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. joebomb10
    Feb 3, 2015
    10
    Darkest Dungeon is at it’s heart more than just a rogue-like RPG. It’s a tale, a story, an epic if you will. Becoming attached to your characters cannot be helped and only makes those final blows much more painful to witness. You cannot go wrong with Darkest Dungeon.

    ~~~~~ Gameplay: Darkest Dungeon gameplay is slow and methodical, but that does not make it stale. Oh no, the gameplay    Darkest Dungeon is at it’s heart more than just a rogue-like RPG. It’s a tale, a story, an epic if you will. Becoming attached to your characters cannot be helped and only makes those final blows much more painful to witness. You cannot go wrong with Darkest Dungeon.

    ~~~~~

    Gameplay: Darkest Dungeon gameplay is slow and methodical, but that does not make it stale. Oh no, the gameplay is as staunch as the droves of monsters you’ll slay. To rush your decisions will lead your party to suffer both mentally and physically. It’s unforgiving, and you’ll probably throw a few cusses at the screen but it’s part of the experience. This is a turned-based strategy gem, and you’ll see that the moment you step into the abyss.

    Mechanics: Controls are simple, actions are responsive. It’s a very well designed UI with enough depth to achieve what you want without feeling overwhelmed by navigation. You can literally play the entire game with just a mouse, unless you wish to name your characters after family members (not recommended).

    Graphics: Amazing enough to warrant the purchase of an art book. It’s orginal, somber, but warm enough to set it apart from other dreary titles. It takes you back, draws you in, and provides more than enough character and emotion while remaining true to the art direction. Nothing seems out of place, and at the same time everything feels otherworldly.

    Story: A solid foundation for a rogue-like game, and more than enough narration and backstory to keep you invested. The story is not the focus, but will provide you with everything you need to understand the world and characters.

    Replayability: Very high. There’s tons of upgrades (both town and character) and lots of trinkets to be found, if you stay alive long enough to make use of them. On top of that, there are currently three distinct areas with different enemies and randomized dungeons.

    ~~~~~

    Recommended: Yes, very.
    Rating: Currently 9.5/10 (rounded up) - This is not a game you want to miss

    ~~~~~

    Darkest Dungeon is the most original and deadly combination of genres to date. No area of the game is left unpolished, which says a lot for an Early Access title. I will continue to enjoy this game for an endless amount of time as it offers both an immense amount of replayability, depth, and challenge.    … Expand
  2. Szlomka
    Feb 3, 2015
    10
    An interesting idea and an equally interesting art style. It does have all the tell tale signs of an unfinished unpolished product, yet it still intrigues and pulls in. Sometimes corny sometimes dramatic, one feels the creators could have swerved more toward the comical satirical side.

    You never seem to run out of new heroes coming in, ready to step into the meat grinder. Slowly but    An interesting idea and an equally interesting art style. It does have all the tell tale signs of an unfinished unpolished product, yet it still intrigues and pulls in. Sometimes corny sometimes dramatic, one feels the creators could have swerved more toward the comical satirical side.

    You never seem to run out of new heroes coming in, ready to step into the meat grinder. Slowly but surely You start memorising their skills, quirks and synergies as decisions need to be made on saving the ones that Your playstyle prefers.

    The basics are well known, by now everyone has stumbled on one type of roguelike or another. By constantly staring a mission then winning, winning partially or not completely failing You gain resources used to gradually upgrade a base camp which allows for many flavours of developing Your hero stable which You then again throw against even harder missions. The gameplay itself could be called turn based, though out of combat there are elements that grant the illusion of real time.

    Well worthy of recommendation even in it's current state. It sadly requires the terrible Steam... so perhaps if You are patient... wait a half year and get it DRM - free somewhere...hopefully ironed out by then.    … Expand
  3. Nemesis7884
    Feb 3, 2015
    10
    This is a FANTASTIC game! At 20 bucks its highly recommended! The devs did a great job with the budget they had! The mechanics, the art style, the animations, the narration - its simply great! Possibly my GOTY 2015 if not a lot happens...its brutal, but brutally fun - highly recommended!
  4. Walix1985
    Apr 8, 2016
    9
    I got pretty addicted to this game.

    The frightening voice of the narrator combined with the gritty art style creates an claustrophobic atmosphere when crawling through one of the four dungeon types. The charakters, for my oppinion are well balanced and useful each in there own way. What i personally like best are the hit-animations. They feel really heavy and give you an    I got pretty addicted to this game.

    The frightening voice of the narrator combined with the gritty art style creates an claustrophobic atmosphere when crawling through one of the four dungeon types.

    The charakters, for my oppinion are well balanced and useful each in there own way.

    What i personally like best are the hit-animations. They feel really heavy and give you an fantastic optical feedback.

    If you get easiely hooked by rouge-like rpg's, you should definitely check this one out, it's one of the best in the genre.    … Expand
  5. danstew
    Mar 16, 2016
    8
    I'll start with a warning: If you dislike RNG and it making a big difference, you might wanna skip this game. Even with the right tactics, some well-geared characters and a lot of experience, some encounters might still get your favorite adventurers killed. You should be aware of this, and if you hate having some very unhappy rolls on attacks, then this might be very frustrating.

    Now...    I'll start with a warning: If you dislike RNG and it making a big difference, you might wanna skip this game. Even with the right tactics, some well-geared characters and a lot of experience, some encounters might still get your favorite adventurers killed. You should be aware of this, and if you hate having some very unhappy rolls on attacks, then this might be very frustrating.

    Now... I at first wasn't very interest in DD, but a review and stream by TB made me change my mind and try it. And I was captivated quickly. The game is a LOT of fun.
    The graphics and animations are very simple, but also, very stylish, so they have character and are nice to look at.
    The atmosphere is great. There is a certain Lovecraftian vibe to things (not only because madness can become a real problem for your adventurers), and the narrator does SUCH a great job (BTW, check out his readings of HPL-stories, such a cool experience).

    Even with a lot of training, these dungeons will be risky for your guys. Bad RNG on heals (instead of, say, 8 points, you get 0 or 1 points, which means you kinda lost a turn) or damage (sometimes, you are THAT close to killing a mob, but then, 2-3 of your guys actually MISS, and you actually end up losing), debuffs like selfishness (your character might snag loot for himself), or paranoia (he or she might actually REFUSE to be healed) etc.

    So, you may ask, why do people play this? Are we all out for punishment? No! The game is just very addictive in that "Come on, just one more quick dungeon before I head to bed... whoops, it's 3 AM?!?!" way.
    It is challenging, it will often feel unfair, but boy, winning battles and completing dungeons feels so very satisfying. You start to care about your chars (and there is an achievement about beating the final boss with the chars you get at the beginning of the game), especially if you name them yourself.

    A guide might help you get started, as money will be an issue (supplies are expensive, so you wanna pick carefully what to take along), but even if you just dive in and go trial and error, you will learn what to do.
    It's a great, tactical game, some fights will have you bite your nails, sometimes you will feel disappointed, especially when losing a character you leveled up. The game will eventually become kinda grindy, but at that point, you could just play it casually, like doing half an hour or so and then returning later.

    Pros:
    - Atmospheric
    - Simple, but unique graphics and animations
    - Great narrator voice
    - Challenging
    - You get to choose your ability-loadout
    - Very satisfying when you beat a boss or dungeon...

    CONS
    ...and very frustrating when they beat YOU
    - Expensive supplies
    - Expensive treatment to get rid of debuffs and stuff
    - Can get grindy
    - Not recommended if you hate losing RNG rolls even when your characters are leveled and equipped with good gear
    - Can feel a bit repetitive

    Great game... watch some playthroughs and maybe a guide, and then decide for yourself. I thoroughly enjoy the game!    … Expand
  6. Lowell
    Mar 11, 2016
    9
    The game punishes you like the filthy beggar you are, and once the quest has ended, you will go back asking to be punished again. The perfect game for masochistic slaves like me.
  7. MadGav
    Apr 4, 2016
    8
    Not since Cannon Fodder have I felt so miserable when one of my characters finally died. Admittedly, she was by this point so paranoid she refused all assistance from the rest of the party, but damn, I'd grown attached. And that is the essence of this game's appeal, the characters, while straight from central casting, still feel like individuals.

