Dark Scrolls

Dark Scrolls does a good job of balancing the cosy repetitiveness of a roguelike with the challenge inherent to the Soulslike genre. There are so many different ways to play, with six characters unlockable on top of the original three, all with their own unique abilities, movement and attack patterns.For the price, there's very little reason to not give this a shot, especially for those who gravitate towards pixel art or any of the genres encompassed within Dark Scrolls.

While it has plenty of charm and solid fundamentals, the nitty gritty in Dark Scrolls really weighs it down.

#DarkScrolls is pared back and straightforward, but finely crafted.

So: Fun but unbalanced, or unbalanced but fun? I legitimately still cannot decide which part is more meaningful for the Dark Scrolls experience, but I can say this: I did have a good time with the game, and I respect the passion put into the old school vibe. Even the digital game guide filled me with nostalgia!

I really enjoyed my time with Dark Scrolls. If I’m being honest, dear reader, it took a few runs before everything finally clicked, but once it did, I could really see what Doinksoft was going for. In fact, I ended up finding it noticeably easier than Demon Throttle. It’s still a fairly niche game, though, one aimed squarely at players who love the NES era of gaming, and don’t mind a healthy dose of roguelike progression. If that sounds like your kind of thing, the variety between runs does a great job of keeping you coming back for more.

Devolver Digital often publishes experimental and unusual games, and Dark Scrolls certainly qualifies as such. But while playing, I'm reminded time and again of another recent release, Ball x Pit.

Un nuevo experimento de Doinksoft, que como pasa con todos sus juegos, les sale bien. Una oda a los grandes arcades y plataformas de los años 80 y 90 y a su vez, y aunque parezca contradictorio, un soplo de aire fresco al catálogo de este tipo de juegos.

Dark Scrolls is retro for all the right reasons, and very few of the wrong ones, and you’ll get plenty of substance considering its budget price point.

It’s ambitious, stylish and full of promising ideas, yet it never quite finds the balance needed to turn those ideas into consistently enjoyable gameplay. And sometimes expectations are unfair, but this time, I don’t think they were. Dark Scrolls looked like the kind of game I’d happily lose dozens of hours to. Instead, it became a game I admired far more than I enjoyed, and somehow, that’s the greatest disappointment of all.

Unfortunately, Dark Scrolls fails to live up to its immense potential, delivering an adventure that lacks polish in crucial areas and suffers heavily from repetition. Players with friends willing to embark on a new 8-bit-style adventure might find some enjoyment in doinksoft’s latest title, but for everyone else, there are more consistent and entertaining alternatives available on the Nintendo console.