Darkest Dungeon® II News

[h3]Welcome to Darkest Dungeon II: Kingdoms![/h3]
This release is the result of a year-long grand experiment.

In December 2023, we were brainstorming about what interesting things we could add to Darkest Dungeon II. While new heroes and regions are always well received, we were feeling that familiar itch we got when planning out Darkest Dungeon I expansions. Namely, what if we did something…different? Something unexpected or…uncommon. Something that would challenge us as developers, and surprise our players.

This creative impulse is the same one that led us to make the enormous Crimson Court, the endless Color of Madness mode, and the out-of-nowhere multiplayer arena of The Butcher’s Circus. It’s just part of our creative DNA to want to try experimental things - no two Red Hook releases have ever been the same, and we’re quite proud of that! In this crowded game market, wonderment is the only commodity that trades, and that’s not just true for players, but for developers as well. When we are inspired by what we’re building, we believe you’ll be inspired playing it. As our discussions took shape, we hit on 3 powerful ideas.

#1: A Remix Album
We challenged ourselves to think about what we could do if we took all of the ingredients we had on hand with DDII and then added in some elements of DDI like persistent rosters and a larger self-contained campaign. In essence, we could remix our own game. “Who does that?” we mused.

What came out of this mental exercise was the core idea for Kingdoms: a board-game inspired strategy metagame that delivered a more persistent sense of space and time than the somewhat allegorical Confessions mode. Picking up the pieces of a ruined kingdom, defending it from attack - these were interesting concepts. Similar to a board game, we wanted to structure it with tons of replayability: multiple quests (the first of which launches Jan 27th), multiple maps, multiple customizable difficulty settings.

#2: It’s Free
We’ve been fortunate that our hard work has found an audience. How best, then, to deploy this risky creative endeavor? A paid DLC would delight most boardrooms, but we felt that ultimately our fortunes rise and fall based on engagement. Players playing. Having fun and getting wrecked. The ultimate aim of game development. So, we asked, what if we just…gave it away? Yes, we’ll be drawing down on our war chest significantly, but perhaps we’ll attract new players, wishlists will convert, and word of mouth will buoy our sales. This approach felt more honest, more authentic, and more in line with what we hope Kingdoms elicits in our fans.

#3: And a DLC too, right?
So if Kingdoms is free, how do we cover some of our costs? Another DLC, released alongside, that integrates into both modes and provides more variety and challenge, is of course the answer. But damn if that’s not hard to develop in tandem! Our team proved up to the task, however, and we’re thrilled with the results.

“Inhuman Bondage” introduces an all new underground region (The Catacombs) and the return of one of DD1’s favorite heroes: The Abomination. One of the neatest parts of the DLC is that it adds content to both Confessions and Kingdoms game mode. Whichever one(s) you like, we have you covered. The existing Binding Blade DLC works similarly–the character content in there will work in Kingdoms, too.

We’ve spent over a decade working on Darkest Dungeon. We’ve delighted in our explorations and iterations, and we’re nowhere near done. On January 27th we invite you to experience the results of our latest experiment. If you already own DDII, you’ll get Kingdoms for free. If you are new to Darkest Dungeon II, you will find a complete game bundle is on sale at a hefty discount. Inhuman Bondage is also available on its own, modestly priced. Your purchases directly enable us to keep making these games..

There has never been a better time to board the stagecoach.

–Chris Bourassa & Tyler Sigman, Red Hook Studios

“The twisting corridors of long-forgotten tombs, choked with the ichor of the dead.”

Inhuman Bondage releases in just 1 week. Get a closer look at The Catacombs, our new enemy faction, and the Abomination himself in our new trailer. Watch it below!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

WISHLIST INHUMAN BONDAGE TODAY:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3205310/Darkest_Dungeon_II__Inhuman_Bondage/

This new DLC launches on January 27th, and includes the following features:

• A new mini region - The Catacombs, a high risk, high reward region playable on both Confessions and Kingdoms game modes
  
• New slime-sodden enemy faction unique to the Catacombs
  
• New playable hero: The Abomination. The Abomination comes complete with unique trinkets, signature items, and a fully voiced backstory including playable flashback encounters
  

January 27th is also the day our new FREE game mode Kingdoms will be available to play in Darkest Dungeon II.

