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. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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.
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. 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.
  12. 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
  13. 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.
  14. RadicalMADMAN69
    Jun 11, 2016
    10
    This is an extremely intense and interesting game. The fact that each units gets their own names and quirks makes for a more personal experience.There are also a surprising amount of classes in this game, 14 to be exact. The art direction is awesome and the game has great atmosphere. This is one of the most unique rpgs I've played in a while. Also the narrator is amazing.
  15. 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
  16. MissBeth
    May 25, 2016
    10
    Rouge like Rpg Dice Game brilliant Artwork very hard to Master its like
    Legends of Grimmrock meets Gothic meets Warhammer , easy the inovative an beste RPG Hardcore Crawler out there.

    that game is pure Dope !
  17. Glic2003
    May 13, 2016
    10
    Rich with gorgeous atmosphere, beautiful artwork, captivating audio and nail-bitingly tense combat, Darkest Dungeon is a superlative game.

    While it has the trappings of a rogue-like or an RPG, this is actually a fairly straightforward game of turn-based combat, akin to X-Com or Jagged Alliance, though with the perspective of a side-scroller. Recruit your heroes, assemble your party of    Rich with gorgeous atmosphere, beautiful artwork, captivating audio and nail-bitingly tense combat, Darkest Dungeon is a superlative game.

    While it has the trappings of a rogue-like or an RPG, this is actually a fairly straightforward game of turn-based combat, akin to X-Com or Jagged Alliance, though with the perspective of a side-scroller. Recruit your heroes, assemble your party of four, then choose which randomly-generated dungeon you want to attempt. Victory often comes at a cost, and the best strategies are not always the most obvious. Creating a party of heroes that works together as efficiently as possible is not only immensely satisfying, but also absolutely critical to success later in the game.

    It's simple on the surface, but Darkest Dungeon has many devious tricks up its sleeve, and doesn't give up its secrets easily. Heroes won't even attempt quests deemed too easy for them, so over-levelling for a given quest doesn't help to alleviate the difficulty, thus the tension remains taught throughout. Experienced heroes gain quirks that give them specific bonuses in their endeavours, but also accumulate negative traits over time. Weighing the need to constantly patch up experienced adventurers or simply dismiss them in favour of fresh blood is a constant balancing act throughout the game.

    There are a few downsides with this formula. The late game can drag on for far too long: replacing experienced heroes can be not only expensive, but quite dull. The interface could use a few more shortcuts: I'm tired of clicking dozens of times just to buy provisions. And upgrading heroes just isn't that interesting: you pay some money, watch their stats go up a little, and that's all there is to it.

    There's little story to speak of, but the writing is superb throughout. The player's victories and failures are luxuriously narrated by Lovecraftian voice actor Wayne June, and his voice lingered in my mind long after the quests were completed and the foes vanquished.

    Much has been made of the difficulty level of Darkest Dungeon. While it is indeed very challenging - and extremely, agonizingly random at times - it must be said that there are options available to alleviate the difficulty to a great degree. Rather than offering generic "easy" "medium" or "hard" settings, the options menu permits a customized experience by allowing the player to simply toggle off some of the game's most egregious quirks.

    Darkest Dungeon does not always reward the player's efforts. This is a game about struggle, about mitigating the effects of loss and chaos until the scales finally tip and the player arrives – somewhat wiser, somewhat nearer insanity – at a place resembling victory. It's a game about battles that left me on the edge of my seat, and victories that had my hands shaking and tears welling up in my eyes. It is an absolute triumph, and a fiendishly well-designed game.    … Expand
  18. SkySlam
    Apr 25, 2016
    10
    The game has a magnificent art direction, which shines in narration, artworks and animations. All that is packed with a fun, thrilling and unforgiving gameplay. The Lovecraftian atmosphere is unique and fascinating. I strongly suggest this game, one of the best indie titles out there for sure. Roguelike at its finest.
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. 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!)
  22. 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.
  23. Rogyapa
    Apr 1, 2016
    9
    From the journal of Dismas the Highwayman, week 11: "Into the mouth of madness we march. Our food rations and torches are running low. The gurgling of our stomachs is only offset by the oppressive darkness surrounding us. Every step is another step towards either death or hard fought victory. The Crusader has become abusive towards the rest of us and the Vestal has started stealing fromFrom the journal of Dismas the Highwayman, week 11: "Into the mouth of madness we march. Our food rations and torches are running low. The gurgling of our stomachs is only offset by the oppressive darkness surrounding us. Every step is another step towards either death or hard fought victory. The Crusader has become abusive towards the rest of us and the Vestal has started stealing from the loot piles. The Crusader is beginning to wear on my patience and puts all of us on edge with his incessant insults and ridiculing. I fear will we not even reach the wisened Hag at this rate. The Bounty Hunter has managed to keep his wits about him so far, though. We trudge from room to room battling all foes that appear in front of us. I have been poisoned by those damnable spitting spiders and we have no antivenom left. I manage to overcome the poison's effects by the time we reach the entrance to the Hag's room. We enter the room and the Hag immediately throws the Crusader in her stewpot. She then proceeds to bludgeon me with a meat tenderizer. I contemplate letting the Crusader die, but he is too valuable against tough and unholy foes.The hag throws frogs and eyeballs at the Vestal and calls it "seasoning the food". The Vestal is terribly unhappy about being pummeled by eyballs and dead frogs and finally cracks. She sobs, calling out to her god, begging him to save her from death. The Bounty Hunter marks the hag for death while I take aim and shoot her in the face. The Vestal tries to knock the stew pot over to save the Crusader and is eventually successful. The Crusader suffers some burns from the boiling stew but is otherwise intact. The Hag keeps bludgeoning us with that bloody tenderizing hammer. The Vestal is barely surviving and only because the Crusader keeps healing her. The Bounty hunter hacks at her with his axe dealing critical damage. I blast the hag in the face once more and the Crusader charges forward ramming his blade into her bloated body. She screams her death knell and we are showered in blood and riches. We make our way back to town laden with treasure and horror-filled minds.We were lucky to survive those infernal ruins. I spend the next week drinking to decompress while the Crusader buys hookers and the Vestal prays in the cathedral. The Bounty Hunter gets banned from both the brothel (for having...curious tastes) and the bar so we let him gamble to blow off steam. After the Vestal finishes her praying we send her to the sanitarium to be cured of her kleptomania. It's quite hard to steal loot when you're strapped to a bed, isn't it Vestal?"

