Dark Quest 2
- February 8, 2019
- Brain Seal Ltd
- 5h median play time
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Get on Apple Store"Dark Quest 2" is a turn-based strategy RPG, inspired by the board game "Hero Quest," with single and multiplayer options. Its hand-drawn art style, dice-based mechanics, and campaign story create an immersive fantasy atmosphere. Players must tacticsically navigate through the evil sorcerer's castle, confronting challenges that test their characters' strengths. Create and share new adventures with the map editor, available through Steamworks. The Skull of Fate adds an extra layer of mystery in the darkest dungeons.
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Reviews
- Fun multiplayer experience that captures the essence of classic dungeon crawlers like HeroQuest.
- Easy to learn interface with charming graphics and a nostalgic feel.
- Engaging gameplay with strategic elements that require careful planning and resource management.
- Limited replayability due to repetitive gameplay and lack of diverse content.
- Bugs and glitches can disrupt the experience, particularly in multiplayer mode.
- The user interface can be cumbersome, making it difficult to navigate and control characters effectively.
- story223 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story in "Dark Quest 2" is largely considered minimal and generic, revolving around a classic fantasy trope of defeating an evil sorcerer. Players noted that while the missions are well-designed and varied, the narrative lacks depth and engagement, often feeling repetitive and simplistic, with little character development or lore to enhance the experience. Overall, the game is more focused on gameplay mechanics and dungeon crawling than on delivering a compelling story.
“The storyline kicks off in one of the most classical ways: the king is dead, an evil sorcerer seized the castle and his horde of minions is ravaging the lands, bringing death and destruction.”
“Campaign missions are quite varied and provide a good number of different enemies, situations, and objectives, like liberating prisoners, collecting pieces of an artifact, or killing a boss.”
“Dark Quest 2 brings a lite-version of those board games, with gorgeous hand-drawn graphics and a great dungeon crawl feel to it.”
“Almost zero story.”
“The story is boring.”
“The story is absent.”
- gameplay77 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game is characterized by its blend of simple mechanics and tactical depth, offering an engaging dungeon-crawling experience reminiscent of classic board games. While many players appreciate the beautiful graphics and character progression, some criticize the balance and repetitiveness of the gameplay, noting that certain mechanics can be exploited, leading to a lack of challenge. Overall, it provides a casual yet satisfying gameplay loop, suitable for both new and experienced players, though it may feel simplistic at times.
“This is a great little game, brings back Hero Quest vibes and adds a few extra characters and a lot of interesting mechanics for such a simple game.”
“Highly recommend if you're looking for a relatively casual yet addicting and satisfying gameplay loop with a solid character progression system and beautiful hand-drawn art and scene settings.”
“Gameplay is easy to learn and hard to master, with tactics becoming very important late game.”
“Ultimately, what should be a good game is let down by mechanics and the type of difficulty.”
“Unfortunately, the moment-to-moment core gameplay is quite boring and repetitive, and I found myself very quickly losing interest.”
“Leveling up without XP is very weird, especially because you can explore the mechanics and level up all your heroes to the max if you have enough patience to grab a flask and go back to town (repeat 200x).”
- graphics72 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 43 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received generally positive feedback, with many users praising the hand-drawn art style and immersive visuals that evoke a nostalgic, dark fantasy atmosphere. While some noted that animations could be lacking or cartoonish, the overall aesthetic is considered charming and well-suited to the game's theme. Improvements over previous iterations are highlighted, making the graphics a standout feature that enhances the gameplay experience.
“It has splendid graphics, arguably one of the best graphic art I have seen in modern video games.”
“The graphics have also been markedly improved and now work on an isometric system rather than the plain 'top down' view of the original.”
“Featuring an amazing, hand-drawn isometric art style and dice-based mechanics, Dark Quest 2 really looks like a board game that came to life in a digital form.”
“I prefer Dark Quest 2's graphics to Dark Quest 3's, which are lazy and static.”
“Pretty much the same as the first Dark Quest; the graphics got a little better, but it's still very repetitive with a boring storyline, a silly and ugly UI, a useless skull of fate that brings nothing to the game, no inventory, minimal choice of items, and no character progression—only a few usable abilities while the rest are passive. Active abilities can only be used once or are restricted per quest/turn.”
“Don't expect modern effects and graphics, since everything is hand-drawn with 2D sprites.”
- music44 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its quality and ability to enhance the atmosphere, while others criticize its repetitiveness due to a limited number of tracks. Some players find the soundtrack enjoyable and fitting for the gameplay, but note that it can become annoying during extended play sessions. Overall, the music contributes positively to the game's experience, though a greater variety would have been appreciated.
“The soundtrack is a better experience; it is filled with good songs with a healthy mix of instruments and a few atmospheric tracks to even things out.”
“I really love the turn-based style of playing, and the soundtrack fits the scene to bring you in the right mood.”
“I would highly recommend this game; it has an absolutely fantastic atmosphere, music, and art.”
