This is The Mechanic, where Alex Wiltshire invites developers to discuss the inner workings of their games. This time, Darkest Dungeon [official site].
Darkest Dungeon is an RPG in which four flawed heroes face damnably transcendent terrors as they explore the ancient narrow passages beneath a cursed mansion. Notch by notch, their grasp on sanity slips and their vitality trickles thinner as their torch dims and new horror befalls them.
This is a game in which pressure mounts, misfortune crushes, and mistakes are punished. You can t expect your party to always survive, whether driven to death or madness, and its turn-based combat plays out with the constant understanding that every decision can turn on a knife-edge: a missed hit, an ill-considered target, the wrong ability. And a lot of that tension is founded on something that on its face sounds prosaic, even old-fashioned:
THE MECHANIC: 2D combat … [visit site to read more]
New enemies are coming to Darkest Dungeon [official site] as part of the upcoming free update adding a shorter (but not easier) ‘Radiant’ mode. That’s the word from developers Red Hook Studios, who say they’re planning to launch the update by early February with other a number of “quality of life” tweaks too. The bad news is that all this extra work will push the dungeon crawler’s expansion, the vampiric Crimson Court, back into April. I’ll happily wait for that, especially if other fanciness is coming first. Like that new cheerleading Bone Bearer. … [visit site to read more]
Darkest Dungeon [official site] is the year’s best dungeon crawler, sez we, but I must confess I find it a bit of a grind at times. So, good news: developers Red Hook Studios have announced plans for a mode which won’t necessarily be easier but will cut the game’s length down from 80-ish hours to around 40. They’ve also revealed a smidgen more of its upcoming vampiric DLC, The Crimson Court, by showing off the grizzled vampire hunter who may well come after your party. Lovely! All this plus details on yesterday’s patch (controller support!) below. … [visit site to read more]