Kickstarter: Darkest Dungeon by Red Hook Studios
Uncompromising, unforgiving, and unconventional, we present a fresh take on the dungeon crawler that elevates the importance of sound tactics and a character's mental state over their gear.
You will recruit, train, and lead a team of flawed heroes through twisted forests, forgotten warrens, ruined crypts and beyond. You'll battle not only unimaginable foes, but stress, famine, disease, and the ever-encroaching dark. Uncover strange mysteries, and pit the heroes against an array of fearsome monsters with an innovative strategic turn-based combat system.
You will have to tend to characters’ spirits as much as you do to their Hit Points. But in these grim situations, you'll find opportunities for true heroism!
Darkest Dungeon is not a game where every hero wins the day with shiny armor and a smile. It is a game about hard trade-offs, nearly certain demise, and heroic reversals.
Do you have what it takes to survive in the forgotten corners of the Darkest Dungeon?
Website: Darkest Dungeon
Darkest Dungeon - Terror and Madness Trailer (OFFICIAL)
Darkest Dungeon - House of Ruin Trailer (OFFICIAL)
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Looks like a roguelike-like 2d-dungeon-crawler akin to Oregon Trail or FTL (another roguelike-like successful kickstarter). Reminds me of Torchbearer too (RPG). Worth a look and already funded. The Trailers are rollicking fun too.
Interesting game. Looks they mixed in more Call of Cthulu RPG elements into you standard fantasy/medieval dungeon game.
Just pipped >200k$.
They're done an artwork thing tonight via twitch Update #7
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This game continues to grow interesting in development. More classes and details emerge. While definitely has that Call of Cthulu element, I am also noticing that it looks like it ventures into D&D 1st Editions' tendency for brutal and unexpected encounters that can get a stupid party killed.
Someone has started a fansite with news updates and forum discussion: Darker Dungeon. They just did a livestream recording of gameplay demo this week.
So in case anyone is interested, the game was released on Steam this past week in an early access setup.
Been playing it, and have to say it has been pretty fun. First off, for an early release game, it is surprisingly complete and no major bugs so far. As far as I can see, it's mostly about more features, dungeons and a full story mode being added down the line.
Visually, the style is pretty cool. Distinct look of motion art that swings between comic-book and medieval woodcut. There's some Lovecraftian style in there as well. The effects are well done and all looks fairly polished. Add in the incredibly creepy narrator and voice-overs and it looks like a complete package. If there's a flaw, it's that the maps are generally the same and vary little in look.
As for gameplay, there's elements of fantasy RPG mixed with in with Call of Cthulu sanity rules and monster features. There's a rogue-like style in terms of setup right now: Character deaths and abilities can be harsh; items are random and can be helpful/harmful. The setup - recovering a lord's manor house and defeating the monstrous leaders - can sound epic, but the game right now is wide open without that kind of ending. But even so, this is a game that implies - no matter how important your characters - no one is safe or invulnerable to dying or being incapacitated, etc.
Overall, at $20, think it's worth it. What you'll get is good, but the game is still incomplete - especially if you are hoping for a grander story mode feature.
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I love this game. It creates the kind of random stories that are just great.
Especially when a hero passes a resolve test and it goes from 'Oh crap!' to 'Hell yeah!'
I had a Crusader hit 100 stress and his resolve got tested, he started ranting about how 'He could hear heaven calling him' or something similar and fought with reckless suicidal abandon that resulted in a bad fight turning into a victory.
Only issue I have is that I find myself increasingly in a situation where all of my adventurers are super stressed out and I have no cash to heal them /and/ equip them, which results in a spiral of failing missions as they either go bonkers or have to withdraw due to lack of resources (increasing stress).
I definitely have had that situation happen. It's a game that definitely puts you in the position of "well this whole session has gone to crap" - do I restart or gamble it will get better?
That can be frustrating and I have definitely found myself doing the former and restarting with a better plan in place (I think).
One of the notions I like in terms of the game setting (intentional or not) is the idea of a "party" expedition - where you have collection of "regular joes" exploring, fighting etc. to battle this evil. This as opposed to the "band of heroes" notion in a quest-like adventure that makes them special.
Remember, these characters are a resource and they're expendable.
Upgrade your stagecoach immediately, don't buy any torches and throw neebies at level 1 expeditions until you make enough money to actually support a stable team. This is called a "dark run". You find more treasure when the torch goes out.
You can always dismiss heroes with too many negative quirks or broken resolve instead of sending them to the abbey or tavern. Learn to cut your losses and you'll do just fine.
I've been playing this game a great deal. I am still scraping by because I end up spending all my loot on almost every expedition. It is thrilling when I've built the proper party to wipe the floor with the baddies. If I messed up somehow and a mission could fail I'm taught and humbled. The options are varied enough for a challenge, but not onerous. I hope the D&D group I play with has discovered this game.
