Darkest Dungeon has raised the bar for games trying to adhere to an aesthetic, and basically put it into the stratosphere for any developers shooting for the Lovecraftian atmosphere. Aside from that, it's also a terrific game and one of the best I played all year.

The reputation precedes it, and yes, Darkest Dungeon is difficult. It's tough in a way that savagely punishes mistakes, and rewards careful planning paired with diverse strategies; you cannot come to rely heavily on any single thing in this game, lest you paint yourself into a bloody corner. Only through familiarity with the enemy, your character classes and the environments will you achieve victory, and even then it can occasionally be snatched away by cruel luck. All you can do is mitigate the losses, keep plugging onward and enjoy the satisfying victories on the road.

This game is out to kill you without mercy, but it very rarely feels unfair, and the balance between risk and grind is reasonably well done. It does take some investment though, and you can expect to put in over 50 hours even on the easiest difficulty, which removes some of the grind in the mid-late game. Darkest Dungeon encourages building your estate and laying the groundwork for arrivals to come - becoming overly attached to characters will likely hasten your doom, and you'll be needing fresh bodies to take up the mantle of the fallen and press on to uncover the secrets of the dungeons. Bolstering your estate takes time and materials, which are gathered by venturing forth with your party, who then utilise the facilities upon returning - this is quite a cyclical routine, all devoted to building your group of fools toward being ready to tackle the brutal bossess to come.

Honestly, the gameplay elements are too numerous to do justice in a single review, but the battle system is the meat and potatoes of the game. The character classes are all balanced well and have their unique strengths, with party composition being absolutely key depending on the environment. For example, skeletons in the Ruins don't bleed, but suffer heavily from blight, so the Plague Doctor class will enjoy experimenting on them. Take that same medical professional into the Weald, however, and you'll discover how grim blight resistance can be. Multiply this up across four characters, add in stress mechanics, camping skills, inventory management, and the darkness mechanic - there's plenty to consider. Enemies will be ruthless right from the start, and learning their weaknesses and tendencies assists massively in staying alive. Knowing when to cut your losses and retreat, mitigating stress, skill loadouts - there's just so much to analyse. If you're not into preparation, then you're in for a rough ride.

Although the game is extremely fun, the strongest suit it has is surely the creepy and visceral atmosphere that is presented. Everything is grim, bleak, broken-down; the artwork and sound design do a superb job of capturing the hopelessness of your situation, and the horror of the unknown...and unknowable. From the dulcet, regretful tones of the Ancestor to the crunching blow of a Hellion's spear, it all drags you into the world and forces you to witness. Of particular note is the Ancestor - he may ham it up at times, but this is one of the shining examples of how a narrator can enhance a game. The music amping up and becoming distorted with strings and shrieks as darkness closes in is a nice touch, and even something as small as opening a chest is satisfying thanks to the sound design. The classes all look suitably excellent, too.

I haven't spoken much about how the game actually plays on a minute-by-minute basis, because I genuinely believe that you need to experience it to understand, either visually or by playing it. After Legend of Grimrock, it's the only game I refused to play in daylight, such is the strength of tone. Welded to a fantastic turn-based tactical game, a virulent modding scene and ongoing updates, and Darkest Dungeon promises many hours of fun for those who stick their toe in and find the temperature pleasing. Just don't look down.