic for exclusive early access for Darkest Dungeon 2, I cannot in good conscience recommend giving them money. Automatic 0.
  7. Tomplifier
    Feb 17, 2021
    4
    This game has some nice mechanics and I like the gameplay.
    But it is no game at all, this "game" is work. It's hard work. And not enjoyabel. To me.
  8. Ead
    Dec 31, 2020
    4
    I have played the game for a few hours, now I decided to share some of my experience.
    The best part is the art style looks cool, even it's a copycat from Withcther's.
    But man, this game has so many short-comings. The UI sucks. If you are using a controller to play this, the logic to use the UI definitely sucks and confusing. Simple things like equip equipment can be very hard to do,    I have played the game for a few hours, now I decided to share some of my experience.
    The best part is the art style looks cool, even it's a copycat from Withcther's.
    But man, this game has so many short-comings.

    The UI sucks. If you are using a controller to play this, the logic to use the UI definitely sucks and confusing. Simple things like equip equipment can be very hard to do, and there is no tutorial about that.

    The gameplay logic sucks. If you have a character that's good at disarming traps, you will need to switch to that character to do so. That means you will need to open their character panel to see their traits and switch to this character just to disarm traps. How tedious can this be?

    Man, does this game need you to grind. Leveling up is extremely slow, and each time you enter the dungeon you have a very high chance of getting a negative trait which could void all your efforts.

    Oh man, the combat sucks. The combat is purely based on RNG. That means your formation, your character skill don't really mean that much. Even you have a team of all level 4 character, facing level 3 dungeons. As long as they got two crits in a row, you either lose a hero or retreat. And you totally don't get to control who is the next one will be moving. This void all your RPG strategy part. Also, did I mention the hit rate is a joke? Healing is also a joke while the enemy can cause devastating damage to you. And you lose morale all the time, no matter you are walking or in combat.

    On man, that's not all. Another most stupid design is that the higher-level character won't be able to go to the low-level dungeon anymore. So if you lose a major character, you better pray you can build an new character from a low level without dying or getting bad negative traits. Even if you have a new higher level character, without proper equipment and preparation. It's very highly likely you will lose it in the higher level dungeon.

    In short, this game isn't for anyone who enjoys a fair fight or strategic fight or with a sane mind that understand winning the slot machine is useless.    … Expand
  9. DrkAsDeath
    Aug 23, 2020
    3
    Its all right but the combat is pretty lack luster. You can make a case that the rng ruins the game sometimes. ex... ive had a teammate that dies in the first turn. Double crit and then a death blow. pretty stupid tbh. The fighting in general is pretty dumb. pick a move and then hope it hits. imagine xcom 95% chance to hit but misses and then multiply that by 5 and you get darkest dungeon.Its all right but the combat is pretty lack luster. You can make a case that the rng ruins the game sometimes. ex... ive had a teammate that dies in the first turn. Double crit and then a death blow. pretty stupid tbh. The fighting in general is pretty dumb. pick a move and then hope it hits. imagine xcom 95% chance to hit but misses and then multiply that by 5 and you get darkest dungeon. People who say its not biased off rng is pretty stupid. They find the most broken build and then steam role threw the game and call it skill. basically the exact same type of people who say camping takes skill in Call Of Duty. Im not even close to being like that so i despise anyone who is. which makes me work for my reward. Which in this game means almost nothing. So it kinda sucks that i half to work harder for the same reward. So i beg to differ why would anyone play this? Do you enjoy grinding. Losing something that you pointless worked hard on for hours. Or getting lucky and crit the boss and calling it skill. The world may never know… Expand
  10. CitySpellsword
    Aug 16, 2020
    3
    Darkest Dungeon is beautifully voiced, contains a great variety of units, and succeeds at almost all of the fine, little details of world-building. Unfortunately, the big-picture game design is absolutely terrible and fights against itself in every way. Intricate statuses and positioning that allow you to think and plan critically? Nope, it's a game of coin-flipping to land any attack. TheDarkest Dungeon is beautifully voiced, contains a great variety of units, and succeeds at almost all of the fine, little details of world-building. Unfortunately, the big-picture game design is absolutely terrible and fights against itself in every way. Intricate statuses and positioning that allow you to think and plan critically? Nope, it's a game of coin-flipping to land any attack. The RNG is so high you're just playing slots and hoping every little success is enough to keep progressing your hamlet. Also, it's a world of intrigue and exploration that literally punishes you for trying anything new. This is the kind of game design from 20 years ago built to sell overpriced game guides, but now that you can just google "What is this boss/curio?", you always will because the you'll spend double the hours getting punished and set back if you try anything other than the safest, most obvious approach.… Expand
  11. DingerDonger
    Jun 27, 2020
    0
    Darkest Dungeon is the pinnacle of artificial difficulty in a video game. This game is meant to do one thing and one thing only: test your patience. There is a heavy RNG element in this game at every single turn, but the vast majority of the outcomes work AGAINST you. If you like missing all your attacks, receiving numerous critical hits on your back row character that stresses out yourDarkest Dungeon is the pinnacle of artificial difficulty in a video game. This game is meant to do one thing and one thing only: test your patience. There is a heavy RNG element in this game at every single turn, but the vast majority of the outcomes work AGAINST you. If you like missing all your attacks, receiving numerous critical hits on your back row character that stresses out your entire party, or just plain random events that ruin your run, give Darkest Dungeon a try. There's no story, very little strategy that matters (since everything can go out the window at the whims of the dice), and very little teambuilding that matters since they're all destined to become turds eventually. Speaking of party, you are not meant to keep party members around for very long. The game is built in such a way that forces you to continuously recruit new members as your old ones die to the extreme randomness of the dungeons. And if all your party members die on a run and you're only left with low levels? Guess it's game over for you.

