Darkest Dungeon II

If its not obvious by my playtime and pfp, I adore this game unlike much else.
This game is hard. Brutal. Unforgiving. And especially while you are new and currently unlocking things, it can feel frustrating. This game has LONG runs, like 2-3 hours long, and things can feel unfair before you start to truly understand what the game expects from you. Its very difficult to get into. Even someone that loves this game as much as me, it didn't "click" until I was already more than 100 hours in, where I was able to beat the game on its easiest difficulty. These sound like things that would turn away most people.
But I would recommend this game in a heartbeat, without any hesitation.
This game looks and *sounds* absolutely incredible. People often undervalue sound design until they play a game that REALLY makes them think about it, and for many I bet this will be that game.
Its characters are fantastic, and the music is absolutely sublime. You know how in many jrpgs the final boss theme is often 6-8 minutes long? Yeah every song in this game is like that. The sense of scale is jaw dropping.
But as a roguelike, obviously what keeps me coming back is the gameplay.
A large cast of characters, each also split into 4 variants of themselves thanks to the games Path system (minus Bounty Hunter who is just goat). Just from that alone, gameplay variety is among some of the highest in any game I've played. 4 hero slots, each of those 4 can be 4 different playstyles, I'm bad at math but that's a seriously big number before everything has been tried. And yet, each one has a multitude of different playstyles and synergies to even further increase gameplay variety. I am over 1k hours in, and I STILL feel like there is so much I have yet to try, or yet to master.
From the dopamine rushes of Soloist Jester's Finale's, to the unkillable havoc of Carcass Hellion, to the crit machine of Tempest Leper, to the riposte master of Rogue Highwayman, to the supportive lass in Physician Plague Doctor, the shadowy stealths of Orphan Runaway, the enthralling damage of Warlock Occultist, and so so so so so so so so so much more ways that each playstyle just FEELS incredible to use. Not just in isolation, but together.
This game truly feels incredible to learn, and feels rewarding to discover new synergies and gameplay loves even 1000 hours later.
On top of that, this game is an assault on your senses, and I mean that in the best way possible.
The visuals and sounds have a *heaviness* to them, that takes up a lot more of your mindspace compared to other games I've played. Oftentimes after a play session I feel a sense of fatigue, like I had just come back from a long journey, realizing how much of my head and thoughts were absorbed into this world. It demanded my attention, and when it got it, I was payed back in turn with a sense of relief at a job well done, or a sense of despair after a grueling loss. If you don't get what I mean, play this game with headphones at a not quiet (but not blaring) volume and you'll see what I mean.
And on top of ALL of that...I've just been talking about Confessions! This game has an entire notha GAME within it, called Kingdoms. No more roguelike nature, now its more like a campaign style game, but everything changes with it in a unique way. New enemies, new travel, new contextualization of the games world, new ways to lose, but only one way to win. If the confessions grind ever begins to feel overbearing, Kingdoms is there to have something more familiar, and less time investing per play session than something that requires 2-3 hours of your time to finish a run.
Course, while Kingdoms is friendlier to shorter play sessions, you'll probably find yourself playing for longer. Its addictive, and the day by day system has me going "One more day one more day" similar to how I would playing Persona 3 back in the day. The limited time gives a new sense of urgency, and gives every action a cost to it. Its a different kind of tension, but one that really makes you think, especially on higher difficulties.
At this point this game is another home to me. I play multiple days a week for almost 2 years now, and hearing The Winding Valley gives me a sense of comfort, in a weird sort of way. I love seeing these characters and trying them out in new ways, again, and again, and again.
The new player experience is rough, intimidating, and can oftentimes feel cruel. But trust your gut, don't give into despair, and keep on going. Once things click, you'll find that you won't even want to stop, even after doing everything there is to do.
You were bold once. Be bold once more.

