After close to 140 hours with it, I think Slay the Spire 2 feels more like a sequel than a DLC, even if Megacrit was forced to make it

Slay the Spire 2 has—among some of my coworkers—been a bit of a contentious little game. Back when it first came out, my fellow writer Robin Valentine wrote that Slay the Spire 2 felt more like a remake than a sequel after beating it with an eight year old deck, calling it "a really impressive late expansion pack." Still good, but treading over old ground.

Here are my creds: I've since been consumed by Slay the Spire 2, I've put nearly 140 hours into it (a number that shocked me when I went to check it for this article), and I've currently squeaked out Ascension 10 wins on Ironclad, Silent, and Regent (and am working on my wins with the Necrobinder and Defect now).

And while I do agree with Robin that a lot of the same decks can win those earlier ascensions, the more I play, the more I'm deeply taken by Slay the Spire 2 in a way that I was never absorbed by the original—which I went back and played a bit of before this and just didn't have the same zest for.

Slay the Spire 2 is samey, sure, but it's decept...