Eldritch Roguelike Darkest Dungeon II Gets Physical Version, More Content
The Lovecraftian and famously punishing RPG, Darkest Dungeon II, is celebrating its two year anniversary via a PS5 and Switch deluxe Anniversary physical edition. Both versions come with a bunch of extras like a papercraft diorama, playing cards, and codes to unlock digital content such as DLC and music tracks. It’s available for pre-order and will ship later in 2025.
Darkest Dungeon II is the critically acclaimed sequel to the similarly turn-based roguelike/RPG original. In both games, players assemble a team of adventurers, then travel through cursed forests, ruined settlements, and yes, dark dungeons as they seek to cleanse a land of an eldritch evil.
“Form a party, equip your stagecoach, and set off across the decaying landscape on a last gasp quest to avert an apocalypse caused by your own failures,” the developer, Red Hook, said in a press release. “The greatest dangers you face, however, may come from within.”
Ruin And Condemnation
Darkest Dungeon II continues the original’s use of elaborate and purposefully florid prose, as the grizzled Narrator chronicles each player’s journey. Areas have names such as The Sprawl, The Shroud and The Foetor, and enemies range from deranged cultists to mutated piles of flesh.
The sequel also tweaks the RPG element of the original and lets players choose their path along a road. This ultimately leads to a cursed mountain, where a great evil resides, and players will need to ensure their characters remain sane and healthy along the way; if not, they may well turn on each other.
Darkest Dungeon II also includes a free Kingdoms mode, which is “a fresh, reimagined structure that can be enjoyed as a parallel experience to the original Confessions game mode. Kingdoms will feature three themed adventure modules, each containing a different threat,” according to the press release.
The first module was Hunger of The Beast Clan, in which players must battle hordes of beastmen, and the next is Secrets of The Coven, a folk-horror adventure. It goes live on PS5 on May 7, 2025, with Xbox and Switch getting it later this month.
Red in Tooth And Claw
Red Hook Studio is based in Vancouver, BC, and was founded in 2013. Darkest Dungeon was the studio’s first game and was released in 2016 following successful Kickstarter and Early Access campaigns. It received critic and player praise, especially for its distinctive (and now often-aped) art style.
Darkest Dungeon II followed a similar path and was released properly in 2023. It was also part of the first Triple I Initiative in 2024. It updated and improved upon the original in multiple ways, and in doing so earned the Best Art Direction and Audience Awards from the Indie Pearls Awards.
“The studio will also host an anniversary stream on May 9 at 3pm PT on Twitch where Red Hook devs will play the latest Darkest Dungeon II update, answer community questions and take a look ahead,” said the press release.
Skybound Games is the video game arm of Skybound, the graphic novel company founded by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Invincible). Its behind the Telltale Walking Dead games, as well as the BAFTA Award-winning Before Your Eyes, and a lot more.
