Darkestville Castle

Genre: Graphic Adventure

Players: 1

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Review:

Darkestville Castle is a Graphic Adventure first released on the PC in 2017 and later ported to other platforms, with the Nintendo Switch getting the game in 2020. This game has you taking the role of a town’s resident demon-person whose plans to cause mischief are put on hold after a misunderstanding results in the kidnapping of his pet fish.

If that description didn’t clue you in, yes, this game is quite silly, in the best way. This game follows the tradition of some of the best classics of the genre in that virtually every line of the game is filled with great wit and humor, with the game’s spoken dialogue delivered with good voice acting, particularly its protagonist. The hand-painted background art here is also excellent, but the characters themselves are poorly-drawn and crudely-animated, a disappointing exception to an otherwise solid presentation.

As for the gameplay itself, this is pretty standard Graphic Adventure fare, where players can opt to try to look, talk, or interact with various parts of the environment, occasionally add items to their inventory, and solve puzzles by trying different things. The puzzles I encountered seemed pretty reasonable (no nonsensical “Sierra logic” as far as what I saw), and trying out everything on everything was made enjoyable by the good writing and voice acting. This game doesn’t do anything especially new or extraordinary for the genre, but what it does is nevertheless well-executed.

There is one element that puts the Nintendo Switch version of the game above the other console versions – full touchscreen support. I’d argue that this is the best way to play the game by far, and this combined with the option to play the game on the go or on the TV screen makes this version the one I’d consider to be the definitive version of the game.

Overall, Darkestville Castle is a solid entry in the Graphic Adventure genre that follows in the fine tradition of the greats of old, albeit without doing anything especially novel or unique to surpass them. If you’re looking for a fun game in this genre with a good sense of humor, this one should definitely satisfy you.

tl;dr – Darkestville Castle is a Graphic Adventure about a demonic man whose mischievous plans get interrupted by the kidnapping of his pet fish. Although this game doesn’t do anything revolutionary, this is a solid entry in the genre with excellent voice acting and a great sense of humor, and it plays great on the Nintendo Switch, especially when using the touchscreen.

Grade: B

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