Darkest Dungeon II Launches May 8th
Darkest Dungeon II has been available through early access in 2021 exclusively on Epic Games store but will also be available on Steam upon its release on May 8th
Red Hook Studios’ Darkest Dungeon is holding steady at “Very Positive” on Steam, and it looks like the sequel has some big shoes to fill! After emerging onto the indie scene in 2016, the roguelike turn-based RPG was praised for its dark and broody gothic art style and the unnerving ability to portray the psychological stress of adventuring to its players. It was even nominated for IGN’s Game of the Year in 2016 with IGN describing the experience as: “[…] an intimidatingly deep, tense, and intentionally opaque turn-based tactical game that’s dripping with character.” It has been a few years since the indie darling Darkest Dungeon first thrilled and frustrated audiences in 2016, but it hasn’t been radio silence from Red Hook Studios. They’ve been hard at work over the last few years releasing DLC and an official expansion: Darkest Dungeon®: The Crimson Court in 2017.
What can we expect from Darkest Dungeon II?
Having been in early access for a few years, gamers have already gotten to experience the changes in the sequel. Perhaps the biggest change is a pivot to a roguelike dungeon crawl experience akin to games like Slay the Spire. The beloved narrator Wayne June returns for the sequel, as well as the composer Stuart Chadwick, and the character models and animations are greatly improved. One note that gamers had about the original was the sheer size and complexity of the story. While this might not have been a negative, this appears to have been refined for the sequel as it now takes place in a single wagon. This choice takes away some complexity but gives players a chance to build relationships within a party as they now have a relationships bar with everyone else in the party as well as health and sanity meters. These are just a few observations as there have been many notable additions and modifications and there will likely be more to experience upon the game’s official release. If you’d like to dive deeper into the previous updates, here’s a nice list from TheGamer. Overall, it looks like Red Hook Studios has matured as a studio and refined its vision while creating the sequel, let's hope that pays off!
With the original being so beloved, there’s a lot of pressure to deliver a worthy sequel! Have you played Darkest Dungeon? Are you looking forward to Darkest Dungeon II? Let me know!
