Probably one of the most overhated games in recent time, Darkest Dungeon 2 is actually a really fun and interesting take on the mechanics the first game introduced. As someone who played the first game to death, despite the unfair and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ moments, this is a really solid sequel.
This game gets a lot of flak for being different than the first one, and yeah, if you were expecting Darkest Dungeon [i]again[/i], you're gonna be disappointed. DD2 is a fun and fresh take on the original formula, it plays well as long as you give it a chance.
Let's go to the ♥♥♥♥ I enjoy. The new gameplay structure flows well, I enjoy not having to worry about grinding a character for hours just to have them die in minutes upon attempting to beat the FIRST stage of the final Dungeon. The game is supposed to be punishing, but losing a hero you put work into and grew attached felt like ♥♥♥♥. DD2 takes away that feeling by giving you fresh, fully powered (but still unique) heroes at the start of every run, but still requiring you to upgrade them both by unlocking their skills in small little lore drops at the Shrine of Reflection as well as using the Altar of Hope to strengthen some of their stats AS WELL as unlocking new ways to play them. It's fine for the game to have punishing moments, but I do not like the feeling of having my time wasted that hard in what is supposed to be a fun experience. DD2 really nails that, both with this change as well as all the meta progression and the things you can unlock. I only finished upgrading the "important" stuff from the Altar recently, so you can be sure there is a lot to unlock and discover.
What I love the most about it is the variety, how each character can be played in completely different ways and still be effective in combat. Each hero has been given 4 distinct "paths"; each of those paths is basically a subclass of that hero, and each path changes each hero differently. They can give new passive abilities to them, or change how certain skills work at a fundamental level. Take the Jester, for instance. His role as a support is really solid in this game, he can manipulate ally positioning, increase damage dealt and relieve stress as well as a bunch of other things. But with his Soloist path, his whole kit becomes fuel for his "ultimate" ability, Finale. He gets constant buffs from each support skill and can use those buffs to turn Finale into a personal nuke. While his Intermezzo path puts his support skills in overdrive, making it so they give even more buffs to allies but also deal bleed to them, so you basically get a high-risk, high-reward bard that buffs everyone while constantly damaging them as a tradeoff. These are just two of the many ways EACH character can be changed, you got healer Flagellant, DPS Occultist, tank Vestal, tank Hellion, backliner Crusader, so on and so forth, numerous and numerous possibilites on how to play each hero. We also get a lot of new content for everyone, there are a total of 11 skills for each hero instead of 7, and we can now equip an additional one during combat for a total of 5.
We also have a lot of different items while you're out in an expedition. The first game was pretty limited in regards to items, only giving us a couple of DOT heals and a few ways to get more loot, while here we have Inn items to be used at rest points, combat items to be used during combat and a HUGE amount of trinkets to unlock. A lot of them follow a similar formula, and a lot of them are quite mid but there are a lot of them that change the gameplay quite significantly, and if you play your cards right, they can carry your ass through entire regions. Looking at you, Oversprung Pocketwatch. This trinket is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ stupid and I love it.
Oh, and let's not forget about Kingdoms. I've been talking about the "default" Confessions gamemode this entire time, but a while ago a new gamemode was added. In Kingdoms, instead of playing one run with a set team of heroes, you play one BIG campaign where you need to defend an area (your Kingdom) from one of three specific invaders, those being the Beast Clan, the Coven or the Crimson Court (YEP, they're back). This gives you completely new and unique enemies to fight, a whole questline you gotta get through to finish the campaign and beat the invaders, Inns are now bases that can be upgraded but also need to be defended from sieges and escalating difficulty modifiers that make the game harder the longer you take to finish the campaign. Regions are also heavily changed into transitional tools you use [b]to get to[/b] each Inn ALL while following the quest to beat your chosen enemy. This mode also lets you play with more than just your starting team, since almost every hero gets deployed somewhere in the kingdom when a campaign starts, so you can tinker with your team composition at will and change who you're playing with pretty easily. We also get new ways to make heroes stronger, by upgrading certain stats that you don't have access to while playing Confessions. I think Kingdoms is a great alternate gamemode, especially for people who didn't really vibe with the default one. It more closely follows the first game's formula, so try that if you don't enjoy roguelikes all that much.
Now, what I think the first game did better:
The overall vibe of the game. I like the new journey and the Academic is fun, but the Ancestor was just better to have around. His lines and role in the story were more fun, he was a cynical bastard that doomed everyone in search of knowledge, his narration can barely count as hopeful for our heroes, while the Academic is just sort of there. Still amazing work from the late Wayne June, it's just that the writing isn't all that amazing.
This also applies to the journey, the Hamlet and its many dungeons I feel are just better locations and the overall setting is better. Redeeming the sins of this character we play as is not as fun as uncovering the secrets and sins of the Ancestor as we tear through the lands of Eldritch beings. What we have here isn't bad, I just don't think it hits the same spot. I also miss Curios a lot, they were really fun and unpredictable. But the events we go through during the game's regions are great too and add a lot of depth to the world as well as choices to your run, you're constantly weighing differently negative choices to see what hurts the least (which is basically what Darkest Dungeon is about). The secret wandering bosses are especially fun, like the Warlord, the Collector and even Death herself.
But as far as gameplay and visuals go, I think it's a matter of preference. Like the recent DOOM games, DD1 and 2 don't try to be better than the other, they're just different. If you want a more grindy but perhaps more fulfilling experience, go play DD1. If you want a less punishing and more varied gameplay, with a ♥♥♥♥ ton of content to last hundreds of hours, play DD2. They're both great in their own merit.
In summary, this game is fun and awesome and I liked all the twists and changes in the gameplay. It overall feels easier, but there is a lot of room for fun team comps and the journey is really, really engaging. Even now, I still have a ♥♥♥♥ ton of content to go through, from Kingdoms campaigns to hero paths to difficulty modifiers. This ♥♥♥♥ slaps.
