There’s no doubt in my mind that Devious Dungeon 2 ($2.99) makes some worthwhile improvements over the original game. Most of them are things that people directly asked for, even. In the end, though, it can’t quite escape that feeling of repetitiveness that permeates the titles released by Ravenous Games. It’s absolutely worth its price, and it’s as engaging as any of the coin-grinders they’ve put out, but like most of their output from the last few years, it feels like all of the edges have been sanded off to make the safest, most widely-appealing product possible. Is that a bad thing? I guess it depends on what you’re looking for out of it.

I enjoyed the original Devious Dungeon ($2.99) well enough, though I found it a bit repetitive and wanting in depth. Besides the grind, which is almost a given at this point with this developer, I was let down by the equipment system. Devious Dungeon has you making your way through a dungeon floor by floor, searching out the key on each level to open up the exit to the next randomized layout. There are plenty of treasures about, but they all amount to coins for the coin gods. Simply bring those coins to the shopkeeper and you can take your pick of a selection of fine implements for surviving the dungeon.

My problem with this set-up in the first game was that for all of the gear it presents you with, there’s no reason at all to use anything but the best. That point has been addressed in the sequel to an extent, with certain pieces carrying status effects that make them worth hanging onto for particular situations.

Another thing that people wanted to see was to have a choice of character classes. In the first game, you played as a generic barbarian fellow who gradually put on more and shinier pants as you upgraded your gear. It was fun enough, but there was little variety to the gameplay, and once you saw your way through to the end, there were no new tricks waiting for you on a second playthrough. The sequel responds to this weak point by adding two new playable character classes, each with their own stats, gear, and unique ability.

The rogue can double jump, has lots of weapons that apply poison to the enemies, and has a high chance for a critical attack. The mage can float Princess Peach-style, has a great attack range, and can choose from wands with various effects. The barbarian also returns, offering generally the best stats and a special damage resistance ability, at the cost of having the poorest range and mobility of the three. It’s not a total game changer, but each character has to approach the levels a little differently from the others, and all three have completely unique sets of visible weapons and armor to collect. While the loot system hasn’t improved any, some collections of special enemies and treasures to discover have been added to give a meta-goal beyond simply finishing the game. I appreciate this attempt to diversify the gameplay beyond the usual coin-collecting treadmill.

These improvements make for a more well-rounded experience, adding further playtime to an already reasonably lengthy game. Not every change is a good one, though. One of things I liked best about the original Devious Dungeon was its near-perfect pacing in terms of equipment unlocks. You were always right around the corner from getting something new as you played, making the game hard to put down. This time around, what’s available in Olaf’s shop is determined by which level you’ve reached. It keeps the game from playing out its full hand too early, but there’s a cost to that. First of all, if you’re playing thoroughly, you’ll inevitably end up with a whole lot of coins and nothing left to buy before you reach the next section. On the other side, if you’re having trouble with a certain set of levels, there’s only so much you can do in terms of gear. You’ll have to grind out experience if you can’t make it over a hump, and that’s a very tedious process in Devious Dungeon 2.

There’s kind of this weird dichotomy in play in this game when it comes to the difficulty. The minimal penalty for death, which is simply being sent back to the last checkpoint with all gains intact, encourages a very loose and careless play style. The repetitive nature of the somewhat randomly generated levels similarly encourages this lack of focus. On the other hand, if you don’t pay proper attention to the game, your hit points can drain away rather quickly, forcing you to retrace your steps and sometimes giving you the feeling that you wasted your time. I think it’s tricky to walk that fine line of making the game accessible enough for everyone to enjoy while still making it challenging enough to engage their attention. Mileage will most definitely vary, but I feel that Devious Dungeon 2 errs a bit too much in the direction of the former. It’s hard to care much about taking damage in the game because it requires a fair bit of care to avoid it and there’s little payoff for doing so.

I’ve been trying to put my finger on why Ravenous’s recent games seem to be missing a certain something for me, and I think with Devious Dungeon 2, I’ve finally homed in on it. It’s that whole “inevitable success" thing that plagues games from particular other developers like Kairosoft of Game Dev Story ($4.99) fame. It’s not just that victory is assured if you keep on playing, but also that there are really no setbacks to speak of. The worst punishment it has to offer is to make you play a few of its levels again, but since the levels are randomly generated, that’s not much of a punishment in the context of the game. That’s probably a large part of the appeal of Ravenous’s stuff, but the toothlessness of it all just doesn’t work well for me personally. I would love to see how my opinion of this game would change with a permadeath option.

All that said, if you’ve enjoyed Ravenous’s other games so far, you’ll find Devious Dungeon 2 to be up to their usual level of quality all-around, with excellent virtual controls, a consistent presentation, and a healthy batch of content for your money. If this happens to be your first game from this developer, you might even be in love with it. For everyone else, it’s a slight improvement over the original game in some respects, but it still can’t avoid that feeling of deja vu that pervades this developer’s work. About as testing as a coloring book, to be sure, but not without its enjoyment.