Darkestville Castle is not a new game release however it is a new console release. Developed by Epic Llama and published by Buka Entertainment, Darkestville Castle is a point-and-click adventure game that was initially released back in 2017 on PC and mobile devices. After three years, the game has finally found its way to consoles and you can now experience this brilliant point-and-click game on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This is our review of the Nintendo Switch version of the Darkestville Castle in which we terrorize the locals as a humorous and witty demon.
Darkestville Castle follows the adventure of the witty and humorous demon known as Cid who was born into the human world and ever since he could walk, his only goal has been to annoy the living hell out of the local town Darkestville. Cid lives in his own castle in Darkestville along with his gigantic fish called Domingo. After a short introduction of the past, you get control of Cid when he is about to see his checklist of what is coming up next on his evil scam list. After ticking a few tasks like cutting the braids of a girl or turning an old woman’s pies sour. Cid has his own unique take at evil but sadly not all of the villages are afraid of Cid.
One particular villager is Dan Teapot and we get to meet him right at the start of the game when he traps us inside our own castle in a bid to rescue the townspeople from our evil clutches. Our first task in the game is to get rid of Dan Teapot and gain access outside the castle. The game does not really give you any sort of tutorials about how you can play the game but since this is a point-and-click title, most of the mechanics are pretty much self-explanatory. You move the cursor around to interact with different objects or move around.
Upon selecting any item of interest, you are given three choices which are to inspect, take, or talk. This is funny because you can also force Cid to talk to things like doors or boxes and he would just reply that he cannot talk to that particular item. While very few items are actually related to the main story, Cid will always have something to say about literally every selectable item in the game whether it is useful or utter garbage. The first area when you are stuck in the castle essentially acts as a tutorial area because it is small and you can easily find your way around the game as you explore different game mechanics.
Specific point-and-click mechanics are present Darkestville Castle as well such as you picking up different items and using them in their correct places. You can also combine items together in your inventory. If you are confused about what to do next, you can press the exclamation mark icon in the top-right of the screen that will identify all of the items and objects that you can interact with on the screen for you. You can practice all of this in the first level as once you are clear of the initial area, the whole map of the game opens up and the areas you encounter next are much bigger in scale and can get a little bit confusing if you are not used to such type of game.
Puzzles play an important part in the game and you will come across some really fun puzzles in the game. Depending on your puzzle-solving skills, they are not really that hard in the game. Most of the puzzles simply require particular items that you have to find in the game world and bring them to the right place. Sometimes you will be required to combine together items and then use these items. The NPCs you meet in the world will also require you to bring certain items to them before they reveal important information to you. While most of the puzzles in the game are pretty straight forward, the game does throw some tricky ones at you as well which will have you scratching your head as you try to figure out as to how to solve them. While the major puzzles are quite fun, sometimes the NPCs will ask you to get the items that become a little repetitive as you progress in the game.
One of the best features of Darkestville Castle also happens to be its visual design. The game features 2D hand-painted landscapes that are brought to life with brilliant animations here and there. The game is also very atmospheric and you will actually feel like you are roaming around a town so obsessed with demons and weird creatures here and there. The animations of characters are generic however they do their job pretty well. Each environment offers plenty of things for you to explore. The same can be said about the audio design of the game as well. The background music is extremely funky and the character dialogue is brilliant as well.
However, it is worth noting that Cid is probably the only character that features top-notch dialogue delivery. The voice acting is brilliant and some of the dialogues will have you laughing in tears. This cannot be said about the remaining NPCs in the game. Darkestville Castle features a large number of NPCs in the game and some of them also become your friends as the story progresses but they sound dull and bored with their lives. Cid, on the other hand, sounds jolly and full of life. Probably the most work went into the creation of Cid since he is the main protagonist of the game.
Darkestville Castle features an amazing world, a witty demon, teasing puzzles, and good point-and-click mechanics. On Nintendo Switch, you can also use the touch screen for interacting with items and moving around which is a great feature since point-and-click games are best with a mouse. The console version of the game does however come with a handy feature where the right joystick jumps quickly to the items you can interact with making it much easier for you to select objects and interact with them. The story is funny and will surely keep you hooked to the game for its 8, 9-hour story depending on your puzzle-solving skills.
Final Verdict:
While the Point-and-Click genre remains one of my favorite video game genres, Darkestville Castle is one game that I missed back when it was released on PC. Having played the game now on Nintendo Switch, I can easily consider it as a great point-and-click title however for me, PC is the only best platform for point-and-click titles. While you may be comfortable moving around the cursor with a joystick, I still think that using an actual mouse is the best way to experience it. Still, the console release of Darkestville Castle brings the same witty demon Cid to consoles and his brilliant antics to the console. The Nintendo Switch version also additional features that make the game easier to play rather than PS4 and Xbox One. It runs great and also plays great. Cid is a comedy king and he can easily outnumber the boring NPCs of the game with his humor and puzzle-solving is fun as well although it doesn’t make any sense half of the time. If you love point-and-click games, Darkestville Castle is right up your alley and you must experience it on your Nintendo Switch if you do not have a PC.
Final Score: 8.5/10
