Since my last column, I’ve been taking a break from my PlayStation. Honestly, I am bummed I had to have this issue with them because the Code Vein II DLC (The Mask of Idris) just dropped. But given how I was treated by Sony with the Zero Company situation (the chatbot still says that it’s connecting me with a human who can help – it’s been over 20 days now), I am sticking by my decision not to give them any more money.
Luckily, I got an email from Humble Bundle about a Pax West collection. One of the titles bundled in there was one I missed last year, Dark Deity 2.
I decided to download Dark Deity 2 on Steam and see if it was worth my time. The fact that its aesthetic was a love letter to older Fire Emblem titles like Binding Blade and The Sacred Stones was endearing to me. The pixel sprite art really transported me back to Christmas 2003 when I opened Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones for the Game Boy Advance and Smash Mouth’s Get the Picture album (on CD). Even the life bars were designed to mimic the art style.
There was a slight learning curve because despite its Fire Emblem design, it does not operate on the same rules. No permadeath and strict turn limits on each match forces players to be much more aggressive. There were a couple of levels I had to rerun because I thought I was moving quickly and efficiently. But it turns out I was two turns behind the clock, and I needed to be a little more brave with Gwyn (who essentially fills in the role of lord).
I do appreciate that losing a unit just causes them to start the next level with some debuffs. Not every game needs a mechanic just because someone was inspired by a cool idea. This is something I think that Zero Company could have learned from. Zero Company felt like it had features added just because XCOM also had them, but it didn’t want to fully commit to being an XCOM copy. The characters were good, and the voice acting was good. But overall, it ended up just being a middle of the road gameplay experience.
Now, Dark Deity 2’s story is nothing to write home about. It’s kind of a by the numbers fantasy story that I feel could use maybe like 10 percent more detail. There were multiple times they were showing an attitude towards a certain nation, and I was left wondering why we were supposed to hate them. It is important to establish a reason for an antagonist other than a sentence before they burn a village to the ground. They also refer to one character as an adept, which made me wonder adept at what? They described him as a magic unit, but he could only attack enemies standing right next to him.
Overall, I am nitpicking a bit. Dark Deity 2 is a solid title to purchase, especially as part of a Humble Bundle collection. It is not earth-shattering or genre-bending, and players who need top-of-the-line graphics probably won’t find what they’re looking for here. But for tactics RPG fans who miss the older Fire Emblem style, this adventure does exactly what it needs to do.
Sometimes that is enough. Dark Deity 2 knows what it is, plays to its strengths, and offers a familiar but satisfying strategy experience without overstaying its welcome. If you need a tactics RPG fix, this one should tide you over nicely. And if I am able to get the DLC for Code Vein II, I will try to do a column on it as well. Have a great time gaming, everyone.
