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. skohl
    Feb 4, 2016
    6
    This is a good game that I want to like more than I do. It was very fun when I was progressing and killing bosses. Now that I got to the "Darkest Dungeon" final levels, I have nothing left to do in the game except to level up another 12+ heroes to level 5 so I can actually run them. This is proving to be a huge task, and by my estimates I will need to play the game for another 20 hoursThis is a good game that I want to like more than I do. It was very fun when I was progressing and killing bosses. Now that I got to the "Darkest Dungeon" final levels, I have nothing left to do in the game except to level up another 12+ heroes to level 5 so I can actually run them. This is proving to be a huge task, and by my estimates I will need to play the game for another 20 hours before I reach that point.

    That is taking into account modest losses during the level-up process. The thing about this game is that no matter how well you prepare, you will lose heroes, due to the randomness inherent in the gameplay. Everything could be going very well and then you get ambushed once and suddenly you're in a life or death situation because the enemy shuffled your party and crit you once. The best you can do is swallow your pride and retreat, and abandon the mission if necessary, at the slightest hint of danger.

    However from my perspective that is only marginally better than a party member dying, because the surviving heroes will need disease cures, stress heals, and quirk adjustment, requiring them to sit on the sidelines for up to three missions. Either way, you will have to grind. It has become so repetitive that even the voice of the amazing narrator is beginning to grate on me, because I've heard everything he says 100 times.

    I could go on but I think people get the gist from these low score reviews. The game is insanely punishing, period. It doesn't get any easier as you progress, in fact it gets much harder and requires you to know the strengths and weaknesses for each boss and particular area inside and out. That is why everybody who plays it uses the wiki.    … Expand
  2. Wynkin_Gunn
    Sep 22, 2020
    6
    Progression can be slow for those unacquainted with RPG elements and RNG mitigation. Losses in later parts of the game can set progression back by quite a bit, which made me lose interest in the game. The strong modding community for this game, however, is a nice side bit.
  3. PutCashIn
    Feb 25, 2016
    6
    I am very much on the fence with regards to this game - some ideas are brilliant, once you get the hang of the characters abilities and upgrading the town the seemingly impossible game really does open up - however, there is one design decision which has left me unable to play this game with enjoyment.

    When your characters reach level 3 (and again at level 5) they are unable to entre    I am very much on the fence with regards to this game - some ideas are brilliant, once you get the hang of the characters abilities and upgrading the town the seemingly impossible game really does open up - however, there is one design decision which has left me unable to play this game with enjoyment.

    When your characters reach level 3 (and again at level 5) they are unable to entre level one (three) dungeons any more, this combined with the fact that the available dungeons are primarily based on the level of your rostered characters, leaves you an often untenable position where your level 1&2 characters are unable to complete the 'harder' types of level one dungeons, whereas your newly leveled 3 characters are not yet ready for the difficulty spike of level 3 dungeons.

    It is a bizarre decision, I guess it is designed to prevent 'farming' - which is odd ad that is essentially the core gameplay - finding and collecting items for use in your town.

    I simply cannot fathom this decision to split the character roster up based on level, why wouldn't the new character want to tag along with a more experienced character? But the characters can *learn* from experts within the town itself? Just ... bizarre.

    I would suggest even people who like rouge-likes to seriously consider before purchasing, this is a somewhat odd take on the theme, developing into games that either spiral into disaster or become repetitively easy. There really is no 'mid game' because of the level splitting in the roster.    … Expand
  4. Someonon
    Jan 31, 2016
    5
    The positives : Dark atmosphere,
    Nice rpg elements,
    Unique classes,

    The negatives: RNG is ridiculously fake and unfair (i'd say 90% chance equals around 60%),
    Repetitive,
    Buggy (... yes, even after final release).

