You will always start with a full party of more traditional heroes, and will quickly expand your team for additional compositions.

At the heart of most of the gameplay mechanics is a system of randomness, meant to simulate the chaos and the uncertainty of the world.Īfter a couple brief introductory levels, you are free to assemble your own assortment of would-be heroes. The goal of the game is to grow a team of heroes strong enough to traverse where the source of all the evil lies: the Darkest Dungeon. There is also a small town-management portion of the game, which exists as the permanence of the player's progress. The themes of hostility and madness are persistent in the story, in every gameplay mechanic, and in the various settings your heroes will drudge through. More details about the areas and bosses are provided as you progress through the game, but in terms of story, this is the extent of it.ĭarkest Dungeon, in essence, is a dungeon-crawling, roleplaying game that aims to be combination unpredictable and unforgiving towards the player. Unable to cope with what he has done, the ancestor ends his life, shortly after sending the letter. The ancenstor states that his quest for knowledge led him to accidentally unleash a great evil, and begs you to correct his mistakes. Your family's ancient estate and nearby lands have fallen victim to a horrible curse, and are being consumed by an ever-growing darkness. Our story begins when you (the player) receive a letter from your ancestor, urging you to defend your heritage. These games typically focus on a handful of the many themes presented in Lovecratian stories, but Darkest Dungeon takes the plunge and attempts to incorporate dozens of genre elements into a single gameplay experience. In the world of videogames, we have seen the rise of a handful of titles that deliver a faithful homage to the genre, such as Bloodborne, Amnesia: the Dark Descent, and Eternal Darkness. While traditional horror tends to promote fear and quick scares, Lovecraftian horror uses nuances in storytelling and world-building to convey a lingering and more powerful emotion: dread.

Lovecraftian horror is a genre that requires a deep understanding and delicate presentation to accomplish.

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