Dark Light

About

Dark Light is a single player action adventure game with horror and science fiction themes. It was developed by Mirari&Co. and was released on September 29, 2022. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Dark Light" is a souls-like game set in a post-apocalyptic world shrouded in darkness, where you play as the last planetary defender against creatures born from the Dark Void. Equip cyberwares to augment abilities, battle challenging enemies, and join factions to unlock skills in your quest to seal the Dark Void and save humanity from eternal darkness. The game offers unique visuals and fast-paced combat with challenging bosses.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 416 reviews

graphics110 positive mentions

grinding27 negative mentions

The game features stunning graphics and a unique art style that creates an immersive atmosphere.
Combat is engaging and satisfying, with a mix of melee and ranged attacks that allow for varied playstyles.
The game has a compelling dark sci-fi theme that resonates well with fans of the genre.

Controls can feel clunky and unresponsive at times, making platforming and combat frustrating.
The game lacks a clear narrative and direction, leaving players confused about objectives.
There are performance issues, including long loading times and occasional stuttering during gameplay.

graphics
164 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
31%
2%
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their stunning art style and atmospheric design, blending elements of cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic aesthetics. Players have praised the detailed environments, unique character designs, and overall visual polish, noting that the graphics significantly enhance the gameplay experience. However, some reviews mention minor issues with clarity and performance, suggesting that while the visuals are impressive, there is room for improvement in certain areas.
- “It's a bleak, ruined, post-apocalyptic world that's gorgeous, stunning, and drenched in cyberpunk aesthetics.”
- “The art style and backgrounds are jaw-droppingly good.”
- “The atmosphere, visuals, and soundtracks are astonishing.”
- “Instead what I got was glitchy graphics, unwanted interactions during fights, and hard-to-read environments.”
- “Even with that being said, however, I feel as though the current focus of this game's development is the graphics, and as a result, the gameplay actually suffers from it.”
- “Lore is sparse, and a lot of visuals make no connection to it at all.”
gameplay
122 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
57%
7%
The gameplay of this game is generally praised for its engaging mechanics, polished visuals, and satisfying combat, though it can be challenging to master due to a steep learning curve and some confusing mechanics. While many players appreciate the action-packed nature and unique features like the stamina system and drone mechanics, others criticize the user interface, balance issues, and occasional clunky controls. Overall, the game shows potential but requires further refinement to enhance the overall experience.
- “The gameplay is amazing, and the story looks to be shaping up well.”
- “Game play is the most fantastic part of Dark Light; amazing movement mechanics mixed with interesting weapons allow for quality, high-thrill content.”
- “Awesome graphics, fun action-packed gameplay, and super responsive controls.”
- “The game also does a pretty bad job of explaining its mechanics, and the path forward is unclear at times.”
- “80% of boss fights are so easy you just hit them 5 times and they die because they have too little HP, and then the last 20% are so frustrating because they all have some really dumb one-shot mechanics or spam bullet hells that you can't possibly dodge all.”
- “The tutorialization is simultaneously overbearing and unhelpful, throwing overbuilt popups at you that tell you about parts of the control scheme while nothing whatsoever explains the gameplay mechanics or loop.”
story
73 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
69%
8%
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it lacking in depth and coherence, often describing it as confusing and poorly executed. While some appreciate the intriguing lore and atmospheric setting, they feel the narrative is underdeveloped and the dialogue is subpar, leading to a disjointed experience. Overall, players suggest that the game is more focused on gameplay mechanics than storytelling, making it less appealing for those seeking a rich narrative.
- “I immediately fell in love with the lore, the backstory that some ancient war between the celestials allied with humans vs the hellish demons from another universe.”
- “The story is intriguing; there are tiny tidbits here and there that make me think about a realm of cosmic horror and does great with the aesthetic.”
- “It's a pretty solid game with a great atmosphere, but more content and story will make it even better.”
- “The story is not great, which seems mostly due to the poor English translation.”
- “There's no story, and it feels like it's trying to be like Dark Souls in its limited 'direct' storytelling, but it just misses the mark entirely in the opening act by making the player wander aimlessly.”
- “There's only a few story moments and the pacing and writing of these is off, making it so you have a hard time caring about the world and its characters.”
atmosphere
66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
61%
34%
5%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its stunning art style, dark and moody aesthetic, and immersive sound design, creating a unique blend of cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic vibes. Reviewers highlight the effective use of music and environmental details that enhance the overall experience, although some note that the storyline and level design could be improved. Overall, the game successfully establishes a haunting and captivating atmosphere that draws players into its world.
- “The atmosphere, visuals, and soundtracks are astonishing.”
- “Sourced from various inspirations, yet attributable to none in particular, the distinct art style is breathtakingly gorgeous, with a grim and brooding atmosphere to the world that is both nightmarish yet beautifully mesmerizing at once.”
- “The atmosphere is beautiful, as promised; the previews built up high expectations, and those have been exceeded.”
- “For what this game has in cyberpunk theme, visuals, and atmosphere; it lacks in sound effects, sound equalization, animations, UI, and level design.”
- “The labs and the city of flesh give off a creepy, 'you should not be here' atmosphere.”
- “Hellish landscapes that are oozing with atmosphere, and also oozing with the decomposing corpses of some poor individuals who appear to be somehow fused into the environment.”
music
55 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
55%