    If you like playing games like Russian roulette or if you like to see how much pain you can endure from self-torture before you pass out, this game might just be for you. Otherwise, I'd avoid it like the plague.    … Expand
  12. Jerrido
    May 29, 2020
    1
    Drop players on the GOG platform, no DLC, no achievements. Now there is no trust in these developers
  13. zanzou
    Apr 19, 2020
    3
    This isn't an rpg. It's a slot machine with an rpg skin. The grind is akin to gacha game progression because you keep on having to grind countless heros from level 0 repeatedly by design.
  14. Dash3717
    Jun 25, 2018
    4
    Not worth playing unless you prefer frustration to good game design; enjoyable in many areas but held back too much by obtuse and subpar overall design to be worth recommending.
  15. JimmyJams
    Apr 26, 2018
    4
    I mean it's not much of a "game" more like a series of dice rolls that usually don't work out for you. As someone who plays jRPG games a lot, this game pretty much emphasizes what I hate the most about them: RNG. The game wants you to lose, it wants your characters to die and you to lose any progress you've made. There's no decisions or skill you can use to overcome the RNG because it'sI mean it's not much of a "game" more like a series of dice rolls that usually don't work out for you. As someone who plays jRPG games a lot, this game pretty much emphasizes what I hate the most about them: RNG. The game wants you to lose, it wants your characters to die and you to lose any progress you've made. There's no decisions or skill you can use to overcome the RNG because it's RNG.

    When I first played the game on Darkest (ie normal) difficulty and I'd literally lost 5 heros on level 1 missions. Missions that are literally the first ones you encounter and are the easiest ones available. The same frustration persists at higher levels even after you get a handle on the game. You get this sense that you can't win the game no matter what you do because of the constant debuffs your heros take at random due to traps you can't see, moves you can't avoid or defend against, dice rolls that have mobs dodging half your attacks, critting your heros to near death, etc.

    The game just wastes your time and leaves you empty handed.    … Expand
  16. gracjanski
    Feb 4, 2018
    4
    I lost motivation to continue to play because it is so repetitive. Basically you are just fighting. The other elements in this game are just little features: build up your town, manage your heroes. Reminds me of XCOM, but the latter is just much better.
    Fighting is interesting, because a bit complex and the classes sound good, but I get bored, because you dont have any possibilities to    I lost motivation to continue to play because it is so repetitive. Basically you are just fighting. The other elements in this game are just little features: build up your town, manage your heroes. Reminds me of XCOM, but the latter is just much better.
    Fighting is interesting, because a bit complex and the classes sound good, but I get bored, because you dont have any possibilities to change your strategy if you fail, the save file is overwritten all the time. Big design mistake. No, I dont like games for masses and simple games, but I dont want to waste my free time with repeating dungeons, that are almost all the same.
    The dungeons are all the same, just go to the right, no big decisions.
    Story? hmmm.. oh yes, there is one. You can write it in 2 lines. By the way the german translation is bad, although there is not much text to translate.
    The overview in the interface is low: you have to click very often, many elements are too big. Seems like this game was being made for consoles and mobile devices and not for PC.
    Art design is great.
    Many mods are on steam workshop...bad for GOG-Gamer.

    So what shall motivate me to continue to play? The story is not the reason. The gameplay is boring. Building up your heroes? Most of them are dying and you cant do anything about it.