    If you like Roguelike rpgs and don't mind the RNG fest pick it up
  5. praisethesun11
    Jan 27, 2016
    5
    TLDR Pros and Cons will follow.
    I really really really wanted to absolutely love this game. It was exactly what I was looking for and in many ways it's the perfect pick up and play game. You can hop in and do 1 or 2 dungeons and be done in 30 minutes or less, or you can really grind out some new adventures and log 4+ hour runs. The game autosaves constantly (major props to all games that    TLDR Pros and Cons will follow.
    I really really really wanted to absolutely love this game. It was exactly what I was looking for and in many ways it's the perfect pick up and play game. You can hop in and do 1 or 2 dungeons and be done in 30 minutes or less, or you can really grind out some new adventures and log 4+ hour runs. The game autosaves constantly (major props to all games that do this) and forces you to live with your decisions. It encourages you to experiment with the wide variety of classes and skills that you have access to in order to come up with the perfect teams (yes, plural) that suit your vision. However, that's where creativity and player choice ends. Very quickly you realize that no matter how much thought you put into your team, the battle will be decided by RNG. I'm generally a huge fan of RNG. Praise be unto RNGesus! But in this case your perfect strategy can be completely ruined by bad luck. If I go into much detail it will just sound like complaining, but understand that this game is NOT fair. All of the mechanics of the game are stacked against you, and quick thinking and careful planning means nothing. As an XCOM, Dark Souls, and Fire Emblem veteran I expect to be challenged, but this game is cruel, in a bad way. Sometimes a Veteran-level dungeon is a breeze because everything swings your way, and sometimes an Apprentice-level dungeon is a sadistic nightmare in its first battle. To be quite honest, I think this game is exactly what the developers wanted to make and with a few tweeks it could be amazing, but at this time, for this review, it's not quite there.

    Pros:
    +Fantastic art direction, animation, and music that really sets the mood
    +The mood. Its dark, eerie, and perfect for dungeon crawling.
    +Diverse group of classes and enemies
    +Permadeath with no option to turn it off
    +Stress mechanic (also a negative)
    +The inability to grind lower-tier dungeons

    Cons:
    -Far too reliant on RNG (game-breaking)
    -No story
    -Very few areas
    -Uninteresting loot and level-up mechanics
    -Stress mechanic (also a positive)
    -Bugs abound (lost save files, crashes to desktop)*

    *playing on high-end PC    … Expand
  6. Dupa15
    Jun 11, 2017
    6
    Starts off good. The interface is not that intuitive, but manageable.
    The story - what story? there is no story to speak of.
    Graphics is what it is. Dark cartoony, but fluid and carefully done. There are a few annoyances (the game balance, grind, lack of proper rpg mechanics, grind, very high RNG importance and the grind. After a few hours the game gets repetitive. It wouldn't be    Starts off good. The interface is not that intuitive, but manageable.
    The story - what story? there is no story to speak of.

    Graphics is what it is. Dark cartoony, but fluid and carefully done.
    There are a few annoyances (the game balance, grind, lack of proper rpg mechanics, grind, very high RNG importance and the grind.

    After a few hours the game gets repetitive. It wouldn't be so bad, if not for the time padding elements:
    - lengthy animations,
    - same unsolicited dialogs stopping combat,
    - RNG as hell

    All in all I stopped playing after a few hours.    … Expand
  7. Leuko
    Jan 28, 2016
    7
    Well delivered game, but lack depth to get me interested for prolonged period of time.

    Thanks to good atmosphere and instant access to many characters with varied skills it was possible for me to enjoy this game straight from the beginning. Unfortunately after a while exploration and combat gets repetitive. There is just not enough diversity in character progression and tactical    Well delivered game, but lack depth to get me interested for prolonged period of time.

    Thanks to good atmosphere and instant access to many characters with varied skills it was possible for me to enjoy this game straight from the beginning.

