You may have caught wind of teases from Moon Beast Productions earlier this week, but it’s happening now: The former Diablo and Diablo II developers behind the studio have officially announced OARPG Darkhaven, a game they say was inspired by the OG Diablo and Torchlight games, Hellgate London, Marvel Heroes, and… Nox. (This might be the first time I have ever seen anyone namedrop Nox. Until it appeared on GOG, I legit thought I had imagined having played it.)
“Darkhaven is a dark fantasy isometric ARPG set in the aftermath of a great and final collapse of civilization,” the announcement reads.
“Designed for solo play, cooperative adventures, and high-stakes PvP-enabled realms, Darkhaven is set in a procedurally generated, fully dynamic, and persistent world. Terrain and structures are deformable and buildable, allowing players to dig through earth, tunnel through dungeon walls, drain lakes to uncover buried ruins, redirect lava flows to reshape battlefields, or rebuild shattered fortresses. Seasons change, weather alters combat and traversal, and world-altering events leave permanent scars. Every action contributes to a shared, evolving history. Combat in Darkhaven enhances the balance between stat progression, build choice, and player skill. Heroes can jump, climb, swim, dash, and traverse the world freely, introducing a new layer of action and skill rarely seen in the genre. Success is not just a function of stats, but of movement, timing, and terrain awareness, dramatically expanding the ‘action’ at the heart of action RPGs.”
Steam is up now for wishlists, and a Kickstarter is en route, but the game seems very far into production as the devs are already teasing early access. A demo will be up at some point between Steam Next Fest, too (so before February 23rd), according to missives in the official Discord. But hey, we’re just grateful to see this:
