Dark Scrolls: Nintendo Switch Review

Developed by Doinksoft
Published by Devolver Digital
Platform: Nintendo Switch

Essentially a roguelite take on Ghosts and Goblins crossed with the Mario games' coin collecting, Dark Scrolls is the kind of game that will get its hooks into you and leave you both frustrated and clamouring for more.

As one of nine characters, you head out across various levels, shooting and jumping your way past marauding baddies that take the form of zombies, spiders, flying fish, firing blobs and angry bosses and blast your way to the end of each one.

Collecting treasure along the way, and coins to level up, Dark Scrolls is a very easy sell. Whether it's solo or local or online co-op, the game is extremely playable - but also extremely frustrating.

Each of the nine characters come with their own weapons, powers and upgrades, but at the end of the day, this pixel-powered shmup is really about the timing. With the screen permanently scrolling (with the exception of bosses), there's no room for error - and certainly in the single player game, there are moments when timing everything can be extremely tight and nerve-wracking.

From flinging arrows or tossing steaks at the baddies, and upgrading via a honking swan's friend (yes, really), the game makes its accessibility a point of pride. 

Unlocking power ups via the shop points in the game allows you to allocate them to different star levels on your attacks, meaning you can charge up a series of different attacks for every level you carry (to a maximum of five).

But just like Ghosts and Goblins, there are moments when you want to throw it across the room in exasperation.

Whether it's the lack of continue points that prove almost annoying to a single player campaign or the fact upgrades are locked behind coin collection, Dark Scrolls makes scaling up the fight more than frustrating in places. 

Given that your coin spoils can fly off the screen without any warning too, there's a real case for feeling like the game's stacked against you in parts. However, it only succeeds in keeping players engaged because it's so addictively simple and plays so well.

Also some of the initial powers the starting gallery of heroes has are almost pointless. One uses stealth but immediately drops out of it when firing attacks, making the whole idea seem pointless.

The key comes from making attacks your own. Whether it's letting a room full of baddies mount up before unleashing an axe-wielding attack across the board from initial character Grizz or healing via the fairy Quinn's charged-up power, Dark Scrolls has ways to ensure the game can be played in whichever way you'd like.

All in all, this dungeon crawler is colourful enough and well-enough executed that you'll find yourself going "Just one more game" before you know what's happened. Dark Scrolls is Doinksoft (The Gunbrella developer) doing what it does best - making games that are easy to play, and extremely hard to put down.