5%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its ability to enhance the atmosphere and complement the visuals, particularly in key moments like exploration and boss battles. However, some players find the soundtrack repetitive and dull, suggesting it lacks variety and can detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the music contributes to the game's dark and immersive ambiance, opinions vary on its effectiveness and memorability.
- “The atmosphere, visuals, and soundtracks are astonishing.”
- “The music in turn complements the art very well, and backs the intensity of the action and goes hard for the boss battles while maintaining a brooding ambiance when exploring the ruined and mutated landscapes.”
- “The game just has this compelling visual and aural ambience (the music is really damn good at being ominous, spooky and fueling adrenaline) that drew me in.”
- “Forgettable music.”
- “Music is dull, depressing, and repetitive loops.”
- “The trailers suggested excitement and action, the in-game music instead gives you dreary and tiresome.”
grinding
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
4%
93%
The reviews highlight a mixed sentiment towards grinding in the game, with many players finding it tedious and cumbersome due to a poorly designed user interface and the necessity of extensive farming for upgrades and materials. While some appreciate the depth it adds to character progression, others feel it detracts from the overall experience, making gameplay feel more like a chore than an adventure. A few players, however, enjoy the grinding aspect, viewing it as a necessary challenge that enhances their engagement with the game.
- “The pros are that it's amazing once you get the hang of it; guns and melee mesh very well, exploration is thorough but not tedious, and the art is amazing!”
- “I played just very little, and everything is just so tedious, cumbersome, and unresponsive, with just heaps of menus and a terrible user interface to tie it all together.”
- “My main issue with the game is that fairly early on, your ability to improve your character is locked not just behind farming currency, but upgrades start to require rare materials.”
- “The upgrade system demands extensive farming and there is no fixed place where you can reliably get the gems necessary for the more advanced upgrades.”
optimization
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
40%
40%
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players reporting flawless performance on high-end systems, while others experience significant bugs, stuttering, and slow menu navigation. A recent patch has addressed some performance issues, but inconsistent technical execution and clunky controls remain a concern for many users. Overall, while some enjoy the game without major issues, others find it difficult to recommend due to ongoing optimization problems.
- “Playing this on my ROG Ally Z1 Extreme, the performance was flawless as well.”
- “Still, for 98% of the time, it runs smoothly and it's fun in a simple way.”
- “Each gem type will tell you what performance increase it will add to your weapons; some will give more power than others, but it’s up to you how you would like to upgrade your weapons.”
- “It ends up feeling like the game is stuttering or glitching.”
- “Pretty bad technical executions, with bugs, inconsistent collision boxes and performance problems.”
- “The controls are a clunky mess, and there are performance issues in some areas especially during transitions.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is a mixed bag; while it runs smoothly with high frame rates and minimal microstutters, players have reported various bugs, particularly with platforming mechanics and initial HUD/audio issues. Some glitches can be resolved by restarting the game, but there are concerns about misleading updates and unresolved bugs that affect gameplay. Overall, while the game is enjoyable, players should be prepared for occasional instability.
- “There is a laser platforming puzzle right before the boss where you have to wait for platforms to spawn in, but it's buggy. Sometimes they don't spawn at all or spawn right when you jump, causing you to fall through.”
- “I had to make the game even playable with a recent patch, and all they did was lie to more people about the game regarding things that don't exist or are buggy and misleading.”
- “Really great game, but a little buggy at times. For example, the first time I booted up the game, the HUD did not show and there was no audio. If you can get over some minor bugs, it's a great game to pass the time and is still getting updated.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as dark and grim, appealing to those with a specific taste, while also featuring moments of unintentional comedy, such as amusing bugs and gameplay quirks. However, the writing is criticized for being poorly executed, lacking depth and world-building, which detracts from the overall comedic experience. Despite these flaws, some players find enjoyment in the game's humorous elements, particularly in its absurdities.
- “But hey, if you enjoy a challenge and have a dark sense of humor, this game might just be your cup of radioactive tea.”
- “It's a 2D souls-like, with hilariously bad writing, no world building to speak of, and toddler-level challenges.”
- “But I did run into a funny bug; I think I was in the Cult of Flesh III when I tried to convert the temporary currency to the permanent currency, but my temporary currency didn’t go away. So after 2 hours into the game, I made millions just by keeping converting currency. Cool.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The game offers some replayability with its eight different endings, requiring multiple playthroughs to achieve 100% completion. However, the randomized maps do not significantly enhance this aspect, leading some players to question whether the game has enough incentive for repeated playthroughs.
- “It sports upwards of 8 endings according to the achievements, so there is replayability there for those who want to try to 100% as it does require multiple playthroughs to get them all.”
- “As far as replay value goes, the randomized maps also don't add much to it.”
- “If you want all of them, you need to beat the game at least 8 times because there are 8 endings. I'm not sure the game has the replayability for that.”
- “It sports upwards of 8 endings according to the achievements, so there is replayability there for those who want to try to 100% it, as it does require multiple playthroughs to get them all.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the emotional aspect of the game to be exceptionally well-executed, highlighting its wholesome and spectacular gameplay that fosters a positive and uplifting experience.
- “What DKT does extremely well is make the gameplay wholesome and spectacular!”
- “The emotional depth of the characters truly resonated with me, making every decision feel impactful.”
- “I was genuinely moved by the storyline; it tugged at my heartstrings and left a lasting impression.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game has generated interest, as users have encountered persistent advertisements on social media platforms like Instagram for an extended period, leading to anticipation for the early access version.