Darkest Dungeon

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 208 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 157 out of 208
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 208
  3. Negative: 24 out of 208
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  1. MatheusOta
    Jan 21, 2017
    5
    Darkest Dungeon is a game that has two major flaw, its RNG factor and repetitive gameplay.
    I played 40 hours on my account and my experience was at first impressive, the Mike Mignola style, the first boss, the first time i saw the dungeons, watching my roster of heroes getting diverse and bigger, while my decrepit hamlet became a Bastion of hope amongst the mud, all that joy vanished,    Darkest Dungeon is a game that has two major flaw, its RNG factor and repetitive gameplay.
    I played 40 hours on my account and my experience was at first impressive, the Mike Mignola style, the first boss, the first time i saw the dungeons, watching my roster of heroes getting diverse and bigger, while my decrepit hamlet became a Bastion of hope amongst the mud, all that joy vanished, once i sink my teeth on the core of the game i realized how much luck was involved in the overall experience, if i miss or hit, if it inflicts status effect, if your character dies, what town events you get, does your tank becames a masochist prick who wont accept healing, all that joyfully out of your control, yes you can try to play avoiding such situations, and in some cases i did found that feeling similar to beating a boss in Dark Souls to emerge as a made the best out of a bad situation, but the problem was that most times it was just out of my control, random encouters with a miniboss, getting ambushed after i camp, my party getting surprised, those bad situations dont feel like a punishment for careless action or sloppy plays, it often feels like the game is punishing you for playing it.
    The game quickly turns into a grindfest, to upgrade your heroes so they can venture out on the darkest level 5 and 6 dungeons, this process takes a lot o time, upgrading the buildings so they can upgrade your heroes, and then upgrading your heroes, managing 5 types of currency during the process, and grinding early areas for loot, and then getting a poetic team wipe at a level 5 dungeon because of consecutive enemy crits and consecutive misses from the poor legendary level fools you spent so much time investing.
    A lot of people like to compare this game to the souls series, and i can see why, similar aesthetics, odds stacked up against you, and in the case of Bloodborne the Lovecraftian theme, the major difference between those games is that the souls series manages to be unforgiving towards your mistakes while Darkest Dungeon is unforgiving towards you playing it.
    My final thoughts are that while this game manages to be engrossing in art and atmosphere it lacks in gameplay and game design, i do look forward to what Red Hook has in store for us in the future, but as it stands now Darkest Dungeon is to grindy and luck based for me to really want to delve deeper in its madness.    … Expand
  2. GamingDrake
    Oct 15, 2016
    6
    I myself love turn based games such as xcom and steamworld heist and this game unfortunately is abit disappointing. I'll start with the pros: The atmosphere is great, the narrator is brilliant, the soundtrack fits this game perfectly and the art style is superb. The cons: It is gruelingly difficult to the point that it takes the fun away unless you like pain like dark souls. it'sI myself love turn based games such as xcom and steamworld heist and this game unfortunately is abit disappointing. I'll start with the pros: The atmosphere is great, the narrator is brilliant, the soundtrack fits this game perfectly and the art style is superb. The cons: It is gruelingly difficult to the point that it takes the fun away unless you like pain like dark souls. it's frustrating. I felt as well there wasn't much gameplay to it, you just click a button and hope for the best unlike steamworld heist where you have to manually aim, so it involves you more. And there isn't much variation to the game, within 2 hours i'd pretty much seen all it had to offer. The stress mechanic is a novel idea but it goes up way too fast. The level design was cool at first but then after awhile each corridor and room looked the same. I think its a great idea this game and i know most people will disagree with me but i felt it could of been executed better.… Expand
  3. SensualSanta
    Nov 3, 2016
    7
    Atmospheric 2D dungeon romp with a good depth in different mechanics. Controls on PS4 port are poor and will take some time to get used to - but the actual game play is rewarding enough to keep you fumbling with the pad. If you enjoy difficult, lovecraftian dungeon romps this is good worth for your buck. The repetitive nature of the gameplay is the biggest drawback for me, hence 7/10.
  4. Isak
    Jul 10, 2020
    7
    Fun and tactical game with a cool art style. Nice mechanics, but can be a bit repetetive at times.
  5. marykaymylove
    Jan 23, 2018
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a great rogue like game but it needs more work when it comes to gameplay.

    In the late game, you will need stress healers for every dungeon run because you will become dependent with them. I didn't even bother finishing the game because I got bored with stress healing.    … Expand
  6. Lonit
    Sep 16, 2019
    7
    the best thing I've played on the VITA, very solid, difficulty is very high though, not easy to progress far at all

Awards & Rankings

39
#39 Best PS4 Game of 2016
85
#85 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2016
92
#92 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. TheSixthAxis
    Dec 6, 2016
    80
    An ungodly combination of Fire Emblem and Dark Souls, it delights in making you suffer, but every small step forwards feels like a massive achievement. It’s not for everyone, but if you enjoy the darkness and feel up to the challenge, you can’t do much better than enter the Darkest Dungeon. Just make sure that all your affairs are in order and that you have written a will, because once you’re in, you might not make it back out.
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  2. DarkZero
    Nov 14, 2016
    70
    It’s a shame that the console version of Darkest Dungeon couldn’t have been a bit smarter with its controller layout, because the rest of the game shines in brilliant darkness as it did on PC; the 2D artwork is a great mix of hard lines and grotesque imagery, quite similar to Hellboy and other comics by Mike Mignola. The persistent narration is delightfully campy with its dreary delivery and macabre musings, and the fear of death (or insanity) makes every duel feel like a tense brush with death. And players will die, again and again and again. But like a certain other difficult series centered around darkness and sun bros, Darkest Dungeon’s maddening tendrils will manipulate even the most frustrated folks to try again…but consider sticking to the PC version to avoid the added frustration of fumbling around with the controls.
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  3. ZTGD
    Nov 1, 2016
    80
    It is a very competent RPG with tons of upgrades and stat tracking. It really is a hardcore RPG fan’s dream.
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