These options aren’t superfluous either - players must make clever use of all of them. Like western dungeon crawlers of yore, The Dark Spire is brutally hard. Over the past few years Atlus’s similar Etrian Odyssey games reintroduced ball-busting difficulty in RPGs - and The Dark Spire is an even harder beast of a game. This isn’t a game you will plow through. Without a well balanced party and a healthy dose of caution even the lowest level monsters will tear you to shreds. For some, this will make the game too frustrating to be enjoyable. Gamers that enjoy a challenge will get a lot of satisfaction with The Dark Spire. Going from constantly losing to aptly handling the monsters in any given floor feels like a real accomplishment - just be prepared to die, a lot. 

Artistically, The Dark Spire is an interesting game. There is no animation in the game. The random encounters are all static displays with the action described textually. Even so, [i]The Dark Spire[i] is a stylish game, painted with a gorgeous palette of lights and darks. There is a frustrating lack of variation; floors look the same throughout. The battle graphics in particular are nice, and while static, the enemies are well drawn.

The developers took retro dedication above and beyond with The Dark Spire. In addition to the standard visuals they also included a “classic” mode where all the visuals are translated into 8-bit wireframe a la old dungeon crawlers like Wizardry. The music is surprisingly good for a game this small, and the 8-bit renditions that accompany classic mode are a surprising delight. 

The Dark Spire is not a game everyone. It is intentionally archaic, targeting a group of fans yearning for a genre of play that modern gamers aren’t aware existed. For those looking for a simpler, more challenging, or more succinctly, absolutely retro, experience - this game is a must buy. The Dark Spire is everything most modern RPGs try not to be, and it is a joy.