iPad, Switch, PC/Mac/Linux •
One of my favorite titles of 2017 was the iPad version of Darkest Dungeon. Strangely enough, one of my favorite games of 2016 was the Steam version of Darkest Dungeon. Santa brought my youngest a Switch this Christmas, but I’ve been finding loads of time to log onto it myself. Today, Darkest Dungeon released for Switch and I have a feeling it might pull of the hat trick and become one of my favorite games of 2018 as well.
Darkest Dungeon on the Switch plays much as you’d expect it would considering that this is the third platform we’re firing it up on. There’s the healer girl, the armor knight guy, that guy with a gun, the other guy with the funky mask. You know, all of our faves. It has all the dungeons, monsters, character deaths, and ludicrous over-the-top narration–although not as over-the-top and ludicrous as some–we’ve come to know and love. What it doesn’t have are the fat-fingered issues of the touchscreen version.
One of the beefs with the iPad version was the UI wasn’t updated well enough for touchscreens to allow easy navigation of small text, particularly the text on your characters’ sheets describing their afflictions. It was similarly annoying to scroll through your character list which would sometimes register as a long-touch and pop open a sheet instead of scrolling away. This has been alleviated in the Switch version which has you sorting through all the minutiae via the joysticks and a lovely cursor that locks on and jumps between all the interesting parts. It’s nice enough that the Switch version has outpaced the iPad version in terms of ease-of-use.
Another way the Switch version has outpaced the tablet edition is expansions. The Switch version is the real deal, with all expansions and characters available either through DLC or upfront via a bundle purchase. That means you’ll get Crimson Court and the Shieldbreaker on Switch, which keeps it in line with its Steamy cousin and a few steps ahead of the iPad version.
Of course, The iPad version is only $5 which is a steal. The Switch version matches the cost of the Steam version, coming in at a cool $25 for the base or $35 for the bundle that includes the DLC.
- Darkest Dungeon for iPad, $5
- Darkest Dungeon for Switch, $25
- Darkest Dungeon for PC/Mac/Linux via Steam, $25
- Darkest Dungeon for PC/Mac/Linux via GoG, $25
Great! Now when my son makes his bed he can play Mario Kart, and when he forgets I can make him play Darkest Dungeon. Life is so much happier when we do what daddy asks…
So, I purchased the Switch bundle. I now have this on the Mac (which I rarely, if ever, play games on now) and the iPad too. The iPad version is just a bit too difficult to control.
The Switch one has super tiny writing, and an interface that might not make me do daft things while trying to find out what my options are. I have a long flight coming up, so I can attempt to make progress then. If not, there’s always Civ VI on the ipad!
PSA. You can press the joysticks to activate things. This is so totally opaque to someone not versed in controller lore that it never occurred to me to try. So I had great difficulty doing anything!
Yeah, I was worried about text size on Switch. apparently the designers are beholders or something? I found it unplayable on iPad for that reason and that’s a much larger screen.
Am I a terrible person for playing this on be easiest setting? I like so many of the mechanics of the game but it just gets too oppressive for me.
Actually, I think the “easier” setting is by far a better game. It offers nearly the same challenge, but cuts down massively on the grind.
I agree with Bullwinkle. I only play on the Radiant setting. It still isn’t very easy.