    Surely not a 10/10 game.    … Expand
  17. monnef
    Nov 2, 2017
    0
    The game is unplayable on my system (mouse clicks are not registered, only runs on a small section of the screen; I do meet minimal requirements). After contacting their support and waiting over half a year, nothing has changed. The game is still not fixed and their support is not responding.

    Beware of this studio (Red Hook Games/Red Hook Studios). They don't support their paying    The game is unplayable on my system (mouse clicks are not registered, only runs on a small section of the screen; I do meet minimal requirements). After contacting their support and waiting over half a year, nothing has changed. The game is still not fixed and their support is not responding.

    Beware of this studio (Red Hook Games/Red Hook Studios). They don't support their paying customers and I recommend to not support them as well.    … Expand
  18. psycros
    Feb 17, 2017
    3
    So intriguing, yet so very flawed. DD boils the dungeon crawler down to its absolute essentials, but adds a "stress" mechanic that turns perfectly functional characters into useless drooling nutters. You can salvage them by spending tons of hard-won gold while they sit out dungeon runs recovering..and you MUST go into another dungeon as soon as you complete your last expedition. There'sSo intriguing, yet so very flawed. DD boils the dungeon crawler down to its absolute essentials, but adds a "stress" mechanic that turns perfectly functional characters into useless drooling nutters. You can salvage them by spending tons of hard-won gold while they sit out dungeon runs recovering..and you MUST go into another dungeon as soon as you complete your last expedition. There's no "wait in town" ability - for some reason you're forced to be a masochist throwing yourself into the RNG meatgrinder non-stop. There's also no camping in the dungeon without a firewood item, of which you can carry precisely ONE. No healing between fights except by consuming food..and the game will happily tell you that you're starving 2 seconds after you just ate. Did I mention that some character classes won't join a party if certain other classes are present? But you MUST have a full party to "embark" on your next series of utterly random dice rolls, so you'll probably end up high and dry, unable to progress because you can't a healer or a tank. Grindy, punishing, repetitive and crippled by inexplicable design flaws - not recommended.… Expand
  19. themechanicalma
    Jan 19, 2017
    0
    Mac crashed while playing this game, restarted computer and found saved game is now gone.

    Might as well, ~20 hours in and the game becomes seriously repetitive where players would explore similar dungeons, fight similar enemies, and make similar tradeoffs. The game mechanics is interesting and the dungeons fun... for a time, but the once the abilities of each class is understood and the    Mac crashed while playing this game, restarted computer and found saved game is now gone.

    Might as well, ~20 hours in and the game becomes seriously repetitive where players would explore similar dungeons, fight similar enemies, and make similar tradeoffs. The game mechanics is interesting and the dungeons fun... for a time, but the once the abilities of each class is understood and the enemies of the dungeons known, then it begins to feel as if the game length is artificially stretched to justify the asking price.

    To devs: if you want to only allow 1 single save for each gameplay, then you better make sure the save file is properly backed up before overwriting to it. ♥♥♥♥ing amateurs.    … Expand
  20. suneater
    Nov 17, 2016
    3
    Madness takes digital form in your quest to grind your brains out in Darkest Dungeon. On the surface, you will find elements of city management, a complex party system that requires you to balance not only classes but their post-spelunking ailments and illnesses, multiple tilesets with a variety of bosses that require different strategies, and a bevy of trinkets and baubles with equallyMadness takes digital form in your quest to grind your brains out in Darkest Dungeon. On the surface, you will find elements of city management, a complex party system that requires you to balance not only classes but their post-spelunking ailments and illnesses, multiple tilesets with a variety of bosses that require different strategies, and a bevy of trinkets and baubles with equally weighted good and bad stats. All these elements (despite the RNG) combine into an enjoyable experience for the first dozen or so hours.

    All this is fun and games until you clear the first boss for each dungeon and the problems with randomness and luck really show their ugly faces. RNG holds every gameplay aspect of DD in it's iron grip; from miserable combat accuracy (for both you and the enemy), interacting with curios, suffering from permanent debuffs, and even being able to run from battle are all randomized. I love board & card games so I'm used to rolling dice and suffering for it but when the entire game is determined by luck it gets infuriating. Imagine playing Monopoly: you land on an unowned property only to have to roll dice to determine if you can buy it, roll again to determine if you can put a house on it, and then your opponents get to roll when they land on it to determine if they have to pay you. Every step is a roll of the dice (not even counting traps) with your characters gaining stress randomly while walking and sometimes forcing you to interact with obviously bad curios because of a permanent trait they have.

