[Review] Darq: Complete Edition - Nintendo Switch

Developed By: Unfold Games
Published By: Feardemic
Categories: Horror, Puzzle
Release Date: 03.18.21

Darq is the latest in games that were happy surprises for me. I came in expecting just a simple Little Nightmares clones. While yes, Darq is a horror themed puzzle filled platformer, that’s about the single similarity. Now, lets start the game by going to bed, and drifting off into a new nightmare for each level.

The main draw to me with Darq was the game’s mechanic of manipulating the angle for certain situations. In most areas, you can walk on the walls and ceilings to get where you need to go, and this is something you’ll have to do for certain riddles. If you feel like you’re stuck, try walking on the walls and interacting with something at a different angle. This isn’t something groundbreaking, but it still feels novel to me. One of the game’s levels in particular I was fond of was placed in the city streets at night. In this level, you need to change the direction the camera is pointing, like Fez, Super Paper Mario, or a lesser known game named Crush/CRUSH3D. Some puzzles in this level require you quickly go back and forth between the camera angles to either see something, do tasks, or grab a key item.

Darq also on the occasion has stealth sections. This isn’t a combat focused game at all, so anytime you see something that looks dangerous, it is. It was even a bit shocking how sudden the deaths from them can be. The first one of which was just the lead character getting shot.

Darq is a beautiful game. There’s not much in terms of color, but the character models, the environments, the lighting, it’s all fantastic. I can’t say I really noticed any music outside of the creepy atmospheric ambience, but nonetheless, the game has fantastic creepy vibe to it.

While I don’t think games should be stretching their content to lengthen a game, I feel that Darq might be too short. When you like something, you don’t really want it to end, and Darq’s levels are short and I wish there were more. This is a game I’d love to see more of. I’m at the very least glad that the Switch release of Darq is the complete edition, with expansions.