And if you do manage to make it to the end, as I somehow did, with a low level party, you’ll be rewarded with a surprise boss encounter. It’s around double the size of those other dungeons and bloated with dangerous curios that’ll make your party stressed and bleeding. On the selection screen it’s described as ‘short’ and for a level 1 party – the same sort of mission you’ll probably have done a couple of times already. The first mission seems innocuous initially. The Crimson Court is far more deserving of that label, and it has bugger all to do with RNG. But there’s always the hope that good fortune is just around the corner. When things are going badly, it’s easy to forget those moments when the game favoured you.

And that’s when everything fell apart.ĭarkest Dungeon’s reliance on RNG sometimes gets it labelled as unfair. Naturally, I headed straight to the Courtyard. Immediately, all the new stuff rises to the surface. If you want to feel safe again, you have to go to the new part of the dungeon and murder – or be murdered – by its hideous denizens. It’s a smart way to get everyone experiencing the DLC right off the bat. In hardly any time at all, The Crimson Court sets fire to that safety net and sense of self-determination.Īt first, I welcomed this new layer of tension. It’s the one place there’s almost never any pressure. And from there, you’re free to go anywhere in the eponymous dungeon. Prior to the expansion, Hamlet is a sanctuary. This represents a dramatic shift in Darkest Dungeon’s philosophy. That can be a bit troublesome.Ĭonveniently, a solution is immediately introduced: head into a new area, the Courtyard, and deal with the source of these blood-hungry pests.

See, these horrible beasties are such a menace that stress-reducing activities like praying or snuggling up to a new friend in the brothel lose their effectiveness. Nasty buzzing insects appear in Hamlet, the game’s safe haven, unveiling the expansion’s first wrinkle. That’s when the DLC first rears its head.

My ill-fated first attempt to tackle The Crimson Court started going downhill during week three of the campaign. What was already an extremely challenging game has become considerably harsher and unyielding, so much so that even gluttons for punishment may balk at the prospect of fighting the new vampiric menace. Every layer of the tactical RPG is now laced with poison and jam-packed with barbs that pierce and tear with every bite. The Crimson Court has transformed Darkest Dungeon into a turducken of cruelty.

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