Dark Deity

Last updated
Dark Deity
Dark Deity cover.jpeg
Developer(s) Sword & Axe LLC
Publisher(s) indie.io
Director(s)
  • Chip Moore
  • Dylan Takeyama
  • Molly Zhang
Artist(s) Jonathan Kinda
Writer(s) Nicholas Solari
Composer(s) Sam Huss
Platform(s)
Release
June 15, 2021
  • Microsoft Windows
  • June 15, 2021
  • Nintendo Switch
  • March 17, 2022
Genre(s) Tactical role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player

Dark Deity is a tactical role-playing video game developed by Sword & Axe LLC and published by indie.io. It was funded by Kickstarter, and released on June 15, 2021, on the Steam platform for Microsoft Windows. It was later released for Nintendo Switch on March 17, 2022. [1] It follows a group of military academy students in a fantasy universe who are suddenly conscripted into the army years prior to their normal graduation due to the onset of war in the kingdom.

Contents

The game garnered positive reviews on PC and mixed reviews on Switch, with reviewers praising its overall gameplay, character artwork, and amount of class choices, but criticizing its map graphics and design, menu layout, performance issues and bugs, while calling its story and similarity to the Fire Emblem series lacking in originality.

Plot

The game starts in the Delian Kingdom, where the ruler, King Varic, has started an ill-prepared war. He forcibly conscripts all the students in the Brookstead Military Academy, even if they are not yet ready to graduate. Four students, Irving, Garrick, Maren, and Alden, are among those recruited, and become embroiled in war, as well as a more shadowy conflict involving nefarious figures searching for ancient magical artifacts known as Eternal Aspects, which also have the gameplay purpose of adding unique modifiers to characters' stats. [2]

Gameplay

The gameplay consists of moving units around on a grid-based battlefield. Characters utilize an "Advantage system" where they all carry four different weapons that target different enemy weaknesses. These weapons can be upgraded using Class Tokens, which is essential for the game. Weapons have 4 tiers that require different rarities of Tokens to upgrade. Upgrading a weapon twice will advance it to the next tier. [3]

The game foregoes the use of permadeath or casual modes as seen in Fire Emblem. When characters are defeated in battle, they remain playable, but gain a permanent wound that costs them a random stat point. This still punishes players permanently for losing a character, but lets players decide to continue fighting if they decide that the tradeoff is worth it. Due to the lower penalty for losing units, the game's difficulty is balanced to be challenging.

Characters can have support conversations that increase their affinity for other characters, with thirty playable characters in total. [2]

Development

The game was first conceptualized by Chip Moore and Dylan Takeyama, who came up with the concept while in college. The developers had the goal to match a retro gameplay style with an updated modern look, scaling down high-resolution character art to lower-resolution sprites. They created the game in GameMaker and launched a successful Kickstarter. It was later surprise-launched on Steam. [3]

Reception

Dark Deity received "generally favorable" reviews for PC according to review aggregator Metacritic, with critics citing its gameplay, art and story; [4] the Nintendo Switch version received "mixed or average" reviews. [5]

Audra Bowling of RPGFan rated the game 91/100 and gave it the Editor's Choice award, comparing it to Fire Emblem but saying that it diverged in key ways, and calling it an enjoyable addition to the strategy RPG genre. She criticized the game's lack of a tutorial and minor technical issues, also calling the story "standard fantasy fare", but saying that it served its purpose and that she enjoyed the game's tongue-in-cheek moments. [2]

Graham Russell of Siliconera rated the game 8/10, calling it a small game that "cuts clear corners", but calling the battle sprites and animations "on-point and nostalgic". [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>Paper Mario</i> (video game) 2000 video game

Paper Mario is a 2000 role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 home video game console. Paper Mario is the first game in the Paper Mario series. First released in Japan in 2000 and then internationally in 2001, Paper Mario was later re-released for Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console in July 2007, the Wii U Virtual Console in April 2015, and the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack on December 10, 2021.

Fire Emblem is a Japanese fantasy tactical role-playing game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. First produced and published for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990, the series currently consists of seventeen core entries and five spinoffs.

<i>Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade</i> 2003 video game

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, also known simply as Fire Emblem, is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance handheld video game console. It is the seventh installment in the Fire Emblem series, the second to be released for the platform after Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, and the first to be localized for international audiences. It was released in Japan and North America in 2003, and in Europe and Australia in 2004.

