[1] Drawn without warning from victory in Fricana, the Hero arrives without equipment or explanation in the middle of the hazardous Dark One Caves in the distant land of Mordavia, a world full of undead that is "a mix of Slavic folklore and Lovecraftian horror".

[3] Quest for Glory IV features darker themes[3] while maintaining the humor of previous games through such methods as incorporating Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre parodies.

Revolving around a dark cult summoning an unfathomably large evil, the game was a far cry from earlier villains such as Baba Yaga.

[6] A particularly detailed sequence in the game involved the Gypsy Magda gathering information about the hero's future and his possible enemies or allies using a deck of Tarot cards.

[2] The most notable voice actors for the game are John Rhys-Davies as the Narrator, Jennifer Hale as Katrina, and Bill Farmer as Leshy.

According to an InterAction magazine article, John Rhys-Davies' part took more than three weeks to record, causing him to refer to the game as the "CD-ROM from Hell".

Initially, the game was released in December 1993 on nine 3.5" floppy diskettes (as were many other Sierra adventures at the time) to accommodate gamers who didn't have a CD-ROM drive.

Appearing in September 1994, this finalized CD version brought full recorded dialogue, a new intro cinematic, and fixed gameplay.

Scorpia especially criticized its bugs, describing the game as perhaps "the sloppiest product ever released by Sierra" and requiring multiple patches and "numerous replays".

[12] James V. Trunzo reviewed Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness in White Wolf #43 (May, 1994), giving it a final evaluation of "Very Good" and stated that "If you like your games bloody and macabre, this one won't satisfy your unusual (sick?)

[2][14] Michael Baker for RPGamer considers the installment a good game "worth money even twenty years on", scoring it 4 out of 5 stars.