Darkest Dungeon – A Walk Into Darkness – XBOX One Review

Enter the dungeons of your family estate as you try to fight the evil within. In this gothic type, role-playing game, stress out as your fight wave after wave of enemies. You have the ability to make up a party of up to four heroes. You will descend into the deepest depths in this 2D side-scrolling game where all of your wits will be tested. Here is our review of Darkest Dungeons on Xbox One.

From developer Red Hook Studios, they bring you a game that went from early access to full release. Now it has been slowly moving into the console market. This review is about the Xbox One version, played on an Xbox One X.

At the outset of the game, you learn that you have inherited a gothic mansion from a deceased relative. Your relative discovered dungeons, catacombs, and portals to dark dimensions underneath this place. By finding this portal he released great evil into the land. You, along with other heroes which you can hire, you begin quests into the lower reaches of the mansion to fight the evil. As you venture deeper, and deeper into the dungeons you finally find the source of darkness. When you reach the ‘Darkest Dungeon’, as the name states, you will find you more than you bargained for.

In this role-playing game, you manage rosters of heroes and adventurers who will aid you in your expeditions into the deep. You can recruit these members from the town before venturing forth. The town also has places to buy required items for dungeon diving as well as healing at the local church. You can recruit up to twenty-five heroes onto your roster at any one time. You will also be able to retrieve any loot that you find from your adventures here and equip them as well.

The graphics in the game are what you would expect from as gothic, 2D platformer. The characters have simple walk animations and their combat animations are probably only three to four frames each. No matter how little there is for animation it still makes it look good. The environments are detailed and dark, as any good dungeon crawler should be. With the great background and animations come a detailed set of characters and classes, they each have their unique armor and clothing which you see as they walk around with you.

One of the core gameplay elements in Darkest Dungeon is the affliction system. Your characters will start with a low-stress level but, as you continue into the dungeon that will slowly change. If you venture without food or light, or if your characters die or become wounded, you will see your characters stress level increase. You will need to remove these afflictions from the town, this will allow you to continue moving forward with your adventure to the Darkest Dungeon.

Note: Our copy was reviewed on Xbox One X with a code provided by PR.

Darkest Dungeons Final Review Score: 8.5 / 10.0

PROS:

  • Role-Playing Game mecahnics
  • Detailed Character and Level Graphics
  • Large Roster and Character Classes Available
  • Great replay value

CONS:

  • A hard game that makes you learn to not care about characters
  • Slow progression
  • Menus cumbersome

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