Darkwood: PS4

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DaHeckIzDat
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Joined: April 9th, 2015, 1:41 pm

Darkwood: PS4

Postby DaHeckIzDat » May 2nd, 2021, 9:08 pm

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I just found out about this game, and consider my interest piqued! It's a top down survival horror game where you have to gather supplies and craft defenses for yourself against the monsters that roam the forest at night. I usually hate games that use light and visibility as a mechanic (I know what you can't see os scarier than what you can, but how is staring at a black screen any fun?) but Darkwood has an interesting twist on that as well: you can see the environment even when it isn't directly illuminated, but monsters and items are only visible within your flashlight os shining on them. There even seems to be some degree of randomization with each game, but I'm not sure to what extent.

I'm downloading it right now. I'll give you guys an idea what I think after I've played it a little!

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DaHeckIzDat
Posts: 1997
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 1:41 pm

Re: Darkwood: PS4

Postby DaHeckIzDat » May 3rd, 2021, 12:13 am

First impressions: lackluster.

Not being able to see an enemy unless you're looking directly at it helps ratchet up the tension nicely. There's no voice acting, but seeing disembodied text appear from an unilluminated corner is surprisingly creepy. I just wish I had a better sense of what I was supposed to be doing. Escaping the forest, yes, but what all does that entail? Right now I'm just wandering around, picking random stuff up, and searching for a clue to lead me forward. I can pick and cook mushrooms to make "essence" though the game won't tell me why. My guy also made a passing comment about an underground tunnel, but not where it is or why I would want/need to go there.

Admittedly, the game does say on the title screen that it won't hold your hand, and I'm mostly fine with that, but a little more guidance would have been welcome. At least to start me off on the right path.

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: Darkwood: PS4

Postby VideoGameCritic » May 3rd, 2021, 5:47 pm

So the entire game is played from this overhead point of view? Doesn't seem very scary.

DaHeckIzDat
Posts: 1997
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 1:41 pm

Re: Darkwood: PS4

Postby DaHeckIzDat » May 3rd, 2021, 6:07 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:So the entire game is played from this overhead point of view? Doesn't seem very scary.

It has its moments. Like I said, even though you can see the environment around you, certain things are hidden until you shine your flashlight on them. Then they vanish when the flashlight moves again. It makes a pretty convincing illusion of being in the dark.
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DaHeckIzDat
Posts: 1997
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 1:41 pm

Re: Darkwood: PS4

Postby DaHeckIzDat » May 3rd, 2021, 11:47 pm

Having played for a couple more hours, I have to admit this game is growing on me. The atmosphere is definitely creepy, though I wouldn't say scary. I really appreciate the developers for letting the forest creep you out naturally, with the sounds of things you can't see and a spooky soundtrack rather than cheap jumpscares. The combat feels like someone took the combat from Silent Hill and put it into a twin stick shooter like Smash TV. It's slower and emphasizes caution over all put assaults, like any good horror game, but is still simple enough that anyone could pick it up pretty easily.

Also, it turns out the game does do things to point you in the right direction. After surviving the first (or was it the second?) night, an NPC appeared to tell me what my next goal was. I just wasn't being patient enough.

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BlasteroidAli
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Re: Darkwood: PS4

Postby BlasteroidAli » May 4th, 2021, 11:27 am

I have it on pc and I would say lacklustre is about right. I played it and was very underwhelmed. They made it sound amazing, playing it was fiddly.


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