    Unfortunately after a while exploration and combat gets repetitive. There is just not enough diversity in character progression and tactical decisions during battles. Development of the base is linear too.    … Expand
  8. blade01
    Feb 1, 2016
    6
    Darkest Dungeon is finally out of ea!I played it during ea and it was horrible.It was not horrible because it was buggy or bad, it screwed you over big time and in a scummy way.Is this still true?Lets find out:

    Visuals:I like the artstyle.Really dark and everything blends together very nice.Its a cartoonlike look and i think even if you dont like that style in general in this game its    Darkest Dungeon is finally out of ea!I played it during ea and it was horrible.It was not horrible because it was buggy or bad, it screwed you over big time and in a scummy way.Is this still true?Lets find out:

    Visuals:I like the artstyle.Really dark and everything blends together very nice.Its a cartoonlike look and i think even if you dont like that style in general in this game its so fitting youll like it.Of course the game is no Far Cry when it comes to effects but that is not necessary.

    Sound:The voiceover is well done.You ancestor will speak about thinks, comment on things and most of the time it fits the situation very well.After some time it can be too much i think!

    Gameplay:Let me say it that way:If you like being screwed over constantly this game is your thing.I dont like that.I like hard games where you have to think.Darkest Dungeon can(and will) screw you over in the dirties ways.For example with crits from monsters.Maybe youll receive 4 crits in your first battle and the result will be so much stress that you might have trouble getting through the dungeon.Or youll receive a desease that lowers you stats so much that character becomes useless during that quest(and maybe even beyond the quest).So much stuff is super random, i dont like it.It might screw your hole playthrough if you run out of money after a bad quest.The gameplay itself is solid but not more.Everything is very basic and sometimes even shallow.There is no big story told.You make your own story.If you dont like it(like me) dont buy this game.

    Conclusion:If you like the concept of the game buy it!This is game is a 10/10 for the right taste.Its bugfree with good visuals and that rare these days.If you search for more(like me) story for example and a fair game dont buy Darkest Dungeon.I had some fun with it but i got bored after 12 hours because of the missing story so i can give this game a score of 6 which is an "okay-game".No masterpiece here but still a good game.    … Expand
  9. iseeall
    Dec 21, 2017
    7
    It's an RPG with turn-based battles and a distinctive atmosphere. Its stellar class/ability system is ruined by extreme randomness, permadeath and hidden information.

    The good: - great art, music, narrator voice, the whole atmosphere of darkness, death and sorrow - you build a party of 4 characters of different classes, there are over a dozen classes, and each has 8 abilities (of    It's an RPG with turn-based battles and a distinctive atmosphere. Its stellar class/ability system is ruined by extreme randomness, permadeath and hidden information.

    The good:
    - great art, music, narrator voice, the whole atmosphere of darkness, death and sorrow
    - you build a party of 4 characters of different classes, there are over a dozen classes, and each has 8 abilities (of which, again, you can only pick 4 at a time). This all interacts in very interesting ways. Also, a lot depends on relative placement of characters because some abilities can only be used when the character stands, say, in the 3rd or the 4th row, but not in the 1st or the 2nd one. I can't immediately think of any similar games except from Disciples but still, here it's a lot more meat and tons of factors and strategies to consider.

    The so-so:
    - the design of dungeons is almost linear. Even in a cave you just move from left to right. It makes the game feel not even 2-dimensional but 1-dimensional. Almost like you just need to keep the character progression up with the increasing power of monster quads and that's it. There is no spatial component to it, and not much choice in where you go next. Which is probably ok for some people, but almost made me feel this game is intended for Flash or mobile (?) which however would be weird, given the high difficulty and the complex combat system.
    - GUI could be improved. E.g. you can't switch between characters easily while viewing buildings. This requires to close the character stats window, then right-click again on another character and so on. Management of things between battles just take too much time and hassle, and not because of the interesting decisions you have to make but because of struggling with the clumsy interface.

