Darkest Dungeon II

I would like to start this review by stating that I have 400 hours in DD1. I played an 80 hour Bloodmoon campaign directly before playing DD2 (for over 50 hours at time of review). I have beaten all 5 Act bosses, with multiple different teams, multiple different times, while having less than 50% of the unlocks when I did so.
I thoroughly enjoy both games for entirely different reasons, and I would not say one is better than the other. These are two different games. They have similar combat and share the same aesthetics, but the core gameplay loop is very different. If you enjoyed Darkest Dungeon, then you will probably find something about this game you like as well. It is 100% worth a try.
This review is for people who have read some of the negative reviews and are still on the fence.
TLDR; Game is very hard. Game is also very good. Me like game very much.
==== The Good ====
Visuals:
I was on the fence about the 3D models when I first played the early access version, they've since grown on me. Dripping in style and atmosphere. Love the aesthetics. Enemy designs are ridiculously cool. All the characters are oozing with personality. Animations feel weighty and impactful. No notes.
Sound:
Good ol' Wayne June can't go wrong. Not as iconic as the lines from DD1, but give it time. Soundtrack is phenomenal. In game sound effects are great as well. No notes.
Gameplay:
Difficult, stressful, but oddly satisfying. Different game play loop than DD1. I was hopping back and forth between both games over the last week and it felt like I was playing a different game each time. Scratches the same itch but with different time investments and expectations in each.
Combat is similar enough in both, but DD2 expands upon those ideas with the token system. I happen to like the token system very much, I don't know if I'd call it 'better' but I do think that it's more in-depth and interesting to engage with. More information is available to a player at a glance. However it is a lot to be presented with at once, which makes learning it more intimidating than DD1. Your mileage may vary.
==== The "Its Aight" ====
The Relationship system has gone through several iterations. I currently enjoy it where it's at now. You can get certain bonuses to various skills, buffs during combat, and even tag team attacks or defenses with positive relationships. The opposite for negative relationships. You can influence it in various ways, such as attacking the same enemy back to back, healing party members off deaths door, etc. It can be frustrating at times, but it's overall pretty easy to manage and even trivialize to a certain extent by using Inn Items to push relationships into the positive. If your party hates each other by the mountain, you're essentially going into the Darkest Dungeon with a fully afflicted party. It's going to be a bad time.
==== The Meh ====
Cant skip dialogue and cut-scenes you've already seen. Mildly annoying.
==== The Bad ====
For me the only real negative is the time it takes to unlock everything. Cut that time in half and I feel like it would be paced out much better. But I also was getting back to back successful runs very early on, which already makes things easier because I had more tools to play with. I don't dislike the unlock system, I just wish it didn't take nearly as long. Also would be nice if you could access The Alter at any time outside of a run.
==== Addressing Negative Reviews ====
I have read through a lot of the negative reviews of DD2, and I just wholeheartedly disagree with most of the complaints. I would like to break down some of those complaints and offer my own counterpoints to them.
I'm going to say the obvious here, but many of the complaints can be boiled down to "Skill Issue" and I don't mean that in the "Git Gud" kind of way. I genuinely mean that there seems to be a fundamental lack of understanding the game's mechanics / party composition.
- Too RNG heavy
The game is no more RNG heavy/reliant than DD1 was. Full stop. In fact in a lot of ways it's less RNG heavy, because you can factor in tokens when making decisions rather than numbers. You know if an enemy has a crit token, you know if the enemy has a dodge token, these things don't happen randomly. Any attack you make will connect with the enemy barring any blind/dodge tokens. You have knowledge of turn order at the start of the turn. You can see most of what is ahead of you if you scout.
Good and Bad RNG happens in both games and in my experience the RNG in DD1 is far more punishing, because you have much less information to work off of.
While you can certainly make an argument that random Trinkets / Stage Coach items can influence your run, I've never had a run where I didn't find any useful trinkets. I'm not saying it can't happen, but I've yet to find it an issue in 50 hours of playtime. I have completed runs with bad trinkets. Its possible to complete a run with no trinkets at all.
In DD1, once you have all the best trinkets, there is very little reason to use anything else. DD2 forces you to make the best of what you find, which fits it's game play loop better. Whether you enjoy that or not is totally an individual preference.
- Planning runs isn't possible / required
Planning runs in DD2 is just as involved in DD1. You want to build a strong composition covering all your bases (tanking, healing, stress recovery, damage and dots). You want to know what bosses your build will be better against. For instance a combo team built around a Leper is going to have a much harder time with The Librarian or Sleeping General than they will the Leviathan.
I have beaten every DD2 end boss blind going in with strong all around team. I purposely switch out party members so I don't become reliant on any one character. Every character has their strengths and weaknesses.
- Stress doesn't matter / the affliction system was removed
First off, the affliction system is still present it's just different. Meltdowns replaced Afflictions and Resolute replaced Virtuous.
Stress matters a lot in DD2, I would go so far as to say that it matters even more than it did in DD1. The relationship system-- love it or hate it-- is an extension of the stress mechanic, It is *THE* most impactful system to having successful runs. If you let meltdowns happen and you start to have negative relationships, your run *will suffer* You not only get part of your kit disabled if it locks in a skill you did not want to use, it's even worse if a skill that you *DO* use starts handing out non-stop debuffs. Fortunately, the relationship system can be trivialized pretty easily by hard focusing it and always buying every single relationship boosting item. Good or bad, up to you to decide, personally I like the current iteration of relationships. But to say that stress is not important is just factually incorrect.
- Unlocks don't matter
Unlocks are all incredibly influential and go a long ways towards making runs easier overall. There's not much to be said here. Stronger characters, better path choices, better items. They also add variety. You don't need them to be successful, but they help and they are very impactful.
==== Conclusions ====
Ultimately if you don't like the game, then you don't like the game and that's fine. Some people will love it, some will prefer DD1 or DD2, and others will hate both games with a passion. If you enjoyed DD1, I think there's a lot of fun to be had with DD2. It offers a similar experience in a different package. I'd say give it a try, and if you really don't like it then you can always refund it.
The masochist in me absolutely adores both games for different reasons. I'm looking forward to the Kingdoms update, as I think that will add a ton to the DD2 experience and help bridge the gap between both games.
Game is very hard. Game is also very good. Me like game very much.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk

DARKEST DUNGEON 1 PLAYERS PLEASE READ BEFORE PURCHASING

DD2 is a fun and approachable standard 3 map rogulite with much of the great art and style of DD1. However, you have to go into this experience with the full understanding that this game is NOTHING LIKE Darkest Dungeon 1.

In the first game, there was a steep learning curve as the game punished you over and over again while you tried desperately to keep as many of your characters alive as possible through murky mechanics and unforgiving RNG. Over time, you learn the systems and improve all of your different recovery and gearing locations so that you get your people surviving longer and with better item prep. You got to know the ins and outs, the strength and weaknesses, and the quirks of each of the members of your teams. In the end, weeks... months.... years later, you may get to beat the game.

DD2 has none of that. As a standard 3 map roguelite, the whole point of the game now is to charge in and experiment aggressively. Once you get to the farthest inn you think you can make it to, you end the game, collect your candles to invest in the meta game, and get ready to try again; just like every other 3 map roguelike in exsistance.

So, this game is faster and more accessible with great art, and interesting story and approach and it has some interesting twists on the standard roguelite, but that is still what you are going to get this time. The irony is, they spent way more time in this game giving each "character" a back story and development, but in the end, there is no development as they just die and come back over and over with extremely limited permanency. You invest absolutely NOTHING in any one character despite the game saying you do. Instead, you are investing in the entire CLASS of character. Each individual means nothing.

In the end, if you are looking for a more polished DD1, this is NOT it. If you are looking for a much more normal roguelight set in the same universe as DD1 than you are good to go and will have a blast!

First of all: This game is difficult, and it takes a long time to learn, mostly because each run takes so long.
That being said, that's also why I love it. It's challenging, and after some balance patches, there's really a lot of ways to play the game where you really have to use your brain and be creative.
I particularly like how the game forces you to take preparatory action from the very start of a run, so that you are prepared to aptly face the challenges towards the end.
The one downside here is that you don't exactly know how you need to prepare unless you've combed through the wiki or spent a couple 3 hour long runs figuring out the mechanics of what's going on at the end.
The art style is amazing, the atmosphere is perfect (we all love Wayne June's voice), and the music is really on point, so much so that I occasionally just leave the game on (in "stagecoach mode") instead of running Wallpaper Engine

Steam Reviews can be a bit tricky sometimes when you are pondering on "What game should I buy next?" situation.
I loved DD1, and when I heard that DD2 was coming out I was beyond thrilled to get my boots back into its cryptic world and amazing storytelling. After its release on steam, before buying, as many of us do, I took a glance at the Steam Reviews and the Red Thumb Down reviews caught me off guard.
"It doesn't live up to the first game...", "Huge disappointment...", "A step backwards from the first game...", "The story is not as good as the first one...". "Odd and poor decisions on the mechanics..." etc.
That, plus after watching some YT reviews, I hesitated and wondered: "Is it really that bad?". Took me a while to take a decision, but finally, in a weakness of curiosity, I bought it.
After an hour in game, I began to realize what those reviews tried to warned me about and felt that same disappointment. "They could've just improved on what they did on DD1...", "What in Cthulhu's name have they done...?". "I have zero idea what the story is even about...", I berated.
Time went by afterwards, I stopped playing it and moved on to other games.
Then, it dawned on me. A glimpse of an inner debate that perhaps developed there since that disappointing hour, and thought, "Let's play DD2 without the expectations of DD1, as if its just its own thing and not exactly a sequel". It was a bit difficult mind you as, the obvious "2" on the title made it hard to "pretend" it was just a "new" game, nothing to do with the 1st one besides aesthetics. Shortly after... surprisingly enough, I began to enjoy it.
I realized that, when I first opened DD2, I had my brain wired on the expectations that it was going to be an improvement on DD1... and *there* lay the fault, the "pesky" pebble in the shoe that didn't allow me to enjoy DD2 for what it was: "A new perspective on the Darkest Dungeon Franchise", "A Frankenstein of risky, experimental but certainly fun ideas".
The reason why I said that Steam Reviews can be sometimes tricky when deciding where to invest our money into is due to the realization that, we all experience games in a different way. What is trash and poor writing for some, could be gold or exciting to others and, from what I could gather, most negative comments come from, I believe, the expectation on what DD2 could've been and not what it *is*.
I'm not defending its flaws, DD2 sure has some questionable things going on that, for someone who enjoys rougelites as I do, can be quite annoying and unnecessarily overly cryptic. But heck, I'm a masochist when it comes to difficulty, I don't like tutorials, I don't like me being explained every single mechanic as I would rather figure it out myself. But that's me, those are my quirks and I won't berate against someone who doesn't share the same opinion.
I enjoy DD2 for what it is, in spite of flaws and everything. I like the DD aesthetics combined with the new mechanics and perspective that the devs took the risk implementing on. I don't quite sure understand why they did it but I'm enjoying it now that I have changed that initial perspective I had.
If after reading this you feel that perhaps you and me flow through the same wavelength... maybe, just maybe, you'll be able to have that fun I'm now having with DD2. A new perspective, atop what makes Darkest Dungeon interesting.
I definitely recommend it, but mind you, please, not to buy this game if you are truly seeking an improvement on DD1 because you'll find yourself empty handed. This is a new intake into DD, it's its own thing, and it shines because of it, in my humble opinion.
"Many Fall In The Face Of Chaos, But Not This One. Not Today."

Darkest Dungeon 2 is a roguelite that overhauls a massive part of the meta-game of the original Darkest Dungeon while also tweaking the battle system to go along with these new changes. The new art direction is a perfect continuation of the original's and the 3d/2d style works (almost) perfectly, especially in the animation department DD2 surpasses the original.
The issue however is one (and it is a big one). With the meta-game overhauled the stakes of each run have changed towards a very peculiar direction. In DD2 losing a hero or getting a party wipe does't represent a problem you have to work around (i.e build up a new team, equip them, level them up etc like in DD1, losing a team felt like a personal challenge, the game directly slapping you and asking you what you are gonna do about it) but rather it just represents lost time. Feeling like you wasted hours upon hours on a run because you messed up is an infinitely more grading feeling. The memory system also piles up on this annoyance by multiplying said lost time. As a result the game gets repetitive and stale. The meta-game currency is incapable of fixing that issue.
As a personal anecdote. I could play DD1 for 12 hours straight and not get bored for a second. With DD2 I can go through 1 maybe 2 runs before I throw the towel for the day because I just can't bring myself to go through the grinder again.
That said I am a big fan of the new combat system, obviously heavily inspired by the Butcher's Circus add-on to DD1. The RNG has been heavily reduced by replacing many stats such as Accuracy and Dodge with tokens. Your character will hit 100% of the time but if he has a blind token or the enemy has a dodge token that % goes down to 50% or even 25%. I do enjoy this new system since it fixes one of the most frustrating aspects of DD1. That being the accuracy system.
All that said I think DD2 has a lot of potential. If the Meta-Game is fixed and more variety is added I think it can reach hights close to the original. Also I respect the devs a lot for deciding to make an actually new game based on DD1 and not just recycle the same formula with new graphics. This is a level of risk that should be rewarded by fans on top of the fact that Red Hook still releases updates and DLCs for DD2.
All and all. Good game with a lot of potential but some really upsetting issues that can be resolved.

I realize the common complaint about DD2 is that it was made for people who didn't like DD1... and I gotta say... for me, it's true. I wanted so badly to love DD1. I love the artwork, voice work, design, gameplay... but somehow it just never clicked for me.

DD2 solves many of the issues I had and I could not be happier with it. I think if you're the type that likes roguelikes, etc, but wants persistent characters, this game feels much better. The upgrades feel more impactful and less incremental. You can still have some bad luck and I still scream at the heavens occasionally, but it doesn't feel AS punishing, if you prepare properly, plan your team out well, etc.

I realize that many people who loved DD1 were bitterly disappointed by the changes in DD2, but if you're like me and struggled to find enjoyment in DD1 despite your best efforts, give this one a shot.

Visually gorgeous but the gameplay itself feels like a downgrade from the previous game. It's more strategic in the sense that you can manipulate RNG way more, but you can still get screwed by some random event and since runs take forever, you're now wasting hours of playtime on a fail. Still an easy recommend because it went from a 11/10 on the previous game to a 9/10
Edit: after 100 hours of playtime, I get it now. I like DD2 gameplay more than DD1