Dead of Darkness (2025): story, systems and review
Dead of Darkness (2025) is the first game in the series: a 2D survival horror in which investigator Miles Windham searches Velvet Island for the truth about his daughter's death. About 12 hours long, it holds a Very Positive rating on Steam, has received eight post-launch updates and launched on consoles in July 2025.
Dead of Darkness (2025) is the game that came before the sequel — the first commercial release from Retrofiction Games, and the baseline every Dead of Darkness 2 system will be compared against. This recap covers its story, its systems, its surprisingly long support tail, and the practical question: should you play it before the sequel?
The story
1985, England. Private investigator Miles Windham follows a lead on the mysterious death of his daughter to Velvet Island — and finds the residents behaving strangely, with hostility building by the minute. The case becomes a fight for survival, and the narrative leans cosmic horror over gore.
Systems worth knowing
- Sanity and hallucinations: every enemy encounter costs mental state. The lower the state, the stronger the hallucinations — some images blur the line between the game and the fiction.
- Relentless enemies: thirteen enemy types, and some will stalk rather than patrol.
- Scarcity: resources are scarce and the inventory is limited; the official advice is to plan routes carefully and only fight when you must.
- Investigation: search, inspect and read to unlock clues, hidden caches and secret passages.
- Character switching: the game moves between characters including Miles and Olivia across its story.
Length, updates and reception
- Runtime: about 12 hours, depending on difficulty.
- Reception: Very Positive on Steam — 87% of its 207 reviews at the time of writing.
- Updates: eight numbered post-launch updates plus the earlier hotfix series, ending in a cistern overhaul, new map obstacles and an additional storage chest. The anniversary post noted the game was considered finished — with the caveat that more fixes could come.
- Consoles: PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch versions launched July 2, 2025, ported by eastasiasoft, including physical editions after the fact.
- Price: $15.99 / €15.79 / £13.49 at full price; it goes on deep sale regularly (40% off at the sequel's announcement).
Should you play it before Dead of Darkness 2?
The sequel is a direct follow-up in tone, systems and lore lineage — new country, new cast — so the first game is the best available preview of what the sequel's design values are. It is also the cheapest: it regularly discounts to under ten dollars. If you bounce off its save discipline and inventory pressure, the sequel's systems have been reworked for quality of life, but the DNA is shared.
If you just want the plot context, this recap and the story page cover the connective tissue without the 12 hours.
Questions
Is Dead of Darkness 1 required for the sequel? No. This recap exists for that reason.
Does the first game have a demo? Yes, it had a Steam Next Fest demo before launch. The sequel has no announced demo yet.
Is the first game part of the same story? Same studio, same era (1985), same genre — a different case with a different protagonist.