    The game is tough, but polished and,    Not since Cannon Fodder have I felt so miserable when one of my characters finally died. Admittedly, she was by this point so paranoid she refused all assistance from the rest of the party, but damn, I'd grown attached. And that is the essence of this game's appeal, the characters, while straight from central casting, still feel like individuals.

    The game is tough, but polished and, while maddening at times, has never pushed me into a rage (despair yes, but rage no). The art is functional but definitely fits with the theme and, while more than a little cheesy, I did enjoy the narration.    … Expand
  8. Iyunzusto
    Oct 3, 2016
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Brilliant game.. like MomijiTho who wrote the top favourable review, I find the RNG very well balanced, and with some strategic thinking, you'll be able to take control.

    This morning I took my Intel graphics laptop to a nice quiet cafe, had a strong coffee, and bashed out a quest with one of my level 3 groups. It took just over an hour, and was heaps of fun. This game is brilliant for that kind of play, 1 hour bursts, and very mobile given the low graphics requirements. Awesome for plane trips, waiting in the airport, going for a walk and stopping in a park (to ignore nature by staring at a screen).

    To demonstrate that the game is not a cheap RNG challenge, here's a description of the boss fight I won (only just) this morning.

    The boss is a giant cannon supported by 2-3 human enemies. At the start of the battle, I notice that one of the human enemies has a long, flaming torch, which looks like it would be used to light the cannon. He also has low health, so becomes my primary target. My 4 heroes happen to be a stunlock build, with 3 of the 4 having a stun move. By cycling my stuns, I can manage the incoming damage. I kill the artilleryman, and all is well. That is, until the cannon calls for reinforcements, and another artilleryman appears.

    I try to kill that guy too, but he survives by a sliver.. and the danger of the cannon becomes clear. He lights the fuse, and it fires at my whole party, taking them from about 90% health to 5-10% health. I **** my pants.

    OK... from now on, the artilleryman must die. Somehow, I manage to heal through the impending death, and with stun cycling and tactical target selection, I manage to claw my way back to about 70% health. While the artillerman is stunned, I have to attack the cannon, but it's so heavily armored, it's taking forever. The battle is tense.. if I don't control that torch, I'm dead for sure.

    Now, how about that RNG? Well, my primary stun has a 125% chance to hit and this torch guy has like 40% resistance, so 15% of the time, my stun will fail. And fail it did, but I was ready, because I was expecting that chance. The numbers are transparent and clear. So when I missed, I focussed all my remaining attacks until he was dust, out of sheer terror of the cannon firing again. It didn't fire for the rest of the fight, and I won with an average health of 15%.

    This nailbiting kind of finish shows wonderful balance from the devs. It's a shame people are bagging it out so easily.

    One tip though - you should search for info sheets on 1) locations and 2) curios. These will teach you fundamentals that can only otherwise be learned by grinding and dying over and over. Don't look anything else up though or you'll ruin the fun. Design your own combinations of classes, trinkets, and skills. And figure out the fights yourself. It's rewarding.

    Enjoy!!    … Expand
  9. Klewer
    Sep 9, 2016
    8
    I do think this is an incredibly well made game and has really great RPG elements and tactics for those who enjoy that part of the game. My first 10-12 hours of this were great, I was sucked in and couldn't stop playing. However after that amount of time I started to find it a little bit of a grind and a bit repetitive.

    Still I think this is well worth a look and it's great value for money.
  10. setuis
    May 30, 2016
    8
    The premise of darkest dungeon is great the flaws however.

    1. When walking to a door why can't you go through it if your characters are directly on top of it. 2. Regarding your supplies why do they get sold automatically after each mission?. 3. Having no real to lose stress means you often just lose due to heart attacks which makes game unbalanced (strees should recover over time e.g    The premise of darkest dungeon is great the flaws however.

    1. When walking to a door why can't you go through it if your characters are directly on top of it.
    2. Regarding your supplies why do they get sold automatically after each mission?.
    3. Having no real to lose stress means you often just lose due to heart attacks which makes game unbalanced (strees should recover over time e.g 5-10 stress per room also party should be allowed to seprate so that 1 person can scout ahead at an increased stress rate so your party doesn't get surprise attacked and streesed out.    … Expand
  11. ChuckNoRisk
    Jun 30, 2016
    8
    This game rewards the chicken-hearted. Stubbornly trying to finish a dungeon that's gone badly from the start leads to a deathmarch.