Just before the Christmas break, Tyler Sigman (Co-Founder and Design Director) and Chris Bourassa (Co-Founder and Creative Director) of Red Hook Studios headed over to r/Games for an Ask Me Anything on all things Darkest Dungeon. We’ve picked out just some of the questions and answers for you, so you can gain a little more insight into the upcoming Kingdoms update and our next DLC, Inhuman Bondage.

If you want to read all the questions and answers, with some about the studio and wider franchise, be sure to head on over to the r/Games Reddit.

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Question - The parallels between the upcoming Kingdoms game mode and the DD1 dungeon crawling is uncannily similar. To make sure everyone's on the same page, will this be following the footsteps of DD1's formula, or completely new?

Answer - Kingdoms is a completely new experience. It is not, strictly speaking, "DD1 in DD2" and we caution people not to expect that. But it borrows many themes and mechanics from the original game, and fuses them with the core of DD2. "Town events", a larger roster, a persistent worldspace, make a return. It also brings a host of new stuff to the fore - a more involved quest chain (an evolution of the Crusader quest from Binding Blade DLC), Inn skill trees, the new playable Peasant Militia - just a ton of really cool ideas. You'll be racing to complete the quest chain and keep your Inns safe against escalating attacks as time ticks down. - Chris

Question - The kingdom/inhuman bondage update on console will arrive on a later date, but it has already been planned for release or the date has to be planned yet? Thank you

Answer - We don't have a firm date yet because the complexities of porting make it hard to predict with certainty. Also, there tends to be a bit of variation in how many unexpected bugs are found once the PC version releases. But our goal will be to turn the port around and get it onto the consoles as soon as we can. - Tyler

Question - Hi! For the Kingdoms mod, will the unlocked stuff from the main campaign be there too? Or will the Kingdom mod be really fully independent? Same question about the DLC. Thanks, can't wait to go back in!

Answer - We intentionally have designed Kingdoms to be entirely separate from Confessions as much as possible. If somebody buys the game, we want them to be able to play Kingdoms first if they wanted to. So in this regard, almost none of the unlocks from Confessions carry over to Kingdoms mode. One exception are the Stagecoach skins (livery). You have to unlock those in Confessions to be able to use them in Kingdoms. But otherwise, there isn't any crossover. - Chris

Question - Any plans of bringing back Hound Master and making Bounty Hunter as a permanent character like the others?

Answer - Bounty Hunter is fully playable in Kingdoms, but no plans to bring him into Confessions mode as a full character. The theme of Confessions is atonement, and moving past your trauma, and I think it makes the character more 'his own thing' by not participating in that emotional journey. Did you enjoy Book of Boba Fett? I sure as hell did not. Sometimes, the less we know about a character, the more interesting they are. Will BH always be different from the other heroes going forward? No, it just made sense for the Confessions mode. No comment on Houndie just yet - we get a lot of asks for him :) - Chris

Question - As DD2 approaches the release of Kingdoms and Inhuman Bondage, the two big milestones, the future seems a little foggy. We know that 2025 will see Crimson Courtiers and Coven come as the next modules for Kingdoms, as well as reworks for the remaining heroes with old paths. However, we don't know how they will be released, and what is more in store in DD2 once Kingdoms, Hero Reworks, and Origin Skins are finished.

My question is, can we expect a Road Map somewhere in the near future to add more certainty about the game's future?

Answer - Looking ahead to 2025, we have confirmed the Inhuman Bondage DLC, Kingdoms1/2/3, and hero paths & skins. We have plans for *even more* on top of that as well! Now, to be totally honest with you, we are not big fans of roadmaps. We need to maintain some institutional agility, to pivot and reorganize as challenges (or happy accidents!) happen. We don't want to set expectations early and find ourselves unable to meet them. That's why we prefer to announce only what we know to be coming next. We're as forthcoming as we can be! - Chris

Question - Will the Infernal Blaze Mechanic be part of kingdoms? and most important! Will the snuff flame mechanic come back?

Answer - Glad you like the Infernal Flames! Our designers had a lot of fun creating those as an interesting way of doing opt-in difficulty challenges. The first Kingdoms release won't have any Infernal Flames integrated, but it's something we are thinking about as potential additions to the following releases. That being said, we have a number of difficulty options that will be configurable for the first Kingdoms release, so people can scale the challenge to their liking somewhat. - Tyler

Question - Can we look forward to a Dev stream featuring either of the content updates this January?