    TLDR: Turn-based roguelike dungeon crawler with sanity, personality quirks, diseases, permadeath and other factors making it a pretty robust game. It's very polished with no apparent bugs other than some grammatical errors.    … Expand
  24. 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
  25. Dal_ReviewedDat
    Mar 29, 2016
    9
    One of the best dungeon crawlers of all time.

    I've been playing Darkest Dungeon on PC for about a year after getting a lite version off a friend, then getting another beta version until finally last month I purchased it in full. The basic set up is that of most good dungeon crawlers. Town. Heroes. Recruitment. Upgrade. Grind. Loot. Back to town and repeat. What makes DD so    One of the best dungeon crawlers of all time.

    I've been playing Darkest Dungeon on PC for about a year after getting a lite version off a friend, then getting another beta version until finally last month I purchased it in full.

    The basic set up is that of most good dungeon crawlers. Town. Heroes. Recruitment. Upgrade. Grind. Loot. Back to town and repeat.
    What makes DD so unique, is that outside the usual health, you also get a sanity meter. As your heroes get more spooked, they can become a handful to manage and often if not attended too, can end up making other heroes go off the rails. This micro-managing of personalities as well as stocking and choosing a team to delve into the dungeons with, makes preparation as important as pulling it off whilst down there. I like to enlist a few of each type of heroes, as you'll find some upgrade faster than others and dungeons require certain levels to enter - basically you maybe running x5 top level heroes and x5 half-good heroes and x5 noobs.

    The game-play is repetitive. But it's great.

    I read a comment from a **** complaining that a hero you've invested 12 hours in can die in 2 seconds - no ... they really can't if you play the game. Darkest Dungeon is massively reactive to your play style and decision making, but also, it often forces you to exit a dungeon before completing the task when your levelling up... retreating isn't dignified, and I try not to, but to master the game you must when you must, or simply lose all the heroes and then rage quit.

    If you don't mind the grind, this game will be a delight. I've returned to it 3 times now and I know one day I'll re-start and have another 50hours beautifully wasted ranking up a new selection of heroes.

