Darkest Dungeon II

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A roguelike road trip of the damned, four heroes and one stagecoach at a time.

Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam, Epic, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (75% of 12,147 English-language reviews); Metacritic 81 on PC
Length: about 5 hours a run; 30 hours or more to beat every chapter
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse and keyboard, or a controller (full controller support on PC)
Made by: Red Hook Studios
Released: 2023

On GOG: one of the GOG horror games.

No. 30 of the time loop horror games · No. 13 of the vampire horror games · No. 16 of the mountain horror games

Get it on Steam Epic Games Store GOG PlayStation Store (PS4 and PS5)Xbox (Xbox One and Series X|S)Nintendo eShop (Switch)Official site

What frightens The world has gone mad and the dead and the damned crowd the roads; you drive four doomed heroes by stagecoach through burning towns and diseased lands toward the Mountain, and stress, fear and grudges between them can break the party before any monster does.
Content: violence, blood and gore, mild language, alcohol use, mild suggestive themes.

Darkest Dungeon II is a gothic roguelike RPG by Red Hook Studios, the sequel to Darkest Dungeon. You lead four heroes in a stagecoach across a decaying, maddened land toward the Mountain, fighting turn-based battles while their stress, fears and quarrels threaten to end the journey.

About Darkest Dungeon II

Darkest Dungeon II was made and published by Red Hook Studios, the makers of Darkest Dungeon. It came out in early access on Windows in October 2021 and was fully released in May 2023, then reached PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X|S and Switch on July 15, 2024. Its store calls it a roguelike road trip of the damned.

A scientist called the Scholar meddled with an eldritch force, the Iron Crown, and the experiment sent most of the world into madness. You form a party of four heroes, equip a stagecoach and set off across five regions, from the burning Sprawl to the diseased Foetor, toward the Mountain where the evil is kept. Along the road you meet bandits, cultists and beasts in turn-based battles where each hero's place in the line decides which skills they can use. Shrines along the way tell each hero's past, and Wayne June returns as the narrator.

The horror is in attrition. Fights and dark stretches of road raise your heroes' stress, and a hero pushed too far has a meltdown in battle that costs health and leaves bad traits. Heroes also grow fond of or sick of each other as the journey goes on: friends give each other help in combat, while enemies can block each other's skills and pile on stress. Inns let you rest and mend the party, but every stay feeds the Loathing, the evil that is eating the world. The flame on the stagecoach stands for hope, and when it nearly goes out the whole party suffers. A run that ends in death still raises your profile rank and unlocks heroes and items for the next.

Alongside the main Confessions mode there is Kingdoms, a free separate strategy campaign added in January 2025, with a persistent roster defending a crumbling realm against three enemy factions, the last of them a court of vampiric nobles. It suits players who liked the first game and anyone who wants their horror as hard choices and slow ruin rather than jump scares.

How to play Darkest Dungeon II

Choose four heroes and set off from the crossroads in the stagecoach.
Pick your route across each region's map, weighing fights, shrines, loot and dangers.
In battle, choose a skill for each hero on their turn; their position in the line decides what they can use.
Rest at inns between regions to lower stress, heal and buy supplies.
When a run ends, spend what you earned on unlocks and try again.

Screenshots

Darkest Dungeon II screenshot: four heroes face a ghoul, a hooded brute and a pale ghostly woman in a night forest, with the Thrown Dagger skill on the combat bar

Darkest Dungeon II screenshot: the stagecoach rolls along a plank road through a red-lit gothic hall of hooded statues and burning braziers

Darkest Dungeon II screenshot: a chained, crowned figure casts Fire Flay at a hero with a polearm in a blood-red gothic ruin

Darkest Dungeon II screenshot: an armoured, eye-patched warrior bashes a screaming pink-skinned mutant with his shield, using Hold the Line

Darkest Dungeon II screenshot: the stagecoach with a lit torch on a leaf-strewn forest road at night, facing a barricade of sharpened stakes

Darkest Dungeon II screenshot: four heroes sit by the fire in the Limping Mule inn, with the item inventory open beside them

Darkest Dungeon II screenshot: the region map on Day 6, with burning ruins, swamp huts on stilts and a lightning-struck mountain in the fog

Tips

Watch stress as closely as health; a breakdown can ruin a strong party.
Use inn items to steer relationships before a bad grudge sets in.
Learn what each hero's paths change before committing to a party layout.
Keep the stagecoach repaired and the flame fed; both matter more as the road gets longer.

Questions

Is Darkest Dungeon II a horror game?

It is a gothic, Lovecraftian-styled roguelike RPG: an eldritch apocalypse, monsters and cultists, and heroes driven toward madness by stress. It frightens through dread and attrition more than jump scares.

Do I need to play Darkest Dungeon first?

No. It is a sequel with a new structure and its own story, though the narrator and the turn-based combat return from the first game.

Which platforms is Darkest Dungeon II on?

Windows and macOS through Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store, plus PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

How long is Darkest Dungeon II?

The store says each expedition lasts from 30 minutes to several hours. A guide counts five expeditions to reach the Mountain in one run, about an hour each, and estimates 30 hours or more to beat all five chapters, since few parties make it on the first try.

Is Darkest Dungeon II very gory?

It is rated T by the ESRB for violence, blood and gore, mild language, mild suggestive themes and alcohol use, and 12 by PEGI. The store describes the violence and gore as stylized, in its hand-drawn look.