    The bad:
    - as other players said, the extreme randomness takes away much of the strategic feel. Crits, dodges, misses, resists - all this junk is from the RPG world, sure, but as a strategy games player (and I'm mostly fan of TBS games) this all feels like obligatory crap which designers never get tired of putting into games. In fact, when I played Disciples 2 back in 2000s, I opened gbattacks file in some hex editor and manually replaced all the chances to hit with 100% and instead reduced the damage proportionally. Believe me, after that the previously frustrating game (so many battles had to be replayed over and over with the same series of orders during battle, each time to get a different result) - turned into a thoughtful, tranquil TBS which wasn't easier, not at all! Simply by removing randomness here this game would be a lot more pleasing, at least to me.
    - permadeath, which may seem like a cool concept on paper (this game even says to you in the first dialog at game start that it's ok if your heroes die, and some battles can't be won etc). But in reality, in your first playthroughs you won't know what enemies do. So, say, you unexpectedly meet a strong boss which does something (some abilities, e.g. a murloc-type 2-tile boss endlessly spawning new mobs) which you don't know in advance. You face the boss, start losing, your healer dies. The fact that you couldn't know that new mobs are spawned endlessly makes you not feel like you made a mistake (and could correct it if you could re-load) but instead that the game itself makes no sense. Well, the game gives you a hint that ok, this battle can't be won, you must retreat. So, abandon the quest. And after that the dungeon will be unavailable, so no retries. And the killed heroes can't resurrected. And the save file has already been overwritten. Hmm.. This really makes no sense. You could just restart the whole game (as you would in ADOM, remember this 1994 game?) But this wouldn't bring anything because on your next attempt you will face another new monster which has unexpected tactics - and you will lose another party or at least a few heroes on that one, only to learn what that new monster does, and fail another dungeon. All this idiocy could be easily avoided if the authors made permadeath an option. Say, new players can re-load as much as they want, but veterans who have beaten the game and know all the rules and monsters could then try some extra challenge in iron man mode. At least that worked in Fallout 2 and I played it for months (at least 20 attempts) until I beat it in iron man (well, almost, didn't bother to do Navarro base). But that was after I knew the game inside out. Requiring a new player to restart the WHOLE Fallout 2 each time they saw a new monster for the first time or chose a wrong dialog branch would be pointless.
    - no tooltips or any other way to find out about abilities of monsters. Which means you can't really plan any tactics at the start of a battle and instead just apply something standard (which depends on your pre-designed party) and passively watch how enemies do damage to you, put dots or increase stress of your characters. No info => no meaningful strategy    … Expand
  10. Wulfrune
    Mar 29, 2016
    5
    I really wanted to like this game and for a short while I did. However, to sum up this game in a nutshell, all you're going to get is variations on the theme and duplications of what fast becomes irreverence. Once you've completed one mission, you've basically completed them all, this coupled with the unforgiving nature of the game makes it a "play once for a short while, then confine toI really wanted to like this game and for a short while I did. However, to sum up this game in a nutshell, all you're going to get is variations on the theme and duplications of what fast becomes irreverence. Once you've completed one mission, you've basically completed them all, this coupled with the unforgiving nature of the game makes it a "play once for a short while, then confine to background and ignore". If this game is your bag, fair play to you, enjoy, but as an old gamer, this game does nothing to want you to keep playing it, therefore I cannot recommend it.… Expand
  11. SigilFey
    Feb 10, 2016
    5
    Who will LOVE this -- ?

    + Players looking for an extreme, roguelike challenge. + Those who love games of chance, taking risks, and either winning or losing big. + People who appreciate quality artistic design and style. Who will HATE this -- ? - People who appreciate skill and strategy over sheer, dumb luck. - Fans of RPGs that rely on meaningful mechanics and smart,    Who will LOVE this -- ?

    + Players looking for an extreme, roguelike challenge.
    + Those who love games of chance, taking risks, and either winning or losing big.
    + People who appreciate quality artistic design and style.

    Who will HATE this -- ?

    - People who appreciate skill and strategy over sheer, dumb luck.
    - Fans of RPGs that rely on meaningful mechanics and smart, rewarding play.
    - Individuals who wish to finish what they start.

    There is no "in-between" for Darkest Dungeon. I adore brutally difficult games (strategy titles like XCOM, realistic shooters like ArmA, punishing RPGs like Dark Souls, realistic flight sims like the old Jane's series, etc.), but that's not what this is. Darkest Dungeon presents you with a myriad of brilliantly designed gameplay concepts that all boil down to one and only one mechanic -- completely random rolls of the dice.

