History VideoGame / DarkestDungeon2

''Darkest Dungeon 2'' is the sequel to the acclaimed 2016 GothicHorror DungeonCrawling {{RPG}} ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'', developed by Red Hook Studios. Not much is currently known of the plot, but Red Hook did [[https://www.pcgamer.com/darkest-dungeon-2-trailer/ an interview with PC Gamer]] in which they stated that the game will focus on the global repercussions of the Ancestor's unearthing of the Heart of Darkness. The game is available in early access through the UsefulNotes/EpicGamesStore since Oct. 26, 2021.

* {{Caltrops}}: The caltrops make a return, but only as a combat item. They debuff the move resist and speed of a single enemy and have a small chance to inflict bleed, representing the foe being slightly hurt and impeded by the caltrops.

** Jester's attacks are poor in terms of direct damage, but he possess an incredible number of support skills. Nearly all of his attacks apply Combo or other debuffs, he has the best single-target stress heal, he can grant allies {{Status Buff}}s and extra movement, and if all else fails, he can simply ''[[ExtraAction give his turn to someone else]]''.

** Enemies get this too: Deacons' Sundering Steel will destroy all Block tokens, and Bishops' special attack Purge the Unworthy destroys ''all'' positive tokens.

* GlassCannon: Many of the hero specializations introduced in the Beasts & Burdens update boost the hero's damage at the cost of max HP, making them much stronger but also more fragile.

* StoneWall: Poet Lepers have reduced damage, but the healing effect of Solemnity is doubled, making them able to take a lot more punishment. They also NoSell stuns and forced movement, making them effective front-line walls.

* BigNo: Characters' reaction to their Inseperable partner getting injured is a "No!" drawn out to stay on-screen for as long as a full sentence, implying it's screamed out like this.

* NotSoSafeHarbor: The Shroud is a coastal shantytown built out of poles and rotting planks. When the apocalypse arrived, the local fisherfolk here debased themselves with a barbaric worship of the sea. The problem is, something answered. The local population is now the enslaved flock of the Leviathan, everybody being corrupted into more or less obvious FishPeople with gray skin, large bulbous black eyes, and other deformities. Of course, they all attack the Heroes on sight. Add to that the MysteriousMist which covers the town at regular intervals during fights, and which may blind the party.

* TheResenter: What heroes become when they develop a Resentful relationship. They begin to criticize another Hero when the latter performs a successful action, and insist on them having it easy compared to themselves.

* StatusBuffDispel: The Highwayman's Highway Robbery ability removes two positive tokens from an enemy. When upgraded, it lets him ''[[IntangibleTheft steal]]'' them too.

* DevelopersForesight: One of the main currencies in the game is Hope, which is represented by candles you can find during a run. You also gain a set amount by completing various objectives (such as completing the valley, killing bosses, helping more people etc.) Which are then tallied at the end of a run. If by some ungodly misfortune you end a run having gotten ''zero'' hope ([[EpicFail Which is only possible if you don’t beat the valley, the tutorial level of every run basically]]) all you get at the results screen is the message “You were right to fear the world..”

* GenreShift: ''Darkest Dungeon 2'' abandons the claustrophobic DungeonCrawling and ResourcesManagementGameplay of its predecessor for a linear and grueling experience. This game is about TheQuest. Instead of assigning parties to individual dungeon runs, the player has to manage a single party of four individual heroes as they travel the post-apocalypse in a stagecoach, choosing which roads to take and who to save/kill. Instead of an endless supply of interchangeable heroes, there is now only one of each class, with detailed personality and more customization options.

** Heroes in an Inseparable relationship will block moves that move them away from each other. In other words, you can't separate them.
** When you begin the "Denial" chapter, the Academic says, "The shackles of denial must. Be. Destroyed." [[spoiler:The FinalBoss of the chapter is a set of ''literal'' shackles binding the Brain of Darkness, which is referred to by the Academic as "The Great Denier."]]

