KickStarter Darkest Dungeon Pre-Release Thread

[4too]

Half Full, Half Empty

… Project Eternity (this was probably a mistake) …

If our glasses of super saturated Kool-Ade are half empty, …

our RPG short bus has been hijacked by a philosophical zealot and our best hope is being able to walk away with out the customary emotional baggage.

If our glasses of sugar saturated Kool-Ade are half full, …

we jettison the tropes of childhood and march, 'heads high', into a "Brave New" Tomorrow Land of corporate sponsored social engineering!!1!





Darkest Dungeon stepped into the half shadow, bold black graphic out line and Wayne June narration, … had me at 'hello'.


Agree that enthusiasm for just any KS pitch has declined.
Spare time dwindles, why support physical boxes that will add to the clutter. Large downloads cut into game time. Detachment a worthy sentiment to cultivate.



4too

 

[bozia2012]

Status update: Still jizzing after watching the PAX demo.

 

[mindreader]

I would not have backed this on KS in a million years, but I'm glad enough other people did.

What a great looking little game. Does anyone know how long a playthrough is supposed to be? It looks like maybe FTL style couple hours long games?

 

[Zombra]

What a great looking little game. Does anyone know how long a playthrough is supposed to be? It looks like maybe FTL style couple hours long games?

Well, you're supposed to build up multiple parties and tackle multiple dungeons. I'd guess that each dungeon jaunt will be at least an hour, and there are 6 or 8 different dungeon environments we know of, which probably get reused. I'm going to throw a dart and say 15 hours?

 

[Renegen]

1 hour per dungeon? no way. Maybe 30 minutes.

 

[Matalarata]

1 hour per dungeon? no way. Maybe 30 minutes.

Mmmh 30 min seems a bit short... I don't think you can squeeze enough variety in each one to justify the number of dungeons... I'll settle on 40-50 min each, probably tending to 30 once you have experience.
That would make a total playtrough about 10h lenght, wich sounds good to me.

Alas, speculations...

 

[bozia2012]

I bet there will be a lot of much shorter and very dramatic playthroughs...

 

[Behelit]

Fresh from the presses

 

[V_K]

If this is representative of the dungeons size in the final game, that rather sucks.
Otherwise looks interesting, if a bit too combat-heavy.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Looks really cool. I like the battle music too. Actually had me on edge towards the end, hehe!

I think "dodging" stuff like a paladin's righteous chanting is silly, tho. How can you dodge voice?

 

[Jaesun]

This is.... interesting. And it is turn based. The side-scrolling is odd....... I like the combat, and the music.

 

[bozia2012]

How can you dodge voice?

You know how sound and hearing works, right?

 

[Waterd]

A lot of the concepts seems really awesome, Like how you can choose how to spend your actions resting, sadly the combat seems extremly shallow

 

[Applypoison]

I like this a lot, even if the combat system is clearly not the meat of the game.

Strange 'paper mario' vibe from the dungeon crawling, fortunately the art is very polished and consistent with a more mature theme.

 

[Zombra]

I think "dodging" stuff like a paladin's righteous chanting is silly, tho. How can you dodge voice?

Maybe instead of flying text that says Dodge! for avoiding Zealous Accusation, it should say Refusal on Basic Philosophical Grounds to Recognize Relevance of Stated Charges!

 

[Matalarata]

If this is representative of the dungeons size in the final game, that rather sucks.

Well, it's event based so complex map exploration isn't a necessity... What I ask myself is if there's enough encounter variety (both in and out of combat) to fuel the desire to go on after a few games...

