Darkest Dungeon II Review: A Worthy Successor (PS5)

After releasing outside of early access on PC last year, Darkest Dungeon II is finally ready for consoles. If you’re not aware of the Darkest Dungeon series, it’s a gem of an indie game where you embark into difficult dungeons. Developed by Red Hook Studios, play as a large cast of characters traversing through different dungeons of varied difficulty. The original game won Best RPG of 2016 and currently holds a Metacritic score of 84. Now the sequel is out and Red Hook is ready for a second act of strategic torment.

I was given the Oblivion Edition of Darkest Dungeon II which contains the only DLC released, The Binding Blade. I will be discussing my thoughts on the base game alongside the DLC. My expectations from playing the original were that I’d be in for a struggle and with its more traditional roguelike gameplay, it would feel like playing a different game. Let us see what Red Hook has in store for us desperate folk in search of adventure. 

Darkest Dungeon II is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S for $44.99. 

If you’d like to read other reviews we’ve done for both Darkest Dungeon games, then you’ll find them here at KeenGamer:

1. Darkest Dungeon Review: Celebrating Four Years of Mental Torture (PC)
2. Darkest Dungeon II Review – There Is So Much Worse in Store (PC)

Story – Go Forth on This Wary Road

For most games, the narrative is an essential part of the overall experience. With the Darkest Dungeon games, the narrative is more of a fun distraction from the addictive core gameplay. The general premise for Darkest Dungeon II is that you take control of a group of heroes travelling to a dark mountain to face the horrors within. On the journey, they’ll come across all forms of enemies from the previous Darkest Dungeon alongside new threats. Whether it is the simple bandit, the undead or eldritch horrors, Darkest Dungeon II has all forms of abominations to fight.

Regarding the main campaign, it doesn’t play out like the original, filled with small to large dungeon missions to complete. Darkest Dungeon II splits the campaign into five different quests with increasing levels of difficulty. These quests are known as Confessions and they contain multiple locations to visit as you head towards the mountain. Of course, as you go forth on your expeditions to the mountain, many secrets will be revealed regarding lore. This is all provided by the sophisticated narrator known as the Academic. Similar to the Ancestor from the previous game, the Academic dishes out the lore while painting a clearer picture of the world within Darkest Dungeon. He tells you of his and your character’s past and what you both uncovered. The Academic will also narrate through your journey, reacting to many events and actions made by the player. 

Characters – Our Band of Heroes and Misfits

When it comes to the playable characters, Darkest Dungeon provides a large roster of heroes with different abilities and weapons. However, in the sequel, we only get access to 12 characters within the base roster. Instead of recruiting characters during the off-time exploring dungeons, you have to unlock them. This is done via the Altar of Hope, where you can spend candles to unlock characters. You start with only four characters, the Highwayman, Man-at-Arms, Grave Robber, and Plague Doctor. So far after 15 hours of playing, my go-to characters are the Hellion, Highwayman, Flagellant, and Vestal. 

A new addition to Darkest Dungeon II that I like is the Shrine of Reflection, a way into the character’s backstories. When you arrive at the shrine on your expedition, you pick one of the four equipped characters and begin a chapter. Each character has five chapters of backstory that will be narrated by the Academic. Some chapters are playable and you must complete the scenario to continue to the next chapter. Alongside learning about their backstories, each completed chapter gives the character extra abilities for combat. 

DLC: The Binding Blade – The Old and the New

Since I was playing the Oblivion edition of Darkest Dungeon II, I got my hands on the DLC, The Binding Blade. Within the DLC, two characters are added to the roster, The Duelist and The Crusader. If the latter sounds familiar to you that’s because The Crusader was one of the missing characters from the first game. Seeing him missing was strange but allowed me to experiment with other classes. However, I still believe it was a low bow not to include him in the initial roster considering the popularity of the Crusader.

Another aspect that I could see being hit-and-miss for most players is the way you gain the Crusader. To gain new characters you usually have to unlock them through the Altar of Hope. However, the DLC has you completing a long quest that will most likely take a few expeditions to complete. This felt unusual but I honestly preferred this way of unlocking characters than spending an in-game currency. It felt more rewarding completing each step of the quest and to top it off, the boss fight at the end was a tense final fight. 

Regarding the other character in the DLC, the Duelist, she is the second newest character to be added to the world of Darkest Dungeon. Unlike most characters, you can play as her from the very beginning. She is a welcome member of the crew, I mainly used her as one of my heavy hitters in the front. In the future, I’d like to see more new characters being added instead of returning ones. 

