The LanguageĮven more than how the game looks is how it both reads and sounds.

I could lose myself in how this game is drawn. The thick lines and lack of any sun (save for the intro) or cheery dispositions makes for a moody go. The characters, the backgrounds, the attacks - all of it makes me think of an animated graphic novel, one which I would gladly read. It reminds me of Paper Mario a bit, and also Flash animation, but mostly a really dark and gritty graphic novel inked with lots of personality and talent. While at its core, Darkest Dungeon is really just a 2-D title with minimal animation, it makes up for any visual deficiencies with its art style.

So instead of a full review or an account of my playthrough, I wanted to highlight three factors that really go into making Darkest Dungeon a memorable, well-crafted RPG title. It doesn’t help that your torches keep flickering out, letting the darkness creep in… There’s turn-based combat, traps, and all manner of clickables. If not, they’ll probably go stark raving mad from the efforts.ĭungeon delves are cautious, difficult affairs in which you must try to get as far as you can while keeping your party somewhat sane and hale. As the name implies, it’s a grim task that will most likely churn up bodies in a meatgrinder - if they’re lucky. The central idea here is that players form teams of four characters out of a roster of off-kilter heroes, go into the various dungeons under the manor, and return with loot to expand services and strengthen the party.

Even the surrounding town is ruined, slowly being repaired as the player progresses through the dungeons. Either way, it’s a pretty impressive display.ĭarkest Dungeon opens with a simple backstory: A rich man becomes obsessed with digging under his manor until he happens to hit on portals to eldritch realms, goes pretty much bonkers, then begs his relatives to go dungeon diving on his behalf and beat these monstrosities back. Then again, Darkest Dungeon could merely be a clever title that takes the bland tropes of being a professional munchkin and make a game out of considering the mental state of our party in addition to their physical. It almost makes me wonder if this is a sly look at how combat veterans deal with multiple deployments and the scars (visible and internal) that they return with.

The central message of Darkest Dungeon - if we can be so serious as to make one - is that instead of making stronger, noble heroes, repeated dungeon delves in RPGs would cause serious mental and physical trauma.

Darkest dungeon stress spirals