    Of course, RNG can always be brute forced because this is a video game and anyone who has played an RPG before knows how to brute force any kind of difficulty: grinding. In order to beat anything above the first tier of bosses, you are expected to have the best gear possible on all your characters in order for them to survive. With a max roster size of 28, characters running away or suffering from multiple crippling ailments, and permadeath (because why not?), you're looking at spending several hours grinding "easy" dungeons in the hope of bringing back some cash without your party suffering from any more permanent debuffs or dying. Near the end of the game, losing a max level key party member can spell the end of your progression and send you back to the grind mines. Since launch, they added the ability to upgrade your recruiter to occasionally bring you higher level recruits, but this also requires grinding up multiple buildings just to have the chance at buying non-unleveled heroes.

    These are all complaints about how the game was "meant" to be playing though. Through the options menu you can choose to mitigate some of the RNG but it still leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the miserable elements above aren't covered in the menu and removing & replacing them would completely change the game. I don't hate the individual elements that bring this game down but when combined it just feels like Darkest Dungeon despises the player and is actively trying to stop you from playing it. I'm sure the devs thought this was some kind of clever meta-torture based on the Lovecraftian horrors you run into but I didn't find it amusing. There will be a small, masochistic audience that will sink their teeth into this and grind it for hundreds of hours (only 1.3% of the people who have bought it on Steam have beaten it, including SAM users) but for the average person I would not recommend it.    … Expand
  21. night4
    Oct 18, 2016
    4
    I absolutely hate the art style and graphics. Looking at the game made my eyes bleed.

    I'm giving it a 4 instead of a 0 because some of the classes I read about online seemed interesting. It's too bad it's so friggin ugly.
  22. h3xw0l7
    Oct 2, 2016
    1
    There's something here but I feel it's ruined since you're essentially just rolling the RNG. If you identify as masochistic than you might enjoy this, but otherwise if you want a game where you live and die by RNG and there's nothing you can do than go for it.

    Caught by surprise? Enjoy syphilis. Want to get attached to a character? He's going to develop kleptomania and ruin everything.    There's something here but I feel it's ruined since you're essentially just rolling the RNG. If you identify as masochistic than you might enjoy this, but otherwise if you want a game where you live and die by RNG and there's nothing you can do than go for it.

    Caught by surprise? Enjoy syphilis.
    Want to get attached to a character? He's going to develop kleptomania and ruin everything.
    Want a heal that can heal between 0-12? Enjoy your heal for zero and now you're bleeding. (it causes you to bleed)
    Whole team comes back stressed? Best to just let them go and hope the wagon brings usable classes because you're broke. (Quit **** bring me five arbalests, seriously wtf)
    Invest in your buildings to make stress treatments cheaper? Each time your character "ranks" up the bills go up too, yay perpetual debt!

    I cannot stress enough that you are literally battling Satan's RNG machine, if that sounds fun go for it, but I'm done, there's no enjoyment here to be had.    … Expand
  23. TemplarGR
    Sep 9, 2016
    3
    Horribly overrated indie grind. Bad game design, and cheap difficulty. I am all for stylized dungeon crawlers, they are among my favourite games, but this isn't worth your time. I don't understand, with all the Souls series popularity and all, why the modern gaming community thinks difficulty means bad design. Avoid.
  24. DeyvsonCaliman
    Jul 25, 2016
    3
    This game got my attention, it's dark style is very nice, and although it has simple graphics and mechanics, it could really get your attention. At the beginning the game is very fun, if you lose a character it's no big deal, you can easily develop another. But as you progress through the game it becomes harder and more repetitive.

    When we lose a character later on it can be a real pain    This game got my attention, it's dark style is very nice, and although it has simple graphics and mechanics, it could really get your attention. At the beginning the game is very fun, if you lose a character it's no big deal, you can easily develop another. But as you progress through the game it becomes harder and more repetitive.

    When we lose a character later on it can be a real pain to level up another, so the game can become really grindy. When we kill a boss and lose some characters it seem like a fair price to pay, but when I got a party wiped it made me almost give up on the game. At some point I would put my save games in another folder, so I wouldn't lose my characters, which really made me hate myself, for it's a kind of cheat.

    After we kill the bosses the first time we have to do it all over again, then again, and each time we bet far higher against an ever increasing difficulty. Finally when I got to the Darkest Dungeon, and beat it miraculously for the first time, was only to find out the characters I used couldn't be used there again. I just gave up, I couldn't bear the grind anymore. This game had a lot of potential, an incredibly nice scenario, but it just wear the player down until you start hating the game and regretting even having started it.    … Expand
  25. jimwinsor
    Jun 17, 2016
    0
    A horribly designed and hideously unbalanced end game dungeon ruins what was up to that point a promising design. A long grind ends up leaving the player empty and disappointed.
  26. Sirik_Matak
    Mar 28, 2016
    1
    The game drives on nice art design and va. Other than that, it fools people who can't into 1+1 mathematics that it's a deep and hard piece of gaming.
    Max out your dps, ignore everything else (9/10 classes and skills).
    Win.
    Delete.
  27. beefcake1
    Mar 9, 2016
    4
    Do you like endless grinding with the same sequence of attacks, and no depth in strategy or monster variety???

