Darkest Dungeon II Review – A Light in the Darkness

Darkest Dungeon II on PC

To say Darkest Dungeon II generally is a brutally punishing recreation could be an understatement.

On a couple of event, I noticed promising runs floor to a halt because of unlucky essential hits from enemies and fewer than very best talents assigned to my social gathering. A matter of minutes noticed runs go from being the greatest I’d ever needed to the worst I’d ever seen, and what might have been a triumphant trouncing of a boss became a torturous train in taking place with the ship alongside the social gathering members I’d led into premature deaths.

It’s the epitome of a recreation that revels in pitting gamers in opposition to overwhelming odds. And but, this additionally made overcoming the challenges the recreation presents that rather more gratifying, and established Red Hook Studios‘ latest offering as one of the most rewarding roguelike games I’ve performed in a very long time.

Darkest Dungeon II Review - A Light in the Darkness — Image by Red Hook Studios

Part of that is because of how Darkest Dungeon II builds upon what got here earlier than it. Similar to the first title in the sequence, the sequel facilities round a gaggle of troubled souls who’re drawn right into a mission to eradicate an eldritch pressure that threatens humanity. Unlike the authentic Darkest Dungeon although, this entry sees the forces of darkness let unfastened on civilization, decimating and corrupting the wider world.

As a outcome, the social gathering of unlikely heroes should journey the world, combating horrors as they go and struggling to keep up their sanity in the face of more and more monstrous obstacles. All the whereas, bits and items of data are revealed concerning how this occurred, and what awaits those that will stay as soon as the mud settles.

It’s a dire sufficient setup, and supplies an excuse for a few of the gameplay mechanics which were carried out since the first recreation’s launch. Most of those show themselves in the type of quality-of-life enhancements, which serve to make the sequel really feel like an enormous step up in phrases of ease of entry and playability.

Case in level: Players now navigate linear maps and areas by way of a carriage which permits one’s social gathering to traverse the recreation’s maps extra shortly. Players can nonetheless select the place they go and what they’ll expertise to an extent, however there’s not an possibility or have to travel round a cramped space in order to finish missions. Players may nonetheless fall sufferer to hazards and threats simply as the social gathering from the authentic did, however with far much less useful resource administration, backtracking, and basic stress.

Alongside this had been enhancements starting from extra readily accessible social gathering member varieties as a substitute of randomly recruitable characters, and the elimination of the starvation mechanic altogether. Though these would possibly seem to be small options to newcomers, they find yourself radically altering the recreation and honing in on the problem offered by the recreation’s fight.

Speaking of which, the battles in Darkest Dungeon II are the place the title actually shines. Though it would seem to be normal fare for a turn-based tackle fights, the system is deceptively deep with a slew of stats, illnesses, and buffs to maintain observe of. Failing to take action can shortly spell the distinction between a profitable run and one doomed to fail. There’s additionally components like a celebration member’s positioning, and whether or not or not they’ve the damage-dealing potential wanted for a given encounter.

Early on, I discovered myself continually flattened by Occult enemies which appeared insurmountable as a consequence of the injury they dealt and the illnesses they hit my social gathering members with. After performing some experimenting although, I discovered that they could possibly be simply dispatched by blinding, poisoning, or burning them accordingly, after which transferring particular lessons into place to inflict the most quantity of harm. Before lengthy, they ranked amongst the foes I might dispatch even with pretty underdeveloped social gathering members.

Adding to this are a slew of auxiliary mechanics which serve to additional affect one’s probabilities of survival. These embrace returning options like equipping Trinkets with particular results or correctly treating the social gathering throughout their temporary respites at Inns, in addition to coping with the completely different traits assigned to characters which strengthen and debilitate characters in equal measure.

Alongside these are new components similar to segments which flesh out the backstories of characters in order to unlock new talents for them, and relationships between characters that kind primarily based on their actions in fight. Utilizing them correctly can show simply as pivotal in how nicely one’s run goes, and are price determining sooner moderately than later.

Granted, that is simpler mentioned than carried out, particularly for newcomers to the franchise. As with the first recreation, Darkest Dungeon II generally is a little obtuse in the way it presents its mechanics to the participant. Fresh gamers may have a metric ton of options thrown at them proper off the bat, and the explanations for how one can use them aren’t at all times as detailed as they could possibly be.

There’s additionally the RNG components to maintain in thoughts. While gamers can definitely get round a few of the title’s issue by means of expertise and observe, there’ll nonetheless be runs which can be made unsalvageable as a consequence of a string of essential hits from enemies or the worst attainable traits triggering and debilitating one’s social gathering. There’s no actual strategy to account for this, and the solely answer is often to simply accept a loss even when victory gave the impression to be in sight moments in the past.

Both of those can show irritating, however by no means serve to make the expertise not possible to get pleasure from or a waste of time. Even if my early hours noticed me overwhelmed or pissed off by sudden losses, I used to be at all times drawn again in by the potential for a greater run in the future the place I had a greater understanding of the mechanics, or the place I stumbled upon a celebration with the good traits.

Past that, the remainder of Darkest Dungeon II may be counseled for the way nicely it’s designed. In phrases of the artwork and graphics, the title reveals a transparent step up from the authentic because of its bounce to 3D. Both by way of the carriage and the sprites for characters in battle, the recreation pops by means of small animations and actions. The artwork model bolsters these additional, lending every little thing the similar stylistic power as the authentic by means of darkish and jagged portrayals of assaults and reactions.

Sound-wise, the recreation is simply as memorable as the first in most each regard. The music runs the gamut from morose and haunting to intense and adrenaline pumping, whereas the sound results guarantee gamers will really feel each meaty blow or otherworldly howl all the means all the way down to their bones. Special point out additionally goes out to Wayne June, who as soon as once more serves as the inimitable voice of the narrator all through the journey and lends a particular aptitude to even the extra mundane features of the recreation.

Darkest Dungeon II isn’t a simple expertise to dive into, however it’s a worthwhile one. Those keen to muscle by means of its punishing design and RNG components will discover one in all the greatest roguelike titles round, and might anticipate to be drawn again into its world for months or years to return.