When it comes to the most anticipated upcoming PC games, Slay the Spire 2 is certainly high on the list. The first set a standard that many of the best roguelikes and deckbuilders alike have followed in the years since it first launched. With its sequel now on the way, developer Mega Crit has been working to bring a more dramatic set of upgrades and new features than would have been possible with continued updates to the original. Among those is a refresh to the game’s art direction, which has long been one of the most opinion-splitting aspects of the otherwise beloved roguelike.
The new Slay the Spire 2 update comes from Mega Crit co-founder Casey Yano, who digs into “the problems with the visual style” of the original. Despite its reputation as one of the best roguelikes of all time, Slay the Spire’s simple, hand-drawn style and minimal animations have long been a point of contention among players, despite its strong sense of a cohesive aesthetic, and that’s something the team wants to work on as it moves towards the Slay the Spire 2 release date. “The first and most important [problem] was that I’m bad at art,” Yano says.
“Being bad at art doesn’t necessarily mean being bad at drawing or having poor taste,” Yano explains, “it’s that I haven’t spent enough time in my life to cleanly translate what I’m imagining onto paper. It’s a frustrating experience trying to capture a ‘damned knight powered by demonic energy’ as a sprite in a videogame.” In the end, he says, the design seen in the first game for the Ironclad is actually “a character I gave up working on.” Having finally ended up with a sprite he was satisfied with and “already frustrated with how much time was spent,” he decided to not worry about animation.
Yano also notes that, because of a “lack of experience” creating more humanoid creatures, he “ended up drawing considerably fewer humanoid characters into the game. This in turn made me incorporate fewer narrative mechanics.” While the team considered this “an opportunity to reduce the game’s scope and rescind a lot of the narrative and story elements that were loosely planned,” it began to wonder in light of a potential sequel what might be possible if said limitations were removed.
As such, Mega Crit brought on art director Marlowe Dobbe three years ago, who previously worked on the also-excellent Dicey Dungeons. “We’ve been working together for the majority of the project and we continue to hone the visual identity of Slay the Spire 2,” Yano explains. Also core to the sequel’s team are Anailis Dorta, who provided card and event illustrations for the first Slay the Spire, and full-time animator Chris Gortz. “Working together for a long time allows us to mind meld,” Yano says, “and I think the harmony you’ll see in the game is a sight to behold.”
“Working on developing the visual style for Slay the Spire 2 has been a really interesting and unique challenge that I’m unsure I’ll ever get to experience again as a game developer,” Dobbe adds. “Coming into work on a sequel of a very beloved game has a whole new set of rules from working on a new concept or property. While we want to update the visuals and make it feel new and fresh, we also want to ride that line of it being recognizable as the Slay the Spire world.”
Dobbe notes that the art team has been “visually dissecting what parts made up the vibe of Slay the Spire,” giving it its “kind of creepy but kind of fun energy.” These include lots of hidden faces, and ensuring that monster designs are “weird enough.” She remarks that the goal for Slay the Spire 2 “is to make it feel bigger than the first game with new sets, new characters and enemies, more full-screen art, way more animation, and a lot of VFX.”
In closing, Yano lists out a series of the “high-level changes” Slay the Spire 2 is bringing in the visual department. They include a more “playful” tone despite the retention of some dark themes, more crisp designs and a less painterly style, a livelier feel through “considerably more animations and transitions,” more full-screen art to give the game a feel that’s “more epic rather than intimate,” and more colorful designs across the board. “Of course it will look different and new,” Dobbe adds, “but I think it’s going to be a place that old and new StS players will feel comfortable and familiar in.”
Slay the Spire 2 is set to launch in 2025. For now, you can wishlist it on Steam to stay up to date with the latest details and to be notified when it becomes available.
Alternatively, we have even more of the best card games to shuffle through, along with the best indie games in 2024 to keep you plenty busy while we wait.
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