Into The Darkest Dungeon
If there’s one thing I love about indie games.. It’s the innovation it takes to create a truly captivating story.
A child wandering through an unfamiliar world, gripped by the reality of how their surroundings are affected by their choices.
An island lost to the Devil’s corruption, liberated by the kindness of youth.
A lone warrior searching for their birthright, chasing a lineage they don’t fully understand.
A good game always grips you with a story that you can fixate on for years to come. And in my opinion, one that hits you out of nowhere with its conclusion.
Today, we’re gonna talk about the best existential horror game I have ever played in my life. Today, we enter… the Darkest Dungeon.
Spoilers ahead.
Darkest Dungeon is an RPG Dungeon Crawler by Red Hook studios. In it, you play as The Heir- a descendant of a wealthy aristocratic family whose honor and ingenuity is being questioned because of the acts of your grandfather, The Ancestor. Nicknamed “Wayne” by fans of the game because of his voice actor, Wayne June, the Ancestor is both the narrator and driving force of the story.
Wayne is a hungry man. Hungry for power, hungry for knowledge, and hungry for debaucherous hedonism, he chases his desires with little regard for consequence. The man is famous for his orgies as much as for dabbling in the occult.
This, however, has finally caught up to him- and you.
The Hamlet- Your hometown and the Ancestor’s place of residence- is overrun with beasts, disease, and hauntings. He sends you a message, begging for your help. And you, a loyal member of the family, eagerly come to repair not only the Hamlet, but your family’s good name and reputation.
Anyone who knows me will understand exactly why this story would appeal to me. I LOVE horror as a genre, and the “Do not summon what you cannot put back” story is a classic of the genre. How many horror movies can you name with a summoning ritual gone wrong as the central catalyst of the story?
Exactly my point. It’s a genre staple, fundamental to horror and its expansion into the mainstream.
But this game does things a bit differently. They make you clean up someone else’s mess instead of anything you caused. You’re the solution this time- not the problem.
Upon your arrival to the hamlet, you begin hiring mercenaries to assist in clearing the town of beasts and monsters. Jesters, Barbarians, Plague Doctors, Occultists, Highwaymen, Graverobbers, and other rough and tumble folks from lands all over arrive to earn their paycheck.
As you guide your mercenaries through combat and mazes, you unlock story tidbits about the Ancestor and his hedonistic lifestyle. You also reclaim the wealth of your family and invest it in repairing the Hamlet.
At the end of each mission, your crew returns to the Hamlet to de-stress. Whether they do that by going to the tavern, the Brothel, or the church, everyone has somewhere to go to unwind and recover.
The gameplay cycle is endlessly fun, especially with two new DLCs released for the game after the initial launch providing new enemies, areas, and lore!
The Crimson Court DLC reveals the Ancestor’s love of orgies and sexual debauchery as the Heir and their teams of mercenaries explore the insectoid vampire infestation taking over the aristocracy. A stunning original take on vampirism as a metaphor for parasitic social greed on behalf of the wealthy, it adds so much more than new enemies and artifacts, but a strong commentary that I believe horror lovers will gravitate to.
The Color of Madness DLC is the only RedHook produced Darkest Dungeon content directly influenced by Lovecraft’s work, and it shows in the hefty overtones of existential dread.
Sentient crystals imbued with psychic resonances of madness infect the Hamlet’s farm country, Everyone from the farmers to the horses is infected, controlled by an otherworldly force. Though no implicit commentary is present upon first observation, the story is all that was influenced by Lovecraft. The white supremacist subtext of HP’s original work is blissfully excluded, which much of the fandom rejoiced at.
But if all this isn’t enough, boy HOWDY is there so. Much. Fan. Made. Content.
Entire new maps like the Sunward Isle, original classes and characters, cosmetic mods, new minibosses, and even fan made content expansion are EVERYWHERE in this community. Everywhere. There are even lewd mods for the pervs out there!
It’s me.
I’m pervs.
All of this, all the rambling, all the chatter is to say this. Darkest Dungeon is a deeply innovative game with a lot to share and some wonderful gameplay sure to push you to the limit. And with the sequel out, there’s going to be so, SO much more to explore.
Off to the Hamlet you go then!!
Torment awaits.
