Darkest Dungeon is a hybrid of a turn based RPG and strategy game in which we use 4-man group of mercenaries to explore randomly generated locations, gather treasures and fight with various types of enemies – bandits, skeletons and other kinds of abominations. Before we move into the dungeon there are a few decisions we have to make – not only which heroes we send to explore dangerous places (there are 18 different classes) but also pick their equipment (both individual accessories, increasing their fighting capabilities and utility items such as torches, food and medicine). Nonetheless planning doesn’t end after that – during fights we have to rethink every move at least twice since death of a hero is final and irreversible (kinda irreversible since you can resurrect one of your mercenaries during rare event which can occur while in the main city).

Like I said, gameplay is divided into few parts: managing Hamlet which is your main hub where player can recruit heroes and upgrade their equipment, exploring deadly locations like ruins or warrens in classic dungeon-crawler style and finally turn-based combat. Combat during which we have to use our protagonists as effective as possible since battles can be hard, especially because of RNG, which can have huge impact on gameplay. Sometimes people describe Darkest Dungeon as turn based Dark Souls but I do not agree with that. In soulslike games if you die it is because you made a mistake (most of the times). But in DD if RNGesus says you have to lose, you are going to lose. Sure, you can minimize the damage by playing really well and thinking three times about every move but in the end your sanity and patience will be tested. Nevertheless randomness can be helpful – sometimes RNG gods are on your side and you can pass through the long dungeon (which takes around 30 minutes to finish) without a single hit because your heroes are hitting crits after crits or dodge enemy attacks like crazy. To summarize, combat is double-edged sword - it can give ton of fun but sometimes can be unbearable which makes it really engaging.

While describing pros I could also point out visual style of the game – it is nice mix of comic-like graphic, dark fantasy and stories/books written by H.P. Lovecraft. Despite being 2D it is very easy on the eye. Separate thing is music and overall audio design – it is not just nice, it is freaking awesome! Wayne June (R.I.P. buddy) has done incredible work as a Narrator and became foundation of the game’s atmosphere. He delivers plenty of unforgettable lines and when we combine them with dramatic and intense soundtrack appearing during battles, the final outcome is just amazing.

Of course, there are cons, there is no flawless game (maybe except Witcher III). Like I mentioned before, to have fun while playing DD you need nerves of steel to tolerate randomness of the game which appears constantly during gameplay, from start to finish. Missing attack while having 90% chance to hit? Healing for 0 and applying bleed status on your ally which will most likely kill him very next round? In this game it is possible. Morever, after longer sessions there can appear some kind of repetitiveness because of grind, mostly during endgame. Our main goal in this game is to get through eponymous darkest dungeon - but to do so we need to level up and gear up our heroes. The thing is these endgame maps are hard as hell and you can lose your full hp characters in a matter of 1-2 unlucky turns. And if you fail be prepared to run at least dozens low level maps to farm exp and prepare your next adventurers.

Despite these few negatives Darkest Dungeon is a very nice indie title which can give a lot of fun and satisfaction. I sincerely recommend you this game. You can get it for a few bucks so at least give it a try. Either you will instantly love it or throw your PC out of the window <333

Final note: 8.5/10.

P.S. Do not attach to heroes in your party. They are going to die anyway.
P.P.S. Remember – overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.

Total War: WARHAMMER III is the final chapter in the Total War trilogy dedicated to the world of Warhammer Fantasy. The game is a combination of a turn-based 4X game where you manage your empire on a strategic map and real-time battles that take place on smaller arenas. Although I've never been a big fan of turn-based strategy games, I couldn't put this title down for a long time (as you can see from the number of hours I've spent playing it). The universe itself is incredibly varied and rich, which is accurately reflected in the games – often after longer sessions, I would spend hours browsing the internet, delving into the world's history and the characters' backstories.

Upon launching the game, we have access to several choices for gameplay - an excellent prologue that serves as a tutorial (a huge plus for this), the main campaign available at launch - "The Realm of Chaos," and the creme de la creme, the "Immortal Empires" campaign, which brings together all three games, giving access to a HUGE map and over 24 races to choose from (where within each race we have access to several factions, each with their own strengths/weaknesses and certain gameplay modifications). Speaking of races I have to mention about a very controversial way of monetization, introduced by Creative Assembly in Warhammer I and II but that will be covered in a separate paragraph. Of course, we can play both of these campaigns with or against another player while online or test our abilities as commander in a quick battle, both in online multiplayer or against AI.

