Darkest Dungeon Reviews
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Now that Red Hook Studios' Darkest Dungeon has officially graduated from the halls of Steam Early Access, its only fitting that a handful of reviews for the final release version of the RPG have made their way to the web. And you'll find a fistful of them below.
USGamer gives it a 4.5/5:
I can't say enough nice things about Darkest Dungeon. Its presentation is brilliant, its systems are smart and well-constructed, and it does a lot to subvert what we should expect from the average dungeon crawler. For a game built around slowly grinding up multiple parties of adventurers, it's remarkable how fresh it can feel even after more than 50 hours. It's only January, but Darkest Dungeon is already one of my favorite games of the year.
Yahoo gives it a 4/5:
But while it's got its hooks into you, Darkest Dungeon exerts a powerful pull. Hear the chilling call of the foul, nameless catacombs, and dispatch your minions to their maw! They'll be going mad, but you'll be having a blast.
GameInformer gives it a 9.25/10:
Darkest Dungeon is an incredible take on the classic dungeon crawl. The game brings Lovecraftian lore to new heights with cool classes, powerful narration, stylish art, and addictive gameplay that will keep you crawling back to battle slithering monstrosities even as your favorite heroes become corpses.
Metro gives it an 8/10:
But while we hate random battles as much as the next gamer the difficultly level is perfectly fair. It's just that, as with the likes of Dark Souls, it's been set purposefully high. But much like that game you'll quickly find yourself drawn into its uncompromising web, the rewards for perseverance far exceeding any temporary frustrations at losing your prized champion. Being stressed might not be any fun for your adventurers but it certainly is for you the player.
The Escapist gives it a 4/5:
Darkest Dungeon will kill your party, drive you insane, and leave you a gibbering mess at the Sanitarium. Yet it's so compelling and rewarding at the same time, you won't be able to resist diving back in for one more quest.
ZAM gives it a "Yes" vote:
If you don't like games like Darkest Dungeon, or, like me, are terrible at them, you're in for a sometimes overwhelming, often taxing experience with a lot of brains but not quite enough heart. I loved the time I spent spend failing at it, playing with its possibilities and trying out new character combinations, and I enjoyed its atmosphere and surprising events. It does everything it does skillfully, slickly, and well, but that (everything) might be too much to keep me coming back.
OnlySP gives it an 8.5/10:
And here's where we come full circle back to the difficulty. You need to be prepared for a completely unforgiving experience if you're expecting to get into Darkest Dungeon. Not only will it not hold your hand, but it will do everything in its power to ensure that you fail. Repeatedly and often. But if you can get past that if you can learn to accept and even enjoy your failures as prerequisites to your eventual success Darkest Dungeon will provide you with countless hours of masochistic enjoyment. It is one of the greatest examples of emergent narrative in gaming just check out this article I wrote during the earliest stages of Early Access. It's atmospheric and bleak, from the enemy design to the varied dungeons to the dour and cynical (and highly entertaining) narrator, and is already a strong contender for my game of the year.
VPDaily gives it a 9/10:
Darkest Dungeon does what so few games can; it melds gameplay and lore into one complete package. It does it with mechanics and aesthetic that could stand on their own two feet, but together create something incredible, something where no matter how many times I fail I went straight back to it. I will keep playing Darkest Dungeon for the foreseeable future and continue to lose myself in it over and over again, I mean, I'd be insane not to.
And HardcoreGamer gives it a 4/5:
Darkest Dungeon is difficult, but not because its systems are unclear or unfair. In fact, the richness and complexity of its mechanics are miraculously transparent. What makes Darkest Dungeon challenging is balancing and equipping a party and the essentially unpredictable nature of the dungeons and combat. The art style hand-drawn and evocative, with just enough effective animation to keep things interesting without adding overwhelm to the already busy nature of the action is beautiful, and its music and stentorian narration are perfectly in sync with the characters. The whole enterprise is polished and a lot of fun.
