While it has plenty of charm and solid fundamentals, the nitty gritty in Dark Scrolls really weighs it down. Unlocking new perks is really grindy, and actually using them doesn’t feel worth the effort because of all the resource drain and volatility. Co-op is more annoying than additive, and there simply isn’t enough sauce elsewhere to make this game stand out as a shooter or a roguelike. It’s a cute game to mess around with for a little while, but it wants you to lock in for hours in order to see it through to the end. There’s a world in which Dark Scrolls isn’t burdened with its need to be a roguelike, and it’s a much more interesting game without those shackles. It feels like I’m having that kind of thought often lately, and that’s a bummer.

Overall, this game isn’t good. I don’t like the issues it has, and the potential it had. It went like a rollercoaster. From the top to the bottom very quickly. Messy controls, no clear instruction, or story/level elements, bad camera movement and designs. The artstyle makes it unique with its rather spooky soundtrack, but that’s all that’s really going for it.

It’s hard to believe that Doinksoft is the studio behind Dark Scrolls. After the retro charm of Gato Roboto and the ingenious gameplay of Gunbrella, I would have thought the studio had found the winning formula, but this new release simply doesn't measure up to their previous titles. Between an alarming lack of information on almost everything—which greatly diminishes the satisfaction of unlocking new items (useful? useless? who knows!)—and run-of-the-mill solo gameplay featuring bosses that are nothing more than HP sponges, the roguelite feels messy at best. At least it’s cheap.