Dark Scrolls

I like this game a whole lot and I am frankly addicted to it. it's playful and irreverent in its presentation, offering a unique twist on classic roguelite upgrade mechanics, plenty of wild and wacky characters to unlock and experiment with, and a gameplay loop that scratches an itch I didn't even know I had. one of my favorite aspects of Dark Scrolls is its art style; each entity is cleverly depicted in their own palette, rather than a single palette being given to the entire screen. the effect of this is each of these elements really standing out from the background, making it easier for the player to identify who's who onscreen and giving the characters a bit of wordless personality. I became infatuated with this game's art the first time I saw a trailer and I got exactly what I was expecting here. while the lack of explanation for pretty much anything might turn away some players, I personally find it extremely endearing and it reminds me of some of my earliest times spent co-op gaming with my brother, questioning everything, trying to figure out a game's secrets, and experiencing the pure joy of the moment when something finally "clicks." reading some of the reviews for this game since it released, this feels like one of those moments where the developer (doinksoft) just made something they [i] wanted [/i] to make, and a lot of people simply did not connect with it for one reason or the other. I am not one of those people. Dark Scrolls cleanly achieves a wonderful balance of jank and polish, pays homage to its predecessors in its own way, and will delight those with tempered expectations. I love romping through this zany little world over and over with my duo. ♥♥♥♥ YOU GOBBIN YOU CHUD

Pros - Fun, bouncy, poppy. Running around and fighting enemies has so many beeps and pops that it feels like a constant flow of dopamine. - Mechanics are solid. Everything feels chaotic and hard to manage, but the fun is managing all that chaos. Cons - Can't save in the middle of a run, so if gets long or you need a break, too bad, start from scratch - Very loud beeps during dialog, scrape my ears

In the beginning I felt like this was a good idea. I like the idea of an auto-scrolling fantasy platform adventure with a roguelite/roguelike element to it. However, in practice, "Dark Scrolls" isn't as enjoyable as I thought it would be - at least, in its current form. WHAT I LIKE: > Aesthetics-wise, it looks alright. It's like someone took "Super Mario Maker" and overlayed a fantasy theme. > I like the Gym where you can beat the hell out of the punching bag and make it swing wildly. > Attacking is simple, and you can hold down the button for rapid-fire. > The magic user's Attack is pretty fun because his shots can bounce around all over the place. WHAT I DON'T LIKE: > Coins and Points are exactly the same thing - you either use your coins in level stores for power-ups, or you save them and die whereupon they're converted to Progress to obtain crystals. Having them separate would be more preferable to deciding whether to buy or die. > Jumping is annoying - you always fall short on the first jump, on the 2nd jump you automatically perform an ability, and between the two it feels kinda floaty and you end up launched when you just wanna jump a short distance. > There are no tutorials, ability explainers, or button prompts other than "press TOP action button". No controller-specific symbols, either. While the game says it has full controller support, you could play this with a generic controller and it wouldn't matter. > During levels you assign bought abilities to Star Levels, and as you reach them by defeating enemies you gain them. But ONLY for a limited time which is annoying, as you have to cycle to that level again to get the temporary ability once more. And you ONLY get abilities in the 0-star slot after using your Ultimate. You might see this game as a challenge, or something to fill your time and get stuck into. If that is you, you might like or at least get used to this game. For me, however, this game feels like it needs more polish.

An enjoyable little arcade romp. Not going to set the world on fire, but a fun little couch coop time waster,

🤙

Rough. Using the idea of the ever-dreaded auto-scrolling level for a hectic co-op game sounds admittedly intriguing, but the execution here makes for a rather bog-standard rogue-like. Platforming controls are less than adequate as the characters don’t animate as much as they squish around, which coincidentally makes for squishy game feel. Each run hardly feels different from one another and the “pick from three” component is entirely unremarkable as well as a bare-minimum shot at replayability. The pixel art is goofy but forgettable, the chiptunes are mediocre, and the screenshake is unbearable. Dark Scrolls is a relatively simple game to figure out, but the lack of any quick tutorials does feel like another noteworthy oversight. Playing solo isn't exciting, so you'd think that the online co-op might be the key to adding some much needed energy to the situation. However, playing online has its own long list of unique problems. We’re talking super shoddy netcode with desyncs and glitches aplenty. There’s also bouncy player collision in a small screen space, the fact that you don’t share gold or health pickups, and the more-than-likely reality that you can get stuck as a useless ghost for the entire remainder of a long, scrolling level if you die early. By the end of our brief time with Dark Scrolls, we had both agreed that this felt like more of an alpha for what could be an interesting idea. Maybe if the game played more into the quirks of auto-scrolling levels or presented mechanics that bolstered the co-op experience (as opposed to constantly putting the players in each other's way) this could’ve gone somewhere less bland.

Ok so first things first since it seems some people are confused about what this game is and isn't: Dark Scrolls IS a simple, straightforward arcade game perfecf to kill some time either by yourself or with some friends, and it's cheaper than a fast food meal. Dark Scroll IS NOT a game designed to have the most convoluted mechanics or the craziest boss battles ever conceived by a game studio. It's a chill game to have fun for a while, and considering how bloated and filled with slop and 50+ hour content games that cost almost as much as an entire phone are, this one feels like a joy to boot up, play and have a laugh with. Doinksoft never misses, and this one although a bit more simple than what we are used to, it's still a good old time.

Unfortunately disappointing.