Darkest Dungeon 2 Announces New Free Kingdoms Game Mode

During the recent Triple-I Initiative Livestream, Red Hook announced that it would be launching a free game mode in a future update for their roguelike game Darkest Dungeon 2. The game mode, titled Kingdoms, is a standalone game mode, separate from the Confessions mode (its main game mode), and will arrive later this year.

As for the contents of the game mode, players can expect a very different gameplay loop. For starters, the game mode is closer to Darkest Dungeon 1, where players have to explore the surrounding areas to gather resources. Players can then use said resources to upgrade their Heroes, as well as their Inns. This allows the player to prepare their teams of heroes for the various evil that are waiting to battle with them.

While exploring, players can embark on unique quest lines, which will reward them with equipment, resources, and more. This will help strengthen their Heroes, as they will also be fighting against three new monster factions: The Coven, Beastmen, and Crimson Courtiers. Fighting these new monsters, as well as the old ones, will be sure to challenge even the most experienced of Darkest Dungeon 2 players.

If you are worried about losing your progress in the Confessions game mode, you have nothing to worry about. As mentioned above, Kingdoms is a standalone game mode for Darkest Dungeon 2. That means that anything you do in Kingdoms will not affect the Confessions mode. In the same way, your progress in Confessions mode will have no say in the Kingdoms mode.

Red Hook Studios co-founder and creative director, Chris Bourassa, had this to say about the game mode:

Kingdoms is an exciting project for us. If you look at our release history, no game or DLC has ever retread ground, and we’re proud to continue that tradition here. This new mode will blend some of the permanence and roster management of the original Darkest Dungeon with the traversal and combat of Darkest Dungeon 2.

This Update Should Please Darkest Dungeon 1 Fans

One of the biggest comments that Darkest Dungeon 2 received when it was released was just how different it was from the first game. For starters, the original game was closer to a management game, where players had to take care of multiple Heroes and send them out one group at a time. Darkest Dungeon 2, on the other hand, is closer to a roguelike game, where players create a group of four Heroes and, upon death, start the run from scratch.

This surprised fans of the original game, who were expecting more of the same when Darkest Dungeon 2 came out. Some reviews on Steam were even telling new players to just get the first game, as the sequel gets really frustrating real quick.

With the introduction of Kingdoms in the future, those who want more of the management gameplay from the first game will finally get what they want, without paying any extra for it. We’ll just have to wait and see if this will be enough for them, or if they’ll demand more from the developers.

That’s all the information we have so far about the upcoming free Darkest Dungeon 2 game mode: Kingdoms. Check out our gaming news articles for the latest in gaming news.