Darkest Dungeon

Release: 2016
Developer: Red Hook Games
Genre: RPG, Rogue-lite
Gameplay Stats: Complete! 68 hours, 72% Achievements

Darkest Dungeon is a pretty great game! There are a few things holding it back from being an absolutely enjoyable game though. Before I jump in, it's important to note that I actually had very mixed feelings when I finished this game a few months ago. It took a while for all of that to simmer down to a point where I am sure on my feelings of this game.

Visuals: The visual representation of this game is pretty clearly one of it's strong points. Everything is hand-drawn and keeps a very consistent theme of abominations and eldritch horrors. Every item, every character, every enemy, and every area is unique and immediately recognizable. I wish I knew the visual artist behind everything, but they really did a fantastic job. The game almost shows itself off as a storybook, so the actions in the game are only a couple of frames of animation, but it all seems to fit the game. The actions and reactions present are visually striking.

Audio: The music in this game is decent. I don't think they will have many clamoring for their soundtracks, but at the same time, every track lays the appropriate theme for whatever you're doing. The shining part of the audio work is the work of Wayne June as the narrator. His character is technically the ancestor and progenitor of your quest, but he has small speeches during the dungeons and at the beginning of boss attempts. They're chilling and beautifully delivered. He narrates some actual Lovecraft stories, and I definitely need to track them down.

Plot: The plot in this game is okay. The McGufin is that your team of scoundrels has to get to the bottom of the eponymous Darkest Dungeon and stop the horrors and corruption that are leaking out. There's not much in the way of surprise, but the bits of the plot that are slowly uncovered are gripping. This is in no small part to Wayne June's narration, but also the depths of depravity present in the game's narrator. It's a crazy train wreck that you don't want to stop listening to.

Gameplay: Dark Dungeon is definitely a fun game to play. The game is broken up into two distinct phases, the hamlet management and the dungeon exploration. In the hamlet management portion of the game, you allocate resources to level up various support structures in support of your quest. You can also upgrade character's equipment and moves, remove stress, hire new recruits, and prepare provisions for your next outing into one of the dungeons. When you're in the dungeons your primary activity is exploring. This is done through fighting monsters, interacting with curios, and gathering loot. The battles play out with your team of four heroes of various classes fighting groups of 2-4 enemies. With odds like those, it sounds like it would be easy enough to triumph every time as log as you bring along a healer. Probably the biggest selling point of Darkest Dungeon is the stress mechanic that generally has your characters gaining stress over each excursion. When they hit the midpoint threshold, your characters get a semi-permanent buff or debuff for the remainder of the dungeon. As you'd guess, most of the time your characters get debuffs. These can sometimes add stress to other characters, make that character act on their own, or refuse the help of other characters and the player. This makes for a very interesting resource to manage! 

You will lose characters. You will be forced to give up on certain missions. But you'll likely have a good time doing it! Darkest Dungeon has such a great atmosphere and tone, that I think most people will be immediately drawn into the world they get to visit. The rub though is that the game is tough and extremely unforgiving. All of the saves are automatic, and they're very frequent. The last area, The Darkest Dungeon, is very very tough, and losing a character there is to be expected unless you look at guides for party competition or map layouts. If you lose a high level character, you'll have to recruit a low level one and take them out on 4-8 missions to get them up to strength to be able to survive a trip to The Darkest Dungeon. This added onto the relatively small size of your roster of heroes could certainly frustrate a lot of people. I ended up cheating to some degree so that I wouldn't get frustrated. I looked up a list of curio interactions so that I could make the most of every dungeon delve, and maps of the last area. This game is good, but it can certainly be a grind, so I can understand why a large degree of players might pick up the game, and then drop it later when it starts to feel unfair. I had a good time, but it's good to know that the game is really hard before going into it so that you can steel yourself. [8/10]