As out of combat goes (combat appears solid to me...) we've seen some encounters already:
You have obstacles wich can be crossed without consumables, but at a cost. That's nice and puts enphasys on preparation but not so much if each obstacle is mechanically the same: if another obstacle of that kind is in game (eg pit+rope or pit+plank) I hope the actual effect of the hazard is different and not just "lose x% if unprepared/unwilling to use consumable"

If I understand correctly the other kind of exploration event is some kind of loot/character modifier wich carries a n% of risk, said number can be lowered (to 0% ?) using consumables, thus ensuring a safer approach

Now, admitedly I started following this very promising title (why so few turn based games are horror themed? Why??? I think it works so well) but I think is in the nature of these interaction that you'll find your sense of exploration. Are there other broad event categories I missed? Those already allow for some variety, but the more the merrier...
I hope they took their time to add variety both in the same and in between, different dungeons.

 

[V_K]

If this is representative of the dungeons size in the final game, that rather sucks.

Well, it's event based so complex map exploration isn't a necessity...

Yeah, I got that, but it's still kinda half-assed. The way it plays it'd be better off without any map stuff at all, just a continuous side-scrolling level.
Also, (supposedly generic) corridors feel much more content-rich and unique that the (supposedly setpiece) rooms. That's just plain wrong.

 

[Matalarata]

Yeah, I got that, but it's still kinda half-assed. The way it plays it'd be better off without any map stuff at all, just a continuous side-scrolling level.

Nope. Detours, even 2 corridors long, can have a big impact on a single level... Think FTL! Having a map is the simplest solution imho

Also, (supposedly generic) corridors feel much more content-rich and unique that the (supposedly setpiece) rooms. That's just plain wrong.

With this I concour, I hope there's some more interactivity in big rooms than "LOL, suddenly, ENCOUNTER" + chest...

 

[Zombra]

I imagine that the later dungeons will be more convoluted and interesting. Instead of two paths to the obvious endpoint, you may have to circle around to find what you're looking for, which would definitely add to the "stressful" feeling of the whole thing.

Additional: that video did make the gameplay look really fun to me. Looking forward more than ever.

 

[bozia2012]

Maybe instead of flying text that says Dodge! for avoiding Zealous Accusation, it should say Refusal on Basic Philosophical Grounds to Recognize Relevance of Stated Charges!

Yes it's silly - simple "resist" would suffice. Still, it is theoretically possible to dodge sound.

 

[V_K]

Yeah, I got that, but it's still kinda half-assed. The way it plays it'd be better off without any map stuff at all, just a continuous side-scrolling level.

Nope. Detours, even 2 corridors long, can have a big impact on a single level... Think FTL! Having a map is the simplest solution imho

Also, (supposedly generic) corridors feel much more content-rich and unique that the (supposedly setpiece) rooms. That's just plain wrong.

With this I concour, I hope there's some more interactivity in big rooms than "LOL, suddenly, ENCOUNTER" + chest...

IMO, that's kinda two sides of the same problem. If they moved most content from corridors to rooms, that'd require the dungeon to have more rooms and thus a more complex map, which I think would work better on the whole.

 

[Jack Dandy]

I saw some people comparing the corridor-focus of the game to stuff like Space Hulk.
I'd agree with it, but they didn't take into account that you can't really split your team, cover flanks, shit like that.

So from what I'm seeing, the dungeon exploration parts might feel like a combat treadmill if the video is indicative of the final product. Go "forward", fight bad guys, repeat. See how long you can survive.

Hope they do something to make exploration feel more interesting.

 

[Zombra]

So from what I'm seeing, the dungeon exploration parts might feel like a combat treadmill if the video is indicative of the final product. Go "forward", fight bad guys, repeat. See how long you can survive. Hope they do something to make exploration feel more interesting.

I'm amazed that anyone could be disappointed by this. The game has clearly been a 1D sidescroller since the top of the Kickstarter. I'm just impressed that they have branching paths at all.

 

[Ulminati]

40 minutes of gameplay

 

[Shaewaroz]

I just love the atmosphere of this game - very reminiscent of Diablo & Lovecraft.

Here's a short story by Stephen King that gives similar vibes:





Hopefully someone found it entertaining.