    This game rewards the detail-minded. Did you remember to unequip your trinkets? Did you re-equip them? Did you check to see if that monster is going to easily resist that attack? Dude, did you even make a provisions checklist? This game rewards the    This game rewards the chicken-hearted. Stubbornly trying to finish a dungeon that's gone badly from the start leads to a deathmarch.

    This game rewards the detail-minded. Did you remember to unequip your trinkets? Did you re-equip them? Did you check to see if that monster is going to easily resist that attack? Dude, did you even make a provisions checklist?

    This game rewards the heartless. Sometimes the best thing to do with a syphilic, boozed-up "hero" with a bad case of nerves is to fire her. Sometimes deciding to let her die of a heart attack gets you a shiny.

    This game rewards the persistent. Not giving up after a humiliating party wipe is more of a key to success than flashes of tactical brilliance. Completing the game in less than 99 weeks (each week is a dungeon run that takes up to half an hour) is considered fast and gets you an achievement.

    This game rewards the flexible. Sometimes you don't have a lot of choices. Your healers are all too diseased and crazy this week. Your tank went AWOL, and your barbarian needs to have a pesky trait removed. Can you scrape together a viable party? Or maybe your tactics went well only up to a point. Will you come up with new ones or will you pack it in, mumbling bitterly about the unfairness of it all?

    It's not for everybody.    … Expand
  12. Mpbpl
    Apr 2, 2018
    8
    Amazing and difficult game.
    This game is like the board RPGs that people played with their friends back them, it's incredibly difficult but there is no time limit so you have all the time in the world to create a new party and make this one get to the finish line.
    This game is difficult because it takes the old RPG style to it's max, imagine in every attack you role a dice of 20 and then    Amazing and difficult game.
    This game is like the board RPGs that people played with their friends back them, it's incredibly difficult but there is no time limit so you have all the time in the world to create a new party and make this one get to the finish line.
    This game is difficult because it takes the old RPG style to it's max, imagine in every attack you role a dice of 20 and then the enemy hits another dice 16 to avoid you and so on. With bleeding, poison, stun effects, traps, ambushes, bosses.
    The story is good enough to bring you in but it is the gameplay the will make you stay!
    Since the quests are difficult it is recommended to make few quests a day and rest for a bit.    … Expand
  13. joshbreviews
    Jun 27, 2018
    8
    This is a REALLY GOOD GAME, with only a few important things holding it back.

    SOUND is great. Music is nice and eerie and tense without being annoying, and sound effects are nice and visceral. Voice actor is great, too! GRAPHICS, or rather art style, is also great. It really captures the grimness of the game world. Everything looks creepy, even your heroes! GAMEPLAY - Unique and    This is a REALLY GOOD GAME, with only a few important things holding it back.

    SOUND is great. Music is nice and eerie and tense without being annoying, and sound effects are nice and visceral. Voice actor is great, too!

    GRAPHICS, or rather art style, is also great. It really captures the grimness of the game world. Everything looks creepy, even your heroes!

    GAMEPLAY - Unique and good! Lots of fun mechanics and resources to manage. Won't super get into the nitty-gritty here. You'll find yourself using heroes again and again, driving them to madness and despair, just to earn money. Then you dismiss them and leave them to their fate, or you drive them so hard they die screaming in the dungeons. Eventually as the game progresses your heroes will get stronger and you'll start getting attached to them. You'll start spending precious money on them to give them the best training and the best gear possible to increase their chances of survival...but nothing is guaranteed in Darkest Dungeon. All it takes is one or two randomly missed attacks for the enemy to gain the upper hand and start wreaking havoc on your precious heroes.

    Every dive into the dungeons is nerve-wracking and intense; you can prepare as much as you like, but there's always a degree of uncertainty that leaves you fearful with every dive.

