![]() ![]() There are a lot of stats to take into account, and if you're a fan of numbers then you'll enjoy the level of complexity woven into the combat, as analysing the situation and playing your cards right can make a tangible difference, and it's all the more impressive as this part of the game seems fairly straightforward at first glance. Despite the stress-induced death (and in a masochistic kinda way, perhaps because of it) we found the combat to be hugely satisfying, and you can easily lose hours in the dungeons as you search for treasure. Combat is deeply tactical, with decisions to be made over who on the enemy team to strike first, which attacks to use, and as your own health bars start to whittle away, who on your team to heal. Each character has access to four different special attacks or buffs that they can only use during battle (there's other abilities that you can utilise when you're camping mid-mission, but this happens much less frequently than combat so we'll not dwell on it too much other than to say these abilities can ease the stress felt by your party). Party members stand side by side as they move through the dungeons and they stay in line when battle begins.Ĭombat is turn-based, with blows traded back and forth between both parties. Even characters that look similar can be tinkered with and given different abilities over time, and there's some really interesting classes (we LOVED the one that can turn into a werewolf). Each one has a different skillset, and they each have a preferred place in your lineup from where they are most effective. You recruit new adventurers to your group and then pick which ones will go out looting. Darkest Dungeon is wonderfully sinister and overflowing with macabre personality.ĭeath is fairly commonplace and it's not unusual to lose one or two (or three or four) of your party members during any given mission. It's also bleak and foreboding back in the hamlet where you prepare for each excursion. It's moody and atmospheric throughout during combat when attacks are heading back and forth, as you scurry through the various environments, and even the lighting (or lack thereof) is eerie. You party advances through dingy dungeons and at certain points engages in combat with similarly sized groups of enemies. However, that's also the point, but it's just that it feels odd heaping praise on a game that's knowingly out to ruin your day.Įlsewhere it looks fantastic, with stunning 2D graphics and some eye-catching character and enemy designs. It means we're sometimes left with a sour taste after enjoying what is in all other respects a delicious blend of ingredients. It's supposed to be harsh and unforgiving, we understand that, but sometimes the outcome doesn't always gel with the action playing out on screen, and when the systems clash with our own narrative it can lead to a frustrating disconnect. Overall it's a great setup, but we've had reasonably healthy characters suffer lethal heart attacks during battles we were comfortably winning, and often these moments (at least in our experience) come in pairs (or more), and we've seen the core of a well positioned party ripped out simply because a tipping point is reached. It happens because stress is a tangible mechanic that affects the mental and physical health of your party as they traipse through murky corridors in search of treasure. It's the heart attacks that are without doubt the most frustrating part of the game, and our chief criticism of Red Hook Studios' otherwise lovely title is the frequency with which our characters would drop dead during combat because of a dodgy ticker. In Darkest Dungeon, the newly released dungeon crawler (on PlayStation 4, it's been out on PC since the start of the year), heart attacks and other stress related injuries are commonplace and frequently deadly, but they're not the only thing you need to be careful of in this sinister and engaging tactical RPG roguelike hybrid. A heart attack is never a good thing, no matter where it takes place.
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