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RPG's with dark atmosphere

madhouse

Guest
As per title. I'm trying to build up a collection of games to play through. I define dark very loosely.
I'll start:
  • Gothic
  • Gothic 2
  • Fear & Hunger
  • Darklands
 

Falksi

Arcane
Joined
Feb 14, 2017
Messages
10,538
Location
Nottingham
Serpent in the Staglands. Absolutely beautifully wondrous vibe. Delicious.

Sadly too empty to be worth playing to completion, but worth playing for 5-10 hours just to absorb that magical vibe.

If there's any game I'd like to see a proper sequel to, it's this one (and the Shadowrun series)
 
Last edited:
Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
1,386
Dark atmosphere? It's not an RPG, but I wish just one save-the-world-chosen111111 RPG had a plot similar to Myth: The Fallen Lords: relentlessly downbeat, always emphasising the increasingly hopeless odds, and a final victory that feels completely hollow next to the cost. That's what fighting the Supreme Dark Lord of Utter Darkness should feel like.

Major plot spoilers:
 

V_K

Arcane
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
7,714
Location
at a Nowhere near you
Soulbringer. In a very literal sense - the game is dark: it uses darkness instead of fog to limit the draw distance, and the result is super atmospheric:
soulbringer31-jpg.13657


1_1.jpg
 

Nifft Batuff

Prophet
Joined
Nov 14, 2018
Messages
3,169
Dark Sun 1 & 2,
Underrail (well, the setting is underground...),
System Shock 2 (kind of dark sci fi/horror),
Arx Fatalis (setting is underground, for a reason...)
Shadowlands (literally dark),
Shin Megami Tensei IV (at the beginning it does not look so dark, but soon there is a huge twist in the setting),
Perihelion (mediocre RPG, but great dark atmosphere).
 

Silly Germans

Guest
The Shadowrun Returns games are rather on the dark than the bright site.
 

JRIz

Augur
Joined
Aug 17, 2015
Messages
502
As per title. I'm trying to build up a collection of games to play through. I define dark very loosely.
With this (lack of a) definition, how will you be able to play everything that will be mentioned?

Siege of Avalon has a very dark atmosphere.
149844.jpg
 

V_K

Arcane
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
7,714
Location
at a Nowhere near you
Also, Anvil of Dawn:

hqdefault.jpg


And, come to think of it, almost any Event Horizon/Dreamforge game before it: The Summoning, Veil of Darkness (not an RPG though), Dusk of the Gods, Ravenloft, Menzoberranzan...

EDIT: In fact, most real-time blobbers/gridders tend to just exude menace and doom: Dungeon Master and CSB, Grimrock 1&2, Legacy: Realm of Terror, Vaporum...

Darkstone
Yeah, I'm not sure this one counts. Lots of its quests are very Larian-style - helping fairies and unicorns and stuff.
 

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