Tactical role-playing games, also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as simulation RPGs, are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical strategy video games. The formats of tactical RPGs are much like traditional tabletop role-playing games and strategy games in appearance, pacing, and rule structure. Likewise, early tabletop role-playing games are descended from skirmish wargames such as Chainmail, which were primarily concerned with combat.

<i>Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance</i> 2005 video game

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is a 2005 tactical role-playing video game developed by Intelligent Systems and Nintendo SPD, and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the ninth main installment in the Fire Emblem series, and the third to be released in the west. As with previous installments, gameplay revolves around positioning characters on a battlefield to defeat an opposing force. If characters are defeated in battle, they are removed from the rest of the game.

<i>Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning</i> 2012 video game

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is a 2012 action role-playing game developed by Big Huge Games and published by 38 Studios and Electronic Arts for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Reckoning follows the story of the Fateless One, a resurrected person freed from the destiny which binds all of Amalur's people to destruction. Gameplay consists of players exploring the Faelands of Amalur, completing quests and fighting a variety of enemies both in field and dungeon environments. The playstyle is customized through a combination of weapons types, skill trees, and passive enhancements earned through quests and the Destiny character class system.

While the early history and distinctive traits of role-playing video games (RPGs) in East Asia have come from Japan, many video games have also arisen in China, developed in South Korea, and Taiwan.

<i>RWBY: Grimm Eclipse</i> 2016 video game

RWBY: Grimm Eclipse is a four-player co-op hack and slash video game based on the animated web series RWBY. Developed and published by Rooster Teeth Games, it was released as an early access title on Steam on December 1, 2015, with the full Windows release on July 5, 2016. The game was released for macOS on October 13, 2016, and was later released for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on January 17, 2017. The game's Definitive Edition was released for Nintendo Switch on May 13, 2021. The game received mixed reviews from critics, who faulted its gameplay.

<i>Worms W.M.D</i> 2016 video game

Worms W.M.D is a 2D artillery turn-based tactics video game developed and published by Team17. It is the nineteenth installment in the Worms series, and was released on 23 August 2016 for Linux, OS X, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox One. It was later released on 23 November 2017 for Switch, and on 1 July 2022 for Stadia. Its gameplay resembles that of Worms Armageddon more than subsequent installments, while adding new features that range from interactive vehicles such as tanks, to buildings that the worms can enter for protection. It is also notable for being the first major redesign the worm characters have received since Worms 3D.

<i>Octopath Traveler</i> 2018 video game

Octopath Traveler is a role-playing video game developed by Square Enix, in collaboration with Acquire. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch in July 2018, for Windows in June 2019, for Stadia in April 2020, and for Xbox One in March 2021. It received generally favorable reviews, with praise for its presentation, music, and battle system, while its story received more mixed responses. The game had sold over 3 million copies worldwide by September 2022.

<i>Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia</i> 2017 video game for the Nintendo 3DS

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia is a tactical role-playing video game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS in 2017. It is the fifteenth installment in the Fire Emblem series and a remake of the 1992 Famicom game Fire Emblem Gaiden, the second entry in the series. It follows dual protagonists Alm and Celica as they aim to bring an end to the war through opposite methods, with Alm fighting to resolve the war through battle, while Celica attempts to find a peaceful end through guidance from the Goddess Mila. Fire Emblem Echoes carries over the core gameplay mechanics of the Fire Emblem series while incorporating mechanics from Gaiden like dungeon crawling.

<i>Legrand Legacy</i> 2018 role-playing video game

Legrand Legacy: Tale of the Fatebounds is a role-playing video game developed by Semisoft and published by Another Indie. Semisoft describes the game as a "nostalgic love letter to classic JRPGs". The game was released in January 2018 on Microsoft Windows, and was released in 2019 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

<i>Fire Emblem: Three Houses</i> 2019 video game

Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a tactical role-playing video game developed by Intelligent Systems and Koei Tecmo's Kou Shibusawa and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It was released worldwide on July 26, 2019. It is the sixteenth entry in the Fire Emblem series and the first one for home consoles since Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, originally released in 2007.

<i>Torchlight III</i> 2020 video game

Torchlight III is an action role-playing game and the third game in the Torchlight series. It is developed by American studio Echtra Games and published by Perfect World Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in October 2020.

