Darkwood

[h1]Darkwood : the "cult classic" with 94% positive reviews...[/h1] [b]"Cult classic" is a term that get thrown around a lot. Every niche community has its "classics" than 90+% of the mass audience haven't played, sometimes even heard of. And most of the time, they're not : for a very specific audience, everything clicks, but for most people, it's okay at best and vastly overrated.[/b] [b]And Darkwood ? Well, this one, I can get behind. For a game made by only a few people, the result is astounding.[/b] The atmosphere is incredible, whether in visuals or sounds. The mood is suffocating, the illustrations are dope, the writing is dope with an intriguing lore that gets better the more you dig in, and there is a constant feeling of unease that I've not encountered much in other video games. Everything is... twisted, for lack of a better world. And both the sound design and music are incredible. In 2026, I don't think there are a lot of horror games that can match this level of atmosphere. So I can understand that 10 years ago, it could gather a fervent fanbase and get enough praise to acquire a cult status for horror enthusiasts. [h1]...where only 9% players got past half game[/h1] Now, I know not everyone finish their games, and a lot of people have a huge backlog of unplayed games. Hence why, according to Steam achievements, only 73% finished the tutorial. But still : only 9% of players reached the second half of the game, and only 5% finished it. And yet, we get 94% positive reviews. Yeah, the maths don't check out. So, how is this possible ? Well that's simple : this is some version of the survivor bias. Pretty much everyone who's part of the demographic for which everything clicks loved it and wrote an enthusiastic review, but the vast majority of players dropped it very quickly, and didn't bother to write a negative review. Which tempers a bit the "classic" and "overwhelmingly positive" part. [b]And it's no big surprise. Because as every indie cult classic, it's not short of problems. I've talked where the game shine. Want to guess why the vast majority of people dropped the game ?[/b] [h1]Okay-ish gameplay that could easily get on your nerves quickly[/h1] [b]Well that's simple : if the gameplay loop doesn't click for you, it's bad.[/b] I've played worse, but it can very quickly become a chore that gets in the way of discovering the next piece of story/lore. For instance, the nights were incredible at first, a truly terrifying experience that very few other games could match. But after a while, it gets tedious, as days are short and you can't do much, and having to survive a whole night just get in the way. Near the late game, I ended up just letting myself get killed at night so I could skip right at the morning and keep progressing. Most of the time, the game design gets in your way, and even if it's by intent, it still is annoying. I can't remember exactly why, but the game dropped off my hands in 2022 after 10 hours. I was close of becoming one of the silent majority that got repelled by the game. I recently gave it another try, and this time it grabbed me. Played the game intensively over a week. Now don't get me wrong : even if this time, I kept playing, it doesn't change the fact that the gameplay is okay-ish at best. I don't know how it could have been improved though, as most (if not all) of the problems come from the game being a top down shooter. Yes, you don't see sh*t, yes that makes combat a pain, but being top down with big pixels is also what makes the atmosphere and terror work. Would it have been an FPS, it would have been a completely different game. [b]But still : melee combat and movement oscillates between not particularly fun (even if it's intentional) and infuriating, and that's what you're doing 80% of the time. That, and inventory management. OCD gang, you will spend too much time in the morning, believe me (the music lives rent free in my head but I don't mind, it's a banger, as every other music from the game).[/b] [h1]Conclusion : still one of the best horror experience out there, but not for everyone[/h1] [b]The game is still one of the best horror experience out there. Writing, atmosphere, visuals, it's mesmerizing and quite unique (although you can see the inspirations, but well, everyone has some). But bear in mind it's completely different from the mainstream horror games out there such as Amnesia, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Dead Space or whatever.[/b] This is an indie top down "shooter" with a bit of ressource management, and heavy emphasis on atmosphere and cryptic story/lore. There is a chance the gameplay might feel like a chore to you, and I honestly can't blame you. But even if the gameplay loop isn't your cup of tea, at some point you get powerful enough and you can just focus on progressing the game. And as it keeps rewarding you with lore and story bits, surreal sh*t, weird locations and characters, all kind of stuff that tingles your curiosity and imagination, at no point the game becomes a slog apart from its repetitive gameplay. No sluggish part like the infamous "sewers level" every old school horror game had. You enjoy what makes Darkwood, Darkwood ? Well, rest assured, little piggy : it will feed you constantly until the end. [h1]Notes and advices for newcomers and the undecided[/h1] [b]If you are afraid the game could be too hard/unforgiving for you, here are my advices (without spoilers) so you can give the game a try :[/b] [b]- Play on normal difficulty.[/b] Permadeath (you're limited to 5 lives in hard, 1 in nightmare) can be a bit infuriating with that kind of gameplay, especially if you dislike it [b]- You can't softlock your game because of a bad start.[/b] If you want to start from scratch after a few days because you now get the game and would prefer a fresh start, you can, but it's not a game where you have to survive increasingly harder waves of enemies and a bad start can snowball into an unsalvageable mess. So, you can take as much time as you want. It took me 32 days to 100% complete the game and leave no stone unturned, which took me 30 hours (probably including a few hours of alt-tabbing the wiki). [b]- If you're like me and take the time to explore thoroughly and cautiously, one bit at a time, and have the "survival horror syndrome" (keep every ressources/ammo/health "just in case for the last boss"), you will be drowning in ressources.[/b] Almost literally. I finished the game with way too much of everything and 10k reputation with the trader. The beginning is very scarce and hard, but don't panic because you wasted something or feel like you'll run out of a ressource and have ruined your game. I played like this at the beginning, ALT+F4'ing the game when I was dying or made a stupid decision before it could auto-save. Considering how my late game turned out, it was (a bit) overkill. [b]Play like it's the end of the world and every nail matter, but don't overthink either : you will see the end of the game, even if you feel like you play terribly.[/b] [b]- You'll probably want to check the wiki for a lot of things. I suggest that you don't, as there are spoilers on pretty much every page.[/b] Even checking how much is worth an item, or the recipe to craft a gun, can give you too much info. Same for quests. Especially for quests. Keep playing and try to figure out by yourself, or message me if you feel like you're stuck. But I repeat, you can't screw your save, and you will see the end of the game. [b]- You can't see 100% of the game in one playthrough. So I'll say it one last time : don't overthink, don't check the wiki, you WILL miss some stuff but you CAN'T screw your game, and you WILL see the ending credits. The game is stressful enough, don't add up the FOMO. I did. I don't regret it as I love reading wiki pages, but you don't have to for a first playthrough.[/b]