First off let me start with a little history and my view of hunt through out my years of playing this game and being a part of it on both PC and PS4

Hunt showdown for me is a game i started around mid 2020 and it very quickly became my favorite game quickly after that, all the late nights played and memories made along the way are to this day close to my heart and i still dream of going back to the days i spent in the bayou hunting monsters and coming out on top of everyone else, taking my rightfully earned bounty back to my family before gearing up and going back to the grind.

I've played hunt on and off taking short breaks here and there until around late 2022 / early 2023 when i finally noticed the game changing toward a direction that i and what feels like many others didn't quite like and the devs started to do their own thing without taking the community's feedback into account as much, and at this point it felt like the core identity of what made hunt what it is was starting to fade atleast that was the case for me.

Well i still continued to play the game but i was starting to take longer breaks from the game and played less and this continued all the way until the awaited engine update of hunt showdown and soft relaunch in August 2024 where Hunt: Showdown became Hunt: Showdown 1896 and oh boy was this update controversial and for me the beginning of the end.

What changed in the new engine update? well first of all a the engine was upgraded from the original Cry engine to Cry engine 5.11, This new engine was supposed to provide better performance for PC which for some it did just that while for some this new engine was unplayable, for me it did slightly improve performance.

Next up the new UI and user experience first off let me say that the old UI was definitely not the best there is but comparing the two the new one has some obvious flaws that cannot be denied for example the new UI added so many unnecessary clicks between loading up to a match, setting up your loadout, changing setting and going between menus overall it was like trying to find your way through a labyrinth some of these aspects were adjusted later on thankfully,

Then there is still one thing that i can not understand the reasoning for and that is the removal of the lorebooks which were - The Book of Monsters which contained the detailed descriptions, background stories, and tactical advice for dealing with the various creatures inhabiting the world of Hunt Showdown.
- The Book of Weapons which contained the historical context, detailed descriptions, and practical advice for each weapon, enhancing your understanding and appreciation of the hunter's arsenal.
There were also small little rewards of bloodbonds (paid currency in hunt) associated with these lorebooks that were gained through one time challenges or earned xp with weapons but that was a small part of it.

Then there was also an audio system overhaul which improved the sounds to be more realistic, improvements to physics, character interactions, and gameplay elements, nothing great or bad to be said about these changes i feel like they did end up improving the game a little.

And last but not least they introduced a new playable map which is great! BUT because of the engine update they made all 3 previous maps unplayable leaving only 1 map while they redo the maps for the new engine the first of the old maps to be released was Stillwater Bayou on September 19th 2024, the second was Lawson Delta on December 13th 2024, and they are finally adding the third and final of the missing maps back on June 18th 2025 and this is a very long time to wait for old maps to come back to rotation which for a lot of the older player base seriously affected the enjoyment of the game.

Now for my actual review of the game. The one thing that i've always loved about this game is the gunplay and how the guns feel to handle and i've found no game that makes guns feel as amazing as hunt does this still stand to this day and the core gameplay which of getting into a match, fighting for the bounty with other teams and when you end up coming out on top with the bounty and extracting that feeling is just exhilarating and as they say "hunt giveth and hunt taketh" so there will be good and bad days.

Yet still i cannot recommend this game for all that hunt used to be and what it is now i do not think its in a good place overall but this is just my opinion as a older player, do i still think newer players discovering hunt can enjoy this game? yes of course if you're freshly discovering hunt and reading this review and still feel like trying hunt out, go on ahead the Bayou needs fresh hunters to banish monsters and protect the common folk of Louisiana so join the hunters lounge and protect the bayou from the hellspawns that are invading it

With this its time for this old hunter to retire from the bayou and let the fresh blood take over, may the bayou watch over you...

Im going to start off by saying that slay the spire 1 was already an amazingly well done game with lots of replayability and content to explore especially with modding it so definitely recommend trying out the first one

Now what changes with Slay the Spire 2?

Core gameplay wise its still the same, what is mainly different is new added visuals and animations for cards and character, the story feels more prevelant in StS 2 the characters have more backstory and the random events are also more story focused than before.

Fully supported multiplayer which wasnt available in slay the spire 1 (without modding) and it works pretty well playing multiplayer you are also able to get multiplayer exclusive cards that have an effect on your friends you are playing with which is really cool to see and adds more variety to the ways you are able to play the game.

As for the decks and cards in StS 2 the returning characters have gotten new cards and returning cards have been changed or balanced so its not 1 to 1 from the first one and theres lots of new mechanics and effects that weren't present in the first game the 2 new characters bring lots of new mechanics and ways to play the game to the table and feel really good

TLDR: Slay the Spire 2 doesnt reinvent the wheel, it takes the first game and improves on it.

if you're expecting something different and new you might end up dissapointed but if you liked Slay the spire 1 and want more of it I guarantee you will like StS 2 and at the time of this review StS2 is still in less than 2 weeks into early access so there is going to be lots of more content and improvements to come.