    Whether you play smartly, or you just grab the nearest torch and blindly explore with half-a-party...you have about an equal chance of success or failure. The RNG is so horribly stacked against the player, that the game's most creative idea (the Stress mechanic) -- which should have created wildly interesting character evolution -- basically degenerates into even more of a chance for the RNG to destroy all of your progress in the most ridiculous way possible.

    HOWEVER -- if you're willing to simply play the game like you would play the slots in Vegas -- then Darkest Dungeon offers what amounts to one of the coolest, most interactive slot machine ever. It's so much fun to watch, and that's what you're basically doing. You can increase your chances of success by getting into the mechanics of probability and kitting out your party with better chances to "roll high" (similar to playing 3-4 slot machines at once). Know, however, that in the end, success or failure is based almost entirely on 100% luck...and the House always wins.    … Expand
  12. huw12313212
    Mar 6, 2016
    5
    《Darkest Dungeon》前十個小時其實非常好玩，有趣的戰鬥規則，困難的關卡，有個性的角色反應，讓人非常著迷。

    但是這款遊戲的後期Gameplay 非常的過分，怪物非常非常的強，然後你的角色被打死的話，你就要從頭開始練，練一輪大約花五六個小時。然後在後期lv5 的地城就算你的角色都滿血，抗性都疊到最滿，他還是可以一回合殺掉你的角色，然後叫你回去再重新練五六個小時。 然後更過分的是，當角色等級到五級，你會被強迫去打高難度地城，就算你知道他一定打不贏，但是他只有這個選項『叫你的角色去送死』 所以遊戲的後期你一直不停的在重新練角色，然後進高難度地城，然後再秒殺你的角色。    《Darkest Dungeon》前十個小時其實非常好玩，有趣的戰鬥規則，困難的關卡，有個性的角色反應，讓人非常著迷。

    但是這款遊戲的後期Gameplay 非常的過分，怪物非常非常的強，然後你的角色被打死的話，你就要從頭開始練，練一輪大約花五六個小時。然後在後期lv5 的地城就算你的角色都滿血，抗性都疊到最滿，他還是可以一回合殺掉你的角色，然後叫你回去再重新練五六個小時。

    然後更過分的是，當角色等級到五級，你會被強迫去打高難度地城，就算你知道他一定打不贏，但是他只有這個選項『叫你的角色去送死』

    所以遊戲的後期你一直不停的在重新練角色，然後進高難度地城，然後再秒殺你的角色。

    我用簡單一點的比喻，就是想像你現在在玩神奇寶貝，然後你抓了一隻綠毛蟲，好不容易進化成巴大胡，然後你在路邊遇到一位沒見過的神奇寶貝訓練師，一交戰就放出噴火龍燒死你的巴大胡，然後你就要回去從綠毛蟲開始練。然後你想把巴大胡練高等一點再去打訓練師，但是抱歉，不行，這個遊戲就是規定你綠毛蟲要PK 小火龍，鐵甲蛹要PK 火恐龍，巴大胡就是要被噴火龍電。你沒有任何自由度跟選擇，你只能打自己只有30%機率打贏的敵人。

