Disclaimer

I was sent a free copy of Dark Quest 4 to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. Make sure you check out the free ways you can support me, like using my Amazon affiliate link before you buy anything. It really helps me out if you do. You can also always buy me coffee! Don’t forget to share this with your friends!

Shameless Self Promotion

If you’re looking for a way to upgrade your aesthetic, check out my latest reviews for the Epomaker HE68 Mag or the KiiBoom Moonshadow V2. Check out my latest review of the Fifine M9 Microphone System and the Kiwi Ears Aventus Wireless Headset.

Table of Contents

What is Dark Quest 4?

Dark Quest 4 is a 2.5D turn-based dungeon crawler out now on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation.

Hook

Humanity is under attack. The evil Gulak sends his legions of monsters to terrorize villagers in his conquest to conquer humanity for the sorcerer. It is up to you to put an end to this reign of terror. Gather your team from ten powerful heroes and pit them against endless waves of minions. With an adventure spanning over thirty quests, an lots of treasure to be found, the sorcerer will definitely keep you busy. Do you have what it takes to end this reign of terror?

Gamplay Loop

Dark Quest 4 is a turn-based dungeon crawler. Players start their runs in town where they can choose their three man party of adventurers to send out on quests. Town is also where players can buy upgrades for their party. Then the party is ready, they are sent on a quest where they explore a dungeon, and kill anything that comes their way.

Exploration

Players start with a small portion of a dungeon visable. Exploring the dungeon opens more of the map, but players need to be mindful of traps and enemy encounters. There are certain heroes with stats that make them good at disarming traps, so make sure you keep at least one for each delve. When a hero enters the line of sight of an enemy, the party enters combat phase.

Combat

Once in combat, the computer rolls initiative for all characters. Initiative and health is visible to help players plan their moves strategically. Heroes can only perform one action per turn. They can move, attack, use an ability or item. This makes for fast encounters with a very tight action economy, but enough room for strategy to be engaging. Team composition, rest bonuses, and potions can mean the difference between failing or completing a quest.

Quests

The game is split into 30 unique quests with interesting flavor. It is very reminiscent of table top rpgs, and a very interesting way of handling the genre. From clearing a zombie infestation to a challenging jailbreak, the game offers enough variety to make the grind feel negligible.

RNG

Players will need to roll for actions like receiving loot or disarming traps. Chests can be empty, and disarming a trap can fail. Dark Quest 4 offers a unique gamble through their magic skull mechanic. Occasionally, a hero will have to encounter the magic skull who either gives or takes away health. This can easily end a run, and I have mixed feelings on whether it makes the game exciting.

Review

If you like table top RPGs or are a fan of HeroScape, you need to pick up a copy Dark Quest 4. The game has fantastic art work, the story is silly, and the game is a lot of fun.

Art

Dark Quest 4 may not have flashy animations, but it does enough to tell its story. The cartoonist dark style is very cool, and fitting for the tone of the narrative. I love the character design. It is a little silly, but is serious enough to make each adventure feel epic. If you are looking for some proper fantasy in your dungeon crawler, Dark Quest 4 does it very well.

Story

The story is a series of quests that lead up to this big encounter. Each quest has a small setup paragraph to help set the tone of the quest. The blurbs are a fun setup to some pretty excellent delves. I haven’t played any of the previous installments, but I did not feel like I needed to. This game feels pretty self contained, but I would appreciated knowing some of the references. I am going to need to find some time to go back! If you lean to the more sillier side of fantasy but still want that strong fantasy flavor, Dark Quest 4 should be in your library.

Gameplay

If you enjoy board games or ttrpgs, you will enjoy Dark Quest 4. The turn based system is very reminiscent of of playing a board game, but you get the added bonus of not having to clean up afterwards. Combat is interesting. As cute as this game looks, combat can be unforgiving. I had to think hard about the buffs I bought, items I used, and how I built my party. I don’t think it ever gets try-hard rts levels of strategy, but there is enough involved where I needed to pay attention. If you’re looking for a strategy game that is accessible enough to play casually while it still makes you think, go get Dark Quest 4.

Does it work on the Steam Deck?

Dark Quest 4 works fine on the Steam Deck, but some of elements are too small. I am old with old eyes, so your mileage will vary. I had trouble reading a lot of the text, and seeing things like turns, abilities, and movement. It was playable, but I preferred giving my old eyes a break and played on my monitor instead.

Conclusion

I loved every minute of Dark Quest 4. The game has a very cool fantasy world with a fun tone and gameplay. If you are looking for a good dungeon crawler to add to your collection, Dark Quest 4 is a unique title that is worth it at full price.

You can pick up on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStationDark Quest 4. If you want to play another fun board game like dungeon crawler, make sure you check out Demeo.