Dark Quest: A Fun Adventure with a Slow Start – Weekly Indie Spotlight

Dark Quest is a dungeon crawler RPG that only costs $4.99, so it’s bound to have some people impulse-buying it, especially when it’s on sale. However, is it worth those few dollars, or will it be another one of those games you add to your Steam library, play for a few minutes, and then stash away forever? Since a remastered version was just released, let’s take a look at Dark Quest.

Dark Quest Sends You Through Strategic Dungeons

Developed by Brain Seal Ltd, Dark Quest has a simple plot. An evil sorcerer is unleashing havoc on the land from his base in a complex series of underground dungeons. You play a party of three heroes – a dwarf, a wizard, and a barbarian – who descend into the dungeons to rid them of the monsters and ultimately defeat the sorcerer.  

The gameplay is grid-based, with each fighter moving one at a time. As in other grid-based RPGs like Fire Emblem, each character can only move a certain number of steps per turn. This means you have to plan out characters’ moves during battles, deciding when to attack and when to retreat. However, as I said when I wrote my first impressions of the game, this can also be a pain when you just want to get everyone through a door.

In addition, your characters don’t gain experience or level up. You have to buy equipment, spells, and items to make your characters stronger. How do you do this? With gold, of course. How do you get gold? By looting dungeons. You can keep all the gold you loot after a dungeon run, even if your whole party dies. However, it can still take a while to stock up on the items and spells you need, which can be annoying. I hope you like playing through the same dungeons multiple times.

Does the Game Get Better After Its Slow Start?

In my article where I shared my first impressions of the game, I talked about how it can be frustrating to have to play the same dungeons repeatedly in order to gain enough money to buy the necessary items. Well, since then, I’ve beaten the first regular dungeon and looted enough gold to buy some items and spells. Yes, the game does get easier after you’ve obtained the necessary items.

In addition, it can be fun to explore the dungeons. As you gain more gold, the game does start to capture that “just one more time” addictive feel that arcade games and dungeon crawlers are known for. However, it’s not nearly as addictive as some of the best games in those two genres, and it can get quite frustrating when you die for the tenth time, and you still don’t have quite enough gold to buy something else.

There are also random death traps in the dungeons, along with random events where you might either gain or lose a health point. Given that your health is precious, these can either help you greatly or give you another reason to give up and go play something else. If you’re the kind of gamer who’s easily frustrated, this game might not be for you. 

Despite Flaws, Dark Quest is Still Worth Playing

Dark Quest is not a game for everyone. While I did have more fun as I kept playing, it still won’t rank among my favorite indie games. Still, players who enjoy continuously romping through dungeons and don’t mind repeating the same dungeons in order to improve their characters’ chances will get enjoyment out of this game. However, I’d recommend playing Dark Quest 4 over this game, since it delivers a more polished experience. Dark Quest can be purchased on Steam for $4.99.