‘Darkest Dungeon’s’ (Mostly) Uncompromising Design Choices

Popoptiq: My love and excuses for Darkest Dungeon start sounding like an abusive relationship after a while. It’s a brutal game that punishes me terribly whenever I slip up, or sometimes for seemingly no reason at all, but I probably did something wrong to deserve it at some point. It’s by no means perfect, but its profound devotion to being exactly the game it wants to be no matter who it alienates is commendable all on its own. Going into it with no knowledge of its development process, I would say it seems like a game that’s designed for a niche audiences with no concessions to those who don’t fit into that category, but that’s not the case.