Dusk Diver 2

Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.

If you're a fan of the original Dusk Diver, there's plenty here for you to enjoy. Better combat and more time to hang out with the delightful staff of the Tumaz Mart is sure to please, but it's a shame that both the story and many of the side quests are fairly forgettable. Overall, this is a fairly solid hack-and-slash adventure with some really creative dungeons to explore, but it does have a little bit too much busywork and not enough variety.

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.

Dusk Diver 2 is a solid, enjoyable ARPG experience.

Dusk Diver 2 shows a notable improvement over the original by adding a second playable character to switch between in-battle at any point, but doesn't improve the formula enough to be a must-have for anyone who didn't love the original.

Dusk Diver 2 won't crack any TOP10 chart, but it is promising and catchy action adventure with good concept, solid characters and rich combat system. Opponents are getting stale, but bosses and dungeons are usually promising.

There is plenty of untapped potential in Dusk Diver 2 but poor gameplay choices and badly paced overarching story limit what the improved combat and charming cast have to offer.

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.

Expanding the roster of playable characters and the number of fighters that can be dragged to the front line, the guys of WANIN International have equipped Dusk Diver 2 with a pleasant strategic component completely absent in the first episode.

Dusk Diver 2 isn't necessarily a bad title, but it's not a title to recommend either. The combat has competent mechanics, but its balance makes the player experience go from interesting to tedious in a few hours. It's a game that had big ambitions, but didn't have the polish to carry them out properly.