    If so, then Darkest Dungeon is the game for you!! I gave this game alot of play, gave it second chances, third chances, but in the end it just showed tself more for what it really is: a shallow dungeon grind. Once you figure out the optimum way to use the limited characters    Do you like endless grinding with the same sequence of attacks, and no depth in strategy or monster variety???

    If so, then Darkest Dungeon is the game for you!!

    I gave this game alot of play, gave it second chances, third chances, but in the end it just showed tself more for what it really is: a shallow dungeon grind. Once you figure out the optimum way to use the limited characters and items {you only get to use two items per character} to beat each dungeon / boss, the game goes from being semi-strategic to completely formulaic and dull.

    This game is not an RpG at all, dont believe the rubbish that you read. The ONLY variation in the game comes from critical hits, which more often that not end up with your team being punished. Don't believe those who says "well this game is meant to be tough". That's rubbish too.

    I would have more fun rolling a 20-sided dice repeatedly and eating a chocolate bar when I get a 1.

    And to think I spent 26$ of my hard-earned on this dirge. Darkest dirge.

    Dont believe the hype.    … Expand
  28. ORukisan
    Mar 1, 2016
    3
    This is a game I wanted to love. Initially its different, graphics and voices are enjoyable for the first 30 minutes maybe even the first couple of hours. But then the its repetitive, over and over again to grind gold and other items to improve the town. Most importantly the combat engine is almost undecipherable. Random character sequencing in combat, I actually created a spreadsheetThis is a game I wanted to love. Initially its different, graphics and voices are enjoyable for the first 30 minutes maybe even the first couple of hours. But then the its repetitive, over and over again to grind gold and other items to improve the town. Most importantly the combat engine is almost undecipherable. Random character sequencing in combat, I actually created a spreadsheet where i tracked combat turns and all i can say it is very luck/game biased even on the easiest settings. I have played other games where grinding is part of the experience (i.e. original Lineage 2). i can click and move repetitively forever but winning in this game especially mid stage and beyond is based more on luck than understanding the game dynamics. I would still buy it, but enjoy it for the artistry, game breaking innovations than being able to engage the game with strategy and understanding.… Expand
  29. platq
    Feb 29, 2016
    2
    kiepska gra w ktorej niema dobrych wyborow sa tylko zle i gorsze niemylic tej gry z grami taktycznymi to czysty surviwal i o wiekszosci decyduje rng
    dotego gra zasypuje masa kometazy do wszystkiego co sie dzieje cigle wyskakujace chmorki itp po czasie nuza
  30. QuixoticKnight
    Feb 20, 2016
    0
    //...Cool Artwork...
    ChanceToDoAnything = Skill(0,5) + Random(0,95);
    if (ChanceToDoAnything < 95) DestroyCharacter(CurrentPlayer);
    //...Cool Artwork...

    That is pretty much the algorithm for the entire game. If that sounds like a blast then pick it.
    Don't expect it to be fun just expect it to be completely arbitrary and mean.
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Awards & Rankings

26
#26 Best PC Game of 2015
25
#25 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
26
#26 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 56 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 56
  3. Negative: 0 out of 56
  1. KeenGamer
    Aug 12, 2020
    80
    There is a good reason that Darkest Dungeon won a ton of awards and sold over 2 million copies - in portraying the dark underbelly of fantasy adventuring it touched on subjects rarely addressed in games before it. Its amazing sound, comic-like graphics, and intense, perpetual Ironman difficulty create a title that was addictive to those wanting Lovecraftian horror with a side of near Dark Souls difficulty. If you have never experienced it before, now is a great time to make its acquaintance, to be prepared for the release of Darkest Dungeon 2. And, if you were a previous visitor, make sure you take another look to experience the new DLC that has been added since your departure. Hours of broken peripherals and rage quits await.
    Read full review
  2. High-Def Digest
    Apr 10, 2016
    90
    Darkest Dungeon is the rare game that gets my heart pumping while playing, not because it’s scary (even though it is a little scary), but because the stakes are so high.
    Read full review
  3. Pelit (Finland)
    Mar 31, 2016
    88
    Darkest Dungeon is a masterpiece of emergent storytelling. [March 2016]
See all critic reviews »