Darkest Dungeon II Review (El Geisto)
YES, IT IS NOT DARKEST DUNGEON 1!
However, this game deserves a way higher rating. It is fun, it is well made, it is unique experience.
Unfortunately its main game loop takes away several aspects that Darkest Dungeon 1 players enjoy so much.
This explains the sour ratings for an otherwise highly enjoyable game.
What is different:
Instead of slowly restoring your hamlet, your heroes travel the landscape with a stagecoach.
The expeditions are long and follow a roguelike gameloop. You can choose which regions to travel to and, like in many other roguelike/roguelite titles, select the next waypoint from a choice of 2 or 3 options.
Positives:
1. First off.. the greatest thing about it.. THE SOUNDTRACK.
Stuart Chatwood filled this game with a bunch of absolute bangers: Sprawl Battle, Traverse the Mountain and Battle of the Mountain - these songs will put you on edge in epic decisive battles, where small mistakes will be even more punished than in the first iteration of the game. Sprawl Battle became my personal most heard song on Spotify.
2. The graphics are great. The pre-move animations add a lot of life and dynamic action in comparison to the more static first Darkest Dungeon. The winddown animations are just beautiful too.
3. The relationships between characters are a fantastic addition. Unluckily, it became a bit too easy to always get good relationships, which often makes the game a lot easier. Unluckily the powered up moves are random and sometimes just useless.
4. The boss fights can be hard if you bring the wrong team comp. To me, these harder fights are very enjoyable. Beating the boss with one man standing basically in the last swing was a very amazing and memorable experience.
5. The token system adds a bit more consistency in your battle plan. For most players, this might be an improvement. I personally enjoyed the randomness of the first part a little more.
6. The reflection shrines tell the stories of the heroes and are really cool.
7. The narrator (June Wayne) delivers once again and the lines slap hard. Yet, most lines feel less iconic than the first part.
8. Less micromanagement.
Negatives:
1. There is no gravitas when failing a run or when a characters dies. You don't lose them. You can just select them again in your next run. This bitter aspect of the first Darkest Dungeon is what made it so thrilling. Here you can basically end a run early with little consequences. Sometimes it is the best course of action to abandon midway and cut your losses.
2. Good team comps are limited. You can't play some goofy stuff anymore like 4 Lepers.
3. Decisions along the way have no impact. You decide on whatever resource you need most in the moment.
4. Many beloved characters are missing in the base game and are trickling in with DLCs. As things are progressing right now, getting the full DD1 roster in the future might cost you another 50-100 bucks.
5. Camping is replaced by the inn, which is less immersive. The fear of ambushes and the little moments of respite inside the dungeons was a great touch.
6. Spending a few hours just to get smacked by a boss or miniboss is pretty bitter. Yes, you can upgrade a bunch of stuff and it was not completely for naught. But the upgrades are whatever.
7. Many paths of the heroes are inferior to other paths and for me there is no reason to play semi-useless builds.
8. Some characters are strong and they play nicely (e.g. Highwayman and Man-At-Arms). Some characters are quite weak like the Runaway.
Conclusion:
It is not Darkest Dungeon 1. It is still a fantastic game. Some gameplay mechanics are better, some are worse.
The DLC money-squeeze is a bit of a turn-off. Especially hiding already designed characters behind a paywall is a huge no-no.
Addendum:
Redhooks EULA agreement is pretty dank: https://store.steampowered.com/eula/262060_eula_0 (Section 5, 14 and 20)
This is a singleplayer game. I am not speedrunning. Why do you want to monitor my RAM?