When you boot up Darkest Dungeon 2 for the very first time, you’re greeted with a message that clearly tells you that you’re about to fail… a lot of… as you attempt to overcome its many challenges. It doesn’t do this to discourage you, but to raise expectations. Following the precedent set by the first Darkest Dungeon, this sequel is the kind of game that doesn’t pull any punches as you work to master its various systems. Many may be put off by developer Red Hook Studios’ uncompromising approach to difficulty, but those who persevere will find that Darkest Dungeon 2 offers some of the most rewarding experiences you’ll find in a roguelike RPG adventure. Perhaps most importantly, this new entry also isn’t afraid to try some new things that noticeably set it apart from its predecessor.
Darkest Dungeon 2, set to release fully on PC in May 2023 after 18 months of Early Access, is set in a grim, Lovecraftian world overrun by all manner of undead creatures and grisly horrors after an academic known as The Scholar tampers with an ancient relic called the Iron Crown. All of the horrors emanate from a mountain that looms menacingly in the distance, and so you’re tasked with assembling a team of four adventurers and using their combat and survival skills to help you carry a flame named Hope aboard a stagecoach to the mountain, where you’ll confront the source of the evil and hopefully rid the land of it for good.
It’s not exactly a nuanced plot, but what the story lacks in depth here, it more than makes up for in overall atmosphere. Wayne June returns as narrator, and his deep, gravelly voice feels like the perfect match for the wicked, twisted world. His descriptions of characters and environments as you explore them are as detailed as they are enchanting, and this narration really does a great job of drawing you into the story and getting you used to the creepy vibes.
In a somewhat controversial shift among fans, the gameplay in Darkest Dungeon 2 now uses a revised roguelike loop that brings things a bit more in line with something like Slay the Spire. After choosing your four characters, a run sees you work your way through a few biomes, all of which eventually come down to a long, forking road with major nodes every few “leagues.” The nodes are where you’ll find things like enemy encounters, mid-run shops, or hospitals to spruce up your crew, while in the space between each node you’ll take control of the stagecoach and maneuver it back and forth to avoid hazards and run over item caches that can yield you useful rewards.
The stagecoach admittedly feels a little tricky to control, but we appreciated how it provides just enough of a palette cleanser from the drudgery of typical enemy encounters. You’re only in control for a minute or two at a time, but these sections still prove tense as you anxiously scan the horizon for obstacles and attempt to maneuver around or into them. As you ride, characters will slowly recover from their last battle, periodically growing closer together or further apart as the stress of the journey takes its toll. And if you don’t manage the condition of the stagecoach’s wheels or armor well enough, you’ll find yourself drawn into an emergency melee where each turn, one random team member must repair damage while the other three desperately hold your enemies at bay.
Whether you’re thrown out on the trail or end up in a fight you planned for, battles still play out in a delightfully tense turn-based setting. Each side can line up to four combatants in a row, and positioning is extra important here due to some abilities that only work in specific positions in the lineup. As you and your enemies trade blows, you’ll need to carefully balance various buffs, debuffs, and status conditions to secure a victory. Arguably the most important thing to manage here (besides your health) is each character’s ‘stress’ level. As damage and pressure increase, characters will become more stressed, and if this maxes out, a Meltdown will occur, randomly inflicting a slew of negative status effects and slashing their health.
Part of what makes combat so compelling is the fact that it’s nearly impossible to emerge from an encounter without being scarred. And since healing options are pretty limited both in and out of combat, you have to consider the effects of each fight on your long-term chances. Darkest Dungeon 2 is the kind of game where you don’t necessarily plan to win, you plan to lose. slower and maybe you can just barely make it across the finish line at the end. It’s like a twisted version of the Oregon Trail in that sense: not everyone is going to make it, so you have to figure out what sacrifices you have to make to make the journey last a little bit longer.
Victories along the way earn you candles that you can spend between runs on things like stat boosts and newer, more powerful items that may appear in shops or battle rewards for future runs. Additionally, after completing a run (pass or fail), you gain a certain amount of hope based on your performance, which then boosts your profile level and leads to unlocking things like new class types. We appreciated the use of meta-progression elements, as they ensure that Darkest Dungeon 2 doesn’t feel like at punish you for always being busy some kind of progression. The unlocks and upgrades aren’t a substitute for a lack of skill, but they certainly help to take the edge off and give you a greater margin for error as you learn to better manage risk and maximize your few rewards.
The relationship system is another new feature, and one that you’ll need to carefully manage if you want to go all the way up the mountain. Different actions in combat or events will affect a character’s relationship with the other three party members, and if it goes high enough, they’ll form a bond that allows them to synergize better through new passives introduced in various skills. But if it goes low enough, the opposite will happen and certain skills will become “cursed” because group combat makes them less likely to function as a team. We appreciated the extra tension this mechanic added to an already stressful experience, as it felt like a natural addition to the gameplay loop of careful resource management without being too distracting.
We were quite impressed with Darkest Dungeon 2, although the gameplay can feel a little too grindy after a while. While you technically always finish the game on every run, it doesn’t feel like this is really viable until you’ve invested some time into getting more of those unlocks and stat boosts built up from multiple runs. This is admittedly more of a nitpick, as Darkest Dungeon 2 is still a joy to play through, but just be prepared to be on the treadmill before you feel like you’re really starting to get anywhere.
Visually, Darkest Dungeon 2 uses a beautifully corrupted art style from Chris Bourassa that bears a strong resemblance to Joe Mad’s signature work. Characters and environments are characterised by a comic book-esque presentation with thick lines and lots of shadow, giving things a highly stylised look that cleverly combines 3D models with flat 2D textures to give the illusion of 3D space. Animations are kept to a minimum, but are used to great effect in combat through the use of a quick snap to action whenever a character uses an ability. Each biome uses its own colour palette to prevent things from becoming too bland during a run, while the enemies within each biome are gruesomely detailed and excitingly diverse.
Conclusion
Darkest Dungeon 2 may not be the sequel that die-hard fans of the original wanted, but its unique approach to that hard-hitting, brutal roguelike gameplay is compelling nonetheless. A memorable art style, tons of replayability, and plenty of mechanical depth make this an easy recommendation for any roguelike fan, even if it can be a bit grindy at times. If you’re looking for another badass roguelike to add to your collection, Darkest Dungeon 2 is definitely worth your time and money.