On September 12 we wrote that Graveyard Keeper II would stick to its September 22 date. Promise kept: since yesterday the sequel from Lazy Bear Games and tinyBuild has been available on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store and GOG), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch and Switch 2. It costs $24.99 on every platform, with 20% off for anyone who pre-ordered.
Now that it's in players' hands we can talk about something more concrete than promises. The most obvious change concerns the dead: in the first game they were labor, here they also become an army. You build towers and fortifications, forge weapons and armor, and train undead troops to send against whoever attacks the village. A sort of tower defense grafted onto the usual management sim, with less grind than in 2018 (less, not none).
User reviews on Steam are largely positive. Steam Deck HQ is lukewarm, giving 3 stars out of 5 to the technical side and 3.5 to the content. On Valve's handheld the game struggles to hold 60 fps indoors and drops to around 35 outdoors: the advice is to cap it at 30 fps with low settings, for roughly four hours of battery on Steam Deck OLED. The flaws listed include cutscenes that can't be skipped or paused, saving only when you go to bed, a few crashes and glitchy voices. The full voice acting goes down well, with the sarcastic skull Larry front and center.
The verdict that struck us most is also the most awkward one: according to the same review, Graveyard Keeper II feels more like an expansion than a real sequel. Our take: with a patch that fixes performance and saving, the price remains fair, but Steam Deck players would do well to wait a few weeks. Have you tried it yet?
