"Cylinder Brain Review" Issue 15: "Dark Dungeon 2" is very recommended!
Overview
Developer: Red Hook Studios
Publisher: Red Hook Studios
Release dates: May 8, 2023 (STEAM), October 27, 2021 (Epic)
Game type: turn-based combat, RogueLite, Pan-Cthulhu theme
Basic data: peak online 2.3W; Sales volume is about 20W
In this article, we will mainly answer the following questions:
●Compared to Generation 1, what design adjustments have been made to Dark Dungeons 2?
Based on these adjustments, what kind of different experiences has Dark Dungeons 2 created?
Related reading: Please make a qualified consumable! Relive the textbook round of Dark Dungeon
1. "Structural changes" from small-town operations to road adventures
If the main gameplay of "Dark Dungeon 1" is to rebuild the town by sending batches of fresh heroes into the dungeon and liver resources, then "Dark Dungeon 2" is a reincarnated fateful journey to the snowy mountains of death.
Let's summarize the gameplay flow of Dark Dungeon 2 in the image below - the game is a carriage journey, a single carriage journey ends with reaching the snowy mountains and defeating the bosses of the corresponding difficulty, or the entire army is destroyed. The journey consisted of a number of "inns" and "regional adventures", in which the carriage always crossed a dangerous area before resting at the hotel before moving on to the next.
And whether the result is to defeat the boss or the entire army is destroyed, the carriage will once again start from the starting point - the "Altar of Hope"...
Dark Dungeons 2 gameplay
1.1. Inn, respite between adventures
●Items can be purchased and used
In this work, props are further divided into battle props and hotel props - battle props can only be used in battle, and hotel props can only be used in inns, neither of which can be used during a carriage adventure.
Battle Items & Hotel Items
Using food temporarily increases the hero's HP limit
● Hero skill enhancement
In the inn, players can use "skill points" to enhance the hero's skills. This skill point is shared by the party and can be assigned to any hero.
Unlike Dark Dungeon 1, the hero's skills in this game can only be enhanced once and cannot be continuously upgraded.
The 2nd generation hero skill is upgraded only 1 time
●Stagecoach configuration
Unlike the first generation of heroes who could only walk on foot, the second generation of tool people finally said goodbye to the history of leg walking and had their own means of transportation - "horse-drawn carriages".
The carriage involves the assembly of four props - torch, carriage installation, hunting souvenirs, and pets. The torch and pet cannot be changed once equipped for a single journey, and the carriage equipment can be changed at any time in the caravanserai.
Carriage configuration page
✧ Torch: The basic rule is the same as in Gen 1, its brightness will naturally decrease with the adventure, while the monster strength increases;
✧ Carriage device: It usually provides some additional effects for the party, such as expanding the capacity of the backpack and increasing the probability of forming a positive relationship between heroes.
✧ Hunting souvenir: obtained after defeating the lair boss, it is a ticket item to enter the snowy mountain to face the boss;
✧ Pets: Greatly influences the type of carriage device the player chooses. This is done in a way that certain pet effects give specific carriage equipment an extra positive effect.
Pets are the nuclei of carriage equipment
● Region selection
In the inn, players need to choose 1 of the 2~3 alternative areas as the adventure area for the next leg of the journey.
Areas with different styles
1.2. Regional adventures
● Wheels & armor
The carriage has 2 important attributes - wheels and armor, which will be consumed on certain sections of the adventure. When one of them drops to zero, the team will be forced to stop and engage in a "repair battle".
Car repair battles are tougher than usual battles, with a hero each turn unable to unleash their skills because they have to repair their vehicle.
The carriage consumes 1 wheel after passing through the "rough section"
●Travel therapy (automatic blood return mechanism)
In this game, the hero's health slowly recovers as the carriage travels.
● Hero positions, props and other configurations
As long as it is not in battle, players can change the hero's placeholder at any time, and configure the hero with accessories and corresponding battle items.
● Carriage control mechanism
The player is able to control the trajectory of the carriage to some extent. The player can stop or advance the carriage, and can also control the carriage to swing left and right to collect items on the way.
●Various types of "nodes"
Each area consists of roads and nodes. The types of nodes are relatively rich, which can be roughly divided into battles, supplies, skill unlocks, and watchtowers. When encountering a fork in the road, players need to make their own choices.
When encountering a fork in the road, players need to make choices
1.3. Finish - Defeat the snowy mountain boss
●Lair
Each area will have its own boss, who will be hidden in the boss's lair, and you will need to defeat 2 waves of mobs before defeating them. After defeating the boss, you can get "hunting souvenirs".
Only by obtaining this hunting souvenir will the player be eligible to enter the Snow Mountain to challenge the final boss, otherwise the journey will end directly.