    非常浪費時間。不值得花時間在這款遊戲，如果你真的想玩，建議玩十個小時內就好，後面10~100小時沒有更多內容，只是攻擊的數字越來越大而已，你要全部撐過去他才肯讓你打Final Boss，然後就算打完Final Boss你花一堆時間經營的角色也回不來，因為他最終戰也是設計成一定會死。    … Expand
  13. Honeybadgers
    Mar 20, 2016
    7
    I started out loving darkest dungeon. It is truly terse, dripping with atmosphere, with gorgeous visuals and exceptional narration. The gameplay is pretty good as well. But the game has, for me, a huge problem. It's just too punishing to play. The progression is slower than vanilla world of Warcraft, and you will spend a lot of time grinding dungeons far more than feels appropriate. II started out loving darkest dungeon. It is truly terse, dripping with atmosphere, with gorgeous visuals and exceptional narration. The gameplay is pretty good as well. But the game has, for me, a huge problem. It's just too punishing to play. The progression is slower than vanilla world of Warcraft, and you will spend a lot of time grinding dungeons far more than feels appropriate. I guess i just didn't enjoy the core gameplay loop enough, but once i got a solid team to level 6 or 7, i took a step back and realized that i haven't been having fun for the last ten hours. Even optimal playing is just not acceptable in the pacing. I feel like the game needs a setting that lets you bring in higher level characters to lower dungeons just to accelerate the grind that is necessary to progress, because i got so insanely tired on hiring four new guys, running a level one, and then firing them all. That system for getting money is demonstrative of a piece of bad design. Overall, very playable and i cab definitely see the appeal. But it just ground me down until i wasn't having fun and by that time i had fifty hours in and was not even half done.… Expand
  14. Tubey
    Mar 26, 2016
    7
    Ludicrously immersive and dripping in atmosphere, but where Darkest Dungeon falls down a few points is the over reliance on completely arbitrary RNG to run the gameplay experience. So much so that you can't really be "good" at this game; you're just either lucky or you're not. There's very little you can do to avoid death - you basically roll a dice, and if it lands on the wrong number,Ludicrously immersive and dripping in atmosphere, but where Darkest Dungeon falls down a few points is the over reliance on completely arbitrary RNG to run the gameplay experience. So much so that you can't really be "good" at this game; you're just either lucky or you're not. There's very little you can do to avoid death - you basically roll a dice, and if it lands on the wrong number, you're dead.

    This makes the end game particularly an absolute nightmare. Yes, it creates dread with every action you make, but for the wrong reasons.

    I'm scoring it higher than it probably deserves in all honesty, but it's because I adore everything about it other than the RNG. Pick it up on sale, but be prepared to abandon it in frustration after a while - but for the hours you'll enjoy it, you'll REALLY enjoy it.    … Expand
  15. nilsy
    Apr 3, 2017
    5
    WOW! WOW! but i dont like it...

    This game manages to impress me just i dont like playing it.
    It gives the impression that with a few tweaks this could have been fighting for GOTY but now its just this ambivalent feeling were i want to like the game but just dont.
    Do hope there will be a DD2 that has a better experience for me, would give a sequel a try.
  16. Crackfarmer
    Apr 2, 2016
    5
    Played it couple times but then i never got back into it. If you close it one time - you'll never open it up again. It's kinda the same **** over and over again. Wouldn't pay a single cent for it.
  17. sandman1234
    Mar 23, 2016
    7
    On the Pro side:
    This game has an awesome art-style, the voice acting is awesome and it´s quite enjoyable for a while.
    On the Cons side:
    When you reach mid-game I fell like you are grinding all the time, and the game loop is the same all the time
  18. RagingPoet
    Feb 9, 2018
    7
    Darkest Dungeon is an interesting game but it gets old way too soon. Gameplay is very repetitive, even engrossing atmosphere and superb narration can't help it. First few hours felt really good though.
  19. RazorSamurai
    Mar 15, 2019
    5
    ху...ета для дол.....боебов
    фарми 40 часов и прое....би то что нафармил за один присест
    ладно, вообщем, атмосфера и сеттинг на уровне, музыкальное сопровождение на высшем уровне к этому никак не придраться. но проблема игры заключается в том, то что она заставляет тебя вечно гриндить то голду то фамилияры. здесь есть несколько боссов которые повторяются по 3 раза и некоторые    ху...ета для дол.....боебов
    фарми 40 часов и прое....би то что нафармил за один присест

    ладно, вообщем, атмосфера и сеттинг на уровне, музыкальное сопровождение на высшем уровне к этому никак не придраться. но проблема игры заключается в том, то что она заставляет тебя вечно гриндить то голду то фамилияры.

    здесь есть несколько боссов которые повторяются по 3 раза и некоторые ивентовые и все, я не доходил до темнейшего подземелья и доходить не буду, тратить время впустую не мой конёк.

    и то прикол в том, что я играл с самого начала покупки лицензии с аддонами на ускоренную анимацию ударов и ходьбы, страшно представить, сколько времени я бы потратил играя без них.

