DreadOut 2

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Linda fights back against the ghosts of Indonesian urban legend, phone in one hand and an axe in the other.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Price: Paid
Rated: Mostly Positive on Steam (75% of 2,107 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: Digital Happiness
Released: 2020

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What frightens Ghosts from Indonesian folklore and urban legend haunt Linda's hometown by night, from the Kuntilanak to a Gore Surgeon, and she has to face them up close with a phone camera and whatever blade she can find.
Content: gore, violence, jumpscares.

DreadOut 2 is the third-person sequel to DreadOut from the Indonesian studio Digital Happiness. Linda Meillinda, a high school student who can see ghosts, hunts the spirits troubling her hometown with her smartphone camera and, new to this game, with melee weapons.

About DreadOut 2

DreadOut 2 was made and published by Digital Happiness and released on Steam in February 2020, six years after the first DreadOut. It is also sold on PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. Like the first game, it draws its spirits from Indonesian folklore and urban legend.

Linda Meillinda is back at school, older and still able to sense and see ghosts. The spirits and dark forces around her are no longer confined to one forgotten town; they threaten her hometown and, the game says, everyone else as well. You explore the town by day and by night, talk to its residents, living and dead, take on side quests and fill the Ghostpedia app on Linda's phone with the spirits and legends you uncover.

The phone camera from the first game is still how you banish intangible ghosts. What is new is melee combat: axes, knives and other weapons, and things to throw, for the ghosts that have a body. Bosses include the Kuntilanak and the Gore Surgeon. The makers describe it as survival action horror, and it plays more as an action game than the first.

Players praise the setting, the ghost designs and the folklore, and many are less happy with the combat, especially later bosses that can knock Linda down again before she is up, and with bugs. It suits players who liked the first DreadOut or want horror built on Indonesian legends and do not mind rough edges.

How to play DreadOut 2

Explore Linda's hometown and school by day, talking to the people you meet and picking up quests.
When an intangible ghost appears, raise the phone and photograph it to banish it.
Pick up axes, knives and other weapons and use them on ghosts that have a body.
Search the town for the items each quest asks for, and check the Ghostpedia to learn about the spirits you meet.
Face the boss spirits that close the acts, using the camera or your weapon as each one needs.

Screenshots

A rotting ghoul looms over Linda as she crawls across a dark, blood-stained courtyard

Linda raises an axe at a group of pale creatures crowding toward her in a misty alley

Linda walks down a busy Indonesian street by day, past shops, minibuses and parked motorbikes

Tips

Use the camera on ghosts you cannot hit; melee only works on those with a body.
Do not trade blows with bosses for long; reviewers warn that some can knock Linda down again before she recovers.
Take the side quests; many are built on local urban legends and fill out the Ghostpedia.
One player found boss hit boxes misbehaved at 4K; a lower resolution helped them.

Questions

Do I need to play DreadOut first?

It helps, since Linda's story continues, but DreadOut 2 is its own game in a new setting. Some players new to the series found the story harder to follow.

How is DreadOut 2 different from DreadOut?

It adds melee weapons and a bigger town to explore by day and night, with side quests and a Ghostpedia, while keeping the phone camera for ghosts you cannot touch. It is more of an action game than the first.

Is DreadOut 2 on consoles?

Yes. Besides Steam, it is sold on the PlayStation Store, on Xbox and on the Nintendo eShop for Switch.