Darkest Dungeon 2 review: Darker is better in latest roguelike masterclass

Darkest Dungeon II is the sequel to Darkest Dungeon and takes you on a journey along the dark and twisted road of the damned.

You'll meet fascinating characters, play as brutal hunters and try to survive in a wasteland full of decay and death. It is the perfect sequel to Darkest Dungeon and gets even grittier and danker than the first, taking calculation and preparation to a new level.

Red Hook Studios have outdone themselves with their latest roguelike, making Darkest Dungeon 2 one of our favourite games of 2023 so far.

Calculated, Careful And Conscientious 

Darkest Dungeon 2 prides itself on forward planning, as every move has to be calculated carefully. Not only does it matter what position your unit is in, but you have to consider how much damage they can do and what resistance both your unit and enemy have. The first run in Darkest Dungeon II is an overwhelming amount of information as you are fed tutorial after tutorial on how to play the game, but you are able to return to these lessons at any time.

The characters that you are first introduced to all have unique skills in battle, and all come with their pros and cons. My favourite quickly became the cowboy hat-wearing Grave Robber. Her damage was fantastic, and she had a lot of utility in battle.

I found it easy to come to grips with how the abilities worked, and how each manoeuvred through battle. However, I did struggle with understanding the overall damage buffs and reductions from resistances between Heroes and enemies, as well as knowing when an enemy would attack a character in a certain position. 

Repetition and Skill Trees

This game consists of plenty of dying and abandoning runs. Or at least, my experiences did. However, death doesn’t necessarily mean losing and in true roguelike fashion, dying and abandoning your expedition isn't the end of the line.

Instead, it gives you a chance to use Candles, earned through completing tasks, to upgrade your heroes, earn combat items, and improve your Stagecoach.

This also gives you the chance to unlock opportunities to learn more about the characters you are playing, as well as unlock new characters to bring into the fold over time if you find yourself looking for reinforcements.

Slithers of Backstory

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Darkest Dungeon 2's option to choose to be fed a character’s backstory is a mechanic that I enjoyed a lot. Whilst you are on an expedition, you may come across certain routes that advance a character’s backstory and you can choose whether you want to hear their story.

This added so much to the grit of the game, and how the characters came to be hardened to the environments around them. I really enjoyed unearthing the Grave Robber’s story, and learning what made her the way she is, but that also added a genuine fear of losing her just as I'd learned so much.

The stories are given to you in small chunks, so you have to progress through the expeditions in order to be given a chance to see parts of their backstory, and more often than not their story is interactive, allowing you to play a part in their past and commit the actions that made them who they are at present. 

Art Style and Fluidity

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Darkest Dungeon 2's visuals are close to what fans of the first game will expect, but they've been tweaked to allow for more space. It's a subtle shift, but one that vastly improves the occasionally cluttered appearance of the original Darkest Dungeon.

Filling much of that empty space with darkness also helps sell the fantasy of adventurers creeping deeper into madness, and enemy designs are unforgettable.

The Verdict

Darkest Dungeon 2 takes everything about the first game and amplifies it. It's darker, and more brooding, but oozes more personality.

It's not easy, but the long exhale after a successful expedition is difficult to match.