    CONS of the game - well, even after all these years (this review is up to Colors of Madness DLC), this game is still TOO RNG. I'm aware that a degree of RNG is part of this game's charm, I understand. So let me explain. It's strange that your enemies have RESISTANCES to their WEAKNESS. This is a very weird development decision, in my opinion. A WEAKNESS should be just that - A WEAKNESS! At first a skeleton with ~10% blight resist (blight is their weakness) is manageable, but at higher levels of play it gets like ~50% blight resist. What the??? Basically the WEAKNESS, the ONE THING YOU CAN RELY ON against a skeleton, is suddenly RNG? It's literally a COIN FLIP? This "WEAKNESS RESISTANCE" makes the higher levels feel bad to play. No amount of strategy will make up for an enemy having no weakness to exploit. You feel bad for losing against them, and then you don't feel good when you land a hit cause it's RNG and you just had your fingers crossed. Another example is the giant skeleton. Big, so he hits hard. Sure - that's fine. He's big, so he has PROTECT % (armor, basically)- that's fine, too. But at higher levels, this giant skeleton, who clearly is a slow, lumbering beast, suddenly has DODGE % (chance to EVADE an attack)? What??? Again, it feels bad. It's artificial difficulty. It makes any form of strategy feel bad because you're at the total mercy of the game. This has been an issue for YEARS now, so I take it they don't see this as an issue. The devs may not even be aware of this, or they think it adds flavor to the game. It doesn't.

    If they kept weaknesses as weaknesses, this game would've easily been a 9.

    Again, great game - it just has some glaring flaws during late game that make it hard to totally recommend.    … Expand
  14. Red_Spectre
    Feb 4, 2020
    8
    I enjoyed it for what it was. Really difficult... A punishing RNG that did a lot of things in a fashion that worked well. Good game better even than a lot of triple AAA titles on the market.
  15. Instinctz
    Feb 14, 2017
    8
    For those that seek a challenging game as far as strategic, tactics and resource management go, darkest dungeon is a game you will enjoy. Generally a well made game, a good idea and a really nice environment. However the game has flaws in it. There are some stupid restrictions involved (like the abomination can't be in the same team with a holy char), some chars are completely useless andFor those that seek a challenging game as far as strategic, tactics and resource management go, darkest dungeon is a game you will enjoy. Generally a well made game, a good idea and a really nice environment. However the game has flaws in it. There are some stupid restrictions involved (like the abomination can't be in the same team with a holy char), some chars are completely useless and well the game is not noob friendly at all, which for an indie game in my honest opinion is not that good especially considering the fact that this particular flame gets boring after you put a certain amount of hours in it.

    RNG factor can be used in your favor but also destroy you. Most people don't like it but it is what makes the game so fun and challenging.

    Heroes:

    Each hero you hire has some abilities which not only affect the course of the battles but also other things like for example the camping which is vital for their sustain. Now their ability system is really meh for the one and only reason that some abilities are completely damn useless(they are like water guns).

    Stress /Diseases

    The heroes have some stress bars that need heavy management as they are really vital for their psychological state. You can cure them by sending them to certain places, like for example the tavern. There are also diseases and other things involved that once occured you have to cure them also by sending them to the right place. I pretty much like it as the whole thing needs good management and planning, which is what describes those kind of games.

    Diversity:

    Here is where our problem lies. There is no diversity in the game at all. It is the same dungeon paths over and over again, same enemies but different bosses. If you dislike grinding you will get bored pretty easily whereas if you like it you won't bother by it.

