"You are playing a challenging and unforgiving game, You will not be led by the hand. Respect the woods. Be patient. Focus"
The journey into Darkwood starts with these simple words on a loading screen, oh how true they are.

Darkwood is a lovecraftian survival horror game with some action RPG elements and interactive storytelling. But does not cheat fear out of you with jump scares (aside from some literal traps), no it uses amazing atmosphere, lighting and sound design combined with your characters limited vision cone, map location knowledge and endurance to create tense, stressful scenarios. Whether you're walking through the woods and hear a twig snap outside of vision while out of breath, or while patrolling your hideout at night you hear a knock on the front door. You soon learn that sounds are extremely important, if anxiety bringing, towards your continued survival.

The gameplay loop generally consists of exploration, clearing an encounter, looting and then returning to a hideout. There you can store/use what you've acquired and prepare for the night, during this inventory management is very important as you need to take enough to deal with encounters but leave enough room to loot. I did find myself doing "loot runs" in some areas to keep stock of important resources but this was rarely required (Once or twice) and more akin to player preference/playstyle (as I was overprepared for most encounters and thus had less space to loot). I found the loop engaging and entertaining as no two encounters are the same and can be dealt with in a variety of ways, although sometimes not obviously at first. And the player is rewarded with better materials and items for completing harder encounters.

The RPG elements include; a "leveling" system with accompanied skills, crafting/weapon tiers, consumable based buffs and immersive NPC's. The "leveling" system assists with world building and story telling quite naturally through associated dreams and Negative and Positive Skills, while not feeling intrusive or pointless. Crafting tiers help the player set smaller goals to improve their situation and keeping the game fresh and exciting. The consumable buffs i found tend to help with faster exploration and movement for a limited time forcing you to make the most of them, this makes travel through previously explored areas much, much more endurable. Finally the NPC's are extremely thought out, some being vendors but each having their own goals, knowledge and personality for the player to uncover.

Using interactive storytelling the player finds out clues and hints to who they are playing as, and what exactly is going on in Darkwood. I believe this only adds to the mystery and excitement from exploration but also adds replay value to the game as it is extremely easy to miss certain hints the first time around and with multiple branching pathways to the end, you are sure to be curious about what you missed out on. I mean i was and at the time of this review I have completed 3 playthroughs almost back to back.

Some negatives include: Some minor bugs (Worst one i experienced was a certain enemies corpse disappearing but it didn't effect the game at all), Sometimes I had to take a break and pause the game as the tension and anxiety built up so much i forgot to breath (Positive and Negative), Crafting/Weapon progression seemed bunched around certain zones rather then being truly gradual progression.

I bought this game on sale but would wholeheartedly recommend it for any psychological/lovecraftian horror fans at full price, on sale it's a steal and you should grab it if it seems like something you'd be even possibly interested in (The game gives you a solid idea of what it will be like within the first two hours).

Acid Wizard has constructed a hidden gem and you can really feel the love, time and energy they put into it. It was honestly a pleasure to play and experience easily my favourite horror game of the past 5-10 years, I will be eagerly awaiting their next release!
9/10 - MORE MORE!

"You are playing a challenging and unforgiving game, You will not be led by the hand. Respect the woods. Be patient. Focus" The journey into Darkwood starts with these simple words on a loading screen, oh how true they are. Darkwood is a lovecraftian survival horror game with some action RPG elements and interactive storytelling. But does not cheat fear out of you with jump scares (aside from some literal traps), no it uses amazing atmosphere, lighting and sound design combined with your characters limited vision cone, map location knowledge and endurance to create tense, stressful scenarios. Whether you're walking through the woods and hear a twig snap outside of vision while out of breath, or while patrolling your hideout at night you hear a knock on the front door. You soon learn that sounds are extremely important, if anxiety bringing, towards your continued survival. The gameplay loop generally consists of exploration, clearing an encounter, looting and then returning to a hideout. There you can store/use what you've acquired and prepare for the night, during this inventory management is very important as you need to take enough to deal with encounters but leave enough room to loot. I did find myself doing "loot runs" in some areas to keep stock of important resources but this was rarely required (Once or twice) and more akin to player preference/playstyle (as I was overprepared for most encounters and thus had less space to loot). I found the loop engaging and entertaining as no two encounters are the same and can be dealt with in a variety of ways, although sometimes not obviously at first. And the player is rewarded with better materials and items for completing harder encounters. The RPG elements include; a "leveling" system with accompanied skills, crafting/weapon tiers, consumable based buffs and immersive NPC's. The "leveling" system assists with world building and story telling quite naturally through associated dreams and Negative and Positive Skills, while not feeling intrusive or pointless. Crafting tiers help the player set smaller goals to improve their situation and keeping the game fresh and exciting. The consumable buffs i found tend to help with faster exploration and movement for a limited time forcing you to make the most of them, this makes travel through previously explored areas much, much more endurable. Finally the NPC's are extremely thought out, some being vendors but each having their own goals, knowledge and personality for the player to uncover. Using interactive storytelling the player finds out clues and hints to who they are playing as, and what exactly is going on in Darkwood. I believe this only adds to the mystery and excitement from exploration but also adds replay value to the game as it is extremely easy to miss certain hints the first time around and with multiple branching pathways to the end, you are sure to be curious about what you missed out on. I mean i was and at the time of this review I have completed 3 playthroughs almost back to back. Some negatives include: Some minor bugs (Worst one i experienced was a certain enemies corpse disappearing but it didn't effect the game at all), Sometimes I had to take a break and pause the game as the tension and anxiety built up so much i forgot to breath (Positive and Negative), Crafting/Weapon progression seemed bunched around certain zones rather then being truly gradual progression. I bought this game on sale but would wholeheartedly recommend it for any psychological/lovecraftian horror fans at full price, on sale it's a steal and you should grab it if it seems like something you'd be even possibly interested in (The game gives you a solid idea of what it will be like within the first two hours). Acid Wizard has constructed a hidden gem and you can really feel the love, time and energy they put into it. It was honestly a pleasure to play and experience easily my favourite horror game of the past 5-10 years, I will be eagerly awaiting their next release! 9/10 - MORE MORE!