    Best new RPG of 2015 for me. Great stuff!    … Expand
  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. 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
  28. 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.
  29. 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
  30. 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...
  31. 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
  32. Diephi
    Mar 18, 2016
    10
    Se você esta atraz de um jogo difícil esse é pra você, o jogo é focado em explorar dungeons com um grupo de 4 personagens, cada personagem possui habilidades unicas. O jogo nunca sera o mesmo é completamente aleatorio e isso que faz ele ser muito bom. Recomendo a compra!
  33. 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
  34. AngelMaker
    Mar 13, 2016
    10
    Это просто шедевр. Эта игра хороша всем, я в ней не смог найти недостатки. Разве что, рандом иногда решает.
  35. 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.
  36. 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.
  37. 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
  38. 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
  39. 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!
  40. FWordFizz
    Mar 7, 2016
    10
    I told myself I was too biased to review this game because I love the art style, the game genre, and the atmosphere but screw it. It's really good. Like really really good. The gameplay is engaging albeit occasionally frustrating, but what I kept coming back for was the atmosphere. There hasn't been a lovecraftian world that feels this dreadful and oppressive since... I can't actuallyI told myself I was too biased to review this game because I love the art style, the game genre, and the atmosphere but screw it. It's really good. Like really really good. The gameplay is engaging albeit occasionally frustrating, but what I kept coming back for was the atmosphere. There hasn't been a lovecraftian world that feels this dreadful and oppressive since... I can't actually remember. It's better than everything I can compare it too. All the attacks feel weighty and powerful, all the dialogue and mechanics work together to make an incredibly cohesive and immersive experience and you got this sick narrator who just cuts in with **** like A SINGULAR STRIKE whenever you do ANYTHING. He has like a quadrillion lines of dialogue and there all really **** nice. I want him to narrate my life, it would make **** a lot spookier and A LOT more interesting. Buy this game if you're looking for a brutal experience where you cant afford to **** up and **** around that will keep you engaged for at least two or three runs. The only bad point I can think of is the dungeons and unit management are the only two aspects to the game but they compliment eachother so well with so little filler that I can't even call it bad. It's a incredibly well designed game with the best atmosphere in a game ever. Bar nothing. Its just so satifying. A SINGULAR STRIKE!… Expand
  41. Stnev1994
    Mar 6, 2016
    9
    A great Canadian indie game, Darkest Dungeon hit everything right. The art style is beautiful and fits perfectly with the atmosphere of the game. The game does an amazing job pulling you into the world, hell I freak out a little when my character is dying/dead and/or stressed. It gives you the feel of dread and fear. I highly recommend it, word of warning, it is difficult.
  42. 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
  43. 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
  44. BananaBucket
    Mar 1, 2016
    8
    I've been playing this game for a long time. The reason people may be frustrated is that it is not like any other game I've ever played. You have to treat your characters like daipers. When they get all grimy and icky with diseases, madness and other dungeon muck, you just throw them away. The real progression in the game is in upgrading your town, nothing else matters. So harden yourI've been playing this game for a long time. The reason people may be frustrated is that it is not like any other game I've ever played. You have to treat your characters like daipers. When they get all grimy and icky with diseases, madness and other dungeon muck, you just throw them away. The real progression in the game is in upgrading your town, nothing else matters. So harden your heart, extinguish the torch, never remember your character's names and never, ever think that leveling up your beloved little squishies matters. You have to be as cruel and twisted as the game system. Then it's great fun!… Expand
  45. 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
  46. 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
  47. 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.
  48. Frank70
    Feb 12, 2016
    0
    It's a great game ...At the beginning. Then it become a tedious, monotonous , boring grinding. You go ahead for all the time you have invested with but you feel too often bored, cheated, annoyed with the classic headache of boring and repetitive games . An hero you have growth for 12 hours can die in 2 seconds and that would be acceptable if playing the game was actually funny. It's not,It's a great game ...At the beginning. Then it become a tedious, monotonous , boring grinding. You go ahead for all the time you have invested with but you feel too often bored, cheated, annoyed with the classic headache of boring and repetitive games . An hero you have growth for 12 hours can die in 2 seconds and that would be acceptable if playing the game was actually funny. It's not, its just repeating the same actions thousand times to get 999 easy victories and 1 defeat that delete all of them . Then you start ask yourself "im getting fun" and the answer is "no" .… Expand
  49. BlackCorsairrrr
    Feb 11, 2016
    10
    The ATMOSPHERE there, the MISTERY, the FEELING, you HAVE to play it!

    I am impressed, have not seen a gem like this in ages!
    ....................................
  50. 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
  51. raorian
    Feb 9, 2016
    8
    A very good game with two Major flaws.
    1. You can learn all the tactics needed for the game by the 10th-20th expdedition.
    the game is about 100 expeditions long. The great rouge like elements are halted by the over prolonged length of the game which transforms it into a grindfest. 2. YOU CAN UNLOCK THE ROUGE LIKE ELEMENT OF THE GAME ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE FINISHED IT. unlike ftl, each    A very good game with two Major flaws.
    1. You can learn all the tactics needed for the game by the 10th-20th expdedition.
    the game is about 100 expeditions long.
    The great rouge like elements are halted by the over prolonged length of the game which transforms it into a grindfest.
    2. YOU CAN UNLOCK THE ROUGE LIKE ELEMENT OF THE GAME ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE FINISHED IT.
    unlike ftl, each run doesn't feel unique. it's just the same thing.

    This game can be excelent. but it isn't.

    The dev seems to listen to the community though, so if I were you I'd enjoy this potential masterpiece in a few months, dlcs, and patches.    … Expand
  52. JustAPlayer1981
    Feb 8, 2016
    4
    The premise of replaceable heroes and deadly fights is promising and is working in the first two thirds of the game.
    BUT the big problem is the balancing of the ENDGAME, meaning when you enter the last four (darkest) dungeons:
    1) The game forces you to use four different heroes for each dungeon meaning 16 level 6 characters in sum, because once a hero has left a darkest dungeon he will    The premise of replaceable heroes and deadly fights is promising and is working in the first two thirds of the game.
    BUT the big problem is the balancing of the ENDGAME, meaning when you enter the last four (darkest) dungeons:

    1) The game forces you to use four different heroes for each dungeon meaning 16 level 6 characters in sum, because once a hero has left a darkest dungeon he will never go back. After more than 30-40 hours of gameplay you may have enough level 6 heroes (I had 20). But this design decision seems to be an artificial and unnecessary prolongation of the gameplay. This leads to point 2.

    2) To level up at least 16 level 6 characters you have to invest hundreds of thousands of gold, hundreds of resources (like the busts and portraits) and many hours of gameplay. But the gameplay itself gets tedious after 30+ hours of the same dungeons and same opponents. And it gets really annoying if too many heroes of a certain class die (for example healer) and you have to build up new heroes from the start. If you plan wisely you can avoid the latter to happen (luckily I had enough heroes but I can imagine there are folks who will find this mechanic too frustrating). If the gameplay wouldn't be so repetetive and would be more varied it would be more acceptable to spend so many hours.

