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[Elmund Egivand]

Ever played dungeon crawlers and wonder what it will be like to lead a bunch of more-or-less ordinary dudes with more-or-less ordinary vocations, rather than superpowered beings i.e. Nephilim in Diablo III, level 40 epic characters in D&D, etc, into a dungeon crawling with all sorts of monstrous horrors having to deal with dwindling resources and trauma behind every corner? 

There is a game just for you: Darkest Dungeon. It's a dungeon crawler where your heroes are, basically, cannon fodder. Heroes are recruited for free to be tossed into the the darkest of dungeons to die for the benefit of yourself and your hamlet. Should any of them survive long enough, send them to take on every more arduous challenges. 

Just like in XCOM, you build your base (your run-down hamlet nobody, not even your caretaker, wants to live in), improve facilities to gear up your band of misfits to better handle the challenges and provide better places for them to drink their terrors away. Use it to help your band of mercenaries deal with their rapidly accumulating pile of psychosis and mental issues, give them better training and equipment, then send them into the dungeon (and watch them squeal when they realised they drew the short straw again) to battle things that had been plaguing your home.

Watch as your adventurers cope with terrors as horrors after horrors beset them from every corner. Watch them whimper as the light slowly ebbs away, the food dwindles and their stress levels increase. Hopefully, enough of them will survive to bring back the spoils of the quest, to better benefit your hamlet and in turn improve their chances of survival still more. If they are still alive, that is.

So yes, Darkest Dungeon. It is on Steam as early access now, and is surprisingly polished. It still has some balance issues to work out, some minor bugs, and two of the quest zones: the Darkest Dungeon and the Cove are still locked out. Also missing four character classes, apparently. Despite all that, it's great fun.

Anyone playing Darkest Dungeon currently? What's your set up? Any funny stories of adventurers going mad in lightless dungeons, raving and ranting and squirming and abusing one another as they fight increasingly more difficult challenges? Ever experienced having that Crusader who, despite mounting stress, reacted by becoming COURAGEOUS and slaughter the horde of undead and cultist in the Ruins and save the day? Share them all here!

[Aria Jenneth]

Soooooo very keen to get my mits on this.

Not yet, though.

[Gwen Ikiryo]

I tried it, but though the first few hours were a lot of fun, I found myself quickly getting bored by the repetitive nature of the content. Though the raw gameplay isn't bad for a turn based RPG, the story - And variation in quest, encounter and level design - Seems to drop off very quickly. I hope this changes before it launches for real.

In the meantime, my vaguely lovecraftian roguelike of choice has got to be sunless sea, which I would recommend to anyone who likes (very) slow paced surreal horror with a lot of purple prose. Also trading games.

[Jennifer Starfall]

Haven't played it, but watched some streams and videos. Reminds me of the original version of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying (the PnP RPG) on tone and psychosis spiral.

[Vikarion]

I'll check it out, but I won't pre-order it.

I've been burned a few times - the only times I think I've gotten value for my money with early access games on Steam are with Beseige and 7 Days to Die, although 7 Days does admittedly make up for a lot of them.

[Nissui]

Based on the streams i have seen, this is one I'd rather watch occasionally than play myself. It is a welcome change from most of what I see on Twitch, however.

[Elmund Egivand]

Haven't played it, but watched some streams and videos. Reminds me of the original version of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying (the PnP RPG) on tone and psychosis spiral.

Yes, the aesthetics, tone and theme really is WFRP-esque. It's one of the first things I thought of when I saw this game. The other was Arkham Horror.

I tried it, but though the first few hours were a lot of fun, I found myself quickly getting bored by the repetitive nature of the content. Though the raw gameplay isn't bad for a turn based RPG, the story - And variation in quest, encounter and level design - Seems to drop off very quickly. I hope this changes before it launches for real.

In the meantime, my vaguely lovecraftian roguelike of choice has got to be sunless sea, which I would recommend to anyone who likes (very) slow paced surreal horror with a lot of purple prose. Also trading games.

The quests does remain fairly same-old all throughout. However, monster variety and difficulty increases in different quest tiers. Level 3 (veteran) quests play host to harder versions of old enemies and introduces newer ones like those hulking ghouls. Bosses remain fairly the same though. What really makes the quests a more varied experience however is the RNG and the quirks on your party characters. Level 5, I hear, is outright hellish.

To give an example: One time in the Weald, my party encountered two slime monsters. Dispatched them with great ease. Second time, same monster. Then they started doing the Cytokinesis and Cytoplasmic Explosion nonsense to keep replacing all the ones we had killed and drew out the battle to over 12 rounds. Party member attacks also miss. Alot. Despite having over 60% hit rate (75% is the average hit rate of nearly everyone). Everyone got a hefty amount of stress and I had to call off the quest after that battle.

Yes, Sunless Sea is also awesome. Sets the mood quite well. It is very much like a roguelike mixed with 'choose your adventure' game books. I also play Fallen London, and I say that Failbetter Games have some very good writers. The writing is what made both games.

[Gottii]

This game is a blast.  Endless time sink.  Play at your own risk.

This game is all about facing unknowable horrors, sending armies of fools to grizzly death, and making sure to budget enough for drink, prayers, whoring etc to numb the few survivors enough to send them back into the maw of unknowable chthonic terrors.

[Elmund Egivand]

Dark run vs Swine Prince. Level 2 Bounty Hunter, assisted by level 2 Occultist's Vulnerability Hex, critical hit the Swine Prince using Collect Bounty for 40+ damage, effectively wiping out 50% of the Swine Prince's health (he was wailed on by the Leper and the Hellion before it was his turn. This was all Round 1). Swine Prince dies 2 rounds later. I decided the Bounty Hunter is my best friend and sent him to the brothel.

[Gottii]

Bounty Hunters are pretty awesome.  My favorite class too.