Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    EA Sports Madden NFL 26 Head Coach But Why Tho 5

    Dear EA Sports, Why Can’t I Make A Hot Coach?

    08/14/2025
    Blade in Marvel Rivals Season 3.5

    Blade Can Shut Down The Other Team In Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 If You Know How

    08/08/2025
    John Cena and Cody Rhodes during Summerslam 2025

    The SummerSlam 2025 Main Event Was A Fever Dream We All Needed

    08/08/2025
    Street Fighter 6 Sagat

    Sagat Brings Depth And Approachability To ‘Street Fighter 6’

    08/07/2025
    Battlefield 6 Classes - Support trailer image

    Battlefield 6 Really Wants You To Play Support (But Knows You Won’t)

    07/31/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » PC » REVIEW: A Glimmer Of Hope Shines Again In ‘Darkest Dungeon 2’ (PC)

REVIEW: A Glimmer Of Hope Shines Again In ‘Darkest Dungeon 2’ (PC)

Katherine KongBy Katherine Kong05/18/20235 Mins Read
Darkest Dungeon 2
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

 

Darkest Dungeon 2

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Developed by Red Hook Studios, Darkest Dungeon 2 is the much-anticipated sequel to Darkest Dungeon. This renowned challenging roguelike, turn-based tactical RPG set in a dark fantasy world tests players, once again, to brave the unknown and press forward.

The world is bleak. At every turn, oblivion, and chaos seep deeper into humanity. Shrouded in consuming darkness, your stagecoach travels across broken lands. A bright light, however, fastens itself high at the rear signifying hope. A glimmer of optimism for whatever horrors await. It burns brilliantly, bolstering courage and strength for our heroes. 

In Darkest Dungeon 2, this is how your chosen party of four moves about in the world. Your carriage wheels through 4 major regions present in each of the 5 campaign runs referred to as Confessions. Each campaign presents a story narrated by returning voice actor Wayne June, now The Academic. June’s notable gravelly voice remains the player’s singular sense of human warmth in the desolate hellscape. With only sensory sounds like wooden wheels rattling between the cracks of battered roads, cries of the undead, and the sything of blades against the flesh, you’ll take any sort of commentary you can get to hold onto some sense of humanity. Perhaps even sanity.

Still retaining some of its former 2D art styles, this sequel adds a 3D flair. Animated movements complement the classic heavy line-weight silhouette players grew to know from Darkest Dungeon. In combat, heroes and combatants still sway while idle. Before executing an action, however, is where an easily missable 3D visual experience can be underappreciated. Stances shift, and there’s something oddly gratifying seeing your Man-At-Arms’ slowly draw back his mace to position while hearing it scrap across the tattered Earth after an (if you’re lucky) critical blow.

Meanwhile, a subtle crescent dust trail from a mighty two-handed overhead swing feels effortlessly heroic from the Leper. For a moment, you might even sense the weighted burden of his broken blade. Added touches like these make our heroes feel more dimensional, adding character to our inaudible heroes. (A timely gesturing “tee-hee” from the Jester got me every time.) 

Darkest Dungeon 2 houses 12 playable heroes. Each is unique in combat and has rerolled stats every time, which consist of a positive or negative quirk. These randomized positive and negative quirks can help and simultaneously hinder heroes through battle. While this can feel frustrating and baffling, that’s part of the point. Working with what you have and making the most of unfavorable circumstances. Just like in Darkest Dungeon, negative quirks can be removed, but you’ll have to find a Field Hospital.

Darkest Dungeon 2

In this sequel, players must journey to destination points like the Field Hospital instead of reconvening at The City, where all your needs to prepare for the next expedition reside. A minimap can be toggled anytime to see the varying routes. If you decide to head for a Watchtower, it will reveal any unscouted locations in that region. The minimap is a useful tool to try and plan for what lies ahead. One of the few new locations are Shrines. Shrines of Reflection is a new feature where players can learn more about our heroes. It is where they confront their past and how players unlock more abilities. Thankfully, once players unlock an ability for a hero, it isn’t gone forever and carries over in future runs should they inevitably get killed. But there’s a counter to this oddly placed blessing, right? Of course.

When a hero falls in combat, they cannot be used again until the next one. Additionally, if your hero leveled up from successful runs, that experience will be lost, and that hero will start back at a base level. Should your team somehow survives after losing a hero (or heroes), the corpse of the fallen can be taken back to an Inn, and Candles can be redeemed. Candles of Hope are used to unlock and upgrade heroes, purchase items, and much more.

