Darkest Dungeon: Frustrating Yet Still Addictive

Darkest Dungeon is known for its unfair gameplay systems and very punishing deaths. You might as well call this game the ‘Dark Souls of Roguelikes’. This turn-based game is not just very punishing but also very dark and depressing if you are too much into the game.

Many people complain about the unfairness of the game, yet they still keep playing. Let us see why that’s the case.

Your Feelings Don’t Matter

Before I started playing this game, I used to play turn-based JRPGs. I loved the way the characters in a party formed a bond with each other and how each character developed throughout the game. You start liking the characters and also root for them which creates a connection between the player and the characters.

Now Darkest Dungeon, on the other hand, does not care about your feelings. Do you like a character and want to keep them till the end? Well too bad you are playing Darkest Dungeon. If a character dies in a run, they are gone forever. To replace them you will have to recruit more characters.

The best way to approach this game is to never like a character, you will regret it later if you do and the dungeons will make sure you feel the loss.

What Crawls In The Dungeons

The Dungeons that your party will explore are randomly generated. It’s loot and layout will always be different than your previous run. Players have to create a party of 4 characters, each with their own class, to send them on expeditions to unlock more Dungeons or to get better loot.

Dungeons have traps and surprise ambushes that the player has to be careful about, or else they will make their run tougher than it already is. Before embarking make sure you have all the needed supplies or you whole party will be wiped in a few moves.

You are also risking the loss of all your equipment during a run. But it is worth risking considering the loot the dungeons reward you with. This risky system feels like a gamble but with good preparation, it is very rewarding and will give you that sense of success every run.

That satisfaction you get after a successful run knowing too much could have been lost, is the reason players never stop playing this game.

Feeling Lucky?

Luck is the biggest factor in this game. RNG is the main reason why most players leave this game. But it is also the reason a lot of players stay.

Luck determines almost everything, even how your character deals with stress. If your character gets stressed enough they will either gain a buff or become a debuff for the whole party. This is fully based on luck and no other factors determine this. You will either have a great time with his system or a nightmarish experience.

During turns, nothing beats the feeling of getting a critical hit on enemies as you most likely one-shot them. But this can also work against you as enemies can critically hit you and almost one shot you too. For some players, this creates an all-or-nothing feeling that can be too addicting.

If you are new to the game, you might end up with one character in your party against a with low health. You do have the option to retreat but in this case, I always go all in and hope that ‘RNGesus’ is on my side because nothing is better than clutching a boss fight where too much is at stake.

Victory Or Death

Sure in most cases you are gambling to stay alive, but with strategic approaches to the game, you will have a great time. Darkest Dungeon has become a cult classic and is a game that can never be made again. Even its sequel couldn’t recreate the perfection that is Darkest Dungeon.

So Embark on a journey where you will find victory and death side by side hoping for luck to favor you.

And remember: Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer!