Dark Scrolls - Switch Review

Another day, another 2D platformer! This may just be my favourite genre of game, or at the very least the one I’m most biassed towards, so I am always excited to try a new one. When I saw the name reference for Dark Scrolls, I was a bit scared, but Doinksoft made a much more approachable game than the other soft studio.

I had a good time going through this arcade love letter, but I couldn’t quite answer one question: is this game fun but unbalanced, or unbalanced but fun?

The Good - Afternoon at the arcade

When I said Dark Scrolls is a love letter to arcades, I meant it. The snappy “here you are, now get going” way the game presents itself, the quality controls, multiple character choices and upgrade options would be right at home in a big cabinet from the 80s, although, obviously, it is polished into a more robust modern form. This is a very fun classic platformer that feels just a little janky to spice up the otherwise very good movement. Gameplay-wise, it checks all boxes.

More than just a 2D platformer, Dark Scrolls is also a bit of a roguelite with base stages and perks being changed around every run. The variations aren’t massive, but coupled with the autoscrolling danger – the real obstacle of the game, mind you – it is enough to keep players on their toes, and each attempt is short enough that the “Just one more run…” mentality is in full effect.

On top of that, there are a lot of things to work towards in each run! There are nine unlockable characters, eight stages to play through and a lot of perks to purchase. All without much help, as the game doesn’t have any sort of tutorial, so the joy of discovery is entirely up to the player’s own instincts.

One thing to note: Dark Scrolls was made with Co-op in mind, both for couch and online, with entire mechanics dedicated to a player’s ghost that is left behind when they die. The game allows for online pairing naturally, making it easy to spend a good couple hours playing with a friend.

TL;DR

• All the great features of arcade and platformer games wrapped together.
• Tight gameplay that still pays homage to old classics
• Solid roguelite design that entices replayability
• Enough unlockables to keep players enticed for a while.
• Solid co-op mechanics and online matching

The Bad - Hey, the cabinet broke…

Is the game fun? Yes, but sadly this is the part that really stuck out to me: Dark Scrolls, and specifically every boss fight the game presents, is just so easy to break!

All characters are capable of autofiring their weapons and have a pretty fast attack speed, which wouldn’t be an issue were it not for the fact that all it takes is a single common perk to stunlock and demolish basically any enemy in the game without much strategy required.

Or, as I found out, sometimes what it takes is… nothing.

Grizz the axe thrower was the first character I tried and the first one I beat a full run with. Every character has a special air movement, with Grizz's being a ground pound with very generous invincibility frames… On action and on hit. So generous that they linked together, and I learned very quickly that by mashing ground pound, my character would be dealing heavy damage and also be completely invulnerable for as long as I pressed the single button.

That’s what I mean by the game being easy to break, or easy to cheese if you’d rather that term. Even without Grizzs’ mighty invincible buttocks, just adding the electric perk to any character and hitting the super button is enough to casually roll through the game so long as you’re on top of the platforming. It’s funny to melt bosses at first, but it does soon make its way to ridiculous. 

Outside of that, while it is good to have many things to unlock, the process of replaying stages grows stale faster than the unlocks happen. The first stage will always be around the same level of difficulty, and once you get your bearings with a character, it really is more of a formality than anything. It doesn’t help that there is only one chance to add a perk per stage, and the first chance happens near the end of the stage, which means the beginning of a run will always be a fairly slow, uneventful romp.

TL;DR

• Combat and bosses are way too easy to break and/or cheese
• Seriously, way too easy.
• The beginning of each run is always the same and soon becomes bland

Final Score: 6/10

So: Fun but unbalanced, or unbalanced but fun? I legitimately still cannot decide which part is more meaningful for the Dark Scrolls experience, but I can say this: I did have a good time with the game, and I respect the passion put into the old school vibe. Even the digital game guide filled me with nostalgia!

Is 6 too low? Would a 7 be too high? I’m still having a hard time deciding! Dark Scrolls feels like it was on the cusp of breaking into something really grand if it had a little more ambition and another look over, and while it didn’t quite get there, I can still tell it was on the right path. I’m hoping to see more from Doinksoft in the future, and maybe in the future Dark Scrolls will realise its full potential. But if all you’re looking for is some casual co-op for a couple hours, it’ll do just fine as is.

Thank you for checking out our Dark Scrolls Switch review, thank you to Devolver Digital (via Powerup PR) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

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