    TLDR: I put 8/10 because it is worth its price 100% even though the gameplay and the content it has (in terms of keeping you without getting bored) is just a little bit above average. The game being unique is another reason why I put such a good(at least for me) grade.    … Expand
  16. wolfkingdom
    Jul 23, 2020
    9
    A great mix of survival,management and tactical rpg.
    Pro:
    -Difficult but fair
    -the music is excellent in building the intense atmosphere
    -lots of heroes classes
    -gameplay is very addictive
    Cons:
    -Gets a little repetitive in the late game
    -more heroes customization and cosmetics would be great.
    Definetly a purchase for tactical rpg or strategy fans.
  17. nathaniel86
    Aug 14, 2018
    8
    Man, I was waiting for a game like this for a long time, this is one of my favourite genres of games. Darkest Dungeon didn't let me down. Fortunately I started playing when developers decided to make things a little bit easier for players. This balance of constant fear for your characters without having to grind the content too much is perfect in my eyes. The game is difficult enough,Man, I was waiting for a game like this for a long time, this is one of my favourite genres of games. Darkest Dungeon didn't let me down. Fortunately I started playing when developers decided to make things a little bit easier for players. This balance of constant fear for your characters without having to grind the content too much is perfect in my eyes. The game is difficult enough, characters and their animations are very cool and you just want to beat those creepy monsters whatever the costs might be :D… Expand
  18. Gen166
    Dec 12, 2018
    8
    If you like a challenge this game is for you, it is absolutely brutal and dark but therein lies the fun. When you complete a dungeon quest after your heroes are teetering on the brink of death you feel a sense of satisfaction and pride that is only matched by a few other games. In terms of strategy there is a lot to think about as well and if you try to send your people into a dungeonIf you like a challenge this game is for you, it is absolutely brutal and dark but therein lies the fun. When you complete a dungeon quest after your heroes are teetering on the brink of death you feel a sense of satisfaction and pride that is only matched by a few other games. In terms of strategy there is a lot to think about as well and if you try to send your people into a dungeon without selecting them and their supplies carefully you will be beaten quickly.

    I cannot give this game a 10/10 because: 1) Very little is explained in terms of the game mechanics and the tutorials don't really give good explanations. I had to constantly go on line and lookup how to do this or what that means or what this does. 2) The game becomes a bit repetitive after a while, there isnt alot of variety in terms of challenges.    … Expand
  19. Skulb
    Jan 25, 2016
    9
    To keep this short I think it would be best to explain why this wonderful game is not a perfect ten, rather than repeat the positives. Obviously Darkest Dungeon is frustrating but that's not it. The problem is the way the intended difficulty level and frustration level gets slightly sabotaged by gear, leveling and upgrades in general. It is hard at level 0, normal at 1, easy at 2. Then itTo keep this short I think it would be best to explain why this wonderful game is not a perfect ten, rather than repeat the positives. Obviously Darkest Dungeon is frustrating but that's not it. The problem is the way the intended difficulty level and frustration level gets slightly sabotaged by gear, leveling and upgrades in general. It is hard at level 0, normal at 1, easy at 2. Then it gets really hard at 3, slightly difficult at 4 before finishing out at amazingly hard and frustrating at level 5 and (very) hard at level 6. Every time you level up, find gear, buy weapons or train skills it makes the game easier and easier until it suddenly ramps up when you move on to the next tier of dungeons. As a result of this dynamic there is no progressive escalation of difficulty, but rather a series of quite steep plateaus you need to overcome before you can coast a bit. And it does manage to be almost at its most difficult right at the start, when all your level 0 heroes are incredibly feeble and incompetent and capable of being oneshotted by all sorts of things. Obviously you haven't invested a thing in them at this point, and you can replace them immediately at no cost, so it hardly matters. It still feels weird though. Then again, this is basically exactly how Baldur's Gate felt. I don't know how many times I got a level one character killed by the bear outside Candle Keep.
    But I digress...
    The second slight issue for me is that the resources you need; gold and heirlooms; become more and more redundant. The heirlooms are worthless after you have fully built the hamlet and gold becomes slightly worthless once your heroes are fully leveled and geared. Additionally the trinkets your heroes can wear also become somewhat redundant after a while. This all leads to more or less everything becoming inventory trash, and the inventory is ridiculously small to make matters worse. This further fules the sense one gets that the game is far harder to deal with early on when everything is scarce and you have to constantly make difficult choices between mending stressed out or afflicted heroes, buying skills, weapons and armor with buildings in various states of disrepair. A particular favorite is the tendency early on of the Caretaker is drinking in the only slot in the bar and your healer is a tippler who will only relax by drinking. Whichever stress heal you need for a particular character with a negative quirk restricting the choice, the Caretaker will be there to frustrate you!
    Anyway, once the hamlet is done and everyone is leveled and healthy the latter parts of the game can seem both trivial (at times) and slightly tedious. The final result is an endgame that can feel like a bit of a grindy slog because you never really find anything interesting or useful after a certain point, while your microscopic inventory fills up within twenty seconds of every single dungeon.
    Apart from these persistent problems that have been around all the way during early access, this is a great game; distinct visually, great sound, music and game design and some absolutely awesome concepts. I swear the Plague Doctor skin has been ripped off from an amazing old cartoon called Canardo by Belgian cartoonist Benoit Sokal, and I don't even care. That's how coherent and impressive the design is. The negatives are very much negligible and most people will have gotten their money's worth long before they even notice them. But they must be mentioned. Good as it is, Darkest Dungeon feels oddly unbalanced at a fundamental level, which gets more and more apparent the further you advance. And that is why it has been so hard to adjust the meta game all this time. After following the game for a year and a half in EA I am now convinced that these balancing issues can't be fixed without redesigning the game from scratch. They are built in and as hard to root out as a fungal infection.
    But it also demonstrates a classic trap when developing RPGs; leveling and finding gear makes things easier unless you compensate with more numerous or more powerful monsters. This is precisely how AD&D's rule book got developed in the first place. Once you get down to the fundamental level, balancing RPGs is damn hard.
    Having said all this: buy the game anyway. It is well worth the low asking price. In fact it is well worth twice the asking price; so buy two and have one copy mounted on your wall. Red Hook deserves the support (and success) far more than most game developers.

