The Heart of Darkness

About

The Heart of Darkness is a single player role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by BigWednesday and was released on April 15, 2022. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

In "The Heart of Darkness," a curse has plunged the kingdom into despair, with a maiden being the only hope to dispel the shadows. However, after absorbing the darkness, she is consumed by evil. In a final act, she locks herself away to contain the evil. The king, driven by fear, orders her execution to save his kingdom.

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Single-Player

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97%

Audience ScoreBased on 68 reviews

story6 positive mentions

atmosphere3 negative mentions

High-quality pixel art and imaginative boss and monster designs create an engaging atmosphere.
The gameplay features maze-like dungeons filled with puzzles and obstacles, providing depth and complexity.
The game successfully combines dark themes and humor, appealing to fans of the Soulsborne series while offering replay value.

The H-content feels out of place and may not appeal to all players, with some scenes lacking buildup and depth.
The story and character development are considered weak, with many characters feeling underdeveloped and shallow.
The combat system can be simplistic and lacks challenge, making some encounters feel trivial.

story
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
73%
9%
The game's story is a mixed bag, featuring a dark and engaging narrative reminiscent of the Dark Souls series, but with a main character that feels like a mere placeholder. While the lore is surprisingly deep for an H-game, many side quests are inconsequential and the characters lack depth, serving primarily functional roles. Overall, players appreciate the creative premise and immersive setting, even if the writing and character development leave much to be desired.
- “Game with lore and story on par with the Dark Souls series.”
- “It's grim, dark, and sad with an engaging story.”
- “For an h-game, the lore is incredibly deep - not Souls level obviously, but there's a story that is layered.”
- “The story and writing in the game aren't great, and these scenes in particular just have a lot of slurping and moaning.”
- “They're basically NPC-tier characters that exist solely to perform certain functions and not arouse one's curiosity or endear themselves to the player, especially due to how short most of their storylines are (if you can even call them that).”
- “It's nice that it exists, but since 90% of the game is spent on exploring the dungeon and felling foes, the girls don't really have much of a story or personality.”
gameplay
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
38%
14%
The gameplay is generally well-received, featuring maze-like dungeons filled with puzzles and obstacles, reminiscent of Soulsborne titles. Players appreciate the engaging story and the turn-based mechanics, although some find it grindy and note that certain strategies can make combat feel unbalanced. Overall, the gameplay is solid, with interactive elements that enhance world-building, despite some criticisms regarding the main character's depth.
- “The gameplay itself is surprisingly good; maze-like dungeons filled with all sorts of puzzles and obstacles with various environments including a poison swamp.”
- “It has solid gameplay and a story that keeps you engaged, although the main character is just a placeholder.”
- “The plot, themes, questline, world, and characters all feel rather soulsborne-like - exploring the world feels quite nice and I'm more taken by the general gameplay myself.”
- “Gameplay: generic turn-based RPG.”
- “Oh, and if you see, like, 'burning' scratch marks on the floor that the game calls 'glyphs'... yeah, you can interact with those and get bits of world-building and sometimes even tips... figured it out after maybe 10 hours of gameplay that would've been somewhat easier otherwise.”
- “Thankfully you can skip over it and get back to the gameplay.”
atmosphere
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
56%
33%
The game's atmosphere is praised for its high-quality pixel art and imaginative monster designs, evoking a nostalgic feeling reminiscent of Dark Souls and Bloodborne. While many HRPGs share similar aesthetics, this title stands out with its unique atmosphere, though some reviewers feel it doesn't fully capture the essence of its inspirations. Overall, it successfully creates an intriguing and immersive environment.
- “The pixel art is really high quality and creates the right atmosphere, and all the boss and monster designs are really imaginative and detailed.”
- “The atmosphere is heavily inspired by Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but this is not the best HRPG that tries to do that in my opinion.”
- “Nostalgic feeling of Dark Souls atmosphere.”
- “Appearance and atmosphere: I'd normally forgo such a category altogether, considering how most HRPGs utilize similar tilesets, but this one is different, hence why I'm including it.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The music in the game is generally praised for being nice and fitting, with a noticeable effort put into its creation. However, some users feel that the ambient sound can be lackluster in certain locations, detracting from the overall experience.
- “It has really nice and fitting music.”
- “Artwork is very good and the music isn't bad either.”
- “It looks like a lot of work has been put into creating them, although the ambient sound and music is somewhat lackluster depending on the location.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The graphics have been praised for effectively capturing the Souls aesthetic, with high-quality artwork that enhances the overall experience. Reviewers appreciate the visual style and its alignment with the game's challenging atmosphere.
- “They did an amazing job adopting the Souls aesthetic and difficulty.”
- “Artwork is very good and the music isn't bad either.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players note a surprising amount of replay value, indicating that the game offers engaging content that encourages multiple playthroughs.
- “There is a surprising amount of replay value.”
- “The game offers multiple endings that encourage you to play through again.”
- “Each playthrough feels fresh due to the diverse choices and outcomes.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization of the game is viewed positively, with reviewers noting that it reflects significant thought and effort, distinguishing it from typical low-effort cash grabs often seen in RPG Maker titles.
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the gameplay enjoyable but note that it can become grindy, particularly when trying to accumulate resources for powerful items and characters. Despite the grind, achieving effective strategies is relatively straightforward once players have the necessary resources.
- “The gameplay isn't bad, though it can be a bit grindy, and getting the winning combination is pretty easy. Rovero is broken once you have enough rubies for item spam; Farouk, Matra, and Masamune are all incredibly good damage dealers.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate a significant dissatisfaction with character development, highlighting a lack of depth and pacing that detracts from the overall experience. This absence of meaningful growth in characters leaves players feeling unimpressed, particularly during key scenes.
- “I watched some of the H scenes and was unimpressed for the most part due to a severe lack of character development and pacing.”

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10h Median play time

10h Average play time

10-10h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Heart of Darkness is a role playing game with fantasy theme.

The Heart of Darkness is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 10 hours playing The Heart of Darkness.

The Heart of Darkness was released on April 15, 2022.

The Heart of Darkness was developed by BigWednesday.

The Heart of Darkness has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its atmosphere.

The Heart of Darkness is a single player game.

Similar games include Drova: Forsaken Kin, Demons Roots, Lunacid, Vigil: The Longest Night, Wandering Sword and others.

The Heart of Darkness

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