Darkest Dungeon 2’s early access trailer has just been released and it reveals the upcoming game’s new 3D graphics. The sequel to 2016’s hit dungeon crawling RPG was finally announced last year as an early access exclusive on the Epic Games Store. The reveal came as a surprise, seeing as developer Red Hook Studio initially teased its ‘Darkest Dungeons’ follow-up almost two years ago.
Apart from its team-based, dungeon-crawling gameplay, ‘Darkest Dungeon’ presented a unique element in its Stress mechanic. The system, which represents the mental disturbances the game’s characters suffer as they traverse its dungeon, required players to keep their heroes’ stress levels in check - lest they become encumbered or even bring them to the brink of death. The mechanic, which is officially referred to in-game as the Affliction system, gave ‘Darkest Dungeons’ an extra layer of gameplay that proved to be an emergent storytelling and character-building element.
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Red Hook Studios has released the early access trailer for ‘Darkest Dungeon 2’, which shows off its updated 3D visuals, as well as some of its new gameplay elements. In spite of the transition from 2D to 3D graphics, the game still maintains its visual style by utilizing cel-shaded models instead of switching to photorealistic ones. The updated visuals not only appear to improve the game’s overall animation - especially in combat - but it also allows the game to introduce completely new gameplay elements; such as its new roguelike roadtrip structure that makes use of the world beyond the first game’s dungeons.
The early access trailer also teased the game’s initial roster of nine heroes, although players will only be able to choose four of them per run. However, much like games such as Hades and Slay the Spire, many upgrades that players are able to unlock will carry over into their next roguelike run. -Collider
