Darkest Dungeon II Review – Worth The Stress

Darkest Dungeon II has a cruel nature. A simple miscalculation or bad luck can ruin your two-to-three-hour expedition before the chapter’s final boss. There are no checkpoints; if your party dies, it’s time to start fresh from the very beginning. You can only keep some upgrades that you have unlocked. It can be stressful and frustrating to have to constantly make difficult decisions while considering different systems. Darkest Dungeon II, however, is also the most rewarding and cathartic game since its original release in 2016.

Like its predecessor, the game is based on turn-based combat with an emphasis on positioning, synergy and luck. The damage that your attacks can cause is determined by the number of points. Additionally, there are debuffs and buffs which give you an opportunity to either miss or score a crucial hit.

Combat is a difficult system to master. However, it’s also incredibly enjoyable. Once you know the cast you can dive in to the exciting experience of discovering who is good with whom and what creatures. The best combination for me was to experiment with new combinations every single time. You feel good when your party is intact and you solve the puzzle. They can frustrate when you receive an unexpected attack or deal less damage than needed.

Stress system becomes the trademark core mechanic for the series. Once their white gauge reaches the maximum, your character can experience a major meltdown and lose most of his HP. They can also earn a positive outcome and heal up, though it’s less common. Imagine how it would feel to suffer five meltdowns in one battle. It’s a disheartening feeling that should make you stop playing immediately, yet there I was, so angry and fascinated at the same time, willing to try again one more time. The game had me hooked.

The new affinity system shows how your group gets along. It gets very tense once you realise that your decisions are affecting your characters negatively. It’s both frustrating and challenging to have to completely change your strategy. I felt fulfilled after I overcame the challenge. This mechanic will also help your heroes become good team players, with combo attacks, and many other surprises.

You will also explore beautiful but disturbing regions on your way to the end boss. Stagecoaches, which are vehicles that may be damaged on dangerous roads and cause unwanted fights, can accompany your journey. You can also choose the path you want to travel, knowing sometimes what to expect but other times being in complete darkness.

All these mechanics create an experience I simply can’t get enough of. I want to go back and finish my team. Unlock the remaining items and upgrade. While some journeys are blatantly unfair, there’s also a remarkable achievement in finding balance in something that should be completely chaotic. There should be more shortcuts available to avoid the frustration of having to restart a run that took three hours at the end. More user-friendly features in the initial stages would also be helpful. These can often seem very overwhelming, and may deter some players.

When I found myself shouting in relief and frenetically raising my fist in the air after a hard battle ends in my favor, I can’t deny the following fact: Darkest Dungeon II is a harsh but fantastic game whose white-knuckled battles and hazard-filled exploration will trap you for hours. If you’re willing to make the needed sacrifices, it’s a journey well worth taking.