DarkEnd – Review
Do you miss those old-school games from back in the good old days? Than you might want to try out DarkEnd, an old-school 2D RPG by Kosdots. Slaying enemies with magic, a sword or a crossbow, the choice is all yours in DarkEnd.
Story
The story of DarkEnd starts with a tale of the Magus King. He was a great man with extraordinary magic powers, however the Magus King hungered for more power and searched for the power to rival those of Gods. This power is called the primordial darkness, the tool of creation. With the Magus King mind corrupted, he unleashed the horror that would cast the very doom of all living things, the DarkEnd. The age of Darkening corrupted the land and twisted both mind and soul of all living things, all hope was lost until a brave soul appeared into the darkness and defeated the Magus King and saved the world. After this there was a long time of peace, however, men are creatures that never learn, and thus a new darkness slowly approaches. It will be your job to defeat this darkness.
In DarkEnd you’ll be following the tale of 1 hero you have to pick at the beginning of the game. In the beginning you’ll know practically nothing about your hero, but as you progress through the game you’ll be able to see the memories of your chosen hero. Each character has a very different storyline so you’ll be able to play the game 4 times in a row and still be able to follow a different storyline. Each storyline as exciting and fluid as the previous.
Graphics
DarkEnd is a 2D RPG developed by Kosdots Games and published by KISS ltd. DarkEnd is your classic old-school game which means that it has your classic old-school graphics and elements. There also isn’t that much change in the environment, while playing the game you’ll see that a lot of the places that you go look a lot the same.
Like every game, DarkEnd also has cut scenes, and these look very basic. Also the game has a very small resolution even though the game has a RPG Maker Engine. DarkEnd has some anime features in the cut scenes but as I said, they look very basic.
Sound
In DarkEnd you’ll hear no dialogue whatsoever, the only thing that you will be hearing is the background music. The game features several very catchy songs which will keep pondering in your head during the game. It really creates a perfect atmosphere depending on where you are playing. The music that is playing when you are in shops is very jolly, but when you are in combat the music gets faster which gets you more excited to defeat the enemy.
Gameplay
At the start of the game, you’ll be able to pick 4 different classes. When you have decided upon which 2 characters you want to start your journey with, the story will start to unfold. You’ll have the choice between 4 different characters, each being a different class.
You have the choice between a Necromagus, a witch with the power to use dark magic.
A Primagus, also a witch but with the power to control the elements.
Third you have a Blood Hunter, which uses a crossbow as a weapon.
Last but not least you can pick the Knight Templar, a seasoned knight with strong melee skills. The game also offers you a variety in difficulty levels to make sure that all players have a fun time playing the game.
Every character also has a unique skill tree. Each time that you level up you will get a skill point which can be used to either learn a new skill or to upgrade one of your current skills. You’ll have the choice between lots of different skills, both passive and active ones.
On your way to the ‘DarkEnd’, you must complete individual floors. At the end of each floor you have to go through a portal but you can only do so with a key that you need to find on each floor. These keys can be found in chests or you can get them by defeating the floor boss. After going through 5 floors, you’ll encounter a Dark Crystal, it is your mission to destroy all of those. Sadly destroying them isn’t that easy, before destroying it you’ll have to defeat a boss which is very strong, so make sure to gear up before taking them on.
Each floor contains a certain amount of different enemies, some are more rare than others. The rare monsters will put up more of a fight but you’ll be able to loot very valuable items from them once they’re dead. You shouldn’t underestimate these rare monsters because once you and your party member die, it will be game over and you’ll have to start over from where you saved last time. Every 5 floors you’ll have the opportunity to save your game. At these gates you’ll get the chance to teleport to the start of the frontier to resupply on potions and to buy new armour and weapons.You can either do this by yourself by deciding what armour and weapon is best for your hero, or you can click the auto equip button which equips the most preferable armour and weapons for your hero.
Dying and retrying is how you will defeat all bosses in this game, although it can be sad to lose while you are on a good run, but on the other hand it may encourage you to try it again and not make the same mistakes again.
At the start when you are engaging enemies you’ll get the chance to either stand your ground and fight, or you can choose to flee. If you pick the option to fight, you’ll have a wide range of attacks at your disposal. Each character can attack, defend, use special and magic attacks which consumes MP, Magic Points, which is generated when you attack or when you are attacked. All spells and specials have a cooldown, so make sure that you use them at the correct time because it can make a big difference in winning or losing a fight. Because of this the combat can be quite strategic.
Conclusion
DarkEnd has the potential to be a good indie game, sadly it does not meet all the expectations. The game offers players 4 different stories, tailored to the hero you chose. This means that you can play with the 4 different heroes without having to experience the same story all over again, which is a big plus. Also you can have lots of fun with the skill tree, trying to find out what skills suits your hero best. The combat system is also very smooth. On the other hand it is sad that DarkEnd does not offer that much of extra content. Also the graphics of the cut scenes are a let-down.
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