    3) Of course dying of maxed characters is much more annoying than dying of level 1 characters so the game mechanic should provide some means to evaluate the last dungeons in a better way. Especially the SECOND AND THIRD "darkest dungeons" are so tough that it's almost certain some of your level 6-characters won't survive the first run. If you compare it to the gameplay before these two dungeons are way too difficult. If you do know what's the best way (at least the last four dungeons have no random rooms) you will still face numerous very tough opponents while your heroes can't get any better (the upgradeability of weapons and armor ends at level 4, only your resistances get slightly better). So you have to rely on trial and error and chance to find the right rooms and the rights heroes/attributes/skill/trinkets to beat the opponents in the endgame. This is, in my opinion, not acceptable with high level characters in whom you have invested so much time and credits. It has nothing to do with personal skill (I had no bigger problems with the game up to this point) but luck. Of course you may look at walkthroughs to see where certain rooms are, but if you want to beat the endgame yourself you have to be very restistant to frustration. In this case that's not a good kind of frustration because the payoff is not worth it.

    4) The FINAL fight is so ridiculously easy that it must have a mere symbolical meaning in the "story" of the game. The two PRECEDING dungeons are tougher than everything else in the game.

    All in all I think the developers should spent more time in variation and endgame-balancing. Or at least the character development should require less resources so you don't have to do the same repetitive tasks for 40 hours.    … Expand
  53. ClarkTriton
    Feb 6, 2016
    9
    Darkest Dungeon does an amazing job with its aesthetic. The gameplay itself isn't the most original - it forms a solid core, but the aesthetic is where this game shines. The visuals are great, and work very well for this style of game. The narrator is exceptional - much like in Bastion, the narrator adds depth to the world that is rarely seen in similar games.

    My #1 complaint about this    Darkest Dungeon does an amazing job with its aesthetic. The gameplay itself isn't the most original - it forms a solid core, but the aesthetic is where this game shines. The visuals are great, and work very well for this style of game. The narrator is exceptional - much like in Bastion, the narrator adds depth to the world that is rarely seen in similar games.

    My #1 complaint about this game: by the end, it gets very repetitive. I still enjoyed it, but had I lost even one of my high-level characters I would have opted to quit instead of taking the time to level a brand new hero up from level 0.

    I sincerely hope the devs implement a system that reduces the burden of leveling up new characters.    … Expand
  54. 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
  55. yosa1
    Feb 3, 2016
    1
    This game is a massive disappointment, some of the aspects of this game are horrible wile others are badly programmed; the stress mechanic was illogical from beta, and has been made worse with subsequent patches, to the point that it is the the focus of the game play due to that fact that high stress is a death sentence.

    The game intimates that there are percentage based variables in    This game is a massive disappointment, some of the aspects of this game are horrible wile others are badly programmed; the stress mechanic was illogical from beta, and has been made worse with subsequent patches, to the point that it is the the focus of the game play due to that fact that high stress is a death sentence.

    The game intimates that there are percentage based variables in the RNG style of play but clearly the numbers never add up, as an 85% hit chance can net you an easy 7/10 misses, to the point were you wait in anticipation hoping the move hits; the AI however gets some hidden buffs to all chances that assure you will have trouble by the second battle.

    Quirks, your character gain benefits at times and debilitation, this really pissed me off as they gain every fear and phobia known to man in a very short time, quirks are fine but hell make them rare.

    I'll never bother with this game again, as it uses skewed random number scripts and has some very bad game mechanics, its linear and grindy and while torchering others maybe Red Hooks idea of a game, im not that masochistic.    … Expand
  56. Thilus
    Feb 2, 2016
    9
    Easily one of the best rouge-like indie RPGs out there. I've been with this game since the Early Access and I clocked in many, many hours, watching tha game expand. Just after the final version was released I started the game from scratch (even though I had a game saved well after mid-game from early access) and I still can't seem to get away from the screen sometimes. I really can'tEasily one of the best rouge-like indie RPGs out there. I've been with this game since the Early Access and I clocked in many, many hours, watching tha game expand. Just after the final version was released I started the game from scratch (even though I had a game saved well after mid-game from early access) and I still can't seem to get away from the screen sometimes. I really can't understand the complaints about high RNG influence and the statements that luck is way more important than skill. Darkest Dungeon is ALL about skill. It's about creating the best possible combinations of characters and their skills, maximizing their chance of survival in hostile environments. And the game reminds you about it on the opening screen every single time you launch it. Yes, the gameplay feels harsh at times and there might be some frustration going, but at no point does the Darkest Dungeon feel unfair. Your characters will miss sometimes, but so will the enemies! Your heroes will bleed, get sick or even die sometimes, but it doesn't feel like it's because of bad luck. It's because the game is hard with no possibility of switching the difficulty to easy or casual. This is not a game for everyone, just like Demon's Souls or Bloodborne wasn't. Throughout my adventures I lost 3-4 heroes and every time it was because I didn't play it safe enough, when even the game reminds you many times: "Remember that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer". Yeah, learn the hard way.
    So if you're not one to run away in face of adversity or one of those people that would like the game to play itself with constant success and you wish for a bit of a challenge then pick up this game immediately. I guarantee that you won't regret it.    … Expand
  57. 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
  58. 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
  59. Ephant
    Jan 30, 2016
    9
    Hard and confusing if you jump in without a thought, but with wiki opened in steam shift-tab and one or two pesky options turned off (corpses - turn it off, really) the difficulty is just right, can't stop playing
  60. ShiArch
    Jan 30, 2016
    3
    Read the cons to understand why I gave it 3. Difficulty and Grinding are two different things.

