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Trying the October demo for dungeon action RPG "Spark in the Dark" from Steam on PC. Full game release TBA. Demo is also on itch.
Soulslike + Diablolike + Roguelike? New tri-hybrid super-hardcore genre: SDR aka SparkintheDaRklike!
Dark Souls-style combat, a Diablo feel to the dungeon, high camera, and monster placement, & roguelike permadeath & procedural monster, item, & certain dungeon element placement--but I think the main dungeon architecture stays the same from run to run.
It's hard / I'm terrible at it, don't think I managed to clear more than a half-dozen rooms or so before some monst or 2 would KO me.
Might like non-permadeath option, but I suppose that would probably make the game too short. I die in under 10 mins so a demo is all I'd need for a good while. But:
No controller support in the demo! It's mouse to turn, WASD to move, Space to roll forward / jump back, Shift for weird headlong dash, other funcs on QEFRI etc (keys shown on ESC menu during gameplay). Feels a bit much. Steam Store says "Partial Controller Support"--"Xbox Controllers"; but Steam counts my DS4 as an "Xbox controller" & the demo's Library page said "No controller support" & something like "Your Xbox controller is not supported." Devs have said they intend controller support; my body can't hang w/ mouse/keyboard games so here's hoping.
I like the minimal inv management: you only carry one weapon or armor of each type. Pick up a new two-handed weapon, for instance, & the game pops up a comparison between it & your current two-hander: hit one button to keep the old item, or the other button to drop the old one and equip the new one.
Didn't feel much difference between the 3 play choices--they read like Explorer, Nightmare, Middle Option. In a Google-Translated thread from Russian, people called it the difficulty setting.
There are 4 character classes: Warrior, Blacksmith, & uh thief, ranger or so. Only tried Warrior bc I'm simple.
Can rest on a bed, but has to be behind a closed door or else nightmares will prevent healing wounds, updating your journal ('p'), reading found books, etc.
Certain darkness starts to kill you. The small, very nondescript Lamp somewhere near the starting point can save your bacon. I found a fancier lamp further on once. Standing under a wall lamp heals you, as long as you aren't under attack by a monster.
Heavy weapons can knock enemies down. Complaints your character makes in combat, like saying they really want a sword, or they can't pierce the opponent's armor, are hints a different weapon would be MUCH more effective vs that opponent.
Hits can inflict debilitating effects that really pile up; one dose of spider venom can reduce your speed 30%, leaving you at the monsters' mercy. One bad trap snap while facing an enemy can equal curtains, too. Retreat doesn't feel like much of an option but maybe is doable to some degree? Maybe I didn't run far enough, or you need a door you can close? I got easily disoriented in the dim sameness. You get shiny gold coins specifically to use as breadcrumbs and I didn't try that.
Some weapons can do multi-hit combos, but don't be like me and just think you can go non-stop combos, that failed. Gotta know when to hit Space to skip backwards, out of range. Of course there's Soulslike a Stamina meter--rolling, blocking, attacking, etc drains it.
Couldn't find much on dev Stellar Fish; on LinkedIn someone saying they work there identified as Ukrainian. No dev comment in 2 months, some users are worried. A 2-year-old demo video looked very similar. |
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| | | | Oh possibly the "Xbox controller" Steam is thinking I have is the HRAP5 2017 arcade stick in PC mode. |
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| | | | Oh! There are Steam Input community controller layouts--I'm using Hellax's now, works a lot like a Dark Souls set-up. : ) |
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| | | | A dev posted on the Steam forum yesterday to reassure everyone that development is still ongoing. |
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| | | Download added: 03_holes.jpg (111864 bytes)
"Fiend from hole, head in socket, blur font, hole across doorway"
Found my PS4 DualShock 4 works in this demo using Steam Input layouts. : ) Started off using user Heliax's "GameCube" layout, realized it didn't have a crossbow "Reload" key on the DS4, mapped that to dpad-left. Afterwards I uploaded the modified layout to Steam w/ credit to Heliax.
Jumped by an awful thing from the hole in the wall in room 2! Only time that's ever happened--once a regular spider came out, that's been it. Whatever that other thing was, it was taking axe hits like nothin'! = ooo
Got maybe the furthest I've ever got on that last run, until um a different hole problem suddenly arose. Wonder if that'll be there next time...
A couple spiders came at me through rooms I'd previously cleared out. Had they wandered in from unexplored side chambers, or does the game spawn new monsters in previously cleared areas? = oo
The demo's font is kinda blurry, at least at my 1080p. And its AA setting has reset to OFF every time I run it. |
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| | | ^ Just today had a copyright notice pop up that last video above; possibly the copyright status of one of the demo's music tracks changed recently. The notice I received from YouTube says the copyright claim concerns the following in the demo video:
"Last Hope - ANTON BOOSTER Updated March 19, 2024
Content owners: [Merlin] MULTIZA for Rightholders
Content type: Audio
Impact on video: Sharing revenue"
Haven't tried the newest Spark demo so possibly it's not an issue there, I dunno. The claim is on time section 36:43 - 40:00 in the video. |
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| | | I reported the copyright claim problem on the game's Steam forum; the developers said they intend to fix the music copyright issue.
I've cut the affected section from the video. |
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