Dragon Star Varnir
Dragon Star Varnir
Game
Game2014
Darkstone
Developer Delphine Software
Darkstone: Evil Reigns (Darkstone in North America) is an action role-playing video game developed by Delphine Software International for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation released in 1999. In 2014, the French publisher Anuman Interactive launched a remake available on iPad, iPhone and Android, with the cooperation of the original game's author Paul Cuisset. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
231 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
76
LovedLoved
140 positive · 45 negative
95% range 69–81%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 140 | 45 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 14 | 2 | 21 |
| Lemmy * | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
285 of 370 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
76% recommend · 140 yes, 44 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 184 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (476 of 601 positive).
Players praise the game as a nostalgic Diablo clone with charming old-school fun. [1][2][3] Many note the Steam version has technical issues, especially on modern systems. [4][5][6] Some call for a remaster or remake to fix the port's problems. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
Other reviewers are correct, there's no support of this game, love this classic to death, still own the disc. It's set at a minuscule resolution, no way to change this other then editing hexes which doesn't really fix anything, it glitches out the UI, and going past 1980 will not let the game launch. no way to play multiplayer realistically
- [1]
One of the best Diablo clones out there. It's a PC version, not the PSX one so mouse and keyboard only. Brings back ol' good memories from '97. IMPORTANT NOTE: It works great AFTER you fix the controls and graphic bugs (community comes to the rescue - links with fixes below). Controls fix https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2487256586 Graphic fix (OraEtLabora post) …
- [2]
Alot of Oldschool Fun! I didn't play this back in the day, so I came to this without any expectation. After playing 4hrs in a single sitting i have to say: Surprisingly accessible, runs right out of the box on WIN10. Has decent voice acting and the typical Diablo gameplay loop. Graphics are a bit dated but charming. Really nice game especially given that it is constantly on sale for pennies.
- [4]
Let me start by saying that Darkstone has a very special place in my heart. I originally played this on Playstation, and then purchased the game for PC. I played this a lot growing up and I enjoyed the game very much. That being said HOWEVER....The new publisher has literally just taken Darkstone from the original install disk, made a polished turd of a video and uploaded it to Steam for $$$. Once it was uploaded, …
- [3]
A criminally underrated Diablo-Clone from the PS1 era. I say this, as I played the PS1 version, unaware that the PC version was different. For that reason, I haven't sunk too much time into this version. It's still just as good - if not probably better - but my nostalgia is wrapped up in the PS1 version. If anyone is really looking to scratch the Diablo itch with just a little bit of jank, but a lot of fun options …
Summarised from 34 of the 230 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Darkstone sits at 76% positive across 185 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The PlayStation version received mixed reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. IGN said of the PC version that, despite playing 'very similarly to Diablo', it 'is an incredibly fun and addictive game' and that the 'voice-overs are clean and crisp, and surprisingly well acted'. For the PlayStation version, however, the website later stated, 'anybody who liked Diablo or anything else in the realm of dungeon-hack RPGs should be able to get their pocket-change's worth out of it', but that the 3D presentation means there is a loss of graphical detail and the lack of story means that it is a basic hack n slash dungeon crawler. Jeff Lundrigan of NextGen's November 1999…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 231 · most liked firstThis journey took me 23 years to complete, but I did it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Did anyone play Darkstone back on the PSX?. I had not played Diablo at the time so this game was my introduction to the genre It was only $10 brand new which was awesome for a poor kid like myself
positive · AI labelView post →This game needs a remaster or a remake!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Darkstone, 1999 RPG about eating apples and trying not to die of old age, being remastered. Eat the apple, apple boy. The Game's Music Video for the Main Theme: [Audren - "The Darkstone will Shine"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r73EKQ5kPG4)
neutral · AI labelView post →Other reviewers are correct, there's no support of this game, love this classic to death, still own the disc. It's set at a minuscule resolution, no way to change this other then editing hexes which doesn't really fix anything, it glitches out the UI, and going past 1980 will not let the game launch. no way to play multiplayer realistically
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best Diablo clones out there. It's a PC version, not the PSX one so mouse and keyboard only. Brings back ol' good memories from '97. IMPORTANT NOTE: It works great AFTER you fix the controls and graphic bugs (community comes to the rescue - links with fixes below). Controls fix https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2487256586 Graphic fix (OraEtLabora post)…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alot of Oldschool Fun! I didn't play this back in the day, so I came to this without any expectation. After playing 4hrs in a single sitting i have to say: Surprisingly accessible, runs right out of the box on WIN10. Has decent voice acting and the typical Diablo gameplay loop. Graphics are a bit dated but charming. Really nice game especially given that it is constantly on sale for pennies.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let's play Darkstone on PS1! I remember really liking this game years ago, so let's see how it holds up! twitch.tv/auroralvisage youtube.com/auroralvisage
