Welcome to our review of a new eShop game on Nintendo Switch, Darkest Dungeon.
Darkest Dungeon is a challenging gothic roguelike turn-based RPG about the psychological stresses of adventuring. Recruit, train, and lead a team of flawed heroes against unimaginable horrors, stress, famine, disease, and the ever-
Originally released on PC back in January 2016, this game has seen releases on most other platforms and now, it has seen a release on Nintendo Switch. This game is a 2D turn-based RPG with a very elaborate gameplay and a serious bummer when you consider the roguelike elements that come to play.
Basically, all you do is battle, get loot, do missions and try and prevent your team from losing their lives. Even a strategized dead is something you should try to avoid at all costs as you lose the team member permanently as they do not revive after you exit the fight, like most role playing games.
It all comes down to seriously planning everything, from which members to bring on a mission, what food or items to bring and when or how to use them. In the beginning of my game sessions, I had serious issues with this approach as I ended up losing a team member very early on in the game. Sure, I could just recruit others to join my team, but I did hate this aspect as I felt unprepared for it.
The reason I say I felt unprepared for it, partially my own fault, is that I often skip parts of dialogue. This is due to how tiny the text looks when I play in handheld mode, which has always been my prefered way of playing and this time, it just felt really uneasy at times. I often find myself squinting at the screen just to see which button to push, which I do consider a downside to an otherwise entertaining game.
I have previously mentioned my dislike for the roguelike genre, but once you get used to the mechanics of this game, being able to replenish your troops, … It is actually a valuable addition to the game rather than a disturbance in gameplay. Aside from managing your roster of heroes outside the battles, there are also the actual battles where this roguelike aspect comes in play. Making sure to properly manage resources is more and more important as you progress on this story of cleansing the surroundings from any and all vile creatures.
In conclusion, this game is not easy to get into, but once you do, prepare to lose a lot of time and the occasional life here and there. Get a hold of your nerves and prepare for the journey of a life time. While it does not compare to many great legendary games of the RPG genre, it does hold itself steady and provides a challenging yet fun experience!
My rating for this game is 80% as the small letters did influence my experience a little too much in a negative way.