Go deep into the nest to hunt for bosses
● Snow Mountain Boss
The snow-capped mountains are the end of every trip. Here, players will challenge the boss of the corresponding difficulty.
Battle with the snowy mountain boss lunglong
2. From "multi-hero development" to "single-hero development"
In Generation 1, heroes are more of an individual concept than a class concept - players can have two heroes of the same class and put them on the same team. Many times, players deliberately hold multiple heroes of the same class in order to have a replacement hero when one of them is full of pressure. In addition, a hero dies completely after death, and the investment (upgrade enhancement) previously made in him is zeroed.
Gen 2 is a completely class concept, and players cannot configure 2 heroes of the same class in the party.
After the hero dies, it is simply not available in a single journey. After starting a new journey, the skills, advanced status, and basic attributes unlocked by the hero will be retained.
2.1. The relationship between the heroes becomes very important
● Formation of relationships
"Relationships", or favorability, is an important addition to the 2nd generation game. At the point in the adventure, the choice of different heroes may be different, for example, in a certain scene, some choose to fight, others choose to retreat; But in the end, players can only choose the choice of a certain hero. After that, people who have the same choice as the hero will increase their favorability with each other. Heroes with different views reduce favorability.
Different heroes will have different perspectives on the same situation
Players can also increase the relationship between heroes by using some items in the inn. Of course, in a suffering game like Dark Dungeons 2, benefits often come with risks - using good wine to pull in the relationship between the two heroes may also worsen the relationship between the two people.
Before embarking on an adventure in a certain area, settle a relationship
● The effect of relationships
After the relationship is formed, the use of hero-specific skills will be accompanied by side effects. For example, after the hero Junia forms a respectful relationship with Paracelsus, every time Junia releases her skill "Guiding Light", it will add 1 dodge + mark to Paracelsus, giving Paracelsus a 75% chance of flashing the next hit.
2.2. Skill Unlocking
In the node "Echoes of the Past", players are able to enter the memories section of a certain hero and unlock skills after completing specific story missions.
This part has a strong narrative effect to explain the past experience of each hero, but the player can better understand the character setting.
Unlock more skills as you progress through the story
2.3. Path (Advanced Career)
Perhaps in order to compensate for the significant compression of the strategic space caused by the "only one hero per class" setting, the game has designed several optional "advanced classes" for each hero, so that it can be different in combat strategy and experience in each journey.
Advanced Career Branch of Thieves Advanced Branch of Thieves
2.4. Memory system
The memory system is a slightly complicated design to explain in this game, if the hero successfully defeats the snowy mountain boss in a single journey, then at the beginning of the next journey, you can add "memory" to the hero to further strengthen the hero.
It is worth mentioning that the rules of the game about memory are quite pressing. Specifically, the unlocking of memories is completely tied to specific heroes, for example, a player who uses hero A to fight a boss of difficulty 1 obtains the memory given by boss 1; After hero A dies, and the player uses hero B of the same class to fight the boss of difficulty 2, the hero B can only configure the memory given by Boss 2, but cannot obtain the memory of Boss A. In a nutshell, players always have a need to reconnect teams from difficulty 1.
Only surviving heroes will be able to configure memories
3. Changes in combat
3.1. Changes to the SAN value
Unlike generation 1, which has 2 pressure values, generation 2 has only 1 - when the pressure value is full, a judgment will be made, and if the hero collapses, he will take a lot of damage and reduce the relationship with his teammates; If it is firm, it will restore a large amount of health and increase the relationship with your teammates.
Although it seems that the pressure value of the 2nd generation hero is more likely to be full, it is actually the effect of pressure on the difficulty of the game in the 2nd generation is weakened, which is reflected in:
✧ In the first generation, the hero directly enters the near-death state when the pressure is full, and if it is already dying, he dies directly; Generation 2 only receives a large amount of damage and must retain a certain amount of health (at least one more attack before entering near-death);
✧ The pressure of generation 1 will bring out a single game, and it will be restored in the town by spending gold and an adventure time; In the 2nd generation, you can directly use gold coins to buy props in the hotel to recover immediately, and there are many props to restore pressure, and gold coins are easy to obtain, so it is relatively easy to control the pressure value of the team;
The pressure bar of the second generation was reduced to one
Firm or broken, it's all up to Providence
3.2. Combat infotalisman cultural expression
In this work, the battle information is expressed more explicitly - players can quickly understand the current state of the hero and predict future battle strategies by observing the various runes under the hero.
The game has added a special "marker dictionary" to facilitate players to learn
4. Outside cultivation
In this work, the main carrier of the game's external cultivation is the "Altar of Hope". Here, players can spend candles to improve basic attributes, unlock/buy various items, and unlock heroes to tackle tougher challenges.