** Several quirks and diseases can cause this, just like in the first game. Special mention goes to the Brittle Bones disease, which inflicts ''cumulative'' HP reduction for every fight you endure. It can be reversed, but only by curing the disease.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Seething Sigh is a very weird one. Its appearance is clearly evocative of a dragon, despite being [[spoiler:a giant respiratory system]]. Its [[spoiler:lungs]] are made to look like wings, and its [[spoiler:trachea]] is hunched and elongated like a serpent, complete with a BreathWeapon.
* OurMonstersAreWeird: In addition to the usual weird creatures you would expect from a CosmicHorrorStory, [[spoiler:the {{Final Boss}}es]] kick it up a notch by being giant AnimateBodyParts which are, themselves, warped by eldritch forces. This leads to some ''very'' weird monsters.

** The Dreaming General. His VideoGameSetPiece lets him inflict a stackable curse on your heroes that severely harms and disables them if it gets too far. How do you survive this? [[spoiler:Attack the tap root behind him. Though it's invulnerable, this will cause it to retract its vines from a single hero.]] Of course, you still can't get ''too'' complacent -- do this too many times in a row, and [[spoiler:the tap root will use "The Soil Stirs", which sets up two heroes for a powerful attack by the General]].

** The FinalBoss of the "Denial" chapter is a WolfPackBoss. Each one you defeat provides a unique buff to the others for the rest of the fight: The Latch of Regret boosts damage, the Bolt of Lamentation boosts critical rate, the Shackle of Despair gives their attacks a chance to inflict blindness, and the Padlock of Wasting [[SacrificialRevivalSpell gives the others a large heal]].

** The four shackles of the "Denial" chapter will use a PowerNullifier at the start of each round that prevents you from using a certain class of skill (melee, ranged, healing, or stress healing).

* WantedMeter: Loathing, the amount of power the Cultists and their monstrous allies have, works like this — the more there is, the more power and bonuses your enemies get, and the faster your torch depletes (giving them ''more'' power and bonuses), but you can force it down by destroying Resistance landmarks (places where monsters have built smaller bases than true Lairs) and Cultist encampments.

* WithThisHerring: For a player's first run, the options in items and trinkets available to them — and therefore, what they'll get out of the starting Academic's Cache — are ''pathetically'' bad. [[EarlyGameHell Succeeding in beating that first run]] with what you can possibly get in it would require a miracle.

''Ruin has found you at last...''

** [[spoiler: The Man-at-Arms became this after his younger self was [[ThePeterPrinciple promoted to a command he wasn't ready for]] and got most of his men slaughtered as a result, demoting himself to the rank of a common soldier, putting his comrades' wandering souls to rest, and swearing to learn how to command from the ground up as a means of atoning for his tactical failures.]]

** [[spoiler: The Antiquarian returns as a SupportPartyMember for the Bandits, having pulled a FaceHeelTurn during the interim out of the desire for greater riches.]]

* FallenHero: [[spoiler:One of the previous playable heroes from the first game, the Antiquarian, has betrayed the Hamlet, joining a group of pillagers out of {{Greed}}, and is fought as a MiniBoss. Justified, as even in the first game, the Antiquarian was always clear that [[NominalHero they were in on the quest solely for profit]].]]

* StationaryBoss: In contrast to [[AdvancingBossOfDoom the Harvest Child and Librarian]], the Dreaming General is a size 3 enemy literally rooted to the spot, and cannot move. Your only option is to hit him until he dies.

* ContinuityCavalcade:
** The TeamShot in the "Howling End" teaser shows that the Hellion, the Leper, the Highwayman, the Plague Doctor, the Grave Robber, and the Man-at-Arms will all be coming back.
** The "Glimmer of Hope" teaser is a similar ContinuityCavalcade, once again showing the Man-at-Arms, Plague Doctor, Highwayman, and Grave Robber, and now adding the Occultist.

* ForegoneVictory: Many of the Shrine backstory battles are impossible to lose; though in these cases, "victory" often entails driving the hero to a HeroicBSOD

* ForegoneVictory: Many of the Shrine backstory battles are impossible to lose; though in these cases, "victory" often entails driving the hero to a HeroicBreakdown.

