I knew what I was getting into when I started it, and having spent a few hours dredging through its handful of opening-to-mid game scenarios, it’s proving to be a fairly unique game playing experience. While that from the outset might sound like a big knock against Darkest Dungeon 2, it’s not one in the slightest. This is me on a good day of Darkest Dungeon 2. And now, having played a fair bit of the sequel, that’s certainly the case, even more so because it truly feels like I’m playing through a campaign where the dungeon master’s rules are in constant shift, and there’s not a lick of empathy from anyone participating, even my own teammates. In my mind, that game always sounded like the ultimate tabletop RPG campaign, one that really set the mood by being incredibly oppressive and not at all open to being an uplifting experience, even during a victory. It’s the sort of gaming experience that on one hand, I admire those that can stomach it, but knowing my own personal limits, I try not to engage with such. The original Darkest Dungeonwas something that I tried to avoid playing, having heard the emergent gameplay stories from many podcasts where the hosts described their absolute dread in trying to make progress in it, where even their characters eventually suffered from all sorts of mental illnesses, which eventually led them to their doom. That opening paragraph probably sounds like the opening of a goth band’s latest single, but it serves the purpose of setting the overall mood of Darkest Dungeon 2 it’s quite easily one of the most depressing worlds I’ve yet to encounter in a game, and playing it has been an exercise in keeping positive while the entire world of the game is constantly attempting to drive my efforts down. Sequel to one of the most anxiety-inducing turn-based dark fantasy RPGs ever, it’s quite literal in how it follows that road, by having you and your band of heroes ride along in a stagecoach as you explore the dark depths in search of salvation for the world and for your own sins. If there was ever a game that lived and died by the proverb “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”, it would definitely be Red Hook Studios’ Darkest Dungeon 2.

Darkest dungeon pc review