我们的游戏玩起来像赌注很高的牌局，这一点很重要——玩家是拿自己最优秀的角色在下注，每个角色背后都是一段投入的时间。这样一来，永久死亡的机制就能更好地调动玩家的紧张情绪，让他们更有代入感。别的机制，比如火把亮度，能够更好地烘托可怕高压的氛围——要给玩家带去优秀的恐怖体验，这也十分关键。

It was important that our game felt like high stakes poker – the player is playing with her best characters, each of whom represent a certain amount of time investment. Permadeath in this context helps increase the tension and player engagement. Other mechanics, like the torchlight, help sell the feeling of dread and pressure – crucial to creating a good horror experience.

Chris Bourassa
《暗黑地牢》创意总监

Chris Bourassa,
Darkest Dungeon's creative director

没有所谓正确的玩法；游戏就是想让你在做出决策的同时也要把可能的后果铭记于心。《暗黑地牢》对玩家要求很高，从队伍构筑到资源管理再到风险管控，你需要仔细掂量每项抉择。如果你扔掉了救命的补给品来给宝藏腾出位子，那么你的英雄死了就全怪你了。游戏的自动存档非常频繁，所以想回档往往也来不及。

依我看来，本作呈现宇宙恐怖^[2] 的方式十分优秀。《暗黑地牢》中，这个词指代的不仅仅是美术风格，也不是单纯的博眼球关键词，而是整个游戏设计的重要组成部分。游戏很好地捕捉了洛夫克拉夫特的故事中深切的痛苦和焦虑情绪。你手下的英雄们会试图去理解他们在地牢里看到的可怕而难以名状的事物。他们可能会因此理智崩溃，被压力击垮，露出心中最黑暗的一面。

压力槽的设计很好地浓缩了以上提及的一切，这可能是整个游戏最酷的机制之一了。你的英雄面临逆境之时就会积攒压力，这些逆境包括但不限于：你没买够火把，导致整个队伍置身黑暗之中；你没买够食物，导致他们都饥肠辘辘；某个英雄死了；某个英雄对别人说了些冒犯性的话；敌人打出了暴击；目睹了可怕的怪兽；全员被迫撤退等等。

There's no right way to go about it, the game wants you to make your decisions while also keeping you aware of the consequences at all times. Darkest Dungeon requires much of its player, weighting every choice, from party composition to resource management and risk assessment. When a hero dies, you will know if it was your fault – if you were the one who disposed of vital provisions to make room for more gold. And it auto-saves frequently, so there's no turning back.

The game also has some of the best representations of cosmic horror I've ever seen. It isn't just an aesthetic choice or buzzword, but a crucial aspect of its design. The game captures the profound anguish and anxiety of Lovecraft's stories: your heroes will break down while trying to make sense of the horrible and inexplicable things that dwell in the dungeons, they'll turn to their worst sides when collapsing under the pressure.

This is perfectly encapsulated in the stress meter, probably the coolest mechanic here. As they are faced with adversities, the heroes will build up stress. These adversities might be, for instance: you didn't buy enough torches so they're all in the dark, you didn't buy enough food so now they're all starving, one of the heroes died, one of the heroes said something offensive to the others, an enemy landed a critical hit, they all saw a horrible monster, they were forced to flee from combat, etc.

《暗黑地牢》的许多 mod 都可以增加新的职业，或是给英雄换皮肤。还有许多改变游戏平衡性的 mod，但注意了，这些 mod 很可能会极大地改变游戏应有的体验。

Darkest Dungeon has several mods that add new classes or change the heroes' appearance. It also has many re-balance mods, but be aware these can radically change the intended experience.

一旦疏忽大意，英雄的压力就会上涨，压力槽满了以后就要经历一次检定。判定结果可能是正面的，但大多数情况下，你的英雄只会获得一个负面特性，一直持续到探索完当前的整座地牢。英雄们在地牢中的种种经历也会让他们培养出不同的个性，随机获得的正面或负面特质会变成常时属性。而如果某位英雄的压力槽连续满了两次，那就万事休矣——他们会心脏病发，永久死亡。

说到底，我最喜欢《暗黑地牢》的地方在于本作很好地诠释了真正的“恐惧”，并且利用恐惧打造了沉浸感极强的叙事。以各种隐喻来揭示现实生活的混乱不堪，或者面对宇宙的无动于衷和冷漠无情时，我们所作所为的虚无本质，恐怖作品不应该只停留在这些层面。在现实世界中，真正优秀的恐怖故事还应展现出那一点微小的希望之光，告诉大家：一切经历都是值得的。

《暗黑地牢》的主题是探索的代价；直面梦魇和古神，以让世界变得更好。看哪，即使经历了这一切，饱受折磨、苦苦挣扎，你的英雄们还是会围在营火旁边，互相加油打气，为了将来能够再一起去探索未知的恐惧。见到此情此景，我也不禁露出一丝微笑，感觉心里好受了一些呢。

If you don't take proper care, the stress bar will fill and the hero will go through a stress check. The outcome might be a positive or, as it is most of the time, a negative trait that will last through the entire dungeon. Their various experiences in dungeons will also affect the heroes personality, where they can gain positive or negative quirks that last outside the dungeons. If the stress meter of a hero fills up twice in a row, it's over –they'll have a heart attack and die permanently.

In the end, what made me love Darkest Dungeon the most was the way it understands what Horror really is about and uses it to create immersive emerging narratives. Horror stories are not just about showing through metaphors how messed up our reality is and how meaningless we are when facing the absurdity of this unbending, apathetic universe. In reality, the best horror stories are about showing the little fickle of light that makes it all be worth it.

Darkest Dungeon is about the tolls of adventuring, of facing nightmares and ancient Gods to make the world a better place. Seeing how, even after all they've been through – all the dread and struggle – the heroes will try and cheer each other on in the campfire, just so they can bear to go through more horror together, I can't help but give that little side-smile and feel a little better too.

__________

² 译者注：宇宙恐怖（cosmic horror），又名洛夫克拉夫特式恐怖，以美国作家H·P·洛夫克拉夫特的名字命名，着重强调未知（或未可知）的宇宙恐怖，而不是血腥或其他惊吓元素。