Darkstone: The Epic Fantasy Video Game it took 10 Years to Complete

10 Years. Yep. You heard me right.

In addition to being a writer, I’m also a girl gamer. I’ve enjoyed countless games over the years, most of them in the RPG genre. I believe the RPGs have helped me hone my writing skills, as well as just being plain fun. But one RPG/dungeon crawler stands out differently from all the rest: Darkstone.

Darkstone originally released on the PS1. That’s right, the oldest PS system in the book. Back then, games were less about fun, and more about how many times you were willing to ram your face into the wall in order to win. Darkstone was no exception to this rule.

My brother and I spent hours doing couch co-op in this game, as well as playing our own characters. We loved the richness of the world, the numerous weapons and spells your character could discover, and the story. While the story didn’t give too many player-based decisions, it was an amazing game for its time. We got to rescue unicorns, fight dark sorcerers, wonder why a whole village was turned to stone, and much, much more. We romped through the many realms of the Darkstone World to find the seven crystals, remake the Orb of Kaliba, and defeat that darn dragon that was taking over the world!

And yes, it really did take us ten years.

Here’s why.

Firstly, our Playstation was a hand-me-down that had taken serious hits, one of which involved a particularly mean cat. The memory card would often format itself, erasing all our progress, usually just after level 10.

And then, there was the gameplay of Darkstone itself. Darkstone was not an easy game. Skeleton archers were the worst, shooting you down way before you could get close to them. Spiders and the like just loved to poison your character, and antidote potions were hard to come by. The bosses were tough, and the Amazons were immune to magic. Even at high levels, your spells only did 1 point of damage at a time!

But we kept trying anyway. We loved it, and were determined to finish the epic adventure we had started.

Unfortunately, some jerk stole our Playstation, leaving us with an unfinished story. My only consolation is that the next ‘owners’ had to deal with the same glitchy memory card!

Skip ahead a few years, and the PS3 came out, with backwards compatibility, meaning it could play old Playstation 1 games! Luckily, my brother and I found an old copy of Darkstone at a local shop, and immediately went to complete the quest!

It was just like we remembered, with the chicken on the loading screen, the awesome soundtrack, and the bards that had a whole band, complete with electric guitars, hidden in the town well. And our PS3 ended up formatting itself halfway through the adventure, just like old times.

But we stubborn gamers kept on, reviving our couch co-op to speed through the realms, grab the crystals, and meet up with the wizard to form the Orb of Kaliba. Bro figured out a glitch that made our spells faster, while I figured out that we just had to run past the enemy wizards that spawn in the final levels. We also figured out the town bards are jinxed. Don’t listen to the song until you’re done with the game, or the system always formats.

There was nothing sweeter than the moment we finally crushed that dragon after 10 whole years of trying to complete the game, freeing the land forever! After we were done reveling in victory and looting the dragon’s lair, we returned to town, and listened to the Darkstone song by the town well. We looked at each other and said, “Hey, that was awesome! Let’s never do it again!”

And yes, the system formatted itself one more time. What is with that song?!

Darkstone was a difficult game, literally taking a decade to complete. But I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything. There were highs and lows. We loved rescuing fairies and little kids, and hated hearing “I need health – AUGHHH!!” for the 1,000th time. But at the end of it all, it was an adventure we shared, and completed together. Although it was hard, we didn’t give up. And we did it, man!

After the first experiences with Darkstone, I went on to play, and complete, many other RPGs, including Knights of the Old Republic, Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, and Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization. There were times when these games were insanely difficult, but my experience with Darkstone taught me to never give up, plow through, and have fun anyway. It’s a lesson I carry with me in life, as well as in games.

And no matter what games I find next, and how difficult they may be, Darkstone still holds a special place in my heart as the grinder that took a decade to complete – but was so worth the wait.

God Bless,

Dakota Love

Here’s the link to the town bard song, “The Darkstone Will Shine.” Listen – if you dare!