lot of cute ideas but ultimately not executed in a way that's interesting or distinct from other "heckin' wholesome games that turns out to be a SCARY game". it plays its hand way too early with no buildup and barely tries to even hide the genre mix-up midway through, leading to a woefully boring and overplayed yandere-type antagonist at the end of the road.

thank god we're out of this era of storytelling in gaming, it should've died with doki doki.

a fun experience at best but dreadfully overhyped and unoriginal at worst.

Dark Deity is a game that's been getting pushed around a bit by negative reviews even though it's perfectly capable of throwing its own weight around. I would dare to even say the game is overhated. This is the curse of being heavily inspired by a beloved franchise that had decades of games to refine the formula with a triple A budget and then being compared to it blow for blow by the hardcore fans of the genre looking to scratch the itch. It's only unfortunate that I would have to agree with many criticisms; this game really doesn't flawlessly execute a lot of its ideas and concepts. The story is relatively standard, the characters are charming but nothing terribly standout, and most offensively to me the armor triangle - one of the game's unique ideas - is all but terribly communicated and nearly useless to learn considering I was able to beat the game on its hardest difficulty fine without bothering to memorize it.

Yet the game comes from a place of passion that you just can't help but root for. It's far from perfect, but it's also far from bad by any means. The art is incredible and the high points of the game can really live up to its contemporary and shine, even if the low points are as low as they may be. I regrettably can't give it a higher score than I am due to technical issues and mediocre balancing, but while it's a flawed experience it was also a greatly fun one. I really did enjoy my fifty-five hours to grab 100% achievements. A game can still be enjoyable even while acknowledging its failings. Of course, the game really does break apart even at the highest difficulty when you have a bit of experience under your belt and understand which characters and class combinations can steamroll the game (looking at Trickster Cia in particular).

I would say you can't really go wrong getting this game if you like these kinds of games. It does scratch the Fire Emblem itch. I'm seriously looking forward to seeing what they do with Dark Deity 2 and how they expand and improve upon the failings of this title - as I don't think any of the foundation here is irredeemable, simply imbalanced - and I have some serious faith that they can achieve what they're hoping to accomplish with this series because of the clear love they have for this genre.

This game is so incredibly miserably grind reliant and will punish the player for any misstep they weren't even aware could be made.

Yet it's honestly still not that bad. I have a strange soft spot for this game in spite of my lack of nostalgia for it. I would wager it's due to being the franchise's first attempt at a character-driven story and for just being different. In fact, the story was actually surprisingly bleak and well-told. Characters die and their deaths have real weight. The game does not end in a picture perfect fairy tale.