Slay the Spire 2 Review (PC)

I gotta admit, I’m a little over the fence about whether Slay the Spire 2 will reach, and surpass, the height its predecessor set before it. It’s the point, I’m convinced of a sequel, to deliver an even better experience than before. And the improvement here has to be significant. Otherwise, you might as well release a DLC, expansion, or remake if the new changes are negligible. 

And yet, Slay the Spire, the OG, was everything and more for the deckbuilding franchise. It completely changed the game on just how much the mechanics can vary and introduce exciting twists in a digital card game. And for an indie title, no less. Since then, we’ve enjoyed hot streams of experimentally successful deckbuilding games. Balatro, Monster Train, Across the Obelisk, and even Inscryption. 

How then does Slay the Spire wow us again with its sequel, and remind us who’s boss? Plenty of ways, I think, that I’m not quite sure. I just know the sky’s the limit. And for Mega Crit to play it safe, well, that just breaks my heart a little. Don’t have any clue about what I’m talking about, or are unsure whether to try out the sequel? Read on for our review of Slay the Spire 2 below.

Lay of the Land

Bottom line is that Slay the Spire 2 is largely unchanged from the first game. That means that the overall style and gameplay design remain largely the same. For newcomers, I imagine it must be hella thrilling to be discovering one of the greatest deckbuilders of all time. The first induction into the game may seem deceptively familiar. But once you play a couple of games, you quickly discover the addictive nature of its mechanics. 

A tower stands before you, one you must climb, floor by floor, defeating vile monsters, until you reach the top. It’s split into three acts with multiple procedurally generated floors. You have a lot of freedom in how you play, starting from the cards you choose to add to your deck. Careful about the cards you place your bets on because they play uniquely against the enemies you face.

While some are excellent attack beasts, others are great for buffs. Still, some are reliable during defense, and all have a role to play in your ascent to the top. But as with other card games, it’s the order in which you play your cards, as well as timing, that matters. Plenty of strategy goes into the next card that you pick to neutralize the enemy. 

Card types also vary by the class you choose. As well as the energy cost, ideally, higher energy dispelled for stronger cards, and lower energy for weaker ones. There’s a lot of assessing the risk versus reward of your strategic choice and play, given that some cards once dealt can’t be dealt again. You might be tempted to stockpile cards on your deck, but space can run out. So, you might have to decline some cards.

Strategical Choice

It gets even deeper than that. While fighting enemies using your cards is the meat and exciting part of your playthrough, you also have to move forward via a sort-of quest path. You’re choosing from alternate paths to take to reach the end goal based on the types of enemies they bring, and potentially higher rewards. But considering your skill level as well, since you might not be ready to take on the Elites just yet.

Thus, rest stops prove paramount. Yet, even then, you have to decide between boosting your health and upgrading your cards. There’s plenty of randomization during your playthrough, including the events you run into. Question-marked events can lend you the lifeline you need, perhaps even bestow upon you some powerful relics to modify your cards. But they can harbor curses that put you at a grave disadvantage. 

It’s all a gamble, gamified in ways that compel you into playing for hours on end. When the enemy drops are random and may not always give you what you want. And bosses, too, while granting you significant benefits, can sometimes come with strings attached. It’s a high-risk, high-reward kind of play whose strategic choices are so well-defined that they probably didn’t need any changing.

More or Less the Same

And thus, Slay the Spire 2 chose to retain the gameplay that made the original an instant hit. Those strategy depths of choice remain true, just as exciting as you remember them. Perhaps a little disappointing for those who poured in hundreds of hours in the first game, only to boot up the sequel and be met with the same of everything. Even your starting classes and cards are the same. 

In Slay the Spire 2, you have three returning classes from the first game. All play the same, and can really leave you wishing there was something new. I’ll admit it does still feel challenging to finish the acts. You still will take damage from the relatively worthy foes, your health will drop to zero, especially coming up against bosses, and you will be sent back to the ground floor to start your climb all over again.

This is the roguelike section of Slay the Spire 2, where permanent death is a rite of passage. No worry there, as the maps, enemy encounters, rewards, and relics are all randomized. So, you still retain some form of control over choosing and experimenting with your best path and deck. There’s an addictive need to want to outsmart every attempt at a new run, even when randomized. And that’s what makes both the first and second games an absolute blast.

Still, Some Things Are New

That’s not to say that Slay the Spire 2 is an exact copy of the first game. You enjoy two new classes: The Necrobinder and The Regent. Obviously, it’ll take a minute to learn and master their tricks against enemies. They’re also relatively deep, offering more strategy. Necrobinder summons a skeleton hand minion flying above your head, which controls blood magic. And the class is great for both shield defense. Regent may be trickier, given their independent in-game currency that adds resource management to your list of things to worry about.

Stepping back to assess Slay the Spire 2 from a more general perspective, it does look more polished and refined than its predecessor. Generally, more striking visuals that have more detail and intrigue. The UI looks better, as do the areas that backdrop your plays. Classes are bigger, and even while they remain still during turn-based battles manage to animate pretty smoothly and more lively. 

It’s notable also that there’s more deep-dive into the lore and timeline of events of your playthrough. There’s more exposition into this world that helps create more engagement with its classes and fight to slay the spire. It definitely could have been a more profound story, but I’ll take what I can get. 

Co-op with a Partner or Two

Notably, also, is the co-op mode of up to four players. Everyone has their individual decks and health, but you do help one another out in completing challenges. Enemies attack more strongly with beefier health pools. So, you really have to lock in, coordinating your strategies, optimizations, and next moves. For that, you’re going to have to chat, even if you’re introverted. 

Yet, perhaps, it would have been better for the UI and presentation itself to give every member all the info they need to make the right move in the shortest amount of time. 

What’s Next?

Please note that despite all this, Mega Crit is only just getting started. They have launched Slay the Spire 2 into Early Access, and could potentially take a year or two to release the fully-complete 1.0 version. So, who knows, we might yet be in for a nice surprise of new features to come, even though at present, Slay the Spire 2 seems pretty nearly complete.

Verdict 

I’ll ask you about your expectations for a sequel before ruling out the verdict for Slay the Spire 2. Are you stringent on a sequel innovating and introducing new features to the first game? Or would you be okay with it simply refining what already works? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it seems to be the path Mega Crit has chosen for their second go at roguelite deckbuilding. They’ve decided to deliver an experience very much similar to the first game, only refining and polishing the few areas that weren’t quite 100%.

Graphics seem to have received the biggest revamp, followed by the addition of two new classes and a co-op multiplayer mode. These still fundamentally stick to the familiar gameplay design that veterans will have grown accustomed to by now. And for that, I wonder whether Slay the Spire 2 will hit the heights its predecessor did after launch. It’s no debate whether it remains as addictive as you remember, with the same high caliber of deep strategy. But should Mega Crit have tried to step away from the first game’s comfort zone?