positive · AI labelView post →To put it simply, Darkstone is a good game. For the PS1. For the PC version, there are several issues present: 1. Item pickup takes longer than most fights due to weird hitboxes. 2. The hitbox issue is present elsewhere too 3. Targeting seems way clunkier. 4. Perry doesn't serve his very important secondary function of buying your quest artifacts off of you for large sums of cash. This completely unfathomable removal of content makes early game harsher than it needs to be, unnecessarily…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In Romancing SaGa 2, wearing the Darkstone Ring and resting at an inn will play an ominous tune. The game never tells you what this does, but if you pay close attention, you'll see that your team lost 1 LP! It can't kill your team and the wearer will receive the lost LP, so it could be useful...
neutral · AI labelView post →Great game, but this game is NOT compatible with Windows 11
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Darkstone (1999) - Good game for a Diablo clone. Debian-flavored Linux - My only complaints are hardware compatibility-related, and that is primarily because Nvidia and Intel both suck Microsoft's floppy disk. Krita, Gimp, Blender - Never needed another art program. Adobe can eat my paintbrush. LibreOffice - I would literally have this over MSOffice any and every day of the week. VLC - It just frickin' works. And it's good at its job. It plays anything!
positive · AI labelView post →A criminally underrated Diablo-Clone from the PS1 era. I say this, as I played the PS1 version, unaware that the PC version was different. For that reason, I haven't sunk too much time into this version. It's still just as good - if not probably better - but my nostalgia is wrapped up in the PS1 version. If anyone is really looking to scratch the Diablo itch with just a little bit of jank, but a lot of fun options for a classic, low-complexity fantasy romp? Definitely give Darkstone a try!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →7th Guest: The Series (Teaser Trailer) [never released]. > This is the Teaser Trailer for the upcoming Darkstone Entertainment / Trilobite Games creation 7th Guest: The Series. Based on the cult Video Game Series. Not sure what happened to this project, seems to have been abandoned long ago.
neutral · AI labelView post →oldie but good if you are bored and just wanna try. we bought the game because we remember listening as kids to Audren's song "the darkstone will shiiiine" which there is a music video inside the game for. and we listen to it 24/7/365 thanks bye!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let me start by saying that Darkstone has a very special place in my heart. I originally played this on Playstation, and then purchased the game for PC. I played this a lot growing up and I enjoyed the game very much. That being said HOWEVER....The new publisher has literally just taken Darkstone from the original install disk, made a polished turd of a video and uploaded it to Steam for $$$. Once it was uploaded, they completely abandoned the project like a red headed step child. The community…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Once dubbed the "Diablo killer," but met with very mediocre reviews at the time of it's launch in 1999, Darkstone is one of those games that I only encountered when it dropped on very late-stage PSOne in the budget bins. I dismissed it forever and never thought it could be good. I recently decided to give it a try because I knew my Dad was into it, and it was on sale for less than a buck. What I've discovered here is an RPG dungeon-crawler classic for the ages. Select 2 heroes from the 8-10…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I used to play this when i was a kid and the game is still as fun as i remember it could use a remaster though
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played this game back in 1999 and it is still one of the most atmosspheric game i have played sofar. Did a re-run with the same friend from back then recently and the nostalgia was overwelming :D Big thumbs up! :D
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →great game for the time but steams port of it is trash, 10/10 on gog
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have tried every fix under the sun to get this game to run, but it just won't work. Be wary if you are on a modern OS trying to run this game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First of all I love this game. Played hundred of hours of it back when I was young and playing it again now has so far been everything I hoped it would be. First I just want to say that I've seen all the other reviews talking about how the game doesnt run on modern machines. My wife did have issues on her AMD machine but we found way around most of it but ultimately couldn't get multiplayer to work. With that said I am running an i-series intel chip and 3070gtx on 64gb of Ram (modern machine)…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Negative review is not for the game itself but the effort to bring the game to steam. Its an old fun game that is not running correctly on Today's computers. This version of the game has 0 efforts in making it work correctly on modern systems. Hence i recommend you to check GOG or the internet first before deciding to buy it. If you are an AMD video card user the chances for the game to run with some modification is at least not working for me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While I loved the original disk version, I'm not sure I can recommend the Steam version as the graphics can get buggy depending on your graphics card. At the time of this review, the steamdeck is listed as untested, but the graphics are great. The controls work well enough for the most part but the cursor can be a tad sensitive so I would consider it 'playable' on steamdeck.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →More RPG then Diablo 1, 2 and 3 combined. Pretty good what they had going on here. Ever want your character to literally age out of the main quest because you mucked about too long? Well here you go. No jokes. I am fond of this one. Nostalgia.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Loved it back on PS1. An the Sound-Track! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO4NDMT_l4c
