An Interview with Red Hook Studios: Creators of Darkest Dungeon

Getting Down to the Nitty Gritty with Red Hook Studios' Chris Bourassa (Creative Director / Artist for Darkest Dungeon)

An Interview by Glitchiee:

Darkest Dungeon is a rouge-like dungeon crawler focusing on the stress of adventuring instead of just the slaughter of enemies.  Including gameplay elements such as darkness, starvation, and stress relief, the creators of Darkest Dungeon, Red Hook Studios, have introduced a fresh concept leading to an amazingly addictive game.  For more information on Darkest Dungeon, check out P&P's original review and the recent Fiends and Frenzy addition.  Since Darkest Dungeon is such a great game that is not even out of the Steam Early Access stage, P&P just had to sit down with Red Hook Studios' Chris Bourassa for a bit of insight into the game and its development.

"Hey, Phil, it says 'full' right above your head."

"Dammit, Tom, I told you eight Boston Cremes was one too many.  Let's just make this dungeon 

quick before I crap my pants."

P&P: Welcome, Chris, so tell us…did you come up with the idea for Darkest Dungeon first or did the art inspire the game?

CB: The idea for a classically-inspired RPG that focused on stress responses and the human cost of adventuring came first, but the art wasn't far behind.  I think the theme was strong enough that we built both game play and art direction out of the same core ingredients.

P&P: Were the Lovecraftian tones always part of the game design or an aspect that was including at a later date?

CB: We're huge Lovecraft fans, and given that the game focuses on the mental strain of adventuring, it was a perfect combination!  The core design, art, and tonal influences like Lovecraft all came at the inception of the project—they were our core ingredients, and we structured each of them to reinforce the other.

P&P: Where do the various themes for the dungeons come from? Such as the ectoplasms, swine, etc.

CB: Diversity in an RPG is important, so making sure that each dungeon had its own identity was vital.  We talked about color temperature, types of monsters, types of objects you'd find—anything we could do to make the regions interesting and distinct.  Monsters were themed based on the dungeon environment, and also have significant game play differences.  The idea was also to make different heroes more or less effective in the different dungeons, encouraging players to experiment with their party comps.

"Psst...what happening now?"

"What's it look like?  She's playing a mean air guitar and that's made the beastie burst into tears."

"Oh...makes sense."

P&P: There is a good amount of humor in Darkest Dungeon. Who is the humorist of the group or does the entire team contribute?

CB: There's some black humor in there for sure—even a couple song cameos (check the Jester's camping skills)!  A dash of that stuff is important I think to offset all the bleakness found everywhere else in the game.  The same way the characters themselves have just a hint of cuteness in their designs, while the writing tries to incorporate just the slightest bit of levity here and there.

P&P: Is developing Darkest Dungeon a full-time gig with your lives on hold or is it part time?

CB: The only way we've been able to get where we are is by making it a more than a full time commitment.  For the bulk of our development, we've been using up our own personal savings/RRSP's, and spending upwards of 55-65 hours a week with no weekends for 2 years.  We're all experienced developers, and we knew going into this that there would be no way we'd ever get across the finish line if we approached it as a hobby.  This game was an all-in move for us, and we're so grateful that it has paid off.

P&P: So what is the environment at Red Hook Studios then? Do you all work together in the same office or are things done via telecommuting? Does everyone help with everything or are certain aspects individual only?

CB: We were in the same office for over a year, but recently we've been working from home while we look for a new spot.  It's been nice to try both approaches, but each has its pros and cons (that steam library though!).  There's a good amount of collaboration across the team, but everybody definitely has their core areas that they handle.

"Are you sure beating this thing with a sock full of soap is the best the plan?"

"Hey, it smells like corpse ass...so it can't hurt, right?"

P&P: How do you feel about the success of the game? Are you guys shocked? At this point, are you further along than you expected?

