The Darkest Tales Review (Xbox Series S)

by Jim Smale · November 2, 2022

For this The Darkest Tales Review, we experience a nightmare that creeps into reality, and the only ones that can help are those whose magical powers we’ve believed in since childhood. A brave teddy bear heads to the far side of “happily ever after” to rescue his owner, Alicia.

The Darkest Tales Review Pros:

Nice graphics.
5.3GB download size.
1000 Gamerscore.
Ten save slots.
Three difficulties – Easy, medium, and hard.
Storybook with narration cutscenes.
You can fast-forward to cutscenes.
Good voicework.
Platformer gameplay.
Tutorial pop-ups as you play.
2D perspective.
Mirrors are used for fast travel between levels.
The enemies are cool as they wind up toy-looking creatures.
Tight controls.
Simple hack-and-slash combat.
Heal yourself by using Mana.
The levels are huge and have many routes to them.
Constant checkpoints.
The lighting adds so much atmosphere.
Beautiful hand-drawn art in the game.
Earn EXP and earn skill points to put into the skill tree and unlock upgrades.
Find and equip skills that act like passive skills.
Defeat big bosses for unique abilities.

The Darkest Tales Review Cons:

Minimal game settings.
The game is so stop-start at the start.
Levels feel very claustrophobic at times.
The platforming is kinda basic.
Healing is only done one bit at a time.
Hard to tell what is a platform and what isn’t.

Related Post: Rule No 1 Review (PlayStation 5)

The Darkest Tales:

Official website.

Developer: Trinity Team

Publisher: 101XP

Store Links –

Xbox

8/10

Graphics - 8/10
7/10

Sound - 7/10
6/10

Acessibility - 6/10
7/10

Length - 7/10
6/10

Fun Factor - 6/10

6.8/10

Summary

The Darkest Tales game is a platformer with simple hack-and-slash combat, it boasts beautiful art and likable characters. My only issue is the core gameplay of platforming and interacting with the world is dull and unimaginative. It just never gets going and stays in the slow lane with constant story interruptions which, to be honest, isn’t needed, the story is initially set out and it’s one that doesn’t need new additions every five minutes. The combat like I say is simple but again it’s just not doing anything particularly new or inventive. The gameplay loop is fine but the repetitive nature of the gameplay makes it quite a slog despite being a somewhat short game. You can play through it and be fine but it really does a middle-of-the-road type of game.