Flow is a state reached when a player's experience balances perfectly between challenge and time. Darkest Dungeon definitely achieves flow but it has a very, very steep difficulty curve. The game is a turn based roguelike RPG (role playing game) that's enjoyment derives from a mix of collection, narrative, and self improvement. It caters to a specific audience, so flow can be achieved for people who enjoy those types of "fun", but it's not quite as likable for those who are less into these kinds of games. Darkest Dungeon utilizes exacerbated victories and failures. Every minor loss the player takes feels devastating, making every victory feel extra special. The tutorial to hard missions are pretty par for the course. Boss hunting takes place when you're very comfortable with the game play of the game and you want high level items or achievements. "Wolves at the Door" is an event programmed to happen when the player is doing really well and has completed most of the boss fights. It's very difficult and also incredibly high stakes since losing will lead to a major setback in your leveling. The Darkest Dungeon (the levels within the game, not the overall game) is where the final levels take place, making them super difficult. Almost all mechanics introduced throughout the game make a comeback in one way or another along with levels that are specially designed to stop the player from cheating the system. "Telltale Heart" is the final level of the entire game, a multistage boss fight that not only utilizes every mechanic that's been introduced but also introduces its own mechanic in the later stages. The DLC (downloadable content) was developed way after the game was released and was made with super experienced players in mind. As such, they are incredibly difficult and introduce game changing mechanics that even some veteran players aren't really a fan of. Finally, Darkest Dungeon has a thriving mod community. Mods can be anything: beautifully crafted level packs, enemies, reworks, classes, etc. Of course, these user created elements are, for the most part, completely unbalanced, making the game a total cakewalk. There's even mods that intentionally tilt the scales in your favor, which I definitely did not download after dying to the Darkest Dungeon levels for the 61st time.
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Needless to say, the first project we were given in Game Design was a disaster for me. Mr. B said to make a post after every major project, but what is there to say? I'm incredibly disappointed in myself. I want to be a game designer more than anything, but I do these quizzes and projects pretty poorly apparently, even to the point where he says "you? game designer?" Is it really that bad? Am I really that disillusioned? I just can't do anything right. I even take time out of my extracurricular schedule to study game design and process, but I guess I'm "learning" nothing from it. Is there something wrong with me? Does information just go in one ear and out the other? I don't understand, why can't I ever do well in this class?
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Cole ThomasInto video games and the likes. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools. Archives
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