Is there an ending to Darkest Dungeon?
As someone with hundreds of hours played across multiple Darkset Dungeon campaigns, one of the most common questions I see is:
"Does Darkest Dungeon have an ending?"
The short answer is yes, Darkest Dungeon has a complete main storyline that concludes after you beat the final boss and finish the fourth and last of the eponymous "Darkest Dungeon" missions. So while gameplay can potentially continue indefinitely, there is a definitive end to the overarching narrative.
Clearing the Darkest Dungeon and Facing the Heart of Darkness
Without getting into spoilers, the plot of Darkest Dungeon revolves around your party delving deeper into ever more twisted and nightmarish dungeons uncovered underneath an abandoned family estate. Each expedition reveals more of the sinister history behind the manor and its former inhabitants.
The dungeons escalate in difficulty, from the apprentice-level Ruins and Warrens to the sprawling multi-level labyrinths of the titular Darkest Dungeon. These four end-game dungeons contain the most lethal enemies and maddening obstacles the game has to offer. They ultimately lead your group to an otherworldly portal called the Heart of Darkness – a Lovecraftian horror representing the root source of corruption poisoning the estate.
Defeating the Heart of Darkness‘ grueling multi-phase boss battle therefore completes the main objective you have been working towards from the very first week – purging the evil inhabiting these lands. And it is not an easy feat to accomplish! Even veteran players with optimized parties and plans can spend dozens of hours across multiple attempts before finally toppling this ultimate foe. But eventually, with an unbreakable resolve and peerless teamwork, victory can be achieved!
The Ending and What Lies Beyond
Once you vanquish the great evil plaguing the estate, the victory fanfare plays and the credits roll on a beautifully illustrated epilogue conveying the heroes returning home from their harrowing journey. This signifies the outright completion of Darkest Dungeon‘s central narrative arc. You could stop playing here and have experienced a full, if haunting, conclusion to your quest.
However…the ending also implies your success may be short-lived. Through ominous narration and shifting scenery, it suggests the Heart of Darkness has only been temporarily defeated, and this cycle of darkness could repeat itself in time. So while evil has for now been driven back, the eternal struggle between light and dark rages on.
Does this mean there is still more to see and accomplish for those undeterred? Absolutely. Even with the primary campaign and storyline content exhausted, Darkest Dungeon opens up into a freeform sandbox allowing you to keep adventuring to your heart‘s content:
- Continually upgrade your hamlet hub with new structure buildings, treatment facilities, and training upgrades
- Develop a bustling roster of dozens of heroes across all 15+ character classes
- Collect every last letter, journal page, and heirloom relic recorded in the game compendium
- Accumulate mountains of gold and treasures outfitting your top-tier parties
- Dive back into previous dungeons to sweep up any leftover curios, obstacles, and minibosses
- And of course…descend into The Farmstead and Courtyard DLC areas with their own completable questlines!
With so many gameplay avenues and progression systems beyond completing dungeon runs, you can potentially play Darkest Dungeon forever in pursuit of 100% completion. That said, some may ultimately yearn for deeper closure given the ominous implications of the finale…
