Review By: Duke_Ryle
Posted: 11/28/2024

When you boot up the loading screen the game hits you with this message:  

Boy do they mean it.  Darkwood is a pretty obtuse game and the developers intend for you to figure this shit out for yourself.  This approach isn't for everyone but I appreciated it once I started to get the hang of it.  That's probably why about 80% of the people obtain the trophy for completing the prologue but every other trophy is lower than 20% rarity and most less than 10%.  There was definitely a moment I wondered what the hell I got myself into.  But after a couple of days I started to get the hang of the game and I really started to appreciate this approach from the developers.  I'm glad I stuck with it.  I found the gameplay loop quite addicting after a while.  

The gameplay revolves around surviving a day/night cycle.  During the day you scavenge for supplies in order to craft things for survival, continuously working towards getting better equipment, while at night you fortify your base, set traps, barricade entry ways, etc, to protect against the creatures of the woods that come for you.  All with the goal of eventually trying to escape this prison-like forest.  The beginning of the game is quite tough.  You're given almost nothing and any combat encounter can pretty much kill you.  Nothing is guaranteed.  I died the first night because I was couldn't find wood to fortify my dwelling after spending the whole day exploring.  This is a game that relishes in making the player feel as uncomfortable as possible, both atmospherically and gameplay wise and does a good job of it.  Every time you feel like you are getting some type of groove the game throws you for a loop, stops your progress or forces you to focus on something else in order to survive.  It's two steps forward, one step back as you try to progress.  

The story is mostly told through the environment, conversations with NPC, side quests (where NPCs give you very little information, again figure this shit out for yourself) and documents you find while scavenging.  The more time you take with the game the more you are rewarded in terms of story, but time is your enemy.  There are only so many resources in the game, and the nights can be brutal.  If you take too much time it can cost you dearly.  It's a give and take, you want to know more but you also want to work quickly so you won't get caught in a bad situation.  

Overall I really enjoyed this game and I'm glad I played it.