CB: We've been blown away by the response to the game so far.  It's very humbling to see so many people engaged with it.  It's definitely performed beyond our expectations and that has been incredibly rewarding and exciting.  We also feel a responsibility to our players to make sure that each update improves and refines the experience.  We want everyone who has joined our early access community to enjoy the ride right up to our 1.0 release in October!

P&P: And finally, what are the hopes for the future? Expansions? Possibly a Darkest Dungeon 2?

CB: We'd love nothing more than to continue to expand and grow the core game, explore other versions like board games/tabletop, and yes, if there continues to be a demand, a sequel would be amazing.  We love the game and the world, so it's a dream come true to be able to continue developing it!

P&P would like to thank Red Hook Studios (especially Chris Bourassa), not only for making an awesome game, but for also taking the time out of their busy schedules to sit down with us and discuss Darkest Dungeon.  And P&P wishes them nothing but tremendous luck in all future endeavors.  Gamers, hold onto your butts, because the full game release is right around the corner.  Stay tuned to P&P for more Darkest Dungeon coverage.

Writer: Glitchiee – Twitter / Twitch

Editor: Hank – Twitter / Twitch 

Coming up this Saturday on P&P: Fallout 4, Kiss Your Real Life Goodbye.

Darkest Dungeon: Fiends and Frenzy Brings Stress to the Next Level

An article by Glitchiee:

Darkest Dungeon by Red Hook Studios is still on Steam Early Access, but that doesn't mean they are not bringing their A-game when it comes to new content.  While the game in and of itself is superb, as you can see in my original review, introducing new game play aspects helps keep the game moving forward, attracts new players, and increases brand awareness.  Plus, new things to beat into a pulp, is just so exciting.  Fiends and Frenzy, packed with fun and dastardly new things for players to explore, released on May 28th to much hype.  With new character classes to play, new bosses to fight, the stress mechanic getting an addition, and even new art, Fiends and Frenzy brings a lot to an already great rouge-like dungeon crawler.

CHARACTER CLASSES:

New character classes always breathe freshness into a video game.  New abilities, new team compositions, and new personalities lend themselves to wreaking havoc in game.  And Darkest Dungeon is no exception.  Fiends and Frenzy introduces the Man-at-Arms and the Arbalest, the latest to join the ranks of fighters in Hamlet.  The Man-at-Arms is a front line tank with amazing buffing skills.  But not only that, his ability Retribution comes with a unique skill: Riposte.  Riposte allows the Man-at-Arms to counterattack whether an enemy lands a hit or not.  On top of that, Riposte ups the attack damage and critical chance of the counterattack.  This makes the Man-at-Arms a high damage class with plenty of health and protection to keep on ticking.

To back up the Man-at-Arms is the Arbalest: a ranged attacker with area of effect debuffing skills.  She is the perfect companion to those melee attackers.  Working well with the Bounty Hunter and Occultist due to marking enemies, she also comes with a heal that buffs other heals through a Battlefield Bandage ability.  And her synergy with the Occultist is perfect.  Not only can he mark an enemy for the Arbalest to attack, but her healing buff can help his Wyrd Reconstruction heal for even more.  Combine that with the Bounty Hunter's damage output and you have a deadly team.

 "Listen up, the plan is simple: you distract the guards while I stuff the canon full of bananas."

NEW BOSSES:

Along with new character classes, Fiends and Frenzy, brought three new bosses.  The Prophet, the Brigand Pounder, and the Flesh.  All three bring new abilities needing new battle tactics in order to defeat.  The Prophet is a twisted man who juggles his own eyeballs.  And with bits of pew in front of him, just reaching his nastiness can be a challenge.  The Brigand Pounder is a beast of a cannon guarded by bandit reinforcements.  Trying to take down this metal monstrosity will take more than brains.  Patience, determination and someone with heavy hitting is the way to go.  And last but not least, comes the Flesh.  This freaky pulsating conglomeration of random parts will not only disgust you, but it can change its form.  On top of that it can heal itself which is infuriating to no end.  But once you find that sweet spot to hit however, taking down this grotesque aberration is a piece of cake.

"Okay.  I've got one.  What's worse than spiders on your piano?"

