This review is long, long overdue. I could simply point to the number of hours I've played this game and leave it at that, but I'll try to put in a little more effort. I've been a big fan of first-person melee games ever since Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, I've put hundreds and hundreds of hours into titles like Chivalry: Medieval Warfare over the years, so when I saw footage of Vermintide 2 back in 2018 I was immediately intrigued, despite not having played the first game. I resolved to try it out to see if it was as good as it looked.

I vividly remember struggling a bit at first, with memorizing the map layouts and book locations, dealing with specials during hordes, figuring out the best way to defeat specific bosses, and learning the hard way that I should be wary of getting stabbed from behind by little ambient rats when I least expect it (there's always at least one). I often got frustrated, mostly with myself. Still, despite having a demanding job at the time, I persevered, and soon enough I was playing on Legend difficulty with relative ease (we now usually play on Cataclysm, albeit without taking books). This might sound a little dramatic, but I can say without exaggerating that I had many of my all-time best gaming moments while playing this game. There's just something special about forming a line or circle with your teammates, and then staying mobile as you're fighting a horde, elites (possibly a whole patrol), and a boss at the same time, all while hearing the menacing, telltale sounds of several specials approaching. You get into 'the zone', your muscle memory takes over, and you and your comrades get to experience that very satisfying, visceral sensation of power as you slaughter hundreds and hundreds of enemies while remaining mostly unscathed yourselves.

Summarized, this is a very specific sort of game, almost in its own genre, as it is both co-op and mostly melee-based. It's not going to be for everyone. You have to decide for yourself if it is something that speaks to your preferences. I got lucky in the sense that Vermintide 2 seems almost tailor-made for me, and I happened to make some very good friends while playing it - you know who you are. Fatshark are also known for their occasionally baffling, counterintuitive, or poorly implemented design choices and balance changes, so keep that in mind.
However, for these same reasons, if the game does end up clicking with you, it's a completely unique and intoxicating experience, like nothing you've ever played before. That's why I would ultimately recommend that you check it out if you're on the fence, unless you already know for certain that this style of gameplay doesn't appeal to your sensibilities at all.