
Then again, maybe the tentacle already is part of a much larger, stranger creature, and it does just "bud" these into shamblers to spread itself around.īoth the Shambler and this big nerd are encounterable throughout the game, and they're both tough as hell. I'm left wishing, like so many Pokemon, that the "juvenile" and "adult" stages of this monster had been reversed I could see the mobile shambler up there being the immature form of a huge, tunneling worm-tree closer in anatomy to this mere "tentacle." Anything with a 360 degree ring of bulbous eyeballs is always gonna be a hit, and I really like the stumpy, tubular mouths sprouting like little arms from its stalklike body. A little baby Shambler, on the other hand, has an instantly fun and endearing design. For the most part, though, this is a design I feel like I've seen too many times before. Out of everything in Darkest Dungeon, it comes closest to what I just said about off-brand Cthulhus, but a multi-eyed tentacle beast is kind of obligatory in a setting like this, and I guess I like how it gives off a baboon-like or even boar-like vibe. We'll get this one out of the way first, despite the fact that it's sort of a mini-boss and one of the game's most difficult enemies. So what are those fun twists? What lies in store for our hapless party if not the off-brand Cthulhus of so many other stories? Let's check that out! Almost all of it, even! Which isn't a setup that usually grabs me all that easily anymore, but between its 90's comic-book art style and some uniquely fun twists on those tropes, Darkest Dungeon would totally qualify for my official seal of approval if that were either something I actually had or something that would ever have any value to anybody else. Along the way, you'll unravel the history of your ancestor's many dark obsessions and hideous experiments, piecing together a horror epic unapologetically borrowing all the trademark tropes we associate with "Lovecraftian" fiction. Released back in January 2016, Darkest Dungeon lives up to its name with positively merciless gameplay, inflicting your four heroes with madness and disease at every turn as you trudge your way to the titular Darkest Dungeon itself, miles beneath your family manor.


The Best Darkest Dungeon Monsters, Part I