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Classic game with more than meets the eye.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love this game played it on the playstation can you remake this game or make the multiplayer work for online please its a classic game that needs to be revived I've never got the chance to play co op on this game 5 stars better than some triple a titles that are out today.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I still cannot play this game without persistent visual bugs that I cannot fix with any amount of community support. Very disappointing, I've been trying to play for a long time.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Entertaining. This is a Hack & Slash game in the likes of Diablo. Kinda closer to a clone than to an original thing. Old graphics but still nice. Good music. The story is pretty simple, generic for the fantasy genre. Bugs... Some dialogues go off but there's text, so no problem. The bad stuff is that the game keeps running in the background after you quit and you can't kill it but with a machine restart. Runs fine on win 7. Overall, it's a decent game. As said, pretty much like Diablo…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I saw some reviews saying the game doesn’t work on Windows 11. Well, good news! I was able to get it working easily with dgVoodoo! It's a pretty enjoyable game in my opinion.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sadly like many older games on steam this game does not work properly. The big glitch that makes this game unplayable in my opinion is the asset occlusion being completely messed up as they will either not load at all or flicker in a rapid fashion. I have searched for many hours and have found no solutions for this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is an oldy but still good. The graphics aren't anywhere near what today's games are, But it will still keep you busy and a lot of fun to play
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Here's a random game from my collection, Darkstone for the PlayStation. It's a relatively obscure action rpg that I never got very far in. #RandomGameSaturday
neutral · AI labelView post →One of if not the best diablo clones around, shame no achievements though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Never got to finish this in the PS1 era, but good lord I wish this game had controller support. Though the instant loads definitely make up for it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Darkstone, developed by Delphine Software and published by Microids, is a late 1990s action RPG that attempted to bridge the gap between classic dungeon crawlers and the emerging possibilities of 3D graphics. At its heart, it tells a familiar tale of good versus evil, with the villainous sorcerer Draak threatening to plunge the land of Uma into eternal darkness. The player’s quest revolves around gathering seven legendary crystals to restore the Orb of Time, a mystical artifact capable of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Was great once and would love to play it again. But I can't seem to get it to work. Either I can get it running with skipping audio or it just won't run at all after trying literally every single proposed franken-fix 'solution'. Don't buy it unless you happen to have an operating system from back when Katharine Hepburn's mom was still alive or something.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was super thrilled to see this game being added in the "Steam" game collection, just as much when I found out about my favorite computer game "Beyond Atlantis." "Dark Stone" is the coolest medieval game that actually feels close to like playing the "Diablo" game, even if with the lesser demonic traits. But it's the feeling of enjoying the journeys to explore new lands, conquering monsters & villains along the way, building & gaining new items & abilities, while trying to make a name for…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An underrated game of it's time all those years ago. I freaking still own a copy for PlayStation 1! Heck yes I recommend the game, especially after learning that this has Remote Play & multiplayer capabilities (Hamachi helps!)! A hard game, & I have truly only ever played so little of it, nonetheless it is an great game. Wish more great classics like this were available on Steam. And about the 'bugs' & 'glitches', there is a readme in the game's directory, as well as tons of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Such a good game and a lot of childhood memories. Multiplayer is surprisingly fun
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's old, yes. But I am really enjoying it. I last played this years ago on the playstation and was thrilled to see it available on steam. Now playing on my ASUS laptop without any issues.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hey everyone. When I was much younger, I used to play the demo of a game called Darkstone on PC (it also had a PS1 port). I never expected this game to get a remaster (with a demo). If something like this interest you, check it out. #DarkStone #remaster #RPG #GOG www.gog.com/en/game/dark...
