We'll done devs for making a great game and being responsive in the forums. A couple of early thoughts. At the moment Darkin doesn't quite have the Must... Play.. One... More.. Time... quality that I was hoping for, for me at least. I'm playing on Torture cos I found Normal a bit slow. DR had a audio heartbeat mechanism when health was low, which really helped drive up the tension. Obviously you can't use heartbeat with your theme! But danger cues need to be stronger; I keep dying with health in hand. The four-in-a-row mechanism for Templar appears almost useless at the moment; this game appears to match DR in that minimising number of turns is critical, so generally speaking picking up really long runs is better. But adding a 2x into that mix might change that. There is something a bit clunky about the backtracking mechanism -- I'm not sure exactly what. More when I've played more.
This may not be a kind of glitch, but Templar's ability works a bit weirdly. Though every tile's effect is doubled when 4 or more tiles are linked in a straight line, it gets to be inactive when linked to additional tiles together. Don't you think the bonus should be kept if once made a straight line?
I have mixed feelings about the game. On one hand I want to give kudos to the devs for taking the time to produce a game that finally rivals DR in terms of detail and execution and of course the better GFX and polish. On the other hand just matching or maybe slightly bettering a four year old release seems a little... hollow to me. Maybe I'm being unfair. And as others have noted I'm surprised the beta testing didn't reveal the big loss of game tension as the game will simply end in a very non-dramatic fashion You're happily playing along - yet another boss appears... looking much like the others but you don't realize how much more powerful he is. Then boom... a couple of turns later its over. If there was some ominous screen flashing or a musical tone warning you of your potential destruction you'd get that "sweaty palms" feeling that would inspire you try to salvage the situation. That kind of tension and drama is what makes people want to come back and play it again. Right now it's kinda like... hmmm - it's over? Still an awesome game but I think if this one bit of polish was added it would greatly improve the entire experience.
Maybe a stupid question, but is there something like a story or do I just play against a (my) score? Thanks!
Good game. However, in essence, it's Dungeon Raid with better graphics but less depth. I personally would rather have depth (weapons, equipment and abilities that can be upgraded) over graphics as this brings the character you are playing 'alive'. In the video demo between Touch Arcade and the Developer, the Developer said he wanted to ensure it was accessible to everyone and that your granny could pick up and play. They have successfully done that, albeit by watering down the RPG elements. I would rather have an in depth RPG experience that my 'gran' can't play - like Dungeon Raid. I would recommend Dungeon Raid over this.
The devs are hoping to add more stuff if the game sells well. Not sure what it'll entail exactly, but they said they have ideas. Remember, Dungeon Raid wasn't all it is now when it was first released.
I agree with Hard Squirrel. This is an excellent game which is quite well put together, but it is entirely derivative of Dungeon Raid and seems to lack some of the spark of the original for me. Some of the pre-release hype posted in this thread seems over the top. Regardless, I would strongly recommend this game.
As I stated before, never played Dungeon Raid. So...as someone "fresh on the scene" I think this game certainly has that "just once more" appeal, I love all the power-ups/special abilities, and the different game modes are awesome. Also, I should add the GC integration is excellent. For three bucks I'm extremely pleased. Richard
I particularly miss the character customization that came from combining class, race, and tweaking the list of abilities that show up in game. Selecting clan and a starting ability is not even close in terms of player control and strategic depth. But... ...much like you, I'd recommend this to almost anyone who likes puzzle RPGs. If you belong to that (surprisingly huge crowd), the only reason not to play Darkin would be if you haven't already exhausted Dungeon Raid. But Dungeon Raid first, regardless.
Hey! Why are none of you guys playing the torture difficulty? Well on my friends list I only see me and 1 other person. Looks like most are playing on normal. I like the torture difficulty because on a 15 min break it seems just about right
Thank you everyone for all of the feedback we've been getting on here, through PMs and via email. We are listening to it all and have been thinking about what we can do to try and please everyone without upsetting the ones who are enjoying Darkin as it currently is. We've been working non-stop on implementing as much as we can since the game was released yesterday and will be submitting version 1.01 to Apple within the next 24 hours. It won't have everything just yet, but, rest assured, over the coming weeks we'll be working on all of the topics addressed thus far. We are only a 2 man team working on a $0 budget, so we would like to ask that you all be ever so slightly patient with us =). The overwhelming amount of positive comments that we've received through every method possible has blown us away. We could have never expected this kind of reception and we're so very grateful to everyone that has supported us. Darkin has a lot left to give, this was only the beginning Keep the feedback and comments coming and we'll keep trying to keep up with them through updates!
I'm glad the game is doing great and getting such a good response and I do hope everyone remembers Dungeon Raid didn't have most of its features at release or for quite a while after that. If that game gets as much love through updates as Dungeon Raid it could become one of my top iOS games not just match 3 iOS games.
Same here (I think I'm that 1 other person ) it's certainly my favorite way to play. I love all the attention to detail and little surprises that the devs have included. Darkin is officially my #1 played game, atm
This ^^^^^^^ makes me feel all warm and cozy as an early adopter and I can't wait to see what the future holds not just with Darkin but with other Ten Foiled Hat projects. Loyal supporter here
