A Smooth start

Today is your first day braving Darkest Dungeon 2, and you couldn’t be more excited. You are traveling with your companions, hunting for treasure and exploring a variety of locations. Surely this is the adventure everyone is dying to have right?

Suddenly your torch goes out, and you are smothered by darkness. You call out to your companions and hear nothing in response. You fumble around in the dark some more as you try to assess your surroundings, and you hear someone mumbling in the darkness. As you approach you find one of your companions leaning over another split down the middle, nearly more than a pile of flesh and bones at this point. They began screaming and laughing, tearing at their own flesh in an attempt to carve it off. Quickly you flee in search of your remaining companion the witch doctor. Surely he can help heal you’re other party members and help right this ship. To your horror you find the doctor impaled on a set of spikes, having clearly been killed by a trap.

With no one else left in your party you make for the exit as quickly as possible hoping to at least survive yourself, only to be surrounded by a group of crazed cultists on the way out. Before they can even kill you however you die of a heart attack from the stress of the entire situation.

Narrating my failures

This is almost exactly how my first run went in Darkest Dungeon 2 and I have to say just like the first I was hooked. Something about facing overwhelming odds while also being told by the game itself that failure isn’t the end and you should expect to die; is oddly satisfying. If you’ve played the first Darkest Dungeon you may think yourself an expert at this point and be going into this game confident, however I must remind you as our dear narrator says. “Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.” Darkest Dungeon 2 has a slew of new features and QoL changes that will test even the most seasoned of dungeon veterans.

Setting Out

The first big change you may notice is Darkest Dungeon 2’s lack of well Dungeons. Rather than exploring the depths of the old manor this time around you find yourself on the road in a stagecoach. Rather than just one overarching goal of go deeper, Darkest Dungeon 2 focuses more on your cast of heroes this time.

Every character has a “solo” story along with numerous main overarching stories. Instead of rolling for characters after each run you simply generate classes and heroes now from those you’ve unlocked. This allows for a more stable and user friendly starting point each run. The gameplay loop consists of forming a party, riding your stagecoach through randomly generated areas and attempting to reach the mountain.

The player may choose different paths to face different encounters and challenges on the way. Should you encounter starving towns folk? It’ll be up to you if they suffer or get fed, and not every party member may agree with your choice. Along with the stress system, Darkest Dungeon 2 also wants you to build report with your companions allowing for buffs and greater team synergy. However this also means making enemies of your teammates will debuff you and increase your struggles in battle.

Fighting your way through hell

Battles in Darkest Dungeon 2 consist of turn based combat while also using set positions. Your party of four are in a line from front to back and each of their skills are based on their positioning and reach. Players must choose between a party that works well in each position or suffer a very limited attack setup. The hard part is that some moves you use will rearrange characters along with the enemy. Your knight makes a great defensive shield at the front but doesn’t quite do much covering the rear. Enemies as well will push and pull your team around, so players must be aware of their party formation before every attack.

Death is not the end

Darkest Dungeon 2 is a roguelike so don’t be discouraged by failure and party wipes, the better your run goes the more “candles” you aquire to spend on permanent upgrades for later runs. The game is all about trial and error and you should expect to lose numerous times before you get a win. This makes victory all the sweeter when you finally claim it. The gameplay is similar to the first in many ways but has enough new ideas and content for players to enjoy without feeling stale or repetitive. So grab your torch, take a deep breath, and brave the Darkest of dungeons at your own peril.

Gamer Social Club was provided a review code by the developer and played on Xbox Series X. The game released on Switch, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PS5/PS4 on July 15th 2024