Darkest Dungeon 2 Review 

Remember overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer

"A full campaign of DD2 takes roughly 60 to 80hrs to complete, depending how lucky or clever you are. It took me 62". - smirks in cleverness

The narrator is absolutely one of the best parts of the game, perfect VA.

The dungeon so nice they darkened it twice

Curious is the trapmaker's art, his efficacy unwitnessed by his own eyes.

This is seriously one of the most gorgeous games I've ever seen.

Many Fall In The Face Of Chaos, But Not This One. Not Today

the Darkest Dungeon series is definitely in my top 5 most beautiful games. The eerily crisp and stylistic art is top-notch imo

The main difference between the first one and this one.. is that you no longer have a home to go back to The heroes travel to the mountain in a single run and thats it, there are no towns to updgrade cause the entire world falled into madness

Actually a pretty insightfull review from IGN, well done!

"Worse you can do is survive through it all. Healed scars, lost allies and the darkest of thoughts will bring you to the brink of both madness and victory. With a strike, you can make a better world which you will not belong to. Extinguish thy own flame, warrior. Hope has dawned, but, alas, you are owed to the darkest dungeon."

Confidence SURGES as the enemy crumbles

Prodigious size alone does not dissuade the sharpened blade.

People have no clue what to think about "randomness" in games. In fact, DD2 having a hundred different random outcomes is precisely why it's a game with a high degree of skill: Because when there's this much randomness, your ability to manage risk and adapt become crucial skills. In games with only a few places where luck matters, you actually have far less room to exert control over them. This is how the "Law of large numbers" applies to games. If they have a little bit of randomness, the player who is luckiest will win. If they have a lot of randomness, your total result will always be pretty close to the average, so it's ultimately skill that is the most important. As someone who plays a lot of board games, this is an infuriating misunderstanding that is constantly applied to highly skillful games that use things like dice. People constantly winge about a game being a luckfest where your rolls determine whether you win, meanwhile I'm over here winning 99% of the time.

Did anyone ever find out who wrote those lines for the narrator? I'll never forget "Curious is the trapmaker's art"

Animations look incredible, PS5 please!

Meta progression like this has always been a bit of a double edged sword for me: On one hand, players need to be rewarded for the time that they invest in the game, even when they lose. On the other hand, it creates a game that's practically impossible to win in the early stages because you're expected to have the permanent upgrades to proceed. The game is challenging because it is unfair, not because of the players lack of skill and knowledge of the game.

For me, it's 10 out of 10. Very high replayability, great art, atmospheric music, and a deep combat system.

More darker more dungeon

This is the best review I've ever seen come from IGN. Bravo 👏

"A moment of valor shines brightest against a backdrop of despair." - The Ancestor.

Teetering on the brink. Facing the abyss.

When is this coming to console?

The narration in darkest dungeon and I'm assuming DD2, is the best part.

They scored it 8!

The last updates they did before the official release were goated, really made the game more enjoyable

you mean darkest adventure 2? literally zero dungeon in the game lmao.

A time to perform beyond one's limits!

Sounds like the reviewer didn't play the first game... The RNG and screaming at THE RNG is one of the biggest reasons ppl play darkest dungeon.. the frustrating yet rewarding experience that comes with a run. Sometimes it's cheers, sometimes it's cursing at the RNG gods but you go back in because it's the gamble that draws you in

You remember our venerable house

Oh, so between 60 and 80 depending on how clever you are... And it took yo 62 hours??? Yo must be soooooo clever!!! Lol

The narrator's name is Wayne June and it's kinda embarrassing that the reviewer didn't know 🤦

Game patches will overcome many problems Even the big ones

I'm loving this game. It's easier than the first one but to return to this world and characters is a really nice experience

This game is the biggest disappointment Literally everything is worse and virtually all strategy has been eliminated Who tf wants to grind for 60 hours just to get a chance at the game

"With the whole world dissolving into an apocalyptic primordial abyss..." Oh wait, he's talking about the game.

The fact that this didn't get a 9 or 10 is going to piss a lot of people off

Seems the Flagellant has lost some... skin since the first game.

My question is How does it compare to the first one

Where is Reynauld??

My only issue with this game is it just doesn't have a compelling sense of progress, and the gameplay loop is not as rewarding or interesting as the first game. That said, it's still fun for a couple of runs and the art direction is incredible.

Can’t wait for that console release!

Big mistake in changing the format to the the running stagecoach style IMO. Having and building a central hub added a lot to the first game.

