Dark Devotion is a Metroidvania style game that has plenty of RPG elements and rouge-like ones too sprinkled all over it. If you are a fan of 2D sprite-based games in this genre, Dark Devotion is made for you.
How to Download Dark Devotion
You can download Dark Devotion both from Steam and from GOG. To begin, click on the button below the review. And if you like old-school looking RPGs, check out also our reviews of Low Magic Age and Pathway.
The Game Review
I want to start this review by stating that I really like what Dark Devotion is going for. The game has a really dark and moody style to it and I think that the story if I could properly get into it, would be great. Basically, you are a templar who sets out to prove your faith by exploring a dark, mysterious temple that is filled with evil creatures and bosses.
The story has a very cryptic feel to it and even when you find letters and other things that flesh out the story. You never feel like you are any closer to really knowing what the heck is going on and what the deal with the religion your character follows is. Still, there is something “engaging” about this story and it did make me want to know more. I just wish it was easy to follow.
Dark Devotion is a rather large game. There are multiple areas for you to explore and there is a fair bit of diversity to the different main areas. You will be exploring this temple, coming across chests, enemies, loot, weapons, alters and much more and the game never really holds your hand through any of this.
Your faith plays a big part in the game and you use this when you get to alters. Think of it as kind of like XP or currency that is going to let you progress through the game. Speaking of progressing through the game, Dark Devotion is not an easy game and it certainly takes a while to find your stride.
It has roguelike elements where you lose what you have collected when you die in terms of weapons and consumables. Some items though and weapons are safe and you can equip them. I wish it gave me a little more indication of what I was going to lose and what I was not. As a result of this, I encourage you to never save your items for too long and use them when you want.
You have plenty of equipment and weapons to collect in the game and these can be upgraded. I actually really like the different weapons in the game as I feel that a ton of work went into making each weapon not just have different strengths and weaknesses like you would expect. Each weapon has a distinct feel to it and this is something that I think is really awesome.
The combat in Dark Devotion is great. If you try and play this game like a hack and slash (like I did at first) style game, you will get your butt handed to you. There is some real strategy when facing the very diverse enemies in this game. The AI is quite smart and is not scared to change tactics on you and forced to rethink your strategy.
Boss fights are the major highlight of the combat for me. Dark Devotion has some awesome boss battles and these are always a challenge. It is not just the battles themselves that I enjoy, the boss designs are also fantastic. These are much larger and more detailed sprites and they look great, Hezek being a favorite of mine.
The presentation is great and if you are a fan of sprites in your games, you will love this! The different characters you come across all look amazing and as I said so do the bosses. The levels look great too which is good as there is a fair bit of backtracking when you die. I do wish that some areas were lit up a bit more as some are way too dark.
I think that Dark Devotion is a very interesting game and well worth playing if Metroidvania style games are your cup of tea. It is not a perfect game and I do feel that it could do with just that little bit more in terms of explaining things to the player and maybe even toning down the difficulty. Still, Dark Devotion is a very easy game to recommend playing through.
