Darkhaven comes from Moon Beast Productions, a team packed with original Diablo and Diablo II creators like Erich Schaefer, Phil Shenk, and Peter Hu. These folks know hack 'n' slash inside out from their Blizzard North days, and they're aiming to shake things up without ditching the classics. The game's a dark fantasy ARPG set in a ruined world overrun by nature and beasts. You start as a survivor, hacking through procedurally generated lands that feel logical, not just random blobs of biomes stitched together.
What stands out is the fully destructible environment. Dig for resources, smash dungeon walls, drain lakes to uncover old ruins, or rebuild forts into your base. Changes stick around, even offline, and invasions from otherworldly horrors can wreck the place permanently, adding real stakes. Combat isn't mindless clicking; you've got full movement with jumps, climbs, dashes, and vertical play to dodge smarter enemies that need tactics, not just button mashing.
Loot focuses on game-changing items that spark build ideas, not tiny stat bumps, echoing Diablo's rune words and sets. It's moddable too, with in-game tools for custom stuff while playing. Supports solo, co-op, PvP, and even MMO-like connected realms. No firm release date yet; they're hitting Kickstarter soon for early access push, and a Steam demo is coming in weeks. Wishlist it on Steam now. Could mix up the genre with its world-shaping twist, but it'll need to deliver on promises from these industry old-timers.
