I also enjoyed tinkering with character classes in different party positions. Your heroes can die just as easily from a heart attack as from a sword. It’s easy to do one or the other, but that’s not enough. When characters crack, they take on random debilitating traits like “abusive” or “afraid.” This is the well-executed balancing act of Darkest Dungeon: I love trying to keep people healthy and sane. Seeing a friend die or barely surviving a critical attack has a tendency to make people freak out.

It’s hard enough keeping everyone alive, but battles put adventurers under a lot of stress, too. Battles are always tense, though, and I found myself dreading them as expeditions grew longer and more dangerous. Combat gets more fun as more character types arrive in town and new abilities get unlocked. Especially at the beginning of the game, I found the few characters and abilities available made these battles more of a slog. Combatants take turns using abilities to attack, heal, or cast spells. When your party of maniacs runs up against a squad of horrors, a short, turn-based battle starts.

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