Thank you Jon Bolding for a high quality review

This review made me feel soothed; sedated.

i’m buying this for ps5. it looks overwhelming hard and fun.

The game is unenjoyable, a huuuge stepback from DD1. Way overtuned and overengineered, progress is exteremely hard and slow, replay the first few combats endlessly to gain some bonuses and hope to improve a little bit on your next run. It's a dumb grind. And people say it's replayable. LOOOOL! Imagine playing chess and having to restart the game in 4-5 steps all the time. Then after 20 games you can advance to 5-6 steps and so on. How replayable indeed.

Sounds far too RNG based to be fun. You "git gud" and then still get shafted anyway... no thanks.

Really don't like the new stage coach system. Probably the worst part is you're forced to play for a long time with just a few heroes that have just a few of their skills unlocked. Gets boring and repetitive, a contrast to dozens of hero combos you could make right from the get go in the original.

considering it gambling vs rogue like dungeon crawling, where the entire isn't to hopefully lose until you win, but to face each new dungeon with a curious, novel kind of approach threw off the rest of the review.

Removing the city is definitely the worst idea they could've undertake.

The audacity to claim the gsme takes 60-80 hours depending how clever you are and then to follow that up with "yea took me 62". Classic IGN reviewer right here guys.

The lack of sense of progression and attachment to the characters in the first game are a huge turn off for me😢

is this like organ trail and super hard

Absolutely love this game. Has its issues, but it is a consistently fun and engaging Roguelike.

This game is more about decision making than gambling

2 Dark 2 Dungeon

Wish this was on console at launch.

They brought wayne june back! whens it coming to switch?

*Finally a review from you guys*

Basicaly, Darkest Dungeon but WITHOUT the Dungen

That game is perfect for mobile

Yeah..i dont like it...refunded. Instead of a town, a fortress would have been cool. Different vibe and less towny stuff.

These nightmarish creatures can be felled! They can be beaten!

Said rogue like twice

Its unlikely that anyone at ign is intelligent enough to accurately review this game.

Sounds like some of the same problems exist from the first game that stopped me playing that one, too; a very unforgiving game that demands a lot from you, while not giving you much control over the game. Seems like a recipe for ‘feelsbadman’. I’ll stick to Slay The Spire.

The animation is so nice

Your input is pretty irrelevant for large sections of the game and your tactics are about as valid as a slot machine player with a "system".

Better than zelda

This runs perfectly on a CI7 4790 at 900p with just the IGPU AMAZING OPTIMIZATION in PERFORMANCE

Going rogue lite was a mistake.

wow this game looks beautiful those animations and everything look so clean

More arrive, foolishly seeking fortune and glory in this domain of the damned...

When does this come to console ??

After listening to the review it doesn't seem like the number score matters. You could have given it a 10 but it still sounds like it's no fun at all

The hero reads an unsettling passage

It's a bit weird to say, but the initial state of the EA build was more appealing to me. The first day of release I've beated it in the second run, so it lacked some fairness, but the fact that you had controls over some of the more gruesome meters made it more enjoyable to me than the direction the full released done. It's interesting, beautiful and pleasing for sure nonetheless, just feel more grindy and random than it was in the early access version.

8/10

The game is too got damn hard epic fail on what could have been a great game.

Combat screen looks very dumb down compared to DD.

Imagine there's a darkest dungeon in real life, and a youtuber class comes to review the dungeon .........

🤘🏻😎👍🏻

The first statements by the reviewer are very true. My feeling, however, is that the outcome is so random to the extent that any effort and dedication devoted in strategising and planning can go to complete waste in a bad run and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Does anyone know what the ancestors quote app is called for android. Seems to have disappeared from the playstore

Why is the horse just ramming in to every rubish purpose, they could even go around. Won't last long that way

they didn't give it a 7... which means they actually played it

'Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.'

This gives me blood brothers vibes. Anyone relate?

Surprising that the narrator isn't featured in every Warhammer game

They should name it "Slay The Darkest Spire"...

Be wary! Triumphant pride precipitates a dizzying fall.

Wait.. The reviewer is saying it took him 62 hours to beat the shackles boss for the first time? Is that what he's saying?

I'll Bet get a same fate from Gollum but it wasnt

Impressive haul … if you value such things.

У меня есть морские свинкиа у тебя хороший канал

Wow this guy is bad at the game, I've only done 30 runs and most of he's saying is not true.

Wow

Wow, ign reviewed an indie game.

The game takes 60-100hrs to complete depending on how smart you are. It took me 42 hours