!! ''Darkest Dungeon 2''‘s tropes..''has found you at last!''

* AntiRegeneration: One of the "Denial" bosses has a PowerNullifier that prevents you from using any healing abilities for a round.

* BookBurning: The Librarian lair boss in the sprawl inflicts stress damage on the heroes by burning stacks of books. The heroes lament the loss of centuries of knowledge and culture whenever this happens.
* BreathWeapon: The Seething Sigh, an [[spoiler:animate lung]], uses this to attack. Though it uses a blast of energy with its "Blind Rage" attack, even its regular breath seems to be harmful, as its most powerful attack shows no visible flames or projectiles.

** When trudging through the Sluice, the Academic remarks that the first sightings of the Swinefolk were reported from a [[VideoGame/DarkestDungeon hamlet on the west coast]].

** One of the inns is called "The Vestal's Secret", which is mentioned to contain racy literature. This is a reference to the Vestal's backstory comic in the first game, which shows her having a conflict between her religious vows and her PerverseSexualLust. This implies the Vestal could be the owner of said inn.

** As in the first game, your heroes can get quirks that contradict their established personalities, like a Chatterbox [[TheStoic Leper]] or a Pyrophobic [[PlayingWithFire Runaway]].

* KillItWithFire: Burn is a new status effect that inflicts damage over time. The Runaway makes use of this heavily as part of her kit.
** The Fanatics at the Sprawl are more than happy to use this against your party when they are not burning books.

** When you begin the "Denial" chapter, the Academic says, "The shackles of denial must. Be. Destroyed." [[spoiler:The FinalBoss of the chapter is a set of ''literal'' shackles binding the Brain of Darkness.]]

* MeatMoss: The Foetor biome is overrun by a fleshy growth of tentacle-looking meaty trees, telling you that [[TheVirus an eldritch plague]] has full sway over the area.

** All of the Shrine backstory battles are this, particularly the Jester's.

** The [[spoiler:four shackles]] of the "Denial" chapter will use a PowerNullifier at the start of each round that prevents you from using a certain class of skill (melee, ranged, healing, or stress healing).

!! Promotional materials for ''Darkest Dungeon 2'' contain the following tropes:

''Darkest Dungeon II''[='=]s gameplay is noticeably different from its prior installment. Instead of sending parties of heroes to explore one land, the Estate, you now have to assemble one team of four Heroes available in your roster but this time you must cross large distances while trying to manage them the best you can the whole way, with few options to change the composition of your team. You must now ride across the land, choose which path is preferable, fight through malevolent humans and monsters alike, scour the monster lairs on the side of the road and assist the remaining few good people that you come across. The combat system remains a 4v4 TurnBasedCombat with the same health and stress bars, with notable tweaks to it such as an emphasis on special [[StatusEffect Status Effects]], as well as teamwork. The Affliction system has now been abandoned for the Affinity mechanism, as actions in and out of battle affect the relationships between your heroes and these positive or negative relationships will greatly affect how the heroes do in battle.

* AfterTheEnd: {{Downplayed}}, but only in the sense it's rather ''During the End''; ''Darkest Dungeon 2'' takes place just after an unknown (but implied to be the destruction of the Heart of Darkness from the first game) cosmic event has sent the world [[WorldGoneMad "into a spiral of madness"]], which ''isn't an exaggeration in any sense'', the world really has gone to hell in a hand basket. Entire cities are alit in flames from marauding bands of bandits and doomsday cults springing up. The woods are now infested with the remnants of fallen armies; undead soldiers infused with roots and trees. The few people still sane cling to themselves hopelessly, traveling in roving bands on the road, or holed up in fortified inns. The world of ''Darkest Dungeon'' has become a CosmicHorrorStory HellOnEarth.

* ApocalypseHow: Planetary. The narrator speaks of an unbalanced ephemeral equation and that the Earth now spins on a "strange and terrifying new axis". This has caused total societal collapse as whole population went mad with only a Desperate Few still clinging on to their sanity and hope. Whole cities are devastated, large parts of the land are now covered in eldritch gore and there are more monsters than ever. Not all hope is lost, though it barely fits in one's palm, and a party of Heroes can reach the Mountain to stop whatever monster is causing this catastrophe.

