Darkest Dungeon II

Darkest Dungeon II is a very bold sequel that takes the basic premise, characters and setting of the original and applies it to a very different concept. Instead of building a town and upgrading your rooster of heros like an XCOM campaign, this one focuses more on 2 hours roguelite runs, that sees your team transversing a few regions on a carriage to arrive at the Montain (where the final boss lies in wai). There is some meta progression as well, and the game is also quite grindy on this aspect, but there is no safe haven to return to. This fundamentally makes the overall mood of the game much more desesperate.

The game is clearly well crafted and there is a lot to enjoy about it. The art style for instance was already great in the first title, but its even better now with the 3d models and battle animation. You really feel the impact of crits and other conditions. There is a lot to dwelve into tactically, as characters have very defined roles in combat but with some good build variety due to the possible skills and trinkets to equip, as well as party synergy.

The game however is difficult, and beyond that it feels like it was designed with frustration as part of its DNA. There is a lot of unavoidable RNG involved, like with the death's door mechanic for enemies that can make things really annoying. There are no easy fights, as combat just seems to drag on given the relatively weak damage of the characters, debuffs and chances to miss. It basically goes against the mentality of most roguelites in which you end up with a "broken" overpowered build. In this game a good build is one that manages to scrape by to see another battle. That makes it so much more exhaustive to play, and its made worst since a singular sucessful run can last up to two hours, and the payoff isnt quite satisfying.

Its a good game by its own merits, but Im just not interested in the miserable sort of experience it can offer so well.