These Thumbs Were Made for Gaming: Darkest Dungeon

After hearing about the game on some podcasts and having my friend, Larry suggest it to me, I finally downloaded Darkest Dungeon. I really don't feel like the game was hyped enough; to be honest, had I known about it when it was on Kickstarter I would have definitely backed it. I'm actually playing this thing full time now and haven't looked at Diablo 3 since I installed it. The art is dark and gritty but vibrant and crisp at the same time which makes for some amazing graphic displays. I was always a sucker for a simple yet catchy art style such as the one used in Castle Crashers. The sound effects, especially the narrator, are great as well. I can't leave it like that; the narrator is fucking awesome. You will hear him throughout your journeys into the dungeon and I don't think a better voice could have been chosen to match the game. You'll see what I mean. ;)

Darkest Dungeon is simple and complex at the same time; the combat system is fairly simple but the management aspects make the game complex. Prior to beginning a quest (going into the dungeon), you choose a team of up to 4 characters from a roster you build and provision them for their journey. Things that are important to grab are food and torches. Unlike many games that feature torches as items, Darkest Dungeon has made the torch as an item super important and you always want them on hand. When you're in a dungeon and you see that torch supply start to run low you will instantly start to shit yourself about it. It is a welcome mechanic.

Light plays a big part in this game. On the top of the screen is a torch meter that keeps track of how bright your light is burning. As the lights get dimmer, your characters will actually become "afraid" and stress out. Some creatures become stronger in the dark as well. Respect the torch!

Combat is simple but effective. Each member has a choice of 4 different abilities in combat and the whole combat system can be manipulated via mouse-clicks or keystrokes. This choice of abilities can be customized when not in a dungeon so you can tailor a character to how you want them to play. I suggest having at least 1-2 members per team who have access to an ability that damages multiple targets. Keeping combat short and sweet is key because healing outside of combat is close to a non-entity unless you are camping.

While in the dungeon, the characters will be subject to becoming stressed from their environment which can lead to having a slight mental breakdown to a full-blown heart attack (yes, your character actually has a heart attack and dies). Stressed characters will develop a temporary stress related ailment when they reach their break point. You will see them become anything from Abusive to Fearful to just downright Irrational. These ailments can be removed through the various stress relieving activities available at the Estate. If a character dies, they are gone forever. Death can be a terrible blow to your character pool, however recovering a character from near heart attack levels of stress can be not only expensive but time consuming.

The game features elements of team management in the form of your Estate. Much like Rogue Legacy's "Tower of Upgrades," Darkest Dungeon features the Estate which has a few buildings that do things like upgrade armor and weapons, reduce the stress level of your characters or allow you to recruit new characters. When a character goes for some stress relief they will be at the very least out of commission for one mission. That being said, relying on a single "A Team" is not a great idea but not putting money into upgrading characters is also bad because progression will be very hard otherwise. Another interesting aspect of this game.

All and all, I am enjoying the shit out of this title and highly suggest it. I can keep typing or you can just get on Steam and download it. I suggest the latter. It's worth the money, just get it.