* DamageOverTime: The DOT game mechanism makes a return. In addition of the Bleed and Blight effects, there is now the Burning effect which represents when heroes or monsters are set on fire, with the appropriate skills to inflict it and items to cure it.

* DieChairDie: During the stagecoach sequences, it is encouraged to run over everything that litters the road, from bushes to piles of burning book. They sometimes yield small rewards like relics or supplies, and there is no penalty for running into them.

* EveryoneIsBi: Heroes can have the "Amorous" relationship with each other regardless of gender. In one run, the Grave Robber may hook up with the Man-at-Arms; in another, the Highwayman might; and in a third the Grave Robber might instead fall for the Hellion. It's not exclusive, either; it's very ''unlikely'', but it's not impossible for your entire coach to end up as a free-roaming polycule.

* FallenHero: [[spoiler:One of the previous playable heroes from the first game, the Antiquarian, has betrayed the Hamlet, joining a group of pillagers out of {{Greed}}, and is fought as a MiniBoss. Justified, as even in the first game, the Antiquarian was always clear they were in on the quest solely for profit.]]
* FireForgedFriends: It is possible to build a good relationship between heroes through various acts in battle, like healing an ally or protecting them. Once a good relationship is completed, then the heroes will sometime perform a free action assisting their comrade, like healing them, or protecting them when attacked.

* ForegoneVictory: Many of the Shrine backstory battles are impossible to lose; though in these cases "victory" often entails driving the hero to a HeroicBreakdown.

* GameGourmet: In contrast to the first games generic Food provision, the sequel offers a wider range of food items which are only usable in The Inn to heal the party. The items range from disgusting Slime Mold to Stale Bread to delicious Flapjacks. A few Trinkets are also food items, such as the Stiff Drink for the Grave Robber.

* GenreShift: Darkest Dungeon 2 abandons the claustrophobic DungeonCrawling and ResourcesManagementGameplay of its predecessor for a linear and grueling experience. This game is about TheQuest. Instead of assigning parties to individual dungeon runs, the player has to manage a single party of four individual heroes as they travel the post-apocalypse in a stagecoach, choosing which roads to take and who to save/kill. Instead of an endless supply of interchangeable heroes, there is now only one of each class, with detailed personality and more customization options.

* HealingPotion: The Healing Salves combat item allows the heroes to instantly heal 33% of the health bar without restriction, which makes it a powerful item in a game where there is a lack of dedicated healer and the few healing skills have many restrictions. There is also the Adrenaline Tonic which heals for 50% of the health bar but only if the Hero is at less than half health and it induces +1 Stress.

* HopeBringer: Both as a theme and as a mechanic. You are given the literal last dregs of hope in the world as the Flame and it is possible for you generate a bit of hope to Desperate Few you encounter during your journey by giving relics or by cleaning up Lairs, which strengthens the Flame. The game also uses "hope" as experience, with increasing amount of hope restored unlocking heroes, trinkets and better supplies between successive runs.

* InescapableNet: Downplayed with the Fisherman's Net combat item. It immobilizes one enemy for 2 tokens' worth and inflicts a -5 speed debuff representing how the foe is entangled in the net and has trouble escaping from it.

* LastChanceHitPoint: The Death's Door mechanic is coming back, not only for the heroes but also for the enemies. Heroes and monsters may enter Death's Door when their HP hits zero, suffering from a damage debuff but staying alive and having the possibility to survive the next attack.