Answer - Yeah, why not? Let's do it the week of Kingdoms release! Maybe not release day, but shortly thereafter. Sound good? - Chris

Question - Will people who buy the oblivion edition gain access to the inhuman bondage DLC or will they have to buy that separately. Also how’s development for that going.

Answer - Inhuman Bondage DLC must be purchased separately. We plan to create new bundles with all the stuff together. But the intent of the bundles is not to be "season passes" or DLC pre-purchases. They are always structured just to be discounts of whatever is currently available, to give you a price break if you get all the stuff together. - Tyler

Question - This one is about gameplay for kingdoms. What is inspiring this new gamemode? Are there other games that you pulled some design from that are complimenting the main gameplay loop of kingdoms?

Answer - Great question! Kingdoms came about because after the Binding Blade DLC, we were brainstorming on what cool stuff to add to the game. The most obvious answer is usually "more content!" (more regions, more heroes, more items, etc.) We wanted to think a bit more big picture and one thing led to another (as sometimes happens) and we came up with the audacious idea to sort of remix all the elements of the game into a different package--then players could have more than one mode to play, and perhaps find the mode that appeals to them the most.

More specifically, we got excited about blending some elements of DD1 and DD2 together to create something different than either. So for example, could we use DD2's combat, traveling, and inns, but then bring over stuff like DD1's persistent roster, "town events", and more epic "quest" that is split into smaller bite size quest steps. It sounded fun to create a bit of a board game strategic metagame and then layer in the rest of how most of DD2 functions. Then we started thinking about how the best way to do it would be the insane idea of offering it as a completely free update. And here we are...

Oh, as for inspiration, I think borrowing a bit from board games in general, and then of course borrowing from our own work on DD1. But nothing else directly springs to mind because Kingdoms is a bit of its own unique thing. But that definitely fits with how we like to design. Going back to DD1, the differences between Crimson Court vs Color of Madness vs Butcher's Circus are all pretty massive. We like to experiment. - Tyler

Question - Will Kingdoms still incorporate the stagecoach and travelling seen in Confessions?

Answer - Yes, Kingdoms still features the Stagecoach and traveling. However, the structure is quite different, and the biggest way it's different with regards to the traveling is that each region is much shorter. In Confessions mode, each region is a very long and arduous journey (intentionally), of which you only have to do a few to get to the end boss. In Kingdoms, the travel takes you between Inn and Camp locations on the Kingdoms map. Each region travel increments one "day" of world time, and the travel itself is much shorter than a comparable Confessions region. So the flow and pacing are quite different. We have a lot of fun with this day mechanic--adding interesting events and other things. The shorter regions are also key to another big part of what makes Kingdoms different than Confessions. In Confessions, you form one party and then use that party to try to get all the way to the boss. In Kingdoms, you change up your party frequently. So you can reconfigure based upon whether you are heading into the Shroud, say, vs the Sprawl. It gives a bit more of the DD1 missions feel at times. Which heroes are available to you depends on where you are on the map and which inns or camps those heroes are staying at. You can move them around on the map, so this creates a cool strategic board-gamey feel where you are trying to plan a few moves in advance, to keep your party optimized for each region you might want to tackle. Of course, this being DD, there are other reasons you might need to rest a hero and swap for a new one: for example, they might be stressed or worn out or have terrible debilitating quirks that need treated. :P - Tyler

Our r/games Ask Me Anything is now live: https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1hisbe9/were_red_hook_studios_the_creators_of_darkest/

Click the link above and start posting your questions!

Red Hook co-founders Chris Bourassa and Tyler Sigman will start answering at 1pm PST / 4pm EST / 9pm GMT!

We'll be holding an AMA (Ask Me Anything) at the end of the week.

Join us on r/games December 20th for an AMA with Red Hook co-founders Chris Bourassa and Tyler Sigman.

Whether you want to know more about your favorite heroes, our next major update (Kingdoms) and DLC (Inhuman Bondage), or anything else Darkest Dungeon, just let us know!

We'll be answering your questions in the r/games sub-reddit starting at 1pm PT this coming Friday!