Darkest Dungeon 2 is challenging. It lets players know right from the beginning that they will fail. Over and over and over again. And you do. It feels more aggressive in how it wants players to play this time. It’s subtle, but the difference was there for me as I ran my courses. Healers, like the Vestal class, don’t heal as often. Instead, certain conditions need to be met (i.e., target HP less than 25%) to heal and have cooldowns. This means, on some level, players will need to be more on the offensive and embrace more of the tactical side. New combat mechanics shake up the idea of needing a “designated healer” since your party can heal in other ways. 

Admittedly, Darkest Dungeon 2 had me feeling mixed at first. A lot of what I knew and grew to love about Darkest Dungeon got reworked in some way, and I was bound to a memory of something familiarly “easier.” Ultimately, this sequel feels more fleshed out, and I grew to appreciate the direction it took, giving our heroes more life by giving them backstories and how they interacted with each other in the world. The core of what made Darkest Dungeon so enjoyable for me was still there: that weird, punishing feeling of being so overly confident in a battle for it to turn sideways real quick—the audible victorious cry when all surely seemed dire. Veterans of the title will still revel in what an expedition might bring in the darkest dungeon. 

Darkest Dungeon 2 is now available on Epic Game Store and Steam.

Darkest Dungeon 2
  • 8/10
    Rating - 8/10
8/10

TL;DR

Darkest Dungeon 2 had me feeling mixed at first. Ultimately, this sequel feels more fleshed out, and I grew to appreciate the direction it took, giving our heroes more life by giving them backstories and how they interacted with each other in the world.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Muted’ Is Bleak Yet Enticing Viewing
Next Article REVIEW: ‘Yakitori: Soldiers of Misfortune’ Delivers Great Action But Struggles With Deeper Themes
Katherine Kong
  • X (Twitter)
  • Instagram

Former horror game lover turned softie. When not shootin’ and lootin’ can be found on the couch binge-watching K-dramas and cooking shows.

Related Posts

Sword of the Sea promotional key art from giant Squid
10.0

REVIEW: ‘Sword Of The Sea’ Offers Hopeful Environmentalism

08/18/2025
Archon of Prophecy Content Pack key art
8.0

DLC REVIEW: ‘Archon Prophecy’ Takes Age Of Wonders 4 Celestial

08/13/2025
TIny Bookshop promotional image
8.0

REVIEW: ‘Tiny Bookshop’ Holds Space For The Written Word

08/08/2025
No Sleep For Kaname Date - promotional still from Spike Chunsoft
8.0

REVIEW: ‘No Sleep For Kaname Date – From AI: The Somnium Files’ Is Simply A Great Entry

08/05/2025
Demon Slayer - The HinoKami Chronicles 2 promotional image from SEGA
8.0

REVIEW: ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles 2’ Is A Solid Sequel For Fans

08/05/2025
Key art for Ninja Gaiden Ragebound
9.0

REVIEW: ‘Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’ Is Excellent Nostalgic Chaos

07/30/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Still from Shin Godzilla
8.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘Shin Godzilla’ Is More Relevant Than Ever

By Sarah Musnicky08/16/2025Updated:08/17/2025

It is understandable how Shin Godzilla succeeded at the box office nearly a decade ago. The strength of its story still stands today.

Botanical Bliss Update Palia But Why Tho 5 News

Palia’s New Botanical Bliss Update Brings New Flora, Decorations, And Quest Mechanic

By Matt Donahue08/18/2025Updated:08/18/2025

The Botanical Bliss update adds new event, more plushes, and a host of quality-of-life improvements and more to celebrate 2 years of Palia.

BOOTS Netflix First Look promotional images News

First Look at Coming-of-Age Story BOOTS, Coming to Netflix This October

By But Why Tho?08/17/2025

Netflix is reporting for duty this fall with the new eight-episode series BOOTS, a comedic drama starring Miles Heizer and Vera Farmiga

Nuestra Magia Secret Lair Art Interviews

EXCLUSIVE: How The ‘Nuestra Magia’ Secret Lair Found Its Identity And Raised Over $1M

By Kate Sánchez08/15/2025Updated:08/15/2025

We spoke with Ovidio Cartagena about Magic: The Gathering’s Nuestra Magia Secret Lair drop, its impact, and the real treasure within.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here