I was compelled to post after seeing so many thumbs down...
The negative reviewers are higher than I've been. This is the best game of the series, and one of my favorite games in the genre. My friend and I loved every minute of this indie ARPG. Sure there are bugs, but nothing that prevented us from enjoying the crap out of this gem.

The music and atmosphere, the graphics, the humor, the action, the story, the loot, the awesome crafting system, the depth of the skill system and gameplay customization... it all comes together to make this one of our favorite co-op experiences that my friend and I have had. The game is shorter than I'd like it to be for sure, but there are higher difficulties and some other game modes in addition to the campaign, so you and your friends can milk it for a bit more gameplay.

Note that this game has some great features (like crafting and skills) that were actually removed from the final cut. So playing the final cut does allow one to fully experience how good this 2nd installment really was. And contrary to some others, my friend and I enjoyed the *optional* tower defense segments, as they are fun and refreshing.

TL;DR
This game is worth savoring apart from the final cut. Watch for sales, the Van Helsing games are offered at heavy discount from time to time.

Fantastic Diablo-style game. Better than Diablo III in every way. And then some.

Time Bought: Pre Ordered
Money Spent: $37.50
Worth The Price?: Yes
Position In Game At Time Of Review: Have all my classes max leveled, have game & DLCs on 2 steam accts, got most of the sets epics and all godlikes, farming

After adding the first Van Helsing to one of the most favorite games I've ever played, VH2 only polished and added to the enjoyment where the first one left off. I was still playing the first one up to the release of this game and continued playing it during this one. But VH2 not only left off where the last story ended, but improved on tons of things to make this game even more enjoyable than the first. So with this in mind, I wrote a review for people new to the series as well as one for people who have played the first game and are considering getting this one.

Newcomers to the Van Helsing trilogy-
Even if you haven't played the first one, it would still be enjoyable to start with VH2. The reason for this is much like any other game, such as Borderlands 2. Playing the first one AFTER the second one will give you more depth in the story as well as make you appreciate all the changes that were done in the second game. Even though I would recommend playing the first one first, I don't see any spoilers at all in VH2 to the storyline of VH1. There are even items/gear that is reverse compatible ;) which you will probably think is pretty keen of the developers. Yes, it plays like Diablo 3, but that is by all means not a bad thing. But that comparison is very similar to saying Battlefield plays like CoD or MoH. And what about the "Gears of War" and "God of War" comparisons in other games. Yah, it's kinda like that :/ All in all, if you get VH2, you will be getting a great funny and very enjoyable RPG which you can co op up to 4 players as well as PvP. When you play it, you'll know it's going to be a great game from the photobomb on the title screen[www.twitch.tv] hahaha.

Ones who've played the first Van Helsing-
It may look like the same game but many things have been polished to fit customer satisfaction. For instance there are still 6 pages of storage, but now most of the gear takes 2 blocks instead of 3, and the storage space has been significantly expanded. So now there is over double the storage space of the first game. Along with the max level reaching 60 instead of 30, there are doubled the skills to mess around with! So you have the option of lvl10ing the skills and tricks you have ported over OR taking them off and starting a whole new tree of new abilities. Or you can even mix it. Oh yeah, as I stated, you can export over your powered up character from the first game :) The Chimera is not as powerful as it looks but is still a great addition as well as a little storyline within the sp story. Also the 'sets' and 'epics' have 'ink infested' versions which are level 60s. So even though you may have a complete set with the level ranges at 33 38 and 45, you can still farm for the all level 60 versions of that same set :)))) OMG, and wait until you get your first 'godlike' item!!! Besides that they just expanded on everything that made the first game so fun to play like: glory, perks, weapons & gear, laughs, easter eggs, tower defense, etc. The story, I would like to compare to The Matrix Reloaded. Not the best story, but essential in the trilogy and to any fan of the first game. It was also fun to play through with more boss fights and loot drops. So basically, I would definitely recommend this game if you've played through the first one even just once.

The DLCs-
I've written separate reviews on each DLC.

Game breaking bug that stops the progression in its tracks, I google the bug, it has been there since 2014 with many many complains, but yet, now is the middle of 2016 and developer don't even bother to fix it.

My game is literally stuck, quest cannot be completed or continue, this is NOT acceptable, I regret the time I put in playing this game. I wish I never have touched it.

I liked the Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing quite a bit, so I was excited for II. The original game had its problems, but had enough atmosphere and quirky humor and story for me to enjoy it. Where VH excelled, VH2 does not.

Pros:
1) Game's atmosphere is beautiful. I particularly like the outside areas. Unfortunately, very little of your gameplay experience takes place outside.

Cons:
1) They attempted to fix the lackluster skill tree from the original game. The original lacked choices and most of the skills were useless. They did a complete 180 and the skill tree still sucks. Now, it is oversaturated with no coherent structure. Certain skills unlock other skills but have no function in relation to those skills. For example, Want to build around ice damage? Pick one skill on the right, arbitrarily attached to some fire and lightning. Then, try to pick a skill on the left, arbitrarily attached to other random skills. Makes no sense.

2) Balance. Game balance is awful. I played the original game on the hardest difficulty . VH2 seems to have mobs that are weak [on any difficulty] and mobs that do an incredible amount of dmg on any difficulty other than "casual". Even if I built my character around heavy defensive passives/tricks ranged/casting things [which tend to do more dmg in general] hit BRUTALLY hard. There's also the occasional 1 shot from a challenging to see ability when swamped in a pack of mobs.
Edit: I've now played through the game with a second character. My first was a thaumaturge that really struggled with balance. My second was the original hunter character, but built around spell-casting. I played my second time on hard/heroic difficulties - stacked the mana shield defensive ability and some other defensives, and could face-roll pretty much anything so long as I had mana. Again, certain skills are way more powerful than others, effectively making the oversaturated skill tree still feel problematic.
Edit Two: Played more on the thaumaturge on heroic. Balance is really what is holding the game back. Built my character around abilities that could do damage while moving and crit chance/crit dmg [crit chance around 32-35%, crit dmg maxed @ 450%], and high HP, made heroic pretty easy. The problem, though, is sometimes you just get 1 shot from off-screen, even with high damage reduction. Difficulty basically scales like this: Mobs have higher health making it take longer to kill them. High dmg abilities do insane dmg and can result in 1 shots. The longer a mob lives, the greater chance of a 1 shot. Not sure how they can really fix this, but it makes build diversity fairly limited. At a certain point you just have to be able to do damage while moving and you have to spec heavily into defense.

3) Storyline/Quests. This is really my main qualm with the game. The storyline of this game is really disappointing. Maybe the storyline isn't disappointing [as it makes sense in the context of VH1], but the way it is executed is disappointing. The questing sucks. Very little variation, mostly based around tower defense. The vast majority of your missions are "secure X, Y, Z points by battling through streams of enemