Darkest Dungeon Officially Released

To be honest, it feels strange to claim Darkest Dungeon has only been released today. Its long gestation in Early Access was met with a lot of positivity from the playerbase as far as I can tell, and the game has been a staple of Let’s Play videos and streaming websites for quite a while, not to mention a good number of articles and editorials on it have already been written. Still, it’s worth noting that the game has only been officially out of Early Access as of today, and that it’s available on Steam, GOG and Humble Bundle. Red Hook Studios’ title is currently 20% off, bringing its price down from $24.99/€22.99/£18.99 to $19.99/€18.39/£15.19.

Here’s the launch trailer:

The developers have also released a long post on the game’s development that includes the release notes on the Steam news section for the game. I’m going to quote a few sections that I feel encapsulate exactly what the title is about:

Darkest Dungeon began as a thought exercise.

What would it really be like to battle the horrors so commonly dispatched in the games of our childhood? What would facing down unholy abominations day in and day out do to someone? What good is a glowing Sword of Unholy Slaying +5 in the hands of a blubbering coward?

After a year of discussion over scotches and poker games, we began development full time, and Darkest Dungeon started to take shape. As we worked, we got to know the game – its personality. What it would permit, and what it wouldn’t, where it left the beaten path, and where it tended to stay close to its roots.

Darkest Dungeon grew up in that second year. It was not friendly, or welcoming; it did not owe you a victory, or suffer fools. It wasn’t fair, like the horror movies and war stories that formed its foundation. It broke game ‘˜rules’; took control away, kicked you when you were down. It smoked behind the gym with its friends and skipped class.

Underneath all that badassery, though, it challenged you to think differently about heroism, and about the cost of adventuring. It taught you that preparedness was important, but thinking on your feet when the shit hits the fan was the true test. And, of course, it reminded you that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer. For all its unyielding focus on what can go wrong in an adventure, it showed why heroism is the only antidote for failed hope.