    PS: Also, to the people writing reviews a year before release; tsk tsk. Keep it in your pants until the game gets done.    … Expand
  20. godunow
    Mar 22, 2016
    8
    Simply amazing.

    I want games with story, great writing, preferably short "compressed" experience. Darkest Dungeon is the exact opposite of that.

    Yet, when I started playing I was not able to put it away for almost 60 hours...
  21. MadCultist
    Mar 10, 2016
    9
    This game will punish your greed, and your expectation that everything should be handed to you on a silver platter. Your initial adventures into new encounters will be painful. Your heroes will go mad and die. Occasionally, something absolutely horrible may destroy even your strongest champions.

    Accepting these losses is part and parcel of the game. If you cannot handle failure, run far    This game will punish your greed, and your expectation that everything should be handed to you on a silver platter. Your initial adventures into new encounters will be painful. Your heroes will go mad and die. Occasionally, something absolutely horrible may destroy even your strongest champions.

    Accepting these losses is part and parcel of the game. If you cannot handle failure, run far away from here and never return.

    But the tenacious and attentive dungeoneer will be rewarded when they learn the weaknesses and strengths of themselves and their enemies, and finally craft parties whose abilities combine into a well-oiled machine of death. No encounter is unbeatable; you must simply be willing to try out new tactics until it is overcome.

    Its art style is beautiful, its monsters and bosses interesting, its balancing of permanent loss against a large-roster party system making a beautiful combination that avoids the severity of death in single-player hardcore games while still retaining the addictive sense of risk.

    My one issue is that the writing is, on occasion, clumsily verbose, especially for the narrator and his hilariously bad accent. Thankfully, the narrator can be silenced.    … Expand
  22. TomTheSouthpaw
    Apr 3, 2016
    10
    Bloody awesome old-school RPG with a nice drawn-graphics! Now also ported to Linux!

