New Slay the Spire 2 gameplay drives home just how much better the game looks

Slay the Spire succeeded despite its visuals. A triumph of its niche and an infinitely replayable Roguelike, the original will be difficult to top, but as it turns out, Slay the Spire 2 has already done so in the graphics department.

While you’d always expect a sequel to look better than its predecessor, Slay the Spire established its presence in part due to its goofy art style, playing into its innate weirdness. That said, Slay the Spire 2’s brand-new gameplay trailer sure does look awesome. Check it out below, and you’ll see what I mean.

Slay the Spire 2 looks miles better than the original

Honestly, it’s quite striking to see just how good Slay the Spire 2 looks in motion. Not only has all the artwork been redone in a new, more finely tuned style, but the animations also look remarkable. Those who haven’t yet played the original Slay the Spire (first of all, why?) might not be able to appreciate the featured gameplay video, but veterans will know just how stocky and static everything seems in the first title.

However, That will no longer be the case in Slay the Spire 2. The trailer plainly shows plenty of bespoke animations for the player character and the enemies alike. Better yet, the redefined art style somehow manages to retain that emblematic weirdness and vibe of the original while still looking far superior to it.

I’m so impressed with what the developer Mega Crit has done with Slay the Spire 2 because it can’t have been easy to accomplish this. Relatively simple upsampling or a recreation of core assets targeting a higher quality level wouldn’t have done anything for a game such as this. Instead, this shows a clear understanding of what Slay the Spire was and why it looked the way it did. All in all, I’m stoked.

And hey, I’m definitely not the only one. The community is already hard at work figuring out all the new cards and status effects, and there’s a smorgasbord of them even in such a short trailer.

Sadly, there’s no release window available for Slay the Spire 2 just yet. Mega Crit has used this trailer to double down on its plans to push the game into Early Access sometime in 2025, but that’s just about all we know.

Frankly, I’m okay with that. Mega Crit knows what it’s about, and if Slay the Spire 2 manages to improve upon its predecessor’s gameplay same as it already has in the visuals department, we’re getting a very special game indeed. In the interim, if you need something good to play, give Downfall – A Slay the Spire Fan Expansion a shot.

This comprehensive standalone mod for Slay the Spire more-or-less doubles the amount of available content with a few fancy twists and turns therein. It doesn’t look half as good as what’s in the STS2 trailer, of course, but it sure does play incredibly well.