“In the howling darkness of the end men will become monsters. But hope will ride with those courageous enough to carry the flame.”
Red Hook Studios has announced that Darkest Dungeon 2 is currently in development, and the first Teaser Trailer has been embedded above. Details are currently scarce, but Red Hook’s Tyler Sigman and Chris Bourassa sat down with PC Gamer to talk a bit more about the RPG sequel:
PC Gamer: What’s interesting to you about making a direct sequel to Darkest Dungeon?
Tyler Sigman and Chris Bourassa, Red Hook Studios: We love our dysfunctional cast of characters, our atmosphere, and our world. Horror is a fantastic space to explore interesting and unconventional ideas, and we have a lot more story we want to tell. Mechanically, we also think we have some valuable nuggets (e.g. combat) and there is more there that we’d like to explore and build on. Above all, we are committed to crafting Darkest Dungeon 2 to be its own experience; it will have its own creative and thematic identity.
PC Gamer: What gameplay and other changes are you able to talk to us about at this time?
Tyler Sigman and Chris Bourassa, Red Hook Studios: We’re playing this pretty close to the chest! Our combat system is making a return, but we’re giving it a significant tune-up—mechanically, and in terms of presentation. Most significantly, however, we are working with a completely different metagame structure. Darkest Dungeon 2 is a game about enduring a gruelling journey, not cleaning up your backyard.
The pair also confirmed that six character classes will return in Darkest Dungeon 2 (Grave Robber, Leper, Man-at-Arms, Plague Doctor, Highwayman, and Hellion), and hinted that Darkest Dungeon 2 will likely receive an Early Access release so fans can “kick the tires of the systems.”
After debuting on the PC in 2016, the original Darkest Dungeon eventually made its way to the PS4, Vita, Switch, and Xbox One. Presumably the sequel will land on the same platforms, but that announcement will have to wait for another day.