    Pros:
    - interesting, funny, entertaining, nice art
    - difficult

    Cons:
    - difficult (just kidding, I love it!)
  23. LODE
    Jan 25, 2016
    8
    -2 points for Curio design alone; you guys really phoned that in, but the rest is pitch-perfect. The Dark Souls of roguelikes and a great homage to the genre that disallows lame save/restore points and forces you to be ON POINT. All the RQQ'ing is hilarious, it shows just how pampered gamers are - everyone expects a win button these days and this is a refreshing, iron-fisted return of the-2 points for Curio design alone; you guys really phoned that in, but the rest is pitch-perfect. The Dark Souls of roguelikes and a great homage to the genre that disallows lame save/restore points and forces you to be ON POINT. All the RQQ'ing is hilarious, it shows just how pampered gamers are - everyone expects a win button these days and this is a refreshing, iron-fisted return of the glory of the genre. Thank you Red Hook !… Expand
  24. hull19
    Mar 7, 2016
    10
    If you want an easy game, don't stop here my friend. This game is made to destroy, maim and kill your characters. This game is made to be a pain to play. But if you like the 2d side-scroller feel, the challenge and want to enjoy an overall dark and mysterious story... you are are the right place!
  25. Eikox
    Mar 12, 2016
    8
    I give it and 8 because after of a lot of hours played, dozens of died heroes and almost reach the bankruptcy with the town. They give me that final..... f*ck you. I love/hate this game.
  26. ThecriticGoD
    Mar 24, 2016
    8
    The proof that you can still make good games nowadays. Epic gameplay, with beautiful graphics, the mechanics, the great narration gets you really immersed in the game, the only con is that the story is kinda lacking, and an RPG without a storyline is well... interesting. But the great gameplay makes up for it, definetely a must play.
  27. Naenu
    Jul 10, 2016
    9
    As someone who loves difficult games, Darkest Dungeon takes the cake. I was truly tortured and tested in a mesmerizing way. Whether it was having to decide who I needed to sacrifice for the good of the team, or watching my best crew members die from the RNG, I probably wont be putting this game down any time soon.
  28. noxlagaffe
    Jul 17, 2016
    9
    Super design, difficult, but so fun to try hard and finally win. Favorite game of the year. if you like hard games go and get some.
    Fantastic in so many ways
  29. destinyfan1
    Feb 2, 2017
    8
    I shall put it simple in words
    awesome
    it has a dark environment , hardcore rpg gameplay , enemies ,combat,dark story
    sometimes you can get enough of it . My tip play it tomorrow then!
    It may also be a little to hard for normal gamers who wanna try an rpg
    But still awesome
  30. Did-
    Mar 23, 2018
    9
    This game has exactly the difficulty and combat mechanics I wanted to see in an RPG for a looong time. Most RPGs follow this simple pattern: explore a dungeon, encounter random enemies that you crush without real difficulty, until you get to the boss and there you may find a challenge.

    But Dark Souls changed this way of designing, making every encounter potentially your last. Any mob    This game has exactly the difficulty and combat mechanics I wanted to see in an RPG for a looong time. Most RPGs follow this simple pattern: explore a dungeon, encounter random enemies that you crush without real difficulty, until you get to the boss and there you may find a challenge.

    But Dark Souls changed this way of designing, making every encounter potentially your last. Any mob you slew “easily” before may actually kill you pretty quickly the next time you encounter it if you’re not attentive enough.

    Why do I talk about Dark Souls? Because Darkest Dungeon went exactly the same way with its encounters. Every encounter can be your last, it can be because you were too eager to close the battle, not well prepared, or just because you had bad luck and didn’t know how to handle it. And the best way to lose a battle is because of overconfidence. Like the awesome narrator voice say multiple times in the run, “Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer”. And yes, I died multiple times because I was overconfident, and the game sometimes reminded me that I was not the boss around here, bullying every mob I find. He was, the game was the boss.

    There are a lot of people writing negative comments blaming the randomness of the game for their failures. Sure, the game has a lot of randomness, but it’s manageable, and when you die, it’s not because of “too much bad RNG”, it’s more like you were not well prepared for this fight. Every battle I lost was because of careless planning or overconfidence.

    And the game has not difficult battles just for the sake of difficulty, it has a really refreshing game system, with an interesting 1D positioning system, with attacks that can be launched only when you’re at a certain position in the line, and can only target enemies at certain positions on their line. The stress system is interesting too, adding a “long run” health bar, that’s harder to refill than the classical HP pool.

    And a quick note about the game aesthetics, which transposes greatly the horror, sadness and despair of this lovecraftian town.

    Even though, the game has some flaws. First, there are anti-achievements, such as “Lose 4 heroes to a boss”, or “get slain by creature X”. For my point of view, achievements should be rewarding of player successes, not rewarding failures.
    And overall, the game is too long. I loved it for around 40 to 50 hours, then used most more time (around 30 hours) not discovering anything new but instead grinding and waiting for the bosses to appear. Nevertheless, this problem may have found its solution recently, as the game developers introduced the radiant mode, which is kind of a quicker mode, which gets rid of the grinding and all. I think I’d recommend this mode for new players.    … Expand
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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]
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