DARKWST DUNGEON IS NOT A DUNGEON COMBAT GAME, it is a MANAGEMENT game. (Skip to the end if you want tl;dr)

I noticed a lot of reviews citing the game as ‘too hard’ or ‘all about rng’ and I can tell you exactly why: those players were expecting a generic dungeon crawler where you can kerbstomp every boss with high level and super gear, and the managerial risk mitigation required in Darkest Dungeon (DD) is foreign and alien to them.

All the RPG nowadays features the player as this, omnipotent chosen one who is out to save the world single handly, DD subverts that 100%. Your team sports heros with mortal characteristics of strength and weakness, vices and fears that is nothing like the “chosen one out to save the world”.

That is fine, we have seen that in lores before but here is the kicker - You got to manage those flaws in DD! In fact, if you have worked in a corporate environment DD will be a piece of cake for you, since it is all about risk assessment and human resource (HR) management.

What about the rng?

Let's cover the risk assessment: to put it simply, you look at the LIKELIHOOD (rng) and CONSEQUENCE of a RISK to get a risk score, and you assign CONTROLS to reduce the two aforementioned factors.

Say if my vestel is highly prone to stress in dark due to quirks, we have “RISK” of her getting psyched out and become incapable to heal. The “CONSEQUENCE” of that would be wiping and losing the juicy trinkets your squad has (catastrophic) and the chance of me having no torch may occur in long dungeons (possible).

So now, the typical gamers have two response : Vestel heal is weak, or negative quirks are too strong. They look at problems NOT solutions.

To a thinking gamer, a CONTROL will be applied.
I can reduce the likelihood (rng) by
-Curing the quirk (if time permits)
-Bring more torches
-Have a man of arms to guard her
-Have ranged damage that can wipe out stressors on round 1, IE dogs and highwayman

To reduce the consequence by
-Strict retreat protocol- if the healer is not coping, escape combat
-Have a crusader that can reduce stress
-Have stress reduction camping skills
-Have self heal on dps to reduce healer workload

Now we have applied control, we have reduced the likelihood (rng) of healer getting psyched out from possible to unlikely level. And even if the healer does get psyched out we have controls to reduce the consequences from catastrophic to minor (if they retreat they go to town have a break no biggie).

It is understandable that risk management skill do not exist in the immature adults or children who have been fed with hero complex and unable to accept compromise, it is easier to just blame it on rng.

While the game does have certain shortfalls like slow combat animation, overall it has pioneered a new type of dungeon crawler that's a fresh breeze compared to the old and outdated ‘grind to max level and save the world’ model.

In Conclusion:
Not saying you have to like the game or agree to the review, but this is just not the typical game where god gear will win you 100% of the games, and if challenging games isn't your thing, you may need to reconsider purchasing it. However if you do enjoy real challenges like me, you are in for helluva treat!