    вообщей сумме впустую потраченных 60 часов, спасибо, поел го.вна. но с радостью буду ждать вторую часть из-за нового оста, надеюсь он там будет.
    5.5/10

    UPD.
    16 марта прошел игру, у♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ая концовка которая♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ни♥♥♥♥♥♥ не удовлетворяет вообще. зря потраченное время, да и то эти два последних квеста вообще несложные а фарм сложен. назвал бы игру. farmest farm    … Expand
  20. ExcAverage
    Dec 25, 2018
    6
    Say what you'd like about my skill, but this game is ridiculously punishing. I love the theme and as far as I'm concerned there's no problem the with very core of the game play, however the hours of grinding through the same hallways and enemies that grow dull noticeably quickly, I think there's some major flaws with anything past the core of the game play. There's no real story to digSay what you'd like about my skill, but this game is ridiculously punishing. I love the theme and as far as I'm concerned there's no problem the with very core of the game play, however the hours of grinding through the same hallways and enemies that grow dull noticeably quickly, I think there's some major flaws with anything past the core of the game play. There's no real story to dig for, although if you're looking at buying this I doubt you're in it so much for the story as the game play, and the perma-death mechanic would sound like it would make the game more intense, and I was hopeful that it would be, however it really just ends up padding out the game to crazy lengths for your first run through the game, and afterwards I don't believe this game has much replay value other than playing through on Stygian or Bloodmoon difficulty. If you're really into turn-based RPGs with a bit of strategy, I doubt you'll find this game as annoying as I did, but as it stands there is too much punishment to be reasonable, and it's not always something you can really avoid with skill. Going into a high-level boss and losing a character can set you back hours, and that's piled on top of the time spent with your characters getting quirks and stress removed. Personally, even if I were more into the genre, I'd give this game a pass. Not unplayable, but not very good either. I'd love to see what the devs create in the future.… Expand
  21. Setsudo
    Dec 27, 2020
    6
    There is something there. It's too bad that the gameplay depends only from your luck
    More it's difficult to end a dugeon, less money you have then less chance to finish the next etc
    Unless playing easy mode or waste a lot of time to repeat the same way... It ends to get boring and stressfull which is sacarstic when you know that what it kills your caracters in the game Not a game    There is something there. It's too bad that the gameplay depends only from your luck
    More it's difficult to end a dugeon, less money you have then less chance to finish the next etc

    Unless playing easy mode or waste a lot of time to repeat the same way...

    It ends to get boring and stressfull which is sacarstic when you know that what it kills your caracters in the game

    Not a game for me... But good try    … Expand
  22. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    6
    Great idea, fun set up, its great that it is challenging, but it can become tedious and too hard to recover due to bad balance if you have a bad moment.
  23. Tk4Bullet
    Aug 3, 2020
    5
    I really like the atmosphere of the game, the concept, artwork, complex mechanics and how you have the freedom to create your teams of four and embark. What I could not stand was the massive overload of RNG runing many dungeons. If an enemy has 12 HP, your leper will hit him for 11 and then the enemy will crit you next turn. The random food checks are **** such quirks as kleptomaniac orI really like the atmosphere of the game, the concept, artwork, complex mechanics and how you have the freedom to create your teams of four and embark. What I could not stand was the massive overload of RNG runing many dungeons. If an enemy has 12 HP, your leper will hit him for 11 and then the enemy will crit you next turn. The random food checks are **** such quirks as kleptomaniac or other trashes that force your heroes to interact with curios are idiotic too. The game tries so hard to **** you up even on the lowest difficulty even if you try very hard,… Expand
  24. gravehaven
    Sep 25, 2022
    5
    A bit overhyped. Anyone that has played Dungeons and Dragons will find this bland. It's really just a brutal twist on a random number generator. That's it. Art is amazing, sound and music are amazing, voice acting is amazing, design is really just a jRPG with an unforgiving RNG.
  25. UncleEd
    Oct 12, 2021
    6
    This is a game I disliked, but I can see why some people enjoy it. Darkest Dungeon is a side-view turn based combat game, where grinding is its core mechanic. You have your party and go into dungeons trying to complete quests, most of which involve exploring the dungeon or clearing out the enemies.
    There are a lot of good things to say about it. It has a unique visual style, which I    This is a game I disliked, but I can see why some people enjoy it. Darkest Dungeon is a side-view turn based combat game, where grinding is its core mechanic. You have your party and go into dungeons trying to complete quests, most of which involve exploring the dungeon or clearing out the enemies.
    There are a lot of good things to say about it. It has a unique visual style, which I really liked. The music, audio and atmosphere are also really good. You have to watch the stress levels of your heroes in addition to their hit points and stress is usually the main challenge to overcome. Once your heroes die, you lose them permanently. So, you can spend hours leveling up your heroes and lose them unexpectedly. RNG is an additional factor of frustration, which you can maybe overcome with constant grinding.