The altar is the main carrier of external growth
4.1. Base Ability Unlocking/Boosting
✧ Journey: It can improve the basic attributes related to the journey, including the size of various backpacks, the durability of the horse wheel armor, etc.;
✧ Resources: increase the probability of detection, increase the effect of various positive nodes, increase currency acquisition;
✧ Companions: Unlock available pet types;
✧ Prestige: Unlock various carriage skins;
✧ Torch of the Abyss: Unlock various special torches with powerful effects but obvious side effects;
4.2. Item draw
In the game, the accessories, battle items, carriage equipment, and inn items that players may obtain are made into 4 "non-put back card pools" - items drawn (unlocked) by consuming candles will appear in subsequent game progress.
4.3. Hero Unlock & Enhance
In this game, new heroes and each path of the hero need to be unlocked by consuming candles. At the same time, the basic attributes of the hero can also be improved here.
Consume candles to unlock heroes
5. Experience characteristics of Dark Dungeons 2
5.1. There are no failed files
We have analyzed the design of Dark Dungeon 1, and it is possible that it may be abandoned, that is, the game fails. Dark Dungeons 2 is different, and while the game's absolute difficulty is increasing, so is the player's strength.
After combing the resource loop logic of the two games and putting them together, it is not difficult to find that there is no investment failure in "Dark Dungeons 2", players only need to invest time, they can produce "candles" to improve their ability to match higher difficulty.
Generation 1 and Generation 2 are logically different in resource cycles
5.2. After a period of AFK, the continuity of the 2nd generation is better
For Generation 1, there are still relatively many things that players need to consider and remember each time they enter the game for a meat pigeon adventure - for example, which 4 heroes to send to the adventure will involve the overall state of the current heroes, everyone's pressure value, negative traits, and players need to know which kind of resources are in short supply for the town upgrade behind them.
Again, for Generation 1, every adventure is an investment, and you need to have a deeper understanding of your current hand.
Gen 2, on the other hand, is more like a walk-and-go trip, and players only need to focus on this one adventure. Configure the four heroes of this trip and purchase the props for this fulfillment.
Aside from some basic attribute improvements, the only connection between the previous adventures and this adventure is that if the hero is not dead, you can add a "memory" buff, and the rest does not need to be considered.
This means that the game experience of the 1st generation follows the save, and after a long period of AFK, players may need to reopen 1 file to play the game, which is a bit similar to highly complex strategy games such as civilization, and it is easy to break the gear after AFK. And 2 is more like 1 MOBA, basically pull up 1 to play.
5.3. The feeling of road adventure is relatively well done
●Vehicle perception is heavy
In Dark Dungeons 2, the carriage is a game entity for players to ignore.
On the one hand, players need to operate the carriage while traveling, in order to keep the game from becoming a racing game, in fact, the game simplifies the operation of the carriage - just need to choose which area of the carriage is sitting, middle and right on the road, similar to the handheld era of racing games; On the other hand, by properly operating the carriage to crash the ruins on the road, the player has the probability of obtaining various supplies, thus giving this operation a reward.
The placement of torches, carriage equipment, pets, and the main prop backpack on the horse body further enhances the role of the carriage in the game - it becomes an important component of combat power.
●"Relationship" enriches the sense of narrative
The addition of relationships actually introduces additional randomness. With the choice of events at various points in the journey, the relationship between the heroes gradually warms up or deteriorates. This evolution is quite random, and the player cannot precisely control the hero's propensity to choose when faced with the same problem.
Similar to the 1st generation, this is also a moderate sense of loss of control, building the realism of the 2nd generation.
Heroes can form various relationships with each other
6. Summary
Back to the question at the beginning of the article:
●Compared to Generation 1, what design adjustments have been made to Dark Dungeons 2?
Based on these adjustments, what kind of different experiences has Dark Dungeons 2 created?
We can conclude as follows:
●The main adjustments of the game are the change of the adventure process (from single-dungeon exploration to one-way tower climbing), multi-hero cultivation to single-hero development, and external cultivation simplification (from small town management to ability plus points);
● In terms of experience, "Dark Dungeon 2" is a MOBA-like meat pigeon tower climbing experience, consisting of a carriage adventure; Due to the low correlation between trips, the game is more fragmented, and the continuity after the return of AFK is better than that of the first generation;
● Due to the use of the expression of rune culture to explicitly display the combat logic, the game is better to use; At the same time, since there is no need for multi-hero cultivation (considering multi-echelon team building), players can focus more on a single journey, which objectively reduces the difficulty of the game;
7. Player Reviews
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