While I vaguely remember playing the original Dark Deity, whether through indifference or volume of games since pushing old information out of my head, it didn’t make much of an impression on me. Looking back, my primary concerns were with its interface and controls for combat not quite being intuitive, and with it feeling like it was trying to accomplish a bit more than they were up to making work properly. The good news is that while those criticisms feel familiar playing this new entry since it is an ambitious title, I believe that the developer has done a far better job of honing in on a successful overall formula this time around.

One thing that struck me was how right out of the gate the characters in your party are just talking it up, which felt a little odd since you’re not completely in on the big picture of all of the conversations, but I’ll give it credit for trying to pull you in with its own distinctive style. Thankfully, it doesn’t take too long to at least get mostly up to speed, and once you begin taking on battles you’ll have your hands full, getting to know how best to use all of the varied members of your party. Given the sheer number of people you have under your tactical control, you really do have the ability to take command of the battlefield, trying to set your melee fighters up for success by softening enemy units up with your ranged characters. Throw in some very handy character abilities like the useful Phase, and once you’re on board with how best to use them, and at what relative ranges, and a few battles in you can really hit your stride.

What feels a little more unique about the game is that it throws additional objectives at you in many encounters, dividing your attention and putting pressure on you to spread your units out, putting them at risk. This adds an extra layer of challenge in some cases, but again success seems to be best derived from knowing each of your characters and how best to use them. There are still times where it can be difficult to divine enemy movement and attack ranges, or where friendly units not under your control simply seem to have a mind of their own. But in the overall scheme of things the game as a whole is a satisfying one with an approachable degree of challenge, and more experienced players can always crank up the difficulty if need be.