Slay the Spire 2 review - refining a modern classic

When you sink hundreds of hours into a game, it's easy to create unrealistic expectations about what the sequel should look like. In the case of Slay the Spire 2, it's one of the few games that I didn't think would benefit from a follow-up because the first game is so impressive. When it comes to roguelite deck builders, the original is single-handedly responsible for opening people's eyes to the genre's potential, and Mega Crit Games has built on that solid foundation with the sequel.

It shouldn't be surprising to learn that the core card game gameplay has remained largely unchanged. You begin each Slay the Spire 2 run with a deck of underpowered cards, working your way through fights and events, adding cards, relics, and potions to strengthen your character. The most significant changes to the formula arrive in the form of balancing, most notably with the card rewards for the original trio. The deck archetypes are more well-rounded than before, providing more viable card rewards across the board. It's easier than ever to construct a game-winning deck, lowering the odds of you blaming RNG for your questionable decisions.

We're also introduced to two new Slay the Spire 2 characters: The Regent and The Necrobinder. The Regent has a new resource called Stars, giving him access to powerful cards that require some setup to get online. He also comes equipped with a special sword called the Sovereign Blade, but you'll need to play cards with the Forge keyword to strengthen it. As for The Necrobinder, she has a cute little summon named Osty, who you can bolster throughout combat to both protect yourself from incoming attacks and deal enormous amounts of damage.

The newcomers have strong identities that make them play radically different from the rest of the cast. Even as a seasoned Slay the Spire veteran, it took me several hours with each character to get comfortable with them. The initial learning curve is surprisingly steep, and with your old favorites only a click away, it can be tempting to push them aside. While it's fun to play as these new characters, it's also clear that they aren't as refined as the original trio, but that's exactly what the early access period is for.

The progression system has been revamped with the introduction of Epochs, unlockable segments spread across a timeline telling the game's story. The first game's lore is told through the environment, card art, and enemies, which understandably went over most players' heads, including my own. At this time, most of the Epochs have unpolished, hand-drawn placeholder art, and I'm hoping they keep these as an unlockable reward in the full release because they're so damn charming.

As for some of the lighter tweaks, events have been overhauled to be riskier, forcing you into tough decisions when looking at the map. It was fairly common in the first game to coast through a line of events because your odds of hitting anything that would harm your run were fairly low, but that certainly isn't the case anymore. There are some events in the later acts that left me scarred - specifically, one where I picked up a relic that duplicated every card I picked up, including curses.

The boss relics you receive at the end of an act have been replaced by encounters with Ancients, just like the relics offered by Neow at the beginning of each run. The Ancients who appear in each act are random, and their rewards are significantly better than the old boss relics. I've played over 100 runs at this point, and I'm still taken aback by what's on offer at times. What do you mean I can automatically play any skill from my deck at the start of each combat? These types of rewards unquestionably make the game easier, but I don't think that's a bad thing, as it makes it easier for new players to get hooked right from the jump.

Similarly, there were enemies in the first game that you knew had the potential to end your run as soon as you encountered them, but this isn't as common in the sequel. After years of playing on Ascension level 20, it's immediately apparent that this game is easier in its current state. I'm sure the fight against The Architect, set to arrive by the 1.0 launch, will ramp up the difficulty. As we're already seeing from the beta patch notes, the devs are aware that infinites are too simple to pull off and are working towards limiting their effectiveness.

The most surprising reveal about Slay the Spire 2 was the inclusion of a co-op mode. Based on the monthly newsletters detailing the game's development, we knew Mega Crit was inspired by the game's most popular mods to make some helpful improvements, but not even in my wildest dreams for the sequel did I ever think this was possible. In co-op, fights play out just as they would in the single-player, except enemies have more health to accommodate your group size. You can fight in parties with up to four players, and there's no limit as to which characters you pick, meaning you can go into battle with everyone playing as the same character.

Using the new pen tool that lets you draw on the map, you can plot out your route as a team to establish the perfect path. Right from the first turn, it's apparent why you aren't given the option to play with random people: this experience massively benefits from voice chat, allowing you to coordinate your turns to get the most from each player. For example, if you're playing alongside an Ironclad, you'll want to wait for them to play an attack that can apply the Vulnerable effect first. Likewise, if there's an incoming attack that someone in your party can't fully block, you may be able to reduce the blow by throwing them one of your potions or by applying Weak to the enemy.

It's fascinating how well the core experience translates to co-op play, all without the game needing to change fundamentally to accommodate multiple people. I've found that in co-op, parties naturally shift into typical RPG roles as each player has time to build their deck. There are multiplayer-exclusive cards that play into this, like Ironclad's Demonic Shield, which allows him to share his block with another player, and Silent's Flanking, which doubles the damage of every other player on a specific enemy.

There are moments when your party may disagree on the best course of action to take. Let's say someone has stockpiled a bunch of cash, but you're running low on funds - they can vote to go to a merchant, while you can choose to fight an enemy. In these instances, the game randomly picks between the choices on offer. This also applies to chests on the map containing relics; parties get a chance to discuss who should have their pick of the bunch. You can make up for any grievances at a rest site, where you're given the option to mend an ally, forgoing the ability to rest or smith for your own personal gain.

Most of my co-op runs last around an hour, and barring my first session, where the game unexpectedly disconnected and wouldn't let my party proceed (a bug that was patched that same day), I haven't encountered any problems with this mode. Like the single-player mode, you're also able to save and quit at any point, allowing you to pick up from wherever you left off. My experience with the balancing in co-op has been positive, though I have been playing as a party of three. I found the game to be much harder playing as a duo, and I've been told that it's considerably easier with four people, so there's still work to be done here. The fact that co-op works as well as it does at this early stage is a testament to the strength of the game's foundations.

When I saw the game's Steam page highlight that the devs intend to be in early access for potentially up to two years, I initially scoffed at the idea that it could take that long. Slay the Spire 2 is in a fantastic state for a game that has only just hit early access, but the more I play, the more I'm starting to understand why Mega Crit wants additional development time. With so many elements to balance across a wide spectrum of difficulty levels, two more years doesn't sound unrealistic to me anymore.

Slay the Spire 2 didn't need to launch in early access, but doing so gives Mega Crit the time to shape it into an engaging experience that can be played for thousands of hours. We know there's a potential sixth character being teased at the end of the early access trailer, and with Act 4 almost certainly in development, there's a lot to look forward to over the next two years.