Recent reviews by ReZer

After completing the base game, I was kinda tempted to give it a negative review. It's good contentwise, but it was waaay too short (I needed around 1.5 hrs) for a game priced at almost 17 €. Yet, I decided to wait for the DLCs, which probably was the right choice. The two DLCs are free and extend the experience by around one hour each. Right now I'm at 3.6 hrs and I am probably going to play it again at some point since I apparently missed most of the secrets. DLCs included, I think DARQ is still pretty expensive, but the price is at least kind of acceptable now.

It's also worth mentioning that DARQ was developed by a solo dev over multiple years. Because of this, it has some rough edges. But this is still a huge achievement for the first game by a single man, who still had to learn a lot about game development on the way.

DARQs visuals are very good, although some animations can look a little weird or awkward at times. Sound design builds a great and spooky atmosphere. There are some jumpscares and they make the game less predictable - which helps to build that scary atmosphere. DARQs puzzles are unfortunately somewhat of a mixed bag designwise. Some are way too easy and others will fry your brain, and then there are some that are generally easy, but will take forever to execute. However, what the puzzles lack in design consistency, they make up for in creative and experimental ideas (so I did actually enjoy puzzles overall). I luckily didn't encounter any bugs - but other players apparently have.

Overall, DARQ is a solid puzzle and horror game, which is definitely worth experiencing. Imo, the game is a bit too short ( ~4 hrs) for full price so I'd recommend to get it on sale. I'd rate the content 8/10, but due to its shortness (or unfitting price tag) I'm lowering it to...

-> 7.5/10