* TheLostWoods: The Tangle, a large creepy forest where the undead Lost Battalion roam, is one of the possible levels in the game. In addition of the dense vegetation with numerous bushes blocking the view and large trees tangled in vines, the Tangle is visibly the site of an old battlefield as one can see abandoned cannons, tents, barricades and small mounds indicating grave pits, as well as the occasional Outpost or even a Keep in which the level's boss resides. The party is most likely to fight formations of the Lost Battalion, undead soldiers animated by plants that still keep on fighting, with drummers, bishops, arbalests and knights supporting the foot soldiers.
* LovecraftianSuperpower: The Cultists, of course, use powers bestowed to them by whatever new eldritch deity they now follow to impede your heroes. The Cultists in this game have fleshy mutations that resemble cephalopod limbs like vampire squid legs for the Evangelists or octopus tentacles for the Deacons, Cherubs, and Cardinals. Much like the original game the Cultists use shadowy powers to stress, debilitate your heroes, and even empower themselves. Of course one of your returning heroes, the Occultist, also makes use of eldritch magic as well to fight and heal for you.

** Unless you are extremely well-prepared, you ''will'' be taking a metric ton of death's door checks against the "Denial" boss -- and stun checks, for good measure. Its damage output is so extreme you stand no chance of regaining ground with heals. You can boost your resistances with trinkets, but it's still ultimately up to random chance.

* MolotovCocktail: The Incendiary Cocktail combat item is a bottle filled with nondescript fuel and with a tissue on fire on top. When used, it inflict large fire damage to a single foe, presumably because the bottle breaks and covers the foe in inflammable liquid which is set on fire by the flame.

** With path specializations, heroes can get in on this too. Seargant Men-at-Arms have a complete immunity to forced movement, Poet Lepers are immune to both movement and stuns, and Tempest Lepers are immune to disease.

* NotSoSafeHarbor: The Shroud is a coastal shantytown built out of poles and rotting planks. When the apocalypse arrived, the local fisherfolk here debased themselves with a barbaric worship of the sea. The problem is, something answered. The local population is now the enslaved flock of the Leviathan, everybody being corrupted into more or less obvious FishPeople with gray skin, large bulbous black eyes and other deformities. Of course, they all attack the Heroes on sight. Add to that the MysteriousMist which covers the town at regular intervals during fights, and which may blind the party.

* RestAndResupplyStop: The Inn, which is situated at the end of each zone, is a crucial building as it is the only type where your heroes can properly rest and upgrade. The heroes can be seen languishing in the guest room and you can give them various supplies to regain health, relieve stress, build relationships, or acquire buffs for the next stretch of road. There are also merchants at the Inn from which you can buy supplies, a Mastery Trainer that allows you to enhance skills at the cost of a mastery point, and a Wainwright who enhances the stagecoach with upgrades you've found.

* StalkedByTheBell: Run out of light, and your wagon is pulled into a shadowy dimension to fight [[EliteMook Cultists]] with all the buffs from dim light snuffed out - or worse, [[BonusBoss the Shambler]]. You ''can'' win, and in so doing revive your torch halfway - generally enough to reach the next Inn - but it is ''never'' easy, and there are far safer ways to get Cultist or Shambler loot than inviting an ambush.

...the flame."''

* CrazyJealousGuy: Or girl. Heroes in an amorous relationship will get jealous if you attempt to use healing skills on someone else and may block the action, regardless of who needs it the most.

* ArcSymbol: The Stress symbol returns in full glory, along with the odd shape of the [[VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon mountain]] you need to go to, with its split in the center. Every time you reach an Inn, the camera pans to show the mountain getting closer.

* LostWoods: The Tangle, a large creepy forest where the undead Lost Battalion roam, is one of the possible levels in the game. In addition of the dense vegetation with numerous bushes blocking the view and large trees tangled in vines, the Tangle is visibly the site of an old battlefield as one can see abandoned cannons, tents, barricades and small mounds indicating grave pits, as well as the occasional Outpost or even a Keep in which the level's boss resides. The party is most likely to fight formations of the Lost Battalion, undead soldiers animated by plants that still keep on fighting, with drummers, bishops, arbalests and knights supporting the foot soldiers.

** At the start of the "Denial" chapter, the narrator says "The shackles of denial must. be. destroyed." Indeed, at the end of the journey, [[spoiler:the party fights four animated shackles that are tying the Brain of Darkness, and once they are destroyed, the Brain is freed and the chapter ends]].