Gameplay – I Know Failure Well

If you’re aware of how the original Darkest Dungeon played then you’ll be happy to know it remains almost identical. You go forth with four heroes on a harrowing adventure facing unknown horrors, taking on enemies with overwhelming odds. The game warns you that your characters will most likely die and just like the original this remains a fact. The combat is still turn-based though previous character attacks work differently, some having cooldowns or different status effects. You’ll only ever face four enemies at a time though some scenarios have you taking on more after beating the first wave. The turn order still works the same as the original, with the fastest going first. You can alter it by attaching items to your characters or using certain abilities in combat. 

Now, the biggest change that Darkest Dungeon II brings is how the traversal is done. You no longer traverse tight corridors, exploring each room in the chosen biome, and then return to your hamlet. Now, you ride into the night exploring up to five distinct regions via stagecoach, choosing which path to take similar to Slay The Spire. You’ll come across unique encounters like refugees in need, a hoarder of items, and many locales inhabited by enemies. The stagecoach is fully playable too, having you use the left stick to steer into debre for a chance at loot. In the first confession, you’ll explore two regions before heading to the Mountain. Afterwards, you’ll have to explore more regions and face other bosses to claim trophies so that you can enter the Mountain for the final battle.

At the end of each region, you’ll visit an Inn that provides numerous services for your heroes. You can apply upgrades to a character’s abilities from points you’ve earned. You can purchase items to be used in combat or the Inn alongside stagecoach upgrades and trinkets. There’s a section for the stagecoach where you equip items and can repair armour and wheels. Some items for the stagecoach cannot be unequipped so be wary when choosing. Another great aspect of the Inn is if you lose any of your heroes during the journey, you can recruit other heroes as replacements. One particular character, The Bounty Hunter, can only be recruited via the Inn and will only be used for the next region. After you’re finished with the Inn’s services, you then get to pick which region you’ll venture towards. 

Managing your hero’s stress returns from the original Darkest Dungeon. However, it’s now paired with the new Affinity System (Relationships) that each hero has. This influences the relationships of the heroes, allowing positive and negative traits to form. In both positive and negative relationships, one ability of the two heroes is highlighted. When using the ability, the relationship can be affected with either positive or negative effects. Stress will affect relationships, and having a full meter will put your character’s resolve to the test. This results in a negative trait given but on a blue moon, your hero can receive a positive one that can turn the tides of battle. 

The Altar of Hope is an interesting replacement for the Hamlet though sadly not as involved. You visit the Altar after every expedition, using the ‘Candles’ currency to spend on upgrades and more. The Altar has six sections but only five of them are truly important. One section known as The Intrepid Coast, lets you spend Candles for stagecoach skins, pets and upgrades for the stagecoach, internal flame and the regions themselves. The Timeless Wood allows you to spend Candles on memories for your heroes, allowing more to be chosen. In The Living City, you can purchase heroes and upgrade the ones you own. The Working Fields, allows you to spend Candles on random trinkets, combat items, stagecoach items, and Inn items. Finally, there’s The Mountain which offers skins for heroes via Candles. 

Graphics & Audio – A New but Familiar Coat of Paint

The art of the first Darkest Dungeon was one of its strongest features, thankfully the status quo remains strong. Jumping from 2D to more 3D designs for their stylized characters was a great move by Red Hook. This change awakens our still characters and brings them to life alongside the inhabitants of this dark world. The animations for each attack are now fluid, including seeing the attacker’s movements after attacking. It’s a welcome change and elevates what this art style could really show, increasing my anticipation for each trip to the Mountain. 

Regarding the audio for Darkest Dungeon II, we again have another returning positive staple from the original game. Stuart Chatwood returns to compose the OST and brings a new feeling of intense dread. From the main menu theme to just the ambience of travelling through each region and finally arriving at The Mountain, hearing the ominous tones foreshadowing the terrors within. Stuart has truly cooked from the last game and given us a feast for our ears to enjoy for the entirety of the expedition. I’d also want to point out the return of Wayne June the voice actor for our sophisticated narrator. He’s back as the new character, the Academic to fill us with lore. His voice is a staple for Darkest Dungeon and would honestly decrease its value without him. 

Darkest Dungeon II was reviewed on the PS5 via a key courtesy of ICO.