    Pros - 1- Good atmosphere 2- Good artwork 3- Some very nice ideas (like Heroes stress) Cons - 1- Far too reliant on random numbers. Its like throwing dice every turn. 2- The stress system is poorly implemented. Let me explain : a) It takes 100 stress for your hero to become afflicted    Read the cons to understand why I gave it 3. Difficulty and Grinding are two different things.

    Pros -
    1- Good atmosphere
    2- Good artwork
    3- Some very nice ideas (like Heroes stress)

    Cons -
    1- Far too reliant on random numbers. Its like throwing dice every turn.
    2- The stress system is poorly implemented. Let me explain : a) It takes 100 stress for your hero to become afflicted with a psychosis b) There are around 7-15 battles in every dungeon c) Every battle will involve around 5-20 turns between heroes and enemies which mean enemy can attack 35 to 300 times in a single dungeon run. d) Now consider the fact that because of random numbers a enemy critical attack can deal 20-40 stress in a single attack easily.
    in short your team will get stress and psychosis no matter what you do and it depends entirely on random numbers.
    3- There is no such thing as progression in this game. High level heroes wont do low level dungeons so its always same stuff over and over again.
    4- The titular 'Darkest dungeon' is a level 5 dungeon requiring you to spend dozens of hours of grinding and grinding and.... only to find out that you have to beat it 3 times and the team you used can never be used again to raid 'Darkest dungeon' so basically you have to grind again and again and.... Its a total grindfest with random numbers and arbitrary level restrictions. Difficulty and Grinding are two entirely different things but many fail to understand that basic fact.    … Expand
  61. Chassel
    Jan 29, 2016
    10
    Beautiful art and animations, wonderful theme. Punishingly challenging and engaging gameplay that forces you to think. Stress management is a really interesting and unique mechanic. I have a few complaints but they're nit picky at best. Overall I've been really impressed and thoroughly enjoying it. (~30 hours played so far)
  62. toirko13
    Jan 29, 2016
    9
    You should already know: it's a rogue-like dungeon crawler with classes you recruit and send on dungeon crawls.

    Now that the game is officially released and post-release-patched, here is a new review: The game is fantastic. The different classes and abilities mean you can play two runs in a row with totally different battle play styles. The narration and theme are amazing and    You should already know: it's a rogue-like dungeon crawler with classes you recruit and send on dungeon crawls.

    Now that the game is officially released and post-release-patched, here is a new review:

    The game is fantastic. The different classes and abilities mean you can play two runs in a row with totally different battle play styles. The narration and theme are amazing and consistent and add a ton.

    The concept works really well. Rebuilding the town with dungeon crawlers as your expendables fits "money run" or "artifact run" into the theme of the game so even when you are grinding for something it still feels like a natural progression.    … Expand
  63. derpenstein
    Jan 28, 2016
    4
    Finished the game after about 22 hours of incredibly repetetive gameplay...
    I genuinely wonder how many of the reviewers actually made it through the game.
    The main Problem with Darkest Dungeon is that it is INCREDIBLY GRINDY and REPETETIVE. You encounter the same 10-20 types of enemies over and over again and even the bosses get recycled multiple times. All with improved stats.    Finished the game after about 22 hours of incredibly repetetive gameplay...
    I genuinely wonder how many of the reviewers actually made it through the game.

    The main Problem with Darkest Dungeon is that it is INCREDIBLY GRINDY and REPETETIVE.
    You encounter the same 10-20 types of enemies over and over again and even the bosses get recycled multiple times. All with improved stats.

    The reason why it takes forever to finish the game is because the game makes it almost impossible to beat dungeons lvl5+ without maxed out skills and gear - these require you to max out the blacksmit and guild upgrades and invest an absurd amount of money into maxing your characters (e.g. a max lvl skill upgrade alone costs about 1500 with even with the reduced cost upgrades. So basically 4 times 1500 for 1character and then * 4 again because you need a party of 4. Now consider that you get about 6000-7000 for a medium level medium length quest + 3000-4000 in loot but gearing up for a mission in turn costs about 2000.

    ^this should give you an appoximate idea why it takes forever to complete the game)

    If you dont bring maxed equiment and skills your characters are going to die! (miss, lack of damage, enemy attacks that take out entire lifebars)

    Funny enough - once you bring well equipped and maxed characters to a dungeon - the game is barely a challenge at all.

    ^So basically my main Problem with the game is that it was BORING more than anything else.

    Now on to some other things..
    The sound design is below average - as the rest of the game you will hear the same tunes over and over and hear the narrarator repeat the same 2 lines over and over again. Like goddamn was it too much to ask for to let the narrarator record a few more lines for the dungeons you will be running over and over again? Apparently so...

    The quirk system is disappointing and serves mostly as a number crunching +/-%dmg type thing.

    The drawings and overall graphic design is gorgeous though and the one thing in this game that really stands out as something positive.    … Expand
  64. 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
  65. 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
  66. 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
  67. MrSubjective
    Jan 25, 2016
    3
    Pray for random chance, have no skill or strategy.
    What an awesome art masterpiece ruined by RND (0-100).