    If you grind long enough, upgrading your town, then your heroes, I can safely assume you will be able to play through it. And that’s the thing about Darkest Dungeon. If you enjoy or don’t mind the grinding, Darkest Dungeon offers a unique atmosphere and it’s very friendly to casual pick up & play. If you are like me though, you will see early on what is expected from you to complete the game and you will choose to abandon it instead.

    I have played it both on Switch and Steam and found the gameplay much more enjoyable with mouse & keyboard. On a final note, the game warns you that it will collect your data if you wish to access one of the DLCs, which sounded alarming, but I did not really research if it’s something troubling.    … Expand
  26. Soullex
    Nov 30, 2022
    7
    Oyun ilerlerde biraz tekrara bağlıyor. Ne zaman karşıma bir boss çıksa içimden geçiyor. Tekrar karakter kasmak da çok zor.
  27. Botanistaken
    Sep 4, 2023
    5
    gets too boring, because of the repetitive gameplay. i stopped playing after 8 hours. dont get me wrong i love difficult games but if the only difficulty of the game you have developed is to pass the same sections with the same logic and strategy over and over again, i aint playing that.
  28. PanMrkvicka
    May 23, 2020
    7
    It didnt grip me that much. I didnt even get to endgame but the game was pretty good just too much about luck.
  29. Wrathzo
    Mar 25, 2022
    7
    Darkest Dungeon is a role-playing video game developed and published by Red Hook Studios. Darkest Dungeon has the player manage a roster of heroes to explore dungeons below a gothic mansion the player has inherited. Played out in a mix of real-time movement and turn-based combat, a core feature of Darkest Dungeon is the stress level of each hero that increases with further exploration andDarkest Dungeon is a role-playing video game developed and published by Red Hook Studios. Darkest Dungeon has the player manage a roster of heroes to explore dungeons below a gothic mansion the player has inherited. Played out in a mix of real-time movement and turn-based combat, a core feature of Darkest Dungeon is the stress level of each hero that increases with further exploration and combat; a character sustaining a high-stress level may gain afflictions that will hamper, or possibly enhance, their performance as an explorer.… Expand
  30. L140
    Feb 18, 2021
    6
    ну и хуйня блять, каждый раз одно и то же, как же хочется сдохнуть...
  31. Tabbou
    Dec 20, 2021
    6
    Nice art, good ambiance, characters and team building are nice but :
    -Too hard
    -Less and less fun trough the stages
  32. joglow
    Jan 2, 2023
    7
    Kinda addicting at the end and pretty depressing. You will want to finish it in a good way.
  33. TomKing13
    Jul 17, 2022
    6
    c: ........................................................................
  34. CodaHensley
    Dec 2, 2022
    6
    Had a pretty good time with the game until a whole fully upgraded team was wiped in one turn because of some harsh rng. Great game for people who just have way too much time on their hands.
  35. SauceBox6
    Nov 26, 2022
    7
    10 - Masterpiece
    9 - Amazing
    8 - Great
    7 - Good
    6 - Okay
    5 - Mediocre
    4 - Bad
    3 - Awful
    2 - Painful
    1 - Unbearable

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.
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  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]
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