{"id":89807,"date":"2026-03-19T14:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T14:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bigbossbattle.com\/?p=89807"},"modified":"2026-01-24T21:42:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T21:42:01","slug":"dark-quest-4-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bigbossbattle.com\/dark-quest-4-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Dark Quest 4 is a big stab of nostalgia, right to the face."},"content":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s something undeniably comforting about a dungeon crawler that knows exactly what it wants to be. From Brain Seal Entertainment \u2014 the studio behind other gems like Monarchy<\/i> (which I happily lost an entire weekend to) and Story of a Gladiator<\/i> (a game I enjoyed far more than I expected) \u2014 comes the latest entry in the Dark Quest<\/i> series.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

When a studio reaches the fourth game in a franchise, it\u2019s usually one of two things: A cheap cash cow churned out quickly, or a genuine labour of love striving to be better than what came before. <\/span>Dark Quest 4<\/span><\/i> is very much the latter. Every part of this game feels like a loving homage not only to its previous iterations, but to the tabletop classic that the series has always worn proudly on its sleeve: <\/span>HeroQuest<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a huge <\/span>HeroQuest<\/span><\/i> fan. I own a fully painted set and often take on the role of game master, letting my friends adventure through dungeons I\u2019ve prepared for them. The problem I\u2019ve always faced, though, is this: How do I play <\/span>HeroQuest<\/span><\/i> solo? I don\u2019t particularly want to play with strangers, and getting friends together regularly becomes harder as life gets in the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Enter <\/span>Dark Quest 4<\/span><\/i>, thundering into the room like the barbarian on its cover, throwing me over its shoulder and charging face-first into the nearest dungeon while screaming, \u201cHere we go, little man \u2014 we game good now!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Visually, <\/span>Dark Quest 4<\/span><\/i> absolutely nails its aesthetic. The game has a painted, tabletop look that immediately clicks \u2014 like a slightly less grim, less polished <\/span>Darkest Dungeon<\/span><\/i>. Playing feels as though you\u2019re hovering above a physical game board. Your bag of coins sits off to the left, clickable at any time to check your gold. Nearby are two decks of cards that wiggle enticingly when clicked; I kept expecting them to do more, and if they do, I\u2019ve yet to discover it. Looming above the board is the evil sorcerer, hidden behind a GM screen, occasionally chiming in with threats. These small touches add a lot of charm and really sell the tabletop illusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a brief tutorial dungeon, you\u2019re dropped into the Adventurers\u2019 Camp. Here you\u2019ll find a blacksmith, trainer, potion seller, and other NPCs offering upgrades and new abilities for your heroes. From the camp, you choose your next quest from a grid and select which three adventurers you\u2019ll take with you into the dungeon.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Gameplay is intentionally simple, mirroring its tabletop DNA. You move a limited number of spaces, open doors to reveal rooms, and crack open chests in the hope they contain gold rather than a mimic. When enemies appear, everyone \u2014 heroes and monsters alike \u2014 is assigned a turn order, and combat begins.<\/span><\/p>\n

On each character\u2019s turn, you choose from a small hand of action cards. You\u2019ll always have a basic attack and the option to skip your turn, but additional abilities are unlocked through trainers and upgrades back at camp. For example, the Lightning Wizard starts with a basic attack that deals one damage to a single enemy, but later gains access to spells that hit multiple enemies for significantly more damage.<\/span><\/p>\n

As you play, you\u2019ll quickly develop strategies to deal with the game\u2019s biggest challenge: numbers. You\u2019re always limited to three heroes, while enemies often arrive in swarms. Blocking doorways with your toughest melee fighter while your wizard lays traps and your archer peppers enemies from afar becomes a reliable approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

This, however, is also where one of <\/span>Dark Quest 4<\/span><\/i>\u2019s drawbacks emerges. I found myself using the same tactics in nearly every dungeon, and gravitating toward the same heroes. Despite a roster of ten characters, I effectively rotated between two squads \u2014 my \u201cA Team\u201d and \u201cB Team.\u201d If the game didn\u2019t penalise you for taking the same heroes on consecutive runs, I probably wouldn\u2019t have switched at all. While quests provide vague hints about what to expect, they\u2019re rarely useful, and charging in blind often felt like the only real option.<\/span><\/p>\n

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There\u2019s no permadeath in <\/span>Dark Quest 4<\/span><\/i>. Fallen heroes simply sit out the next adventure before returning, which removes some tension but also enables odd behaviour \u2014 like intentionally sacrificing your B Team on a doomed run just to get your A Team back in action. If a quest ends in total failure, you also lose all the gold you earned on that run, which can be incredibly frustrating if things go wrong in the final room. It meant that in order to save money for upgrades, I would have to run through previous quests again and again. Similarly, losing a hero early due to bad luck can make the rest of the dungeon feel pointless, as completing the mission becomes highly unlikely.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mission variety is solid enough for short sessions, but not quite enough to keep me playing the entire campaign in one uninterrupted stretch. I reached around 48% completion before hitting a wall that required grinding earlier levels for gold. That said, this feels like the kind of game I\u2019ll happily return to after a break to push through and finish.<\/span><\/p>\n

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There are also difficulty options that allow you to tweak hero health, damage output, and enemy strength at any time. While I avoided these \u2014 since they remove much of the challenge – they\u2019re an excellent inclusion for players wanting a more relaxed experience, or for introducing younger adventurers to dungeon crawling without the frustration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall, I\u2019ve really enjoyed <\/span>Dark Quest 4<\/span><\/i>. While I\u2019d love to see larger party sizes and more varied enemy behaviour in future updates, this is still a fantastic game that distils the pure DNA of its inspirations into a faithful and enjoyable digital experience. I can\u2019t wait to see DLC \u2014 or <\/span>Dark Quest 5 \u2014<\/span><\/i>and when that happens, you can be sure I\u2019ll be back to review it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dark Quest 4 is available now for Xbox<\/a>, Nintendo Switch<\/a>,\u00a0 and PC<\/em><\/p>\n