“However, the OST is very short, which means you will hear certain songs over and over, which can get annoying if you are doing multiple playthroughs.”
“Music is annoying and repetitive.”
“The music was average, and I often found myself turning it off because it got old after a while.”
- grinding18 mentions
- 6 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 94 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often leading to boredom as they face overwhelming odds in combat and navigate dungeons one character at a time. While some appreciate the grind for character upgrades and replaying earlier dungeons for preparation, many feel it detracts from the overall enjoyment, making exploration feel like a slog rather than an engaging challenge. Despite its beautiful graphics and sound, the grind can overshadow the fun, especially as the game progresses.
“It just gets very boring and very samey and very grindy in a very short while.”
“Exploring the dungeons does not become an engaging risk vs reward asset, but a tedious slog where players who've already played the game will know the optimal route.”
“The variety of room types is also limited, and quickly becomes tedious and boring.”
- replayability13 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 46 % neutral mentions
- 23 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability through features like a map editor and Steam Workshop support for user-created maps, allowing for endless content. Players can experiment with different character builds and tackle levels at increasing difficulties, enhancing the challenge and enjoyment. However, some reviewers noted that deeper character customization could further improve replay value.
“The game has a map editor, so there's some more replayability in the form of downloading user-created maps through the Steam Workshop.”
“The mod support for more maps adds great replay value.”
“The game has a map editor, so there's some replayability in the form of downloading user-created maps through the Steam Workshop.”
“If you liked Warhammer Quest or the old HeroQuest board game, you'll probably like this, and there should be a fair amount of replayability trying out different builds.”
“All it needs is deeper character building, customization, and equipment systems for better replayability.”
- stability8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game's stability is a mixed bag; while it features some enjoyable gameplay and interesting ideas, users report various bugs and glitches, particularly in multiplayer, which can detract from the experience. Despite these issues, many players find the game fun and engaging, suggesting that it may improve with further updates. Overall, while there are notable stability concerns, the core gameplay remains appealing.
“I make that comparison in all the best ways, especially in the way that, like Darkest Dungeon, this game might be in early access but is full of content, mostly bug-free, and already has solid gameplay mechanics that are fun and engaging.”
“Runs great and is easy on the wallet.”
“Multiplayer is somewhat buggy.”
“I do have to give a strong warning that this game is not without its bugs/glitches.”
“The game has some interesting ideas and doesn't suffer from numbers bloat, but... it's very buggy and gets repetitive quickly.”
- atmosphere7 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised, characterized by a captivating soundtrack that blends various instruments and atmospheric tracks, alongside beautiful artwork and diverse character designs. Reviewers consistently highlight the impressive visual and auditory elements, contributing to an immersive experience that enhances overall enjoyment.
“The atmosphere and music are great.”
“I would highly recommend this game, it has an absolutely fantastic atmosphere, music, and art.”
“Love it, very atmospheric, worth every penny!”
- character development4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is criticized for lacking specialization and depth, with players feeling that while choices in party creation impact gameplay, the overall leveling and equipment improvement systems are inadequate. Many users express a desire for a more robust narrative and enhanced character development in potential future editions.
“There are enough choices in the party creation and character development systems between missions that you feel like your decisions have an impact on the way each dungeon plays out, which is important.”
“There was no specialization in character development.”
“If I'm completely honest, the character development, level up, and equipment improvement is poor; they tried to do something a little different, but unfortunately it doesn’t work.”
“If they develop a third edition, I'd be happy to pay £20 for it if they create a proper narrative, better character development, and less restrictive equipment choices.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has been criticized for poor performance and the presence of bugs, indicating a need for significant improvements in this area.
“The game suffers from poor performance and is riddled with bugs.”
“The optimization is lacking, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.”
“I encountered numerous performance issues that detracted from my enjoyment of the game.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized for its repetitive gameplay and lackluster storyline, which detracts from player engagement. Users express disappointment with the minimal character progression and limited choices, leading to a feeling of monotony rather than emotional investment. Overall, the game fails to evoke strong feelings or connections, leaving players feeling uninspired.
“The emotional depth is lacking, making it hard to connect with the characters or the story.”
“The storyline feels repetitive and uninspired, failing to evoke any real emotional response.”
“The user interface is not only unattractive but also detracts from the overall emotional experience of the game.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is praised for its nostalgic charm, enhancing the cooperative experience and evoking a sense of joy reminiscent of classic gaming days. Players appreciate how the lightheartedness complements the dungeon-crawling mechanics, making for an enjoyable and engaging adventure.
“Add in co-op, and good humor, and you're looking at an ultra-fine dungeon crawl developed exactly how you dreamed the future would be when you were a kid on your 386, if FPS hadn't taken over gaming.”
“The humor in this game is top-notch, with clever writing and hilarious character interactions that keep you laughing throughout your adventure.”
“Every quest is filled with witty dialogue and absurd situations that make even the most mundane tasks feel entertaining.”
