Darkway: Murder of King Mere

A very enjoyable game! I would highly recommend playing in one sitting if able the first time around. It is easy to forget some of the details if you stop midway through. All of the characters are very charming and I love the music! The only issue I had with the game was locating some of the key objects. I would visit areas again and again and just sprint right by what I needed to pick up/interact with.

Do you like animals, mystery, intimate open worlds, and a game built by a developer who clearly cares about the player experience of their game just as much as they do about building an immersive and diverse world? Then this is the game for you. Instead of buying a coffee or whatever you were going to buy for almost no money, today, buy this game. It is well written and actually makes you feel as though you are a detective solving a mystery, without being so impossible to deduce it drives you crazy. Between the world-building lore, decisions actually mattering, and the potential growth for the main character, I am eager to see anything else in the Darkway Universe and any other projects from this dev! It is a must get. 100/100 -ExZacklyGaming

Really cool game ! Not perfect (reaching this crow nest was a bit annoying, jumping is not precise and I kept on falling), but unique. The lore, the atmosphere, the characters were really interesting. A hiddent gem !

I am somewhat mixed, but definitely leaning towards positive in my experience with it. The style and overall visual side of the game is brilliant (if you're getting very low frames, add -dx11 as a start up command in steam, this fixed it for me and seems to be somewhat common) and is mainly what drew me to give it a try. The story is also intriguing and the free form way in which the investigation works is great, because it made me focus on the actual dialogues and in particular little tidbits that could become a hint later (like one character suggesting that all dogs that were in the army are trained to use crossbows, when talking about a certain conspiracy a character does not divulge much information about the third member, but refers to them as "she", and others examples). I was really enjoying the game (with an exception for the 2 fetch quests, I spent about an hour running around looking for the white stones haha) up until the last hour or so when I ran out of quests to follow but also things I found and thought to be crucial leads did not seem to lead me as close to the solution as I was hoping. My final hour of gameplay consisted of just running around the map spamming through all dialogue options in hopes of finding something I missed, but I ended up (shamefully!) having to look up a video to see who was the culprit. I hope it was just me who struggled with the end bit, as the crux of my experience was very enjoyable, I really do think this is a banger. TLDR: Great game, first 90% was fun, suddenly hit a wall at the end, would cautiously recommend.

This game bleeds passion. It is not polished, it is not perfect, and for that reason, I have thought more about this game than any other I've played this year. I can almost feel the determination of its creator through the screen -- it is quite inspiring. The voices seem to be performed by largely inexperienced individuals, which at times contributes to the indie charm, and at other times, can be a little distracting. Similarly, I found the movement system to be occasionally janky, but rewarding, if sometimes a little irritating. Some objects ([spoiler]particularly the white rocks[/spoiler]) were frustrating for me to find. I think some parts of the environment could be fleshed out a bit more, like the frozen lake and nature surrounding Ink. I played the entire game with the controller, but needed to use a mouse due to some UI bugs occasionally. I found the conversation UI to be a little basic, and I think some deeper thought could've resulted in something a little more engaging (for example, I found the "favor" option meaning asking if someone needed a favor accomplished, or helping to accomplish a favor, a little unintuitive.) The aesthetics are wonderful, well-shaded, and clearly reflect a powerful art direction. I quite enjoy the world building, and would be disappointed if I didn't get to explore this world in more detail in the future. I will be closely following Papke's work, and will instantly buy any future work. Excellent job!

MOKM is a great murder mystery mixed with some creative open-world exploring and even a little good ol' fashioned platforming. The visuals make it all worthwhile, and the game never gets boring to look at. It nails the retro feel right on the head without compromising any detail. The worldbuilding is rich and compelling, so I can't wait to see what other stories take place in the world of Darkway.

:)

An amazing adventure, worth every cent! I loved every second I spent with this game, the atmosphere, the way my choices mattered, the INCREDIBLE voice acting, everything! The world MOKM is set in is so intricate and has so many nooks and crannies to explore, I would absolutely love a game made by Ekpap again set in this same world! I honestly cannot recommend this game enough!