I really loved the first game a lot but I do think it was both a bit more grindy than necessary and super long to get through. That can definitely appeal to some peopleand ill say I did a regular playthrough before radiant mode (speeds things up, a bit easier, less grindy) and 1 playthrough with radiant mode and i preferred radiant, even if it was technically easier.
Now dd2 on the other hand isn't very grindy at all. Like sure there is permanent progression and unlocks and shit you work towards, but I've done maybe 12 full runs now, beat act 4 (1 left) and I've never once felt like I'm grinding or just doing a run to unlock stuff. Like I've been trying to beat each act boss every time, that was the main goal, always.
They greatly improved the animations, the art, the atmosphere in some ways but most importantly I think they improved combat which is like the main appeal and mainly what you do in the game. They've made a lot of things less "rng" in a way, there is still is dice rolls, as there should be for this type of game, but they've made it much more coherent in what can happen and what you can prepare for. I like it a lot.
The game is still going to have content and shit added, but it's both a complete game right now and worth the $40 or $30 if you own dd1 already (you have to buy the bundle package on steam to get the discount, idk why.)
It's still a tough game, and it isn't for everybody but I think it can appeal to even more people now than dd1. An average run can last like 3 or 4 hours i think. I'm sure fitgirl will have a repack of it soon enough in case you don't want to buy it, or just wanna try it first, since she rarely ever updates her torrents to include new updates
In a vaccum I think it is ok, probably even good, I refunded during the first release on EA because I genuinely felt it should not have been called "Darkest Dungeon 2".
The change in the core gameplay is so severe and drastic that I would prefer if they have named it "DD Rebirth" or something like that.
Imagine Civ 7 becomes AoW 4(which is very good btw) style game. Should it remain with the Civ name? Sure. But calling it the 7th game in a franchise of extremely consistent gameplay style and themes? Just no.
DD 2 for me was pretty much taking the core of the combat and the characters and then making an entire new game. My problem was the that DD 2 was extremely anticipated, probably one of the most anticipated indie games of the past 5 years and it realy rubbed me the wrong way that the devs knew this, used the first game's fame in order to pretty much do something completely different. Feels like I was intentionaly misled.
I don't care if you are indie or not, using AAA studio marketing tactics is shit.
As for the game itself its probably fine like I said at the start and given your review I trust it and I don't mind it, good for them for making a good game at the end. IMO it just should not have been called DD2, it should not have milked its own fame. I refunded and I wont touch it again.
My expectation for DD2 was that they would improve or perhaps even revolutionize the "XCOM base management" archetype, its not like there weren't any ideas for it, starting with as you say reduce/remove the grind and the rng.
Of course in retrospect I think KSP 2 easily makes all of this seem frivolous and silly now, since that game was just a scam period and oh man some of the streamers/CCs extreme copium in trying to defend their nostalgia was insane. That is another beast entirely.
Not to derail the thread but yeah Age of Wonders 4 is really fun. Really liking my time with it.