    Skip 10/10 reviews, that's just first 30 minutes overhype. The game is way too far from ideal.
  68. dversion
    Jan 25, 2016
    10
    Quite simply the best Indie game of the last few years. The game can be quite sadistic and if you are looking for an easy game that is over in 6 hours, look elsewhere. The art, narration, music and sound fx are top notch. The atmosphere created is rich. Already there are so many Twitch and youtube videos, it's obvious this game has struck a nerve.

    I know it's only January but I    Quite simply the best Indie game of the last few years. The game can be quite sadistic and if you are looking for an easy game that is over in 6 hours, look elsewhere. The art, narration, music and sound fx are top notch. The atmosphere created is rich. Already there are so many Twitch and youtube videos, it's obvious this game has struck a nerve.

    I know it's only January but I think this will be my GOTY...

    PS I got the Soundtrack edition in Early Access...    … Expand
  69. 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
  70. juanval
    Jan 24, 2016
    10
    Excellent game that combines turn based combat RPG with micromanagement of XCOM.

    The graphic aspect is superb. The illustrator has created a great environment. I love the tactical combats in which you must think what attack is the best in each turn according to the resistances of the monsters. There is a big number of enemies and skills. You must play lots of battles in order to    Excellent game that combines turn based combat RPG with micromanagement of XCOM.

    The graphic aspect is superb. The illustrator has created a great environment.

    I love the tactical combats in which you must think what attack is the best in each turn according to the resistances of the monsters. There is a big number of enemies and skills. You must play lots of battles in order to advance, and if you don't want to lose warriors easily, you must think smart and don't hurry to finish the game fast.

    The game has the micromanagement of XCOM. There is a village that is your HQ, where the adventurers improve their skills, and recover from diseases and mental injuries. You can choose from a roster who are the adventurers that are going to the next quest.

    Another gem from kickstarter.    … Expand
  71. goodterling
    Jan 24, 2016
    10
    Fantastic game with an inspired system of short term hit points, and long term sanity maintenance. Also the best Lovecraft game ever made, since it actually respects the Lovecratian concept of insanity as the real threat. However, if you go in cold, you could easily burn a day chasing a losing strategy and end up hating it. Find some non-spoilery tips about how to juggle your resources.Fantastic game with an inspired system of short term hit points, and long term sanity maintenance. Also the best Lovecraft game ever made, since it actually respects the Lovecratian concept of insanity as the real threat. However, if you go in cold, you could easily burn a day chasing a losing strategy and end up hating it. Find some non-spoilery tips about how to juggle your resources.
    I played an early release and didn't know if it was worth starting from scratch, but I was hooked instantly. I can see all the additions the devs made, and their choices were brilliant. New characters, new mechanics, new narration by their fantastic voice actor. This thing feels tested and polished.    … Expand
  72. Artboiz
    Jan 24, 2016
    10
    Amazing game.

    If you can't handle RNG and a game being mean to you from time to time, it's nothing for you though.

    This is not for casual gamers.
  73. Wulfas
    Jan 24, 2016
    9
    Dark, claustrophobic, gritty, yet rewarding. Darkest Dungeon is like a gust of fresh air into RPG genre. This game will make you love it one second, and to hate it the next. It's full of unique design and compelling story, with endless replayability. You can invest a lot into a hero, and still loose everything, with no rollbacks.

    -------- Story: This game has quite unconventional    Dark, claustrophobic, gritty, yet rewarding. Darkest Dungeon is like a gust of fresh air into RPG genre. This game will make you love it one second, and to hate it the next. It's full of unique design and compelling story, with endless replayability. You can invest a lot into a hero, and still loose everything, with no rollbacks.

    --------

    Story: This game has quite unconventional story, meaning it's not forcing user to follow through specific quest for him to get to the end game. Most or at least the most interesting part of story is given through out the narrator, who is always there with a player, given him the insights and commenting his every step of the way. Having said that the story is non linear and player is given the control of how he wants to play out, and upgrade his characters.

    Mechanics: Simple, yet very well though out. To play this game you will only need mouse. So this game is quite good for travelling on plane purposes. The game doesn't offer a revolutionary mechanics, but improves on everything that is already there. Character development is both rewarding and stressful as you will constantly not only will get an upgrade, but will need to cure them for some of the bad traits. Although Darkest Dungeon has one unique mechanic called, stress which influences your heroes action later one in the Dungeon. It makes so of the heroes either a courageous and vigorous or hopeless and paranoid, which influences their ability to perform in the fights.

    Replayability: The game offers very high replayability, because every encounter in the dungeon is unique. There is tons of classes and upgrades available to them, not to mention for rare trinkets to be found. And it's almost impossible to get the good start in the game as you want it. Because this game is somewhat based on RNG, one minute player might feel in control and everything is fine, while the next turn he will want to abandon quest and save his characters.

    Gameplay: Darkest Dungeon offers slow, turned based action which rewards player for making the smart choices, and makes them pay for their mistakes. The game is methodical meaning, you will have to think who to attack, which team to take for a specific mission, you will have to decide what classes have synergy together and will have the highest chance of survival. In this game the odds are highly stacked against you, and it's up to player to survive them. While the game may feel simple enough, there is a lot to learn in this game, for example what gear you should take on a mission, what are the specific instances monster type and their abilities. This game is easy to play, but hard to master, with no safe net for player to survive.

