I want to like this game, I really do. I loved the first Dungeon Defenders, and this seemingly updates everything to be better. The maps seem decent, the traps and cannons are just as varied between characters, the combat seems fine for the admittedly limited time I've played, the loot is just as looty as before. You can even switch characters on the fly! So what is it that bugs me about this title?

The only gripes I seem to have are focused on the free to play aspects. I mean I get it, it's a fantastic way to get oodles and mountains of cash from folks who're predisposed on dropping sometimes massive sums on these sorts of games. I can't fault Trendy too much for seeing how the mobile market worked and wanting to get a piece of that. Heck, usually I buy into similar games myself if given enough incentive.

But in those cases the other games offer can't miss packages and the occasional drip of free gems/premium currency to get you started. So after I got dropped into the common hub, I took a look at what was on offer. No packages even selling gems, no free gems for going thru the story missions from what I could see? What? How's one supposed to even buy all the premium costumes and heroes? Thru steam? Maybe I'm just being fussy but it all just bothers me. Again, I can occasionally con myself into buying a few goodies here and there for free to pay games, but with DD2? It just feels... wrong. Off. Weird. Where's the hook, where's the love? It feels like the game just dumps you at the storefront with the expectation that what's on offer is too good to pass up. Blarg, no thanks.

The gameplay feels solid enough that I might give this a few more plays. Maybe I just haven't played far or long enough, but then again there's that store with a good chunk of the game locked away in it that's just sitting at the back of my mind, nagging me before I even launch the game. Maybe that's the difference, in the first Dungeon Defenders everything felt like it was earned or could be earned thru play and skill. Here you can just buy your way into power it feels like.

This is how Trendy wants it, and they're probably happy as clams and making fistfuls of cash from their whales, but this just doesn't feel like it's the Dungeon Defenders sequel I want, all the improvements aside.

I want to like this game, I really do. I loved the first Dungeon Defenders, and this seemingly updates everything to be better. The maps seem decent, the traps and cannons are just as varied between characters, the combat seems fine for the admittedly limited time I've played, the loot is just as looty as before. You can even switch characters on the fly! So what is it that bugs me about this title? The only gripes I seem to have are focused on the free to play aspects. I mean I get it, it's a fantastic way to get oodles and mountains of cash from folks who're predisposed on dropping sometimes massive sums on these sorts of games. I can't fault Trendy too much for seeing how the mobile market worked and wanting to get a piece of that. Heck, usually I buy into similar games myself if given enough incentive. But in those cases the other games offer can't miss packages and the occasional drip of free gems/premium currency to get you started. So after I got dropped into the common hub, I took a look at what was on offer. No packages even selling gems, no free gems for going thru the story missions from what I could see? What? How's one supposed to even buy all the premium costumes and heroes? Thru steam? Maybe I'm just being fussy but it all just bothers me. Again, I can occasionally con myself into buying a few goodies here and there for free to pay games, but with DD2? It just feels... wrong. Off. Weird. Where's the hook, where's the love? It feels like the game just dumps you at the storefront with the expectation that what's on offer is too good to pass up. Blarg, no thanks. The gameplay feels solid enough that I might give this a few more plays. Maybe I just haven't played far or long enough, but then again there's that store with a good chunk of the game locked away in it that's just sitting at the back of my mind, nagging me before I even launch the game. Maybe that's the difference, in the first Dungeon Defenders everything felt like it was earned or could be earned thru play and skill. Here you can just buy your way into power it feels like. This is how Trendy wants it, and they're probably happy as clams and making fistfuls of cash from their whales, but this just doesn't feel like it's the Dungeon Defenders sequel I want, all the improvements aside.