Dusk Diver 2 Reviews
Dusk Diver 2 flies too close to the sun - and it isn't even aiming for the sun in it's own solar system. While the original game was a tight and exciting brawler, this sequel tries to pivot into a more methodical character-action style without the tools that make those games so rewarding. The result is a game with repetitive, sluggish combat dominating the entire experience. Fans might find crumbs of narrative intrigue to explore here, but newcomers have little reason to dive in.
Dusk Diver 2, like the first game, has potential; the cast of characters and storyline are both engaging, and the world could definitely host more interesting stories in the future. However, this sequel sadly fumbles things on the gameplay front, with a disappointing mixture of damage-sponge enemies and drawn-out encounters. While we didn't enjoy Dusk Diver 2 as much as we had hoped, there is something there - a kernel of potential as yet unrealised - and there are going to be people who absolutely adore it despite its faults. For us, a potential Dusk Diver 3 will hopefully boast combat engaging enough to match the writing on display here.
First and foremost, the cast of playable characters, which is easily one of the best elements in the game and stands out for the best reasons. On the other hand, the changes to its combat make it a lot less engaging due to a low difficulty level that will have players spending a lot of time to defeat an enemy with very little challenge from their weak combat skills. The level design too falls below expectations, as its dungeons are too repetitive and unoriginal, which ends up making it hard to keep the player's attention. There was a lot of potential that unfortunately was not explored and Dusk Diver 2's good ideas don't quite mitigate the rest.
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The sense of shallowness is impossible to shake, and over the course of a reasonably long brawler/RPG gets tiring. Dusk Diver 2, much like its predecessor, has all the potential in the world, and most of its individual elements are really competently made. It just doesn’t come together in execution, and while I was willing to give the developers the benefit of the doubt the first time, I’m just not certain they have a good grasp of how they want to execute on their ambition with this series. I don’t know if a third would be a good idea at this stage.
Dusk Diver 2 wasn’t quite the 1, 2 punch it could have been. The biggest critique of the experience lies in its enemies and boss battles with enormous health bars leading to incredibly boring encounters marring the overall game experience. If I move this aside the game does so much right. An intriguing cast of characters and a plot I felt invested in. The combat system itself is fun to experiment with, with multiple unique playable characters. If you’re a fan of the first game I can see you overlooking the game’s flaws and finding incentive to return to this world. If you’re new and curious I would probably suggest trying the first title before jumping into the sequel. I like Dusk Diver 2 but I would have loved it if the combat was less of a chore.