Whilst I haven’t played the first two iterations of the Dark Quest series, I can tell you that whilst it looks the same in trailers, and the artwork and characters are familiar, this is a different beast to Dark Quest 3, moving away from random encounters and luck-based sections, and more towards a style of gameplay that feels more akin to the quest-based Hero Quest board game that Dark Quest gets some of its inspiration from.
Whilst this does freshen things up, it also feels oddly stripped back, as the mechanics now feel quite bare, and I found myself wishing for a little more depth and camera control, especially in areas where parts of the environment were a mystery to me because of the locked view.
With thirty quests ahead of you, the game begins with a short tutorial mission that lays out the controls – which are very simple. You control your characters indirectly through the cursor, and each stage effectively boils down to approaching the enemies, traps and treasures in turn-based fashion – the order in which all characters on-screen will act is set each round, so you can plan your strategy out a little – and taking them out.
With thirty quests ahead of you, the game begins with a short tutorial mission that lays out the controls – which are very simple. You control your characters indirectly through the cursor, and each stage effectively boils down to approaching the enemies, traps and treasures in turn-based fashion – the order in which all characters on-screen will act is set each round, so you can plan your strategy out a little – and taking them out.
You can unlock abilities, powers, equipment and items from the in-game shop with your hard-earned spoils, and a lot of these can be switched between characters to improve your chances. There are ten characters in total, and most play differently, with the ranged characters having a low defence, and the melee-centric folks preferring to dive in and give everyone a proper kicking.
As this is a digital board game with its inspirations being decades old, it’s a very accessible and simple affair, making it perfect for newcomers to the genre, or those that miss the days when board game manuals weren’t as thick as the Haynes Manual for the Rover 800 series, and you spent more time playing the game than flicking endlessly through dense textbooks desperately trying to work out what to do next as all of your friends sit around drinking and trying to not fall asleep. I also liked the little touches such as failing a quest weakening the health of those characters for a round, whilst successful completion boosts the health of the characters, meaning that you want to flick around the possible combinations of your three-man team dependent on the task before you.
The music is sort of quietly heroic, and wisely trundles on in the background, meaning that it boosts the atmosphere of the game without feeling too repetitive or overbearing, it’s very tastefully placed in terms of how it sits in the game.
SUMMARY
SUMMARY
After playing Dark Quest 3, it did take me a few minutes to adjust to the slightly different approach that this sequel takes, but the multiplayer and custom dungeon builder included means that those that click with this game will have a lot of bang for their buck, and the fact that its such a classic interpretation means that you can get rolling within a minute or two, what are you waiting for?
Get out there and defeat the Dark Wizard!
8/10
🆒COOL🆒
(also available on PS5, Windows, Switch)
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