Dungeon Defenders 2 (PC, PS4, Xbox One) (2013-Present)
Developer: Trendy Entertainment

Review by Faididi and Co.


Now reduced to a Common Coconut Butt


Story: Average

A few years after protecting their castle home in the fantasy realm of Etheria from the invading armies of monsters, the young heroes continue to guard the Eternia Crystals, this time also while carting them to a supposedly safer site. Story plays a larger role here, thanks to the new character dialogue during the preparation phase, but the ending unsatisfyingly anticipates another sequel.


Gameplay: Average

Initially, Trendy's Dungeon Defenders 2 looks like a straightforward continuation of the previous 4-Player tactical action game. The heroes rely on their trap emplacements as well as their own attacks to fight off the waves of bad guys who are hell-bent on smashing the Eternia Crystals. However, this sequel differs from its predecessor in several important regards.

First on the list is the switch to a free-to-play format. The original four heroes (the balanced Apprentice, the trap-oriented Squire, the ranged-focused Huntress, and the support-minded Monk) all become available after the tutorial scenes, but the other playable characters must be accessed via real-money currency or the slowly-earned in-game tokens. The inventory space is small by default, and it can be expanded only with real-money currency. This setup allows new Players to get a better sense of the game before they choose whether to pay to enjoy it more fully.

A second change is the addition of special attacks for the heroes. Running on a separate type of mana (so as to not hinder the construction of the traps), these special attacks can do lots more damage than the standard attacks. Still, they are no substitute for the traps, which remain key to stopping the massive enemy hordes.

A clearer improvement is the modularized nature of the equipment upgrades. While the weapons and armor can have their core attributes enhanced like before, they now accept accessory-like magic shards that grant further bonuses, such as extra firepower and higher movement speed. These magic shards may be freely reassigned, and that's more convenient than the first game's level-up bonuses (which have been costlier to readjust).

Unfortunately, the improvements are overshadowed by the severe gameplay imbalances caused by the rest of the sequel's changes. Many of the traps now illogically discriminate between ground-based and aerial enemies, so they will shoot at either walking bad guys or flying bad guys, but they'll completely ignore the other kind. Because every level still sets a limit on the number of traps that may be deployed at once, this difference gives Players little reason to bother with the heroes whose traps have the least flexible targeting ability.

Dungeon Defenders 2's decision to allow every Player to freely switch among four heroes during the combat phase (not just the preparation phase) isn't as good as it sounds, too. Ongoing updates attempt to balance out the characters (especially the robot guard with the previously invincible trap set), but being able to change heroes at any time leads to Players relying on the same characters with the same upgrade patterns. When one Player can essentially command a full squad of heroes who already cover each other's shortcomings, there is no need to coordinate with teammates, ruining the cooperative multiplayer experience.


Controls: Above Average

The controls remain reponsive. Even though the trap-management controls come with a new persistent-type style that can interfere with the heroes' own attacks, they can be reverted to the perfectly fine old style. The equipment and upgrade menus are more consistently organized, but the option to change the color scheme of your characters is gone, removing a simple yet effective element of customization.


Graphics: Above Average

The characters and the environments are still fluidly rendered, although the loss of the color customization means that multiple copies of the same heroes are difficult to tell apart at a glance. (On a strange note, the heroines' designs seemingly hide a fetish, as half of the playable female characters go unshod.)


Audio: Average

The sound effects are as strong as before, but this sequel's music is nowhere as inspired or memorable, not counting the old tunes reused from the first installment. The vocal effects continue to be limited to yells and cries, because the dialogue during the preparation phase comes as silent text.


Overall: Average

Dungeon Defenders 2 makes changes that are more undesirable than not. The highly modular equipment upgrades are a welcome improvement, but the traps' nonsensical discrimination between ground and aerial enemies makes too many of the heroes needlessly frustrating to play. This problem is compounded by the new ability to switch among multiple characters during the combat phase, leading to every Player sticking with the same setups and eliminating the need to truly work with teammates. Those who are fresh to the series may want to start first with the original Dungeon Defenders, which has better-balanced gameplay, superior music, and friendlier options in terms of the characters' color schemes.


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