Is Darkest Dungeon Hard?
Darkest Dungeon is a series of roguelike RPG video games, well-known for their characteristic atmosphere, story elements, and replayability. The first Darkest Dungeon video game, Darkest Dungeon (2016), was developed and published by Red Hook Studios. Darkest Dungeon has been praised for its innovative gameplay, as well as its characteristical narrator feature. Considering that Darkest Dungeon video games are quite unique, and that these video games present different game mechanics from most of the other RPG video games, players may wonder whether Darkest Dungeon is hard or difficult.
Darkest Dungeon is hard and difficult, and will challenge most players, being harder than most story-driven RPG video games. However, Darkest Dungeon offers adequate tutorials and also different difficulty levels, including an easier one.
Why Is Darkest Dungeon Difficult and Hard?
Darkest Dungeon is a roguelike video game, featuring many characteristics of the Berlin interpretation of roguelikes. In this sense, Darkest Dungeon is not a traditional RPG video game such as Mass Effect (2007), The Witcher (2007) or Dragon Age: Origins (2007). Instead, it is a roguelike RPG video game. As such, Darkest Dungeon is a video game in which not only there is a storyline to be followed, but there are also mechanics and game systems which must be understood and mastered by the player in order to succeed.
What makes Darkest Dungeon a hard video game is the variety of gameplay systems which must be mastered, as well as how some of these systems may quickly increase the difficulty of gameplay during an expedition. Moreover, the permadeath feature is an additional challenge in the long-term of a campaign.
The gameplay systems of Darkest Dungeon themselves may be a challenge to players who are not used to playing complex video games or strategy video games. Indeed, Darkest Dungeon is not only a roguelike RPG video game, as it also features important strategy elements, present in both the Hamlet management as well as during expeditions, during which the player must manage several aspects such as light, stress and hunger, at the same time. This is unlike traditional story-driven RPG video games such as Mass Effect (2007), The Witcher (2007) or Dragon Age: Origins (2007), and may present a challenge to players until these systems are understood and mastered. In summary:
- There is a variety of gameplay systems to understand and master (e.g. The Hamlet, Light, Stress, Camp)
- Difficulty may rise quite quickly during an expedition due to the Light system
- Possibility of losing well-developed characters during expeditions
Is Darkest Dungeon Harder Than Other Video Games?
Due to the difficulty and challenges present in Darkest Dungeon video games, as well as the reputation of Darkest Dungeon as an unforgiving video game, players may wonder how does the difficulty of Darkest Dungeon compare to other video games, and whether Darkest Dungeon is harder than other video games.
Darkest Dungeon is harder and more difficult than most story-driven RPG video games, but its difficulty is standard if compared to other traditional roguelike video games. If compared to most other strategy video games, Darkest Dungeon could also be considered harder and more difficult.
If compared to story-driven RPG video games, such as Mass Effect (2007), The Witcher (2007) or Dragon Age: Origins (2007), Darkest Dungeon would be considered harder and more difficult by most players. In classic story-driven RPG video games, there are not as many gameplay systems to understand and master. Moreover, in these video games, the most important systems are using skills, using healing items, fighting and defeating enemies, leveling up and completing quests. In most story-driven RPGs, there is a considerable similarity between these systems, as they are characteristical of the RPG video game genre, and as such, players who have had previous experience with story-driven RPGs generally fare well even in their first experiences with a new story-driven RPG. In the case of Darkest Dungeon, while these classic RPG video game systems are also present, there are also many other systems unique to Darkest Dungeon, such as the Light system, the Stress system, afflictions, hunger, Hamlet management, diseases, as well as other systems. In this sense, while players who have played story-driven RPG video games before will encounter some familiar systems, there will also be new gameplay systems to be learned.
Traditional roguelike video games are well-known to challenge players, and to punish the players who have not yet learned and mastered their gameplay systems. Moreover, many traditional roguelike video game fans cite the challenge of learning these video games as an important part of the experience of enjoying these titles. Darkest Dungeon features very adequate tutorial systems, and also in-game explanations which can be accessed by the player for further information on how the different gameplay systems work. In this sense, Darkest Dungeon is not a complete mystery, but rather a video game which offers players the tools to learn and master its gameplay systems. Moreover, in this video game, practice is of great importance for improving the overall strategy during a campaign playthrough, especially for new players. Darkest Dungeon is a video game in which mistakes are punished, but knowledge, experience and planning are rewarded.
Does Darkest Dungeon Get Easier?
As Darkest Dungeon video games are famed for their challenges, and also considering that, as previously mentioned in this article, Darkest Dungeon video games are generally harder and more difficult than most story-driven RPG video games, players may wonder if whether at some point during gameplay Darkest Dungeon gets easier and when does Darkest Dungeon get easier during the playthrough.
Darkest Dungeon does not get easier on its own. Instead, the difficulty of the campaign increases over time. The game will become easier to those who learn and master its gameplay systems, but the enemies presented in the campaign gradually become tougher and challenges become more frequent.
The playthrough of a campaign of Darkest Dungeon may take several hours to be completed. While the Radiant game mode features a shorter version of the main campaign, the Darkest game mode, which is the traditional Darkest Dungeon experience, may take many hours to be completed. During the course of the playthrough, the player will complete expeditions with the party of heroes, advancing and progressing in the main dungeon. After expiditons are completed, the level of difficulty of the dungeon locations increase, and the enemies presented, as well as other challenges, become tougher and more frequent. In this sense, the campaign increases in difficulty over time, instead of decreasing. At the same time, as players become more experienced and knowledgeable with the gameplay systems, they will be able to make better decisions when faced with the different challenges of this video game.
Is There a Way to Make Darkest Dungeon Easier?
Considering that Darkest Dungeon may be a challenging experience to many players, it is important to also know the different ways of making the gameplay easier, especially for new players and beginners. While there are ways to have an easier experience in Darkest Dungeon, this video game will still be a hard and challenging video game.
In order to make the gameplay of Darkest Dungeon easier, the selected campaign difficulty should be Radiant, and players should take some time to read the in-game explanations and learn about most of the gameplay systems. Moreover, players should also remember that this video game is not only a roguelike RPG, but also a strategy game, requiring regular planning and management.
While Darkest Dungeon features prominent RPG features, such as protagonists, a storyline, deep lore, character progression, as well as other RPG elements, this video game also features extensive strategy gameplay systems. In the Hamlet, players must decide which buildings should be built or upgraded first, which heroes should be recruited, upgraded and trained, and which afflictions should be cured. Moreover, during expeditions, players must manage several systems, such as light, stress and hunger. There are various ways to manage and counter the challenges presented during gameplay, such as the skills of heroes, items, and camping skills. All of these systems interact with each other, and will require that the player understands and masters these systems in order to succeed, as a complete campaign playthrough of Darkest Dungeon may take several hours.