    Graphics: Original, and very impressive to say the least. A game seems to be drawn like a art book, and doesn't get roring at all. Every mob you encounter, every boss you face seems unique and never seen before. The character design feels on point, and every mob or hero seem to have personality just by their design. The backgrounds in the game feels amazing, giving the player a sense of being the spectator in battle, who has somewhat control of the characters.

    Buy this game if: You like to be challenged in the games. You like a slower more methodical gameplay. If you are not afraid to fail, and don't get scared easily.
    Do not buy this game if: You don't like to invest time into a game. You don't like complex battles. If you are afraid of the dark

    All in all i would give this game a solid 9, a truly gem in the RPG genre. A truly potential game of the year candidate.    … Expand
  74. thejuiceweasel
    Jan 22, 2016
    10
    Is it grindy? Yes. Is it unfair? Yes. Does it matter? Well, it depends. See, everything in this game, from the dozens of meaningful and unique mechanics to the briliant graphical accomplishment, from the amazing sound design to the gigantic roster of hero classes and enemies to the highly polished presentation, does an incomparable job to distract from the fact that you WILL grind a lot,Is it grindy? Yes. Is it unfair? Yes. Does it matter? Well, it depends. See, everything in this game, from the dozens of meaningful and unique mechanics to the briliant graphical accomplishment, from the amazing sound design to the gigantic roster of hero classes and enemies to the highly polished presentation, does an incomparable job to distract from the fact that you WILL grind a lot, and you WILL get crit-killed without any chance to act. The calamity of being unfairly wiped, the hours you spend leveling your heroes, see, you would think that they detract from enjoying this game, and for the more sensitive to this issues, they may. But I say, give it a chance, because this is a big, very accomplished and intricate game that never fails to keep you on your toes at all time. It's haunting, it's cruel, and if you can stomach a challenge, you'll probably love it as much as I do.… Expand
  75. Matseb2611
    Jan 22, 2016
    10
    Darkest Dungeon lets you assemble a roster of dungeon adventurers and send them into dungeons in order to defeat pestilent creatures that have plagued the land in order to fully restore a hamlet back to its former glory. The game is not so much a pure dungeon crawler, but more of a dungeon crawl management simulator (for lack of a better word). You do not only navigate the heroes through aDarkest Dungeon lets you assemble a roster of dungeon adventurers and send them into dungeons in order to defeat pestilent creatures that have plagued the land in order to fully restore a hamlet back to its former glory. The game is not so much a pure dungeon crawler, but more of a dungeon crawl management simulator (for lack of a better word). You do not only navigate the heroes through a dungeon. You also take full responsibility for their wellbeing. As heroes go through dungeons, they accumulate stress and could even get diseases, and you have to make sure you bring them back to top shape in between your dungeon runs. You do not just control a single party of heroes. You have to rotate several different heroes around and pick the ones most suitable for the job at hand.

    There are 4 areas where you can take your expedition: Ruins, Warrens, Weald, and Cove, and each one has its own dangers and challenges, what means that you need to prepare your team accordingly. The dungeons also come in different lengths (Short, Medium, and Long) and of different difficulty (Apprentice, Veteran, and Champion). As of the final release, the final dungeon has been added too (have not yet had the bravery to try it out).

    The combat is really fun and in my opinion has a lot of tactical depth to it. It's not just a simple turn-based battle system, but each position within your party setup is important. Some hero classes prefer frontal positions in the squad (like the melee tanks), others prefer to hang back (like healers or ranged attackers).

    The game has been balanced around loads during Early Access, and though some aspects of it might feel unfair still, overall the gameplay feels pretty solid and requires a lot of strategising and adjusting to the situation when bad things start to happen. The game can be pretty punishing towards those who do not take caution. And even if you do everything right, things can still go wrong at times, and part of the gameplay is also having to deal with that. The game encourages tip-top preparation and contingency planning. That means that the game is easily not for everyone, but those who do enjoy that sort of thing will be up for a real treat.

    Art, music, and voice acting are also superb. Easily a cherry on an already delicious cake.

    I would highly recommend this game to anyone who likes a good challenge and doesn't mind it when a game occasionally throws them some curve balls. I can't remember the last time a game has kept me interested for 70 hours and counting.    … Expand
  76. DaltonM
    Jan 21, 2016
    9
    It would take a lot to fully explain this game, but In a nutshell, this is one of the most refreshing, dynamic turn based RPGs in a good while. The moniker 'Turn Based RPG' doesn't do this game much justice, as it also has some very unforgiving rougelike elements. This is a game that is swift to punish you for mistakes, or just new player ignorance. Expect a steep learning curve into aIt would take a lot to fully explain this game, but In a nutshell, this is one of the most refreshing, dynamic turn based RPGs in a good while. The moniker 'Turn Based RPG' doesn't do this game much justice, as it also has some very unforgiving rougelike elements. This is a game that is swift to punish you for mistakes, or just new player ignorance. Expect a steep learning curve into a rewarding experience.
    The stress mechanic that's pivotal to the gameplay not only effects your heroes, but YOU the player as well! I shouted many times when my heroes fell.
    The only reason I give it 9 out of 10 is the sort of arbitrary difficulties added in the later updates, like heart attacks, corpses etc. While you can turn these off, I would have rather NOT had them, or them be mandatory. I understand this a product of the game being in early access and community complaints.