positive · AI labelView post →This was one of the first games we ever got when we got our PS1, and my sister and I spent HOURS playing it. Great nostalgia game for sure.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't know how many have even heard of this game, but Darkstone is 99c on Steam!! store.steampowered.com/app/320320/D...
neutral · AI labelView post →7th Guest Indie Go Go Video [more about the abandoned 7th Guest: The Series]. > This is the Teaser Trailer for the upcoming Darkstone Entertainment / Trilobite Games creation 7th Guest: The Series. Based on the cult Video Game Series.
neutral · AI labelView post →This game does NOT have Remote Play Together. Otherwise it's a nice throwback to the old school Diablo vibe
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i know its old, but why does my modern pc suck at running this game? its all shadows
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →game dont want to work
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So this was not my first choice but i was in a jank dungeon crawling mood so weve ended up with another game i used to try to figure out in my younger days, Darkstone for the ps1! it should be entertaining for a while, see you there! #vtuber www.twitch.tv/Drakamut
neutral · AI labelView post →Childhood memories still a good simple game running on win 11 /i7 14700F/RTX3080ti&4060ti/1440p 165hz Game don´t support widescreen but it works fine without it Installed and booted it up not event touching settings
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dated but classic. Love it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played this a game a ton back in the day. It was my first foray into RPGs. Great game. The nostalgia hit is especially potent.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Classic dungeon crawler - old school graphics - PS1 era - with lots of clever puzzles and bosses that get progressively harder, It CLEARLY labels the dungeons, so you can skip ahead (1-4, 5-8) in each 'land' so you can challenge yourself or progress at your own pace. Just be warned - finishing the big quests - not the mini ones the villagers in town give you - will give you crystals that level you up, progress the story and can have unexpected consequences... A great throwback game, so…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →fun game recommend any one to play i played it back in 2005 on pc and ill still play it till this day
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, no clue. The first story-based game I remember playing was Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, and I could only rent it, so never got far. Never completed Darkstone. Maybe…Final Fantasy 7? Unless early Tekken story modes count?
neutral · AI labelView post →Darkstone was way before its time. It had procedurally generated dungeons back on PS1! I loved this game so very much. Unfortunately I don't have a system that can play it anymore. 🥲
positive · AI labelView post →Before you buy it, you should know it is a Diablo 1 clone that is more difficult than it should be due to shoddy mechanics that don't seem fully implemented. Some of those mechanics being a Food meter that makes no sense because it seems to play by its own rules, hits will usually register but once in a great while your hits miss quite a lot, the "9-12 damage" system isn't that consistent and you have to play around with all the weapons to know the real damage they do, there's no real way to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Basically A Different version of diablo.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The support for this versions awful and there's no good widescreen fixes, everything just stretches and breaks the graphics. There's better for the price. Ashame it looked like an interesting game but many of the fixes end up breaking the graphics.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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