Man my healer is always stressing out. Note to self, give here a stress-resist trinky-dink. I still haven't figured out scouting yet either. I haven't found a scout percent, so I just try and include a rogue-y character and hope for the best. Getting surprised stinks!
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Man my healer is always stressing out. Note to self, give here a stress-resist trinky-dink. I still haven't figured out scouting yet either.
Vestals do seem to be more prone to "crises of faith," aren't they? Having a plague doctor or jester seem to help with that.
What I would look for is characters with the "X Explorer" trait in their list. X would be the type of terrain - weald, dungeon, ruins, etc. - this should help with the scouting element.|
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Man my healer is always stressing out. Note to self, give here a stress-resist trinky-dink. I still haven't figured out scouting yet either.Vestals do seem to be more prone to "crises of faith," aren't they? Having a plague doctor or jester seem to help with that.
What I would look for is characters with the "X Explorer" trait in their list. X would be the type of terrain - weald, dungeon, ruins, etc. - this should help with the scouting element.
Don't quote me on this, but I think certain classes have higher stress resistances or lower ones.
I think Jesters and Lepers are actually on the top end of the stress resistance, with Occultists and Vestals at the bottom. But this is based on anecdotal evidence, nothing concrete.
Scouting's a function of the scouting skill and light. We bright runners get a lot of scouting.
I admit that I wish I'd make more cash, I tend to expend about as much as I earn on every engagement. Course I also buy 2-3 shovels, 12 torches, 16 food, 2-3 bandages, a sovereign key (these pay for themselves) and some anti-blight stuff. On the upside, my guys tend to walk out of their dungeons whole and sane, so I tend to not have to blow much on stress relief.
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Yarr, started playing again after a break. Lost both of my hellions today. I enjoy the challenge! It carries well into the jade regent adventure path, where there is a large group with a common mission.
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new patch is out. No torch runs are harder.
Two new classes, three new bosses.
Sharpen your pistols and prepare your b%**@#$!s.
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...I lost my level 5 Plague Doctor to heart attack, that's new
Basically if your Stress laps itself, the adventurer just drops dead on the spot
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...I lost my level 5 Plague Doctor to heart attack, that's new
Basically if your Stress laps itself, the adventurer just drops dead on the spot
Sounds like mechanics designed to avoid running with over stressed guys or using them as stress tanks. Sort of the 'he's already loopy, who cares about more stress.'
Its probably equally dangerous to guys who aspire as oppose to break.
I admit, its kind of disheartening though that the devs keep trying to close every loophole the players find. If its just us standing raw before the RNG, its not going to be as fun.
Prophet needs a fairly mobile group. Each round he picks 1 or 2 guys and they take a big hit when the next round starts so you want to shuffle people to control who takes the hit. Unfortunately he also seems to have a fair bit of stun moves so, not always going to be able to move everyone.
Haven't tried the other two new ones yet
Couple of things since the new update I have noticed:
The man-at-arms is pretty boss if you keep him up - good group buff and debuff, and decent fighter. So far, the class has been good. Arbalest seem weak at first; very hit and miss. I find once you get them leveled up some, they are definitely improving in terms of sniper shot and debuff effects.
Also, has this been the case for anyone else, I haven't been able to recruit a single bounty hunter in about three games. He just doesn't show up at all for me. Did I miss something about it in the patch notes?
I have found that the severity curve seems a bit stiffer at times as well, or maybe I just have had some bad runs of luck.
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Couple of things since the new update I have noticed:
The man-at-arms is pretty boss if you keep him up - good group buff and debuff, and decent fighter. So far, the class has been good. Arbalest seem weak at first; very hit and miss. I find once you get them leveled up some, they are definitely improving in terms of sniper shot and debuff effects.
Also, has this been the case for anyone else, I haven't been able to recruit a single bounty hunter in about three games. He just doesn't show up at all for me. Did I miss something about it in the patch notes?I have found that the severity curve seems a bit stiffer at times as well, or maybe I just have had some bad runs of luck.
Started a new game, discovered that stress seems to accrue a lot faster, and for some reason, the interface hanging when its about to be an enemy's turn feels...odd.
Also, yeah, the difficulty seems upped. Dismas and Reynauld barely made it through the introduction, whereas usually I stomp through that.
I think damage and stress was upped though because it seems like dodging is more effective. You actually occasionally get missed by those jerks with the goblets.
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Not much to add, having not played on the new patch yet, but from a design perspective I love this game to bits. Easily one of the coolest looking games I've played in years.
The Cannon needs good ranged attackers. You need to kill that guy who lights the fuse Fast or the damn Gun will just wreck your whole group. The Pile of Flesh is tricky. Only one of the four spots takes damage and it moves around each round. Someone with High Speed and a 3 rank AOE will help you find it quick, after that you just need to have people who can hit any rank