    Otherwise this game is worth MANY hours of your time. If you like Rougelikes, RPGs, and hard games, seriously. GET. THIS. GAME.    … Expand
  77. Cartteros
    Jan 21, 2016
    10
    This game breathes art and immersion in its every aspect. The mechanics are satisfying for a rogue-like RPG, the art style is incredibly well made and stylish, the audio - from the narrator to the effects and soundtrack - is awesome and adds to the immersion. This is a game you can't let pass. Darkest Dungeon is a WONDERFUL experience. It's also cheap, so no excuses.
  78. Galaleo91
    Jan 20, 2016
    9
    This game is wonderful! I've been playing since the launch of early access. It's made many improvements over it's time on steam and some changes I didn't care for so much. The difficulty is a bit staggering at first but it's totally worth it for the joyous ride! I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys rogue-like or hardcore rpgs.
  79. Boonah
    Jan 20, 2016
    9
    A dark dungeon crawling compelling masterpiece of a game. The art is great, the narration is INCREDIBLE, the game has a dark atmosphere that grips and pulls you in. The game revolves around stress management and party management, it can be challenging and brutal at times, but boring it is not.

    My only criticism is that the game gets easier with time rather than more difficult. For £20    A dark dungeon crawling compelling masterpiece of a game. The art is great, the narration is INCREDIBLE, the game has a dark atmosphere that grips and pulls you in. The game revolves around stress management and party management, it can be challenging and brutal at times, but boring it is not.

    My only criticism is that the game gets easier with time rather than more difficult. For £20 you can't go wrong.    … Expand
  80. KingOfWinter
    Jan 20, 2016
    9
    I'm in a weird situation in that I got in on the game in late early access. Picked it up during the Steam winter sale but haven't played the post-official release. So I've seen what the game basically was in the final stages of early access but haven't tried out the new bug fixes since the last day I played was on the 17th. From what it reads like in the new negative reviews, thereI'm in a weird situation in that I got in on the game in late early access. Picked it up during the Steam winter sale but haven't played the post-official release. So I've seen what the game basically was in the final stages of early access but haven't tried out the new bug fixes since the last day I played was on the 17th. From what it reads like in the new negative reviews, there seems to be a lot of moaning about how the official release didn't bring an overwhelming tidal wave of new content. I suppose that might bother me if Darkest Dungeon were a particularly stripped-down, incomplete-seeming game as you often see in early access.

    It's honestly one of the most complete early access titles I've played so I'm not sure what they were expecting. Some mechanics such as the minimap and movement are a little clunky or unintuitive but they're nothing I haven't seen before and certainly not something I expected to change drastically or at all really. The art style is definitely the main draw as the characters, enemies and backgrounds feel like a graphic novel. It's grim, like early Diablo grim but with more of a renaissance era setting and a lot more Lovecraft (or Lovecraft Lite, might be better) thrown in. The horrors you face will freak your guys out but all the same, they can be beaten. It's just hard. And taxing on your characters' nerves. Yes the game can feel grindy if you're not digging the atmosphere but the number of dungeon crawlers that don't lend themselves towards being grindfests are few and far between. By their very nature, that's what the dungeon crawler is typically about: Some giant foreboding evil threatens the land, your underleveled heroes kill minions to get better gear and improve their skills and stats so as to prepare themselves to face the greater evils. That's the same deal here. Killing minions to acquire resources is what makes it a grind and it's also what makes it fun.

    I won't pretend like this game is universally accessible because the difficulty can be off-putting and like any roguelike, you'll get screwed by the RNG a lot. But it's fair, if unforgiving. If you like games like FTL where you essentially do the same action over and over in a procedurally generated world fighting enemies that outclass you and generally spend a lot of time making the best of a bad situation, you'll enjoy it. If you tire of grinding through hallways and taking a long amount of time to set up your power base and get your characters up to snuff, you'll likely want to look elsewhere. It takes time to get the village upgrades. It takes time to get your heroes competent enough to take on some of the harder dungeons and bosses. And you will lose them at times to an unlucky dice roll. It's how roguelikes go. If that causes you to rage and never play the game again because you couldn't get your perfect 'nobody dies, flawless victory' run, I'm sorry it didn't meet your lofty expectations. If it causes you to rage and swear revenge on the monsters that killed your team by making a BETTER team? You're gonna do just fine around here.

    If price point is the reason you're on the fence like some accusers who feel betrayed because the game didn't double in length after the official release, wait til it's on sale. $20 may be a little high if you're not into dungeon crawlers, gothic horror or roguelikes. But if you can grab it on sale for $10, maybe even $15, it's easily worth that.

    Art style, music and narration are all top notch. Stress mechanic is fun - it complicates character usage, but in a good way. Story's a little light, but gives you enough motivation for what your characters are doing. Enemy variety could use a little sprucing up but damn, it gives you a ton of classes and more may be on the way (at least 1 class is going to be post release, we'll see about adding enemies). Grinding and RNG are what they are, neither good nor bad, just hallmarks of the genre. It's not a perfect game but it's damn good. Give it a whirl    … Expand
  81. 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!
  82. 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
  83. 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
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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.
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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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