Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness

About

Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness is a single player role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Dungeoneering Studios and was released on January 22, 2016. It received neutral reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

"Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness" is a first-person dungeon crawler set in a dark fantasy world. Players must navigate through the treacherous castle, fighting monsters, solving puzzles, and uncovering the mystery behind its fall. With permadeath and procedurally generated levels, each playthrough offers a unique challenge.

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Single-Player

Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness screenshot

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61%

Audience ScoreBased on 66 reviews

story5 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

Offers a nostalgic dungeon crawling experience reminiscent of classic RPGs, appealing to fans of the genre.
Provides a decent amount of gameplay for its low price, with several hours of exploration and combat.
The atmosphere is engaging, with a mix of suspense and exploration that can lead to enjoyable moments.

Combat mechanics are clunky and unrefined, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience.
The game suffers from repetitive environments and a lack of meaningful content, making exploration feel tedious.
Technical issues such as bugs, crashes, and poor AI detract from the overall experience, making it feel unfinished.

story
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
65%
13%
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players finding it generic and reminiscent of 'asset flips', while others appreciate its depth and intrigue, particularly through the use of books and letters to convey backstory. While the narrative requires significant reading to fully grasp, many players find the effort rewarding, enjoying the exploration and the well-written elements of the plot. However, some critiques highlight a lack of engaging dialogue and voice acting, which detracts from the overall experience.
- “The story is also pretty interesting, but requires quite a bit of reading and nosing about to piece everything together.”
- “I personally found the trade-off worthwhile, as I really liked the story and wanted to understand what happened to the guys you were sent in to find, not to mention the older notes on the people who lived there long ago.”
- “The story is well written and I think that a lot of the positive hype is because this game has potential.”
- “The story is about as generic as it gets, created in these so-called 'asset flips'.”
- “When I started the game initially, some of the story was presented upfront, but I quickly noticed that most of the story afterwards came from books or letters.”
- “Endless flat/cubic/empty/similar corridors without any plot or design.”
graphics
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
63%
16%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players describing them as dated and reminiscent of early tech demos, often plagued by lighting glitches. While some appreciate the nostalgic 90s style and find the visuals acceptable, others criticize them for being unimpressive and underperforming even on lower settings. Overall, the graphics seem to be a significant drawback for many, overshadowing the game's potential enjoyment.
- “Good graphics and soundtrack.”
- “I enjoy it and the graphics are 90's style and the gameplay is smooth.”
- “While it could have better graphics, a faster combat, and better mob AI, it still packs quite a lot of RPG adventure goodness for your gaming dollar!”
- “It feels empty; like a perpetual alpha. Even the graphics look like 'quick tech demo' graphics, and lighting glitches - when the lighting works at all - will damn-near cause a seizure.”
- “Dated graphics, yes... and the first time you swing the sword you start with, you'll likely think 'ugh!'”
- “The second I started the game and saw the intro graphics, I was worried.”
gameplay
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
50%
19%
Gameplay in Castle Torgeath is a mixed bag, with players noting extensive exploration and combat in a dungeon setting, but marred by significant issues such as crashes, bugs, and a poorly designed fog mechanic that discourages exploration. While some appreciate the immersive atmosphere and potential for improvement in future updates, many criticize the gameplay as unbalanced and inferior to older titles. Overall, the game offers several hours of content at a low price, but its current state leaves much to be desired.
- “Castle Torgeath’s core gameplay revolves around exploring a dungeon while fighting enemies and attempting to discover what happened to the group that was sent there before.”
- “Overall, I found this game was at a good price point for the gameplay and atmosphere.”
- “Players will get several hours of immersive gameplay from the title.”
- “Crashes, bugs, poor map optimization... all combine into a deplorable gameplay experience.”
- “Why would I want to play a game which has a core mechanic that actively punishes exploration?”
- “Terrible mechanic that's indicative of either clueless or malicious game design.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
20%