<i>Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth</i> 2021 video game

Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth is a 2021 action role-playing video game developed by Team Ladybug and co-published by Playism and Why so serious? for Microsoft Windows. Versions for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S were also released. It is based on Ryo Mizuno's Record of Lodoss War series, taking place before the events of The Crown of the Covenant. Controlling the high elf Deedlit, who finds herself in a strange interconnected labyrinth filled with her past foes and companions, the game focuses on exploration and searching for items and power-ups in the vein of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, fighting bosses and minibosses. During gameplay, the player also locates two elemental spirits and swaps between each one.

<i>Monark</i> (video game) 2021 video game

Monark is a 2021 Japanese role-playing game developed by Lancarse for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. It was localized and ported to Microsoft Windows by NIS America in February 2022. The game received mixed reviews from critics.

<i>Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes</i> 2022 video game

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is an action role-playing hack and slash video game developed by Omega Force and published by Koei Tecmo in Japan and Nintendo internationally for the Nintendo Switch. Part of the Fire Emblem series created by Intelligent Systems, it is both a spin-off of Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019) and a successor to Fire Emblem Warriors (2017), similarly acting as a crossover between the mechanics of Fire Emblem and the Warriors franchise owned by Koei Tecmo. The game was announced in a Nintendo Direct on February 9, 2022, and was released worldwide on June 24, 2022.

<i>Fire Emblem Engage</i> 2023 video game

Fire Emblem Engage is a tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the seventeenth installment in the Fire Emblem series, and was released worldwide on January 20, 2023. The game follows Alear, a dragon in human form, who awakens from a thousand-year slumber and quickly becomes embroiled in a conflict with the forces of the Fell Dragon Sombron. Alear travels the land of Elyos gaining allies while fighting against the armies of the rival Kingdom of Elusia and Sombron's resurrected undead forces; the player controls and maneuvers Alear's army in these battles. One of the core parts of both the setting and the gameplay are twelve magic rings that contain phantasmal copies of characters from previous Fire Emblem games. Characters wearing these "Emblem Rings" can "Engage" to gain vast power from summoning and merging with these phantoms. Both Alear and Sombron seek to gain control of the rings; possession of all twelve will allow a feat of immense magic to be performed.

<i>Batora: Lost Haven</i> 2022 video game

Batora: Lost Haven is a 2022 video game developed by Stormind Games and published by Team17. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X on 20 October 2022, for Nintendo Switch on 6 April 2023 and for Amazon Luna on 13 April 2023. The game received mixed reviews, with its combat and story being praised by some critics, and called flawed by others.

<i>Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga</i> 2022 video game

Symphony of War: The Nephilim Saga is a tactical role playing video game developed by Dancing Dragon Games and published by indie.io in 2022.

References

  1. ↑ Romano, Sal (August 27, 2021). "Dark Deity coming to Switch in 2022". Gematsu. Archived from the original on August 27, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bowling, Audra (June 15, 2021). "Dark Deity". RPGFan. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Wilson, Jason (June 15, 2021). "Dark Deity is an ambitious strategy-RPG from a rookie team that's out now". VentureBeat . Archived from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Dark Deity for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Dark Deity for Switch Reviews". Metacritic . Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  6. ↑ Gipp, Stuart (March 31, 2022). "Dark Deity Review (Switch eShop)". Nintendo Life . Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  7. ↑ de Freitas, Alex (March 20, 2022). "Dark Deity (Switch) Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ Trumbull, Jack (July 6, 2021). "Dark Deity review – Fire Emblem comes to PC". PCGamesN . Archived from the original on March 18, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  9. ↑ Wachter, Sam (April 11, 2022). "Dark Deity Review". RPGamer. Archived from the original on April 11, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  10. ↑ Tischbein, Cory (March 25, 2022). "Dark Deity". RPGFan. Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  11. ↑ Musgrave, Shaun (March 28, 2022). "SwitchArcade Round-Up: Reviews Featuring 'Rune Factory 5' and 'Dark Deity', Plus Today's Releases and Sales". TouchArcade . Archived from the original on April 1, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  12. ↑ Russell, Graham (June 15, 2021). "Review: Dark Deity Wants to Rekindle Strategy-RPGs' Fire". Siliconera . Archived from the original on April 19, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.