I really loved the first game a lot but I do think it was both a bit more grindy than necessary and super long to get through. That can definitely appeal to some peopleand ill say I did a regular playthrough before radiant mode (speeds things up, a bit easier, less grindy) and 1 playthrough with radiant mode and i preferred radiant, even if it was technically easier.
Now dd2 on the other hand isn't very grindy at all. Like sure there is permanent progression and unlocks and shit you work towards, but I've done maybe 12 full runs now, beat act 4 (1 left) and I've never once felt like I'm grinding or just doing a run to unlock stuff. Like I've been trying to beat each act boss every time, that was the main goal, always.
They greatly improved the animations, the art, the atmosphere in some ways but most importantly I think they improved combat which is like the main appeal and mainly what you do in the game. They've made a lot of things less "rng" in a way, there is still is dice rolls, as there should be for this type of game, but they've made it much more coherent in what can happen and what you can prepare for. I like it a lot.
The game is still going to have content and shit added, but it's both a complete game right now and worth the $40 or $30 if you own dd1 already (you have to buy the bundle package on steam to get the discount, idk why.)
It's still a tough game, and it isn't for everybody but I think it can appeal to even more people now than dd1. An average run can last like 3 or 4 hours i think. I'm sure fitgirl will have a repack of it soon enough in case you don't want to buy it, or just wanna try it first, since she rarely ever updates her torrents to include new updates
yeah i absolutely vibe with that first part. the stagecoach is just alright to me, like i do think it's cool they tried something different with it all, i just have played at least 4 or 5 games now who do the same type of slay the spire map thing and it could be better. but im not going to fault them too much for it cause it isn't a bad method of doing things. but it does feel weird how they've kinda removed the dungeon feel to it in a few ways. they felt like they had to do something different i guess.
PD feels like the best overall pick. I have to force myself to not take her tbh cause she is just so good in so many ways. I'm really sad the occultist isn't on her level, he needs some love imo and the vestal is solid but she doesn't cover as many bases i think as PD does. Flagellant is straight up like the best character in the game i think, at least personally (and until you run into his certain uhhh unique fight lol). Flag is fuckin awesome in so many ways. At first i was kinda bummed they changed him to be a blight type character cause I had felt like the bleed for him made perfect sense. but after playing it a bit and understanding more of him, i get it now lol. some of his barks are goddamn hilarious. i run that same team comp quite a few times, but tbh ive always had a huge crush on hellion so i've been using her quite a bit too and she is solid, she isn't like the best at anything but she does a lot of cool shit i think, so i use her quite a bit.
If Darkest Dungeon 2 is so good why isn't there a Darkester Dungeon 2 2? :very-intelligent:
The main grind are the shrines to unlock your character's abilities, which can take a while. I think they increased the spawn rate the other day, though.
My biggest issue is how long the runs are. Dunno how they would really make them shorter with the roguelite format, but I liked the relatively short runs in DD1.
Love the art direction. It's pretty crazy how much they've improved since the first game. The confession bosses are super cool so far.
yeah i was just saying from my own personal perspective that the grind isn't nearly what it felt like in the old game. i totally want to unlock a bunch of stuff but it just doesn't feel as grindy to me. there is absolutely a grind though, but i think im just enjoying it and trying to beat it while fully capable of doing so without a ton of stuff unlocked just feels fun and good, i did act1 first try and act2 second try, so it was dope for me. The first game it always felt like every hero needed to be level atleast 3(+) with fully upgraded skills and armor till it they started feeling comfortable. then you had to remove bad quirks or diseases and you needed trinkets for some of the classes especially. it always felt i need so much stuff, whereas in dd2 after you unlock just a handful of skills you can make it to the end of the act if you play right. dd1 had a ton of micromanaging, which is fine obviously but this game feels just more easy to pickup and jam
as for the long runs tbh i just save and quit a bunch. i don't mind coming back to a run midway through, or even at the end for the act boss. i just stop when i need to, the progress is saved after every fight or node. i get what you mean though, usuually want to finish what you start and all that but tbh i've come back from a terrible run with a new piece of mind and ideas to run some other skills and rocked it. it is what it is
all the bosses have been fuckin dope besides the eyeball one. i think he is a shit design tbh. it's like impossible to know what to do the first time or without a guide or whatever, just did not vibe with that shit at all. but yeah there is a ton of super good improvements to the game that i think makes it more approachable for others who balked at dd1
I should really take breaks from runs but I feel really compelled to finish for some reason. Had a couple late nights just finishing runs for no reason.
The devs actually already messed with the eyeball boss a few days ago and said they're gonna rework it more soon, so you're definitely not alone on that one. I don't think I'm gonna want to try it again anyway though lol
It has a thriving mod community too. :programming-communism:
Yes but they don't seem to be too popular on nexus at the moment. I've been sent some interesting pictures by friends so they definitely exist but the anime girl stuff seems limited to porn mods from my quick google search.
In a vaccum I think it is ok, probably even good, I refunded during the first release on EA because I genuinely felt it should not have been called "Darkest Dungeon 2".
The change in the core gameplay is so severe and drastic that I would prefer if they have named it "DD Rebirth" or something like that.
Imagine Civ 7 becomes AoW 4(which is very good btw) style game. Should it remain with the Civ name? Sure. But calling it the 7th game in a franchise of extremely consistent gameplay style and themes? Just no.
DD 2 for me was pretty much taking the core of the combat and the characters and then making an entire new game. My problem was the that DD 2 was extremely anticipated, probably one of the most anticipated indie games of the past 5 years and it realy rubbed me the wrong way that the devs knew this, used the first game's fame in order to pretty much do something completely different. Feels like I was intentionaly misled.
I don't care if you are indie or not, using AAA studio marketing tactics is shit.
As for the game itself its probably fine like I said at the start and given your review I trust it and I don't mind it, good for them for making a good game at the end. IMO it just should not have been called DD2, it should not have milked its own fame. I refunded and I wont touch it again.
My expectation for DD2 was that they would improve or perhaps even revolutionize the "XCOM base management" archetype, its not like there weren't any ideas for it, starting with as you say reduce/remove the grind and the rng.
Of course in retrospect I think KSP 2 easily makes all of this seem frivolous and silly now, since that game was just a scam period and oh man some of the streamers/CCs extreme copium in trying to defend their nostalgia was insane. That is another beast entirely.
Not to derail the thread but yeah Age of Wonders 4 is really fun. Really liking my time with it.