30%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the ambient soundtrack that enhances the atmosphere, particularly in the castle setting. However, criticisms include abrupt transitions and a lack of polish, with some describing the combat music as underwhelming and disruptive. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the game's ambiance, it could benefit from further refinement.
- “Good graphics and soundtrack.”
- “The music is surprisingly fine.”
- “It was a good idea to use such ambient music as a main soundtrack in the castle.”
- “The battle music takes the surprise out of combat, and five seconds after combat is over, it comes to an abrupt halt.”
- “The music is okay when it's not stopping suddenly.”
- “It is a great game, but could still use lots of polishing in many areas, such as the sound effects and music editing.”
atmosphere
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its dark, haunting, and immersive qualities, effectively enhancing the overall experience with a sense of gloom and despair. Many players appreciate the combination of ambient music and the eerie environment, which contributes to a creepy and unsettling vibe, although some feel that the gameplay itself does not match the atmospheric quality. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a strong point, essential to the game's appeal.
- “It helps to create a dark and haunting atmosphere that is essential for this type of game.”
- “Great atmosphere with very quiet combat music that does not distract.”
- “In combination with appropriate ambient music, they often create a grim and hellish atmosphere.”
- “It's due to the mentioned atmosphere of gloominess and despair.”
- “+ the atmosphere is pretty dark and creepy (I jumped a few times)”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious and monotonous, with repetitive environments and limited gameplay variations contributing to a lack of engagement. The combat system also suffers from predictability, as the battle music diminishes the excitement and the pacing feels sluggish after encounters.
- “First-person dungeon crawler that is tedious to play and will make you fall asleep in the meantime.”
- “Too tedious to run around in environments that do not change much and with too little variation gameplay-wise.”
- “The battle music takes the surprise out of combat, and five seconds after combat is over, it comes to an ass grinding halt.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The game's optimization is severely lacking, with frequent crashes, bugs, and inadequate map performance leading to a frustrating gameplay experience. Many users believe that significant improvements in optimization could enhance the game's overall enjoyment and make it worth considering in the future.
- “If polished up, optimized, and made far more fun, it might be worth owning eventually.”
- “Crashes, bugs, and poor map optimization all combine into a deplorable gameplay experience.”
- “The game suffers from severe performance issues, making it nearly unplayable on lower-end systems.”
- “Optimization seems to have been an afterthought, resulting in long loading times and frequent frame drops.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability has been criticized for feeling unfinished, resembling a perpetual alpha state, with subpar graphics that evoke a "quick tech demo" quality. Additionally, players have reported significant lighting glitches that can be visually jarring and potentially harmful.
- “It feels empty; like a perpetual alpha. Even the graphics look like 'quick tech demo' graphics, and lighting glitches - when the lighting works at all - will nearly cause a seizure.”
- “The game crashes frequently, making it nearly unplayable.”
- “I experienced constant lag and frame drops, which ruined the overall experience.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has limited replayability, as players report that subsequent playthroughs feel nearly identical to the first. While the expected completion time is around ten hours, which offers good value, the lack of variety may deter players from returning after finishing the game.
- “Might not have the greatest replayability once beaten, as from my current attempts on rogue it seems each playthrough will be nearly the same.”
- “The developers say about ten hours is expected to beat the game, which equates to about 50 cents an hour. This seems like a pretty good value, even if there really is no replayability.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users feel that the game's low price point enhances its emotional value, making it a worthwhile experience despite any shortcomings.

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46%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness Review - KeenGamer
Keengamer.com
46%

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Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness is a role playing game with fantasy theme.

Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness is available on PC and Windows.

Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness was released on January 22, 2016.

Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness was developed by Dungeoneering Studios.

Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness has received neutral reviews from players and neutral reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its atmosphere.

Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness is a single player game.

Similar games include Necropolis, Slasher's Keep, StarCrawlers, Monomyth, Lunacid and others.

Castle Torgeath: Descent into Darkness

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