Darkest Hunter
- September 27, 2017
- ECC GAMES S.A.
Get on Steam"Darkest Hunter" is an action-packed, top-down shooter game where players take on the role of a powerful hunter fighting against dark forces. With a variety of weapons and skills to choose from, players must strategize and upgrade their character to defeat devastating bosses and save the world. The game features procedurally generated levels, ensuring a unique and challenging experience every playthrough.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game is enjoyable and can serve as a fun time killer, especially for casual gamers.
- It features a unique blend of match-3 mechanics with RPG elements, which can be appealing to fans of both genres.
- The pixel art style and nostalgic graphics are appreciated by some players, adding a charming aesthetic to the game.
- The game feels like a poorly executed mobile port, lacking depth and complexity expected from a PC title.
- Gameplay is repetitive and grindy, with many players finding it boring after a short period of play.
- Technical issues such as clunky controls, low visual quality, and a lack of customization options detract from the overall experience.
- story28 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The story in the game is largely criticized for its lack of depth and originality, with many reviewers noting that despite having a diverse cast of 13 characters, they all share similar backstories and gameplay mechanics, making them feel interchangeable. The missions are repetitive and the overarching narrative is a clichéd quest to defeat a dark lord, failing to offer any fresh perspective or engaging plot elements. Overall, while the game may appeal to fans of the match-3 genre, it falls short in delivering a compelling story that enhances the RPG experience.
“There are 13 characters, each with a somewhat long explanation and backstory.”
“As far as adventuring goes, brace yourself for a long campaign as there are over 300 quests to complete in the game.”
“While it's perfectly understandable, though unsurprising, for an RPG to feature a story about heroes in chainmail and wizard hats setting out to defeat the lord of darkness, it's a story that's been told to death.”
“As for RPG, it doesn't have any decent story.”
“I know grid games aren't the best at storytelling, but since the developers left notes into dungeons, enemy descriptions, and heroes' written profiles, where is the background?”
“In 'Darkest Hunters,' nothing is done to help the story stand out, not even a little bit.”
- gameplay20 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The gameplay has been criticized for being grindy, repetitive, and lacking depth, with many players finding it boring and uninspired. While some elements, like boss mechanics, offer a brief change of pace, they ultimately fail to elevate the overall experience. The controls are clunky, and the core mechanics feel simplistic, leading to a lack of challenge and engagement.
“However, the boss fights bring a change of pace, and the missions associated hint towards interesting boss mechanics.”
“The main gameplay is moving around collecting resources in a match-3 style and fighting monsters you may meet.”
“Pleasant and fluid gameplay, difficult fighting and character leveling.”
“An interesting idea, but the implementation of this idea is flat; there are no interesting mechanics or gameplay development.”
“The maps became larger, but the gameplay on them does not change from the first time; you just repeat the same thing over and over again, with no special abilities or obstacles to make movement less monotonous.”
“Feels like a mobile game, with poor controls and slow gameplay for no reason.”
- grinding10 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate that grinding is a significant and often tedious aspect of the game, with many players finding it excessive and out of place. While some appreciate the game's initial appeal, they express frustration with the repetitive nature of grinding required to progress, leading to a lack of challenge and engagement. Overall, the grinding mechanic detracts from the experience for many, making it feel more like a chore than an enjoyable gameplay element.
“I'm totally sick of the grinding and lack of challenge.”
“It does hit a point where a ton of grinding will be needed to progress, so if you are a completionist, you've got a fair chunk of time ahead of you.”
“However, this game forces grinding and has very weak (or uninteresting) narratives, which are unbearable to me.”
- graphics9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with some players criticizing the use of outdated retro pixel art and the lack of resolution options and graphics tweaks. Others appreciate the nostalgic feel of the pixel art style and find the animation and large map visually appealing. Overall, the graphics seem to cater to a specific audience, with a divide between those who enjoy the retro aesthetic and those who prefer modern visuals.
“Well, the animation and the retro-style graphics were okay, and the large map was both interesting and challenging (at least, for the first time).”
“Visually, I'm a big fan of the graphical style of this title as I love pixel art and it also really gives the game an 'old-school' nostalgic feel.”
“Coarse graphics.”
“A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
“There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
“The art style is also a bit lame for my taste.”
- monetization4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of Darkest Hunters has drawn criticism for its origins as a mobile cash grab, with high in-game prices and a poorly balanced economy that fails to accommodate its PC release. While the absence of microtransactions and ads is seen as a positive, players feel the game suffers from repetitive mechanics designed to encourage spending, leaving them with insufficient in-game currency to progress. Overall, the monetization approach is viewed as flawed and unrefined, detracting from the overall experience.
“Darkest Hunters is a mobile app that's been dumped on Steam as if it was a real PC game (it's not)... it's a cash grab from greedy mobile devs. The game is a badly made, badly translated, very basic match-3 (Bejeweled ripoff), but with some RPG elements tacked onto it.”
“Even though diamond rewards have been replaced with extra coins, various prices throughout the game were never scaled and are still set at high points to incentivize no longer available microtransactions.”
“Extremely repetitive gameplay elements meant to incentivize skipping via microtransactions, such as merging duplicate gear items to increase strength, still exist.”
- music4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game's music features only one repetitive track during combat, which many players find annoying despite its good sound quality. While the soundtrack serves its purpose, it lacks memorable elements, leading to a less engaging auditory experience overall.
“The sound quality is also good, especially during battles, and the soundtrack does its job well.”
“As for the game itself, it has godawful level design, and it has only 1 track playing nonstop in combat that can easily get annoying.”
“Did I mention the single song for the entire game?”
“The sound quality is good, especially during battles, and the soundtrack does its job; however, I didn't find any of the tracks particularly memorable.”