"I give up."

"Crabs on your organ!  Get it?  Get it?"

"Yeah...I'm going to bed.  Wake me when something interesting happens." 

DUNGEON CRAWLING AND STRESS:

While it may seem like the bosses are the only dangers to rear their ugly heads in the dungeons with this new patch…that is hardly the case.  Implementing some balance changes, the Red Hook Studios crew has upped the stress, made monsters stronger, added in a surprise mini-boss, as well as other small things that will chip away at your sanity.  Not only will these changes take you by surprise if you are not prepared, but they can completely wreck your day in a flash.

To start off, the darkness is stronger now.  So stress piles up quicker than ever before, making its management even more important.  But not only that, if you max out the stress bar again after becoming afflicted—BAM—heart attack.  And this isn't like battling at death's door.  Any character hit by a heart attack is instantly gone.  So if you fail to keep your character's stress down, a winning battle can quickly lead to defeat when the heart attacks start.

Healing has also had an addition.  The same way that attacks can crit, so now can healing abilities.  This is incredibly helpful when the crit is massive, lessening the need to heal that character again.  It is also important because characters become full when eating now.  So no more food spamming.  After eating four pieces of food a character will refuse to eat anymore, notifying you with the word "full" appearing above their head.  However, the healing that food gives can also crit making the need to keep eating less necessary.

Mobs are now stronger than before.  When wandering through the dungeons, spiders, skeletons, ghouls and swine now inflict more damage.  So planning ahead is more important than ever.  Consider having a constant healer in the team or bring more food to be able to eat after every battle.  And there's another inclusion in the dungeons: Shamblers.  These mini-bosses are found at the Shambler Alter and summoned by sacrificing one of your torches.  Resistant to debuffs and marking, this baddie snuffs out all light when it makes its appearance from the void.  But defeating a Shambler allows you to obtain an ancient artifact.

"I just...I just don't understand how he keeps hitting us, if he's juggling his eyeballs."

"Because we're in a video game you idiot.  It's not supposed to make sense."

HAMLET CHANGES AND SELLING TRINKETS:

When you are done exploring the dungeons of your old estate, it's time to return to Hamlet for some stress relief.  And the town has had some upgrades.  The statue now has a purpose as it holds your ancestor's memories.  So go there to listen to what your ancestor said as you loaded into a boss dungeon or when you first started the game.  The graveyard also received an update.  Now all your dead characters have fancy gravestones that progressively get fancier the higher the level they are when they die.  Some even get flowers, while others get tentacles, or are just stuck with a plain old headstone.

Done visiting the graveyard?  Good, now you can take a tour of your new trinket inventory.  A big addition with Fiends and Frenzy is the ability to sort and sell your trinkets.  Low on cash?  Just sell a trinket you are not using for some quick coin.  Have ten Debuff Stones?  Sell off a few.  Want to unequip all your trinkets to see what you have or better equip your characters?  That can be done as well.  And you can quickly sort items by those that are class restricted first or keep everything sorted based on their rarity.  The only con is that the trinkets do not sort next to each other.  For example, if you sort everything based on rarity, all your Stun Stones will not necessarily be sorted next to each other, making the process of looking for trinkets to equip or sell a bit more tedious than it really has to be.

"The best way to deal with this thing is to crack it on its head."

"But, Sir, I can't tell if I'm looking at its ass or its face."

"I feel the same about you.  Now get swinging!"

CONCLUSION:

Fiends and Frenzy not only brought in balance changes, but it introduced new character classes, new bosses, and new ways to stress out.  Red Hook Studios hit it out of the park with this new content, reeling in old and new players alike.  With more content slated to come in the near future, Darkest Dungeon's future looks bright.  Still haven't checked out Darkest Dungeon, do so now!  You will not be disappointed.

Keep an eye out next week as P&P sat down with Red Hook Studios for an interview on Darkest Dungeon and the studio’s future in the gaming world.

Writer: Glitchiee – Twitter / Twitch

Editor: Hank – Twitter / Twitch