Darkest Dungeon Reviews

Darkest Dungeon is ranked in the 93rd percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9 / 10
Feb 9, 2016

A richly satisfying and wonderfully executed masterpiece.

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Jan 24, 2016

A Kickstarter campaign from two years ago has led to the long-awaited release of Darkest Dungeon, one of the best roguelike RPG titles we've ever played.

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9.1 / 10.0
Jan 30, 2018

Red Hook Studios' Darkest Dungeon wins on all fronts by offering a challenging and addictive gameplay. Everything is underlined by a great gothic style art direction and soundtrack, original mechanics and fun blend of rogue-like, turn-based and RPG games.

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Dan Stapleton
Top Critic
9.1 / 10.0
Jan 26, 2016

Darkest Dungeon is a grim and merciless tactical strategy game whose great tension comes from its many layers of complexity, unpredictable randomization, and willingness to put our fragile characters in mortal danger if we dare to venture into its depths in search of treasure and glory. Brilliant narration and stiff yet surprisingly expressive animation make it easy to be drawn into its vague but tantalizing world, though the end feels artificially out of reach.

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92 / 100
Jan 29, 2016

A gripping, unforgiving, complex dungeon crawler that translates lovecraftian themes excellently into its world. There are few indies out there that do everything as well as Darkest Dungeon. From art style to gameplay, from sound design and narrator, which is truly exceptional, and the writing Darkest Dungeon oozes quality.

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92 / 100
Mar 3, 2018

The interface and difficulty are intimidating at first but Darkest Dungeon provides a deep foreboding atmosphere complemented by the intense challenge that will test even the most seasoned gamer.

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9.3 / 10.0
Jan 18, 2016

While the game can feel grindy at times and losing a critical team permanently is soul crushing, taking down big bosses, collecting treasure, and restoring the fallen hamlet to glory is challenging and fun

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9.5 / 10.0
Mar 4, 2018

Darkest Dungeon is characterised by unique style and tough gameplay. It demands deep understanding of game mechanics to succeed, but also allows for slow and methodical gameplay while discovering them on our own. 2D sprite-based graphic is executed perfectly along with simple animations to create an awesome game.

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9.5 / 10.0
Feb 15, 2018

Darkest Dungeon is just short of being an absolute masterpiece, but is still an amazing game. Red Hook Studios meticulously crafted a memorable experience that is fun to play in short bursts or get lost in for hours.

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95%
Jan 28, 2018

I was completely enthralled with this game. It makes the most of its assets to create a dynamic RPG with characters whose personalities are changed by the journeys they embark on. The writing is deliciously dark and detailed, and the journal entries embellish this factor of the game perfectly. The art style is very detailed, and while the animations are simple, the camera zooming in dramatically at key moments makes it feel much more epic than it would otherwise. Darkest Dungeon will provide you with as many as 80 hours of gameplay thanks to how it cleverly employs procedurally generated content, permadeath and not forcing you to start the whole game over when your team dies. It is a stressful game and not for the faint of heart, but it features an easier mode for beginners. I found this to be one of the strongest indie games which I have played on my Switch, and it's score will reflect that. I'm giving it a 9.5/10. This game is fantastic and is worth playing for anyone willing to attempt to explore the darkest dungeon.

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100%
Jun 24, 2019

An estate in ruins, eldritch horrors, and eagerly suicidal heroes. Darkest Dungeon know its audience, and they’re the best kind of masochists.

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10 / 10.0
Sep 28, 2016

Some people will have problems with Darkest Dungeon. It can (at times) be excruciatingly hard, to the point where you might consider quitting due to a frustrating experience. However, if you stick with it you will find an immensely hard, but still fair and rewarding experience unlike anything that has been released before it. All RPG fans and lovers of difficult games should definitely give Darkest Dungeon a look on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita if they haven't already. This game is not for everyone, but those who can handle the difficulty will love this game immensely.

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Unscored
Oct 12, 2016

Darkest Dungeon ain’t for everyone. It’s complex, difficult, and appeals to a specific niche of horror fandom.

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Unscored
Feb 2, 2016

Darkest Dungeon is a huge asshole of a game—in a good way. It's punishingly hard, and progress is made in small increments.

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Unscored
Feb 29, 2016

Darkest Dungeon is an easy game to recommend to the right gamer. It require patience, persistence and constant attention to detail. For all of the hours I have poured into the game, I'm still not even sure if I'm playing it right, but I think that's the point. We usually expect to (at some point) master the games that we play, but I'm not sure Darkest Dungeon is ever meant to be. Regardless, I can safely say that Darkest Dungeon is one of the best games to release in 2016 and is a testament to masterful game design and art direction. I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks they are up to the challenge.

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Unscored
Jan 26, 2016
► WTF Is... - Darkest Dungeon ? video thumbnail
Unscored
Jan 25, 2016

You'll cry. And cry and cry and cry. But I think you'll love it.

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Unscored
Jan 26, 2016

Being a hero has consequences, and Darkest Dungeon lays them bare.

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Recommended
Jan 25, 2016

Punishing and beautifully crafted, Darkest Dungeon is cruelty at its classiest.

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Essential
Mar 9, 2018

Darkest Dungeon is a beautifully atmospheric side-on animated hack and slash, dungeon crawler that lets you assemble a party of four stalwart heroes. You begin your journey in a Hamlet that you can eventually restore and build-up to accommodate new buildings and new features to allow you to survive that much longer. Here you'll recruit your heroes from a roster in the Stage Coach, which initially starts out pretty thin with only a few members and low-rank heroes to choose from.

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