Darkest Dungeon® II: The Binding Blade Review Summary

The Crusader excels with versatile, engaging combat and cool quests, but its unlocks are grindy, the Duelist is fun yet weak, and the DLC feels overpriced.

Crusader is versatile and cool: The Crusader is praised for being cool, versatile, and able to fill multiple roles like tank, damage, support, and healing. Its flexibility makes it fit into any party composition.

Duelist is fun and cool: Players find the Duelist character enjoyable, cool, and complex to play. The character's unique mechanics and fun factor are highlighted positively.

Crusader quest is engaging: The quest to unlock the Crusader is described as cool, interesting, engaging, and entertaining, providing a nice addition to the game.

DLC offers great value: The DLC is seen as great value, providing a lot of content and being enjoyable for fans of the base game. It is considered worth its price and adds more flavor.

Crusader return is satisfying: Players are satisfied with the Crusader's return and see it as an improvement over the original. The rework and redesign are well received.

Crusader unlock is too grindy: Players widely criticize the lengthy and tedious process to unlock the Crusader, requiring up to five hours of grinding and a multi-step quest spanning multiple runs. The quest is described as painful, boring, and unnecessarily long.

DLC is overpriced for content: Reviewers feel the DLC's price is too high for the small amount of content it provides, especially since it only includes two characters and a short quest. Many believe it should have been part of the base game or priced lower.

Crusader should be free: Players argue that the Crusader character should have been included in the base game or offered for free, not locked behind paid DLC and a demanding unlock quest. This sentiment appears repeatedly in feedback.

Duelist class is weak: The Duelist is generally perceived as unimpressive, fragile, and lacking in damage output, often being described as a liability or worse than the base Wanderer. Its skills are considered situational and inconsistent.

Crusader path options disappointing: Players find the Crusader's build paths lacking compared to the Duelist, with limited diversity and some paths perceived as worse than the base character's. This reduces the appeal of the new character.

Crusader unlock requires quest: The Crusader is unlocked through a lengthy quest that involves multiple steps, including defeating barricade soldiers, using an item on a bishop, carrying a box, and fighting the Warlord boss. This quest spans multiple runs and is considered grindy and luck-based, with some players noting it is harder than the base game.

Crusader is versatile frontline hero: The Crusader is a flexible character that can be played as a tank, damage dealer, or support, with abilities to stun, heal, and stress heal. He is simple to use but effective in various roles, acting as an enabler for the team.

DLC adds two new heroes: The DLC introduces the Crusader and Duelist as new playable classes, along with a quest, new enemies, and a mini-boss. These characters add variety to team compositions and offer flexible mechanics.

Duelist features stance mechanics: The Duelist introduces a stance system that switches between offensive and defensive modes, altering her skill properties. This requires planning ahead and adds complexity compared to other heroes, making her a high-risk, high-reward character.

New enemies and mini-bosses: The DLC includes new enemy types, such as the Military faction with barricades that resist many attacks and require area-of-effect or guard-ignoring attacks. A new mini-boss is also added, increasing enemy variety and challenge.

Save corruption from compatibility issues: Players report that their saved games were lost or corrupted due to compatibility problems with the game or system updates. This is likely a high-impact bug affecting progress.

Buy DLC on sale: Many reviewers advise purchasing the DLC only when it is discounted, with one suggesting at least 40% off. This reflects a common sentiment that the content is not worth its full price.

Recommended for base game fans: The DLC is frequently recommended for players who already enjoy the base game, with several noting it is definitely worth the money for fans. This conditional recommendation appears across multiple clusters.

Not recommended: A few reviewers simply state that the DLC is not recommended, not worth getting, or not worth its price. This direct negative feedback appears in clusters 2, 8, and 10.

Value depends on interest: Several reviewers advise that the DLC's value depends on whether the player is interested in the characters and already appreciates the game. If not, it may be better to skip or wait for a sale.

Positive overall recommendation: Some reviewers give a strongly positive recommendation without reservations, calling it highly recommended or a must-buy. This positive sentiment appears in clusters 5, 15, and 16.

Community fair range: $5.00 - $8.00.

Story completion: 2.0h.

The DLC's new characters require a learning curve and unlock grind before they become rewarding, so enjoyment comes after early friction.

Friction: Tedious Crusader unlock quest; Time-consuming nine-part quest requiring multiple runs; Poorly explained mini-quests; Duelist's steeper learning curve; Initial frustration with the Duelist.

Unlock drivers: Figuring out the Duelist's mechanics; Unlocking the Crusader; Becoming comfortable with the game's learning curve.

Strategic Tactician: Team building, experimenting with positioning and synergies (dancing parties, front-lane combinations). Motivation: Tactical challenge and innovative character design. Stance: buy.

Value-Conscious Grinder: Efficient or completionist, but resentful of arbitrary grind gates. Motivation: Getting fair value and avoiding tedious grinding. Stance: sale.

Lore Devotee: Narrative-driven, enjoys quests and lore content. Motivation: Nostalgia, character connection, and story continuation. Stance: buy.

Monetization: The Binding Blade is a traditional paid expansion for Darkest Dungeon II, adding two characters and a quest. The audit finds no in-game cash shop, currency, lootboxes, gacha, or battle pass. However, the decision to lock the franchise-favorite Crusader (free in the original game) behind a roughly $8-10 paywall, combined with an overpriced-feeling, tedious, luck-based unlock quest, creates strong Day-1 DLC and borderline pay-to-win criticism. These are mostly price and content-value complaints centered on a traditional DLC, with no predatory real-money mechanics beyond the paywalled content itself.

DLC lacks content value: Reviews describe the DLC as a small addition, a character pack, or a compact DLC, and compare it unfavorably to the larger Crimson Court expansion from the first game. The two heroes, a roaming boss, and a questline are seen as insufficient for the price.

Crusader behind paywall: A significant number of reviews express frustration that the iconic Crusader character is paid DLC, not in the base game, and locked behind a lengthy, undisclosed quest. This is seen as exploiting nostalgia and unfair monetization.

New heroes and characters: The DLC introduces the heroes Sahar and the Duelist, a reimagining of a previous character, alongside the returning Crusader. Reviews note the Duelist's bold design and French identity, adding new tactical options.

DLC praised for content quality: Some reviewers praise the DLC for adding new content, trinkets, and a new area, noting the devs consistently meet expectations. The Warlord boss and the reworked quest are seen as positive additions.

DLC price too high: Multiple reviews criticize the DLC as overpriced or expensive relative to its content, with some noting it costs ten dollars or is priced similarly to a separate game. This is a recurring concern about value for money.