Was Dusk Diver 2 Worth It?

We’re back in Ximending for another supernatural beatdown. Was Dusk Diver 2 worth it?

Full disclosure: We received a review code for the Nintendo Switch version of this game. Rest assured that this will not affect the quality or candor of our review.

Background

You wouldn’t be wrong if this title immediately reminded you of Persona or The World Ends With You. However, it’s probably more accurate to call it a Taiwanese version of Akiba’s Trip. The same general tropes apply, so it’s not unfamiliar territory – there’s even clothing damage.

Western players, be advised, there is no English voice track in this game.

What does Dusk Diver 2 do well?

The music is upbeat and appropriate. Character designs stand out, and there’s also a synopsis for the events of the first game, so no need to hunt that title down. The main characters are all adults (even if some of them act childish), which is nice – I’m eternally over teenagers saving the world.

You aren’t all on your own this time: party members are available from the get-go, though I’ll admit that I didn’t really use anyone besides Yang Yumo. My other party members seemed most useful for drawing aggro and providing some incidental damage while I focused on 1-2 enemies at a time.

The battle system is responsive. Hits are easy to land, even if enemies are incredibly obliging when it comes to letting you string together triple digit combos.

What could Dusk Diver 2 do better?

The color grading in this game is hard on the eyes at times.

There’s a dire lack of enemy diversity. I was legitimately thankful when enemies that weren’t chaos beasts started to show up.

Leveling up doesn’t feel particularly significant, as attack strength seems to be tied more to weapons than character stats. Sinking 10 levels into your attack stat is mostly negligible, while simply upgrading my weapon doubled my DPS. It was nothing to dispatch multiple enemies who took 20-40 hits to kill, but it grew tedious in every encounter, especially when additional waves would spawn.

The translation could have used a once-over from a native English speaker. It’s not the worst, but some of the dialogue needs some TLC.

The first game struggled to run on the Switch, and this one is no exception. Expect framerate drops.

Was Dusk Diver 2 fun?

The game shines when you’re against a boss enemy and actually need to scramble and evade attacks. However, much of the content will be fetch quests or battles against mooks that don’t provide a challenge. If I’m just button mashing, I would much rather face a horde of enemies I can dispatch quickly than a few chaos beasts that take 40 hits to kill.

Is Dusk Diver 2 good value?

You can breeze through this game pretty rapidly. Considering the relative simplicity of the gameplay, it’s probably good that it doesn’t overstay its welcome. The release price is 49.99, but f the first game is anything to go by, then you can expect some steep discounts in the future.

Who is this game for?

Taiwanese gamers looking for representation may enjoy this, as will fans of simple brawlers.

Was Dusk Diver 2 worth it?

Dusk Diver 2 is the type of game that you play while waiting for something else to come out. I would recommend picking it up on sale. I would also advise that you consider this game on a different platform for a more even playing experience.

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