As I mentioned a moment ago, the gameplay is incredibly diverse, mainly thanks to the dozens of factions - each has unique mechanics, objectives they must complete to achieve victory, and most importantly, each has access to different unit roster. Anyone will find something to enjoy here. Are you a fan of balanced armies? Choose the Empire, where you can support close-combat infantry thru ranks of crossbowmen and artillery stationed in the rear. Do you prefer to destroy your foes with a swift and crushing cavalry charge? Choose Bretonnia. Or perhaps you are keen to lead hordes of demons, spread corruption and take over the world of the living? You have the option to pick one of four Chaos Gods, each different from one another - Khorne focuses on direct combat and bloodshed, while Tzeentch plots and sets factions against each other. My favorites are the Skaven, cowardly rats with endless armies where you don't care about losses because the units themselves are cheap to recruit (well most of them are cheap) - yet, despite their looks, they are extremely advanced technological race, with access to devastating artillery units, miniguns, and freaking ATOM BOMBS.

Managing the kingdom is the same as in the previous two titles - the world is divided into provinces, each consisting of several regions. You develop each region by constructing buildings and research of the technology. With time you gain access to higher-tier buildings, which allows you to recruit elite units that have superior combat capabilities. On the strategic map, we can also engage in diplomacy - compared to other titles in this genre I would say that diplomacy here is... basic, but it entirely fulfills its purpose - we can form military alliances, trade agreements, or most importantly, declare wars. Wars which are resolved by RTS-style battles. They're really good here. Because of the universe we are in, fights are feast for the eyes. Melee units, ranged units, artillery, various types of monsters or magic spells – all of which play distinct role during combat – that’s why this game is so addicting and fun! And even when you get tired of a fights you can use auto-resolve option which calculates your chance to win and casualties taken by both sides which allows you to skip some very easy and boring fights – it’s especially useful when your end-game army have to conquer tier 1 settlement with 5 basic units. To summarize gameplay I would say the game itself can initially be overwhelming to new players due to the sheer amount of content, the multitude of units, settlement development options and technologies to research, but in my opinion, it's an easy-to-learn but hard-to-master title.

As for the technical aspect I would say it's good. The models of the heroes leading the armies, as well as the units themselves, are very nice, full of details and excellently animated - sometimes instead of commanding the army I zoom the camera toward the fighting units, turn off the interface, and watch them battle each other. At the same time I don't recommend playing on the highest graphics settings unless you have a computer from NASA. Loading screens can also be excruciatingly long, especially during longer sessions - here I would recommend to frequently delete game saves from completed campaigns – it greatly improves overall performance. As for the sound design I would say that it is acceptable - it's a typical soundtrack that you would expect in a fantasy game – nothing fancy, just okay. There are plenty of different music themes but in a long run they can get a bit repetitive. Also lords and heroes “battle screams” can get a bit annoying especially after intense micro management. Additionally I have to mention about AI and its behavior. Sometimes factions lead by computer can make a very stupid decisions or just freeze and ignore that you are just bombarding them with your devastating artillery attacks. You can notice that mostly during siege battles when enemy ignores that one of his units got almost wiped out and he sends another one just to meet same fate as previous one. Changing difficulty doesn’t help since its only affects enemy stats and bonuses he receives.

A separate paragraph must be dedicated to monetization. New races and factions are released as DLC. Unfortunately, they are not among the cheapest - a pack of 3 new factions costs around 23$ while the new race, Chaos Dwarfs, costs 25$. In my opinion, these prices are definitely too high considering how few new features they offer. After release of TW:WH 3 they also raised the prices of the add-ons charging more while simultaneously lowering the quality. Of course, it's important to remember that if you want to access the races and factions from the previous two parts, you also need to own them on your Steam account. Whole collection costs now around 390$ (including base game) which is a small fortune for a video game – of course it’s not mandatory to buy all of this at once – you can wait for frequent sales and get DLCs one by one but I feel obligated to mention this. If I were to start from scratch I would buy base game, then if I liked the default campaign I would buy previous 2 main games and have fun playing “Immortal Empires” campaign. Then I'd gradually buy the DLCs with different races that I'm interested in.

In summary, Total War: Warhammer 3 is a title you sit down to play in the evening thinking you'll have a two, maybe three hour session, and you end up playing until it’s five in the morning. In my opinion, the best game in the Total War franchise, addictive, providing immense enjoyment and plenty of possibilities to have fun BUT not without a flaws.

Final grade: 8/10.