One of the most significant games to me personally.
Disclaimer: it's nothing like Darkest Dungeon 1, not even close. I am honestly puzzled as to why they called the game "DD2" at all. Whatever minor PR won by this is clearly outweighted by previous game fans' backlash. It's a spinoff at best, both in story and gameplay.
So, why like this game? To me it's mostly themes of the world, the characters, the story. Someone astutely said that there is a Silent Hill vibe (a very different game), because the entire world is build around spiritual torment, and obsession with it. Combined with beautiful immortal voice of Wayne June (who ever lives in our hearts), the games gruelling gameplay becomes more of a meditative experience. You play just to hear another one of his great quotes.
I won't sugarcoat it: this game's triumph is also it's weakness, Wayne carried 90% of it all. Without him this game is pretty much exactly what negative reviews paint it as. Still, visual and sound design, combined with story and again, voice acting come together as something that is bigger than its flaws.
If pure gameplay is what you're here after, then first: bad idea; second: let's talk about that.
Combat wise it's a significantly simplified version of DD1 gameplay. Hits are guaranteed unless specific effects indicate otherwise. Buffs and debuffs no longer stack to same extent as they used to, values are easier to remember. Something to the effect of "15% 25% 50%". There has also been some attempts at innovation, giving some heroes unique buffs and debuffs and the like. For example, Occultist now needs to accumulate and spend Celestial Autism (not real name but idk) tokens to cast his strongest spells. In some cases it's okay, in others it's kind of annoying and you just avoid a character so you don't have to construct your entire party to accomodate for this one character's BS. Generally, I think tactical encounters actually got casualized, it's a strategy layer that gets to people. And yes there are bosses. Those I think might be the worst offenders of tactical layer. Actual run-end bosses are alright, but do be sure to google what they do, because they are gimmicky (more so than in DD1). As for "mini" bosses - completely awful, I am an adamant defender of this game and I hate them. Each "mini" (not really) boss is a ticking clock towards party wipe, and you either hardcounter them throught one "correct" strat or you feel so helpless it's not even funny. End-run bosses are legit much easier.
As for strategic layer, you have a kind of "car in zombie apocalypse" scenario, where you travel down a forking road on a carriage. There are several biomes, each with very specific hazards. At the end of each biome you can restock, replace fallen heroes and choose the next biome (out of 2 available). In every individual map you have a forking highway I mentioned, and you essentially travel from one mini-location to another, by choosing to turn one way or another. And naturally you can't go back, because the protagonist wouldn't be where they were, if they were intelligent. The mini-locations have either prompts, tactical encounters or long-term hazards. Some locations are known beforehand, some are not. Most mid-late biomes are insaaaanely long, taking about 20-30 mins each. Artistically it's interesting, because it really does make you feel fatigued, but in a good way. From a pure gameplay perspective, however... Eh... I mean like I said, this game has a big case of "videogames are art". And if you believe the same, this game will test your conviction.
Oh and the stress system got revamped, it's easier to tell from scratch, rather than what's different. So when heroes' stress is at maximum (it's now 10/10 rather than 100/100 by the way), heroes generally have their health reduced to 10-20% of what it was and relationships with other heroes suffer. There are no longer permanent stress conditions like "abusive" or "masochistic". Although having frequent mental breakdowns does give bad quirks as well as ruin relationships. Speaking of, what is a relationship? It's something they replaced stress buffs/debuffs with. Can be weirdly wholesome, but just difficult as the mechanic that was replaced. It's neither better nor worse than stress conditions, really. At any rate, heroes that hate each other will get debuffs when their nemesis does certain skills (it's marked by blue outline) or move, ect. Basically powerful negative modifiers to skills of both rivals; you will either avoid these skills or tough it out. Positive relationships act much the same way with some skills being "blessed". A relationship is re-rolled on entering every new biome, so there is an elusive hope of turning things around, should everything go bad. Since whiskey items improve friendship between heroes, keeping a mountain of alcohol is recommended.
A detour about RNG. It's... Not so bad, actually. You see, RNG is complete ass unless your party is jack of all trades. Which is the only good party composition in this game (sadly). Your party needs to be as flexible as possible, otherwise it will depend on OP trinkets and obscure strats and yeah, with that in mind RNG will absolutely not be your friend. I have found however, that a balanced party doesn't really need good trinkets to come out on top. Although ofc you probably won't beat a final boss being naked and afraid. When creating a party, expect each hero to be able to hold their own, should the worst happen. No hyperspecialized heroes, otherwise it will all go to pieces the very moment your ranks are broken (so basically immediately). It is also wise to chose the weakest biome relative to your party specialization. Yes, this was in DD1 too, but in DD1 this choice was far, far more reliable.
Naturally, if you die, you find yourself in hub with accumulated resources, and generally a party wipe after 80% of a run still gives a ton of resources. It's mostly the frustration that gest people, I think. An average run is like beating 4-5 DD1 missions back to back with no breaks. And like I said, you need certain knowledge to enjoy this. Google the crap out of minibosses, make versatile parties. The balancing is off, yeah. "Pretentious" characters are harder to make viable than "big stick smash". I still love this game and I think if you're not here for mechanically good gameplay, then I think you can too. Strange as it sounds, many iconic games were... Challenging to play.

Recommending this for 1 reason and 1 reason alone. There is a mod called GIGADUNGEON on Nexus mods that fixes so many weird issues with the game. All around there are a lot of very strange design choices but this 1 mod fixes most of them in one fell swoop.
Fun game, but must be modded imo.
9/10 thanks to the workshop and dedication from fans.

Having played the first game, I want to share my thoughts on DD2 as well.
I prefer the first game, but I wouldn't say the second one is bad.
While it was a fresh way of going into the enemy encounters and handling the crew, I still enjoyed it a lot.
Gotta say the start had me hooked and got me tangled up for many hours until I reached a point where I needed a break, some fresh air, or whatever you may call it.
You take your hero party on a journey to reach the mountain through various "dungeons".
Every area has different enemies and stuff to collect.
Heroes have their stories, which you can discover by visiting points of interest, which then unlock new skills to use in combat + the way these stories are told is well done and interesting.
While on the road, you can unlock and collect items for the wagon to make it stronger or for other benefits.
Having to look out for your party members share a healthy relationship wasn't on my list to look out for for a while, but eventually I noticed the huge disadvantages it brought for an ongoing run.
Mending and caring for these is very important from the get-go, otherwise you have to watch for more than just enemy attacks during a battle...
Every time you collect candles these are free to be used to upgrade your equipment for the coming runs.
It is also possible to unlock hero memories or upgrade them in general.
Each cost and the cost goes up, but the benefits are well worth working for, and it does feel rewarding.
I don't mind the punishment in this game, and I also didn't mind it in the last.
The only thing bothering me was the constant meltdowns, while it felt significantly rarer to get a positive effect instead, and every time the hopes of one hero crumbled, the others were dragged down as well.
Not a bad dynamic, but I can see why it is frustrating.
So far, I enjoy playing, and I hope my candle keeps being lit while playing.

Finally, suffering with style again – Darkest Dungeon® II
Well, I was really skeptical for a long time about whether the carriage ride would be any good at all. I kept putting it off until I finally got it. And yes, Red Hook really managed to pull me in again.
The game looks as dark as ever, the style is truly distinctive. The characters seem like they've already experienced too much bad – and when they die, it really hurts. But at the same time, it also looks kind of cool. The narrator is back, of course, with his nasty attitude, and the music completely ruins the mood... in a good way.
The gameplay is a bit different now: You control a group on a carriage and have to fight your way through battles and events along the way. You never know what's coming, and you often think, "Okay, I'll just beat that guy," but then it turns out the other way around, and you lose someone. It's often frustrating, but that's exactly what makes it exciting.
It's definitely difficult—after 8 hours, I hadn't even seen the mountain yet. But failure is also kind of fun, because you learn from your mistakes and always want to try new combinations.
There are also different kingdoms with different challenges. I plan to try them out soon, once I've gotten over the frustration of the carriage.
If you like tough, dark strategy where you lose a lot but still can't stop, you'll have a lot of fun here. The second part feels different, but it's just as nasty and addictive as the first.
I love writing about games - and if you find my opinion interesting, you might also like our AWG Curator. We discover indie gems and share honest opinions, without buying followers!

Don’t trust the negative reviews that compare it strictly to the first game. The game is actually quite good. However, it is truly very different from the first one in terms of mechanics. When you buy it as a sequel, you naturally expect at least somewhat similar gameplay. But in reality, both the gameplay and core mechanics are quite different from the original. If it had been released under a different name instead of Darkest Dungeon 2, (like Darkest Dungeon Reborn) I think people wouldn’t have had these expectations.
The biggest changes are in the overall structure and progression system. Instead of managing a town and upgrading buildings like in the first game, you travel with a stagecoach through different regions in a more linear, run-based system. The game leans more into roguelike elements, where each run is somewhat self-contained. It also features a map system similar to Slay the Spire where you choose your path between different encounters and events. Combat is still turn-based, but systems like stress, relationships, and character interactions are reworked and play a much bigger role. Broken skills are also reworked in a good way. There are conditions. You cannot infinetly heal anyone. Overall, it is not long-term resource management like the first one but more like a series of runs with evolving party dynamics like Isaac.

doesn't play like DD1, took a few tries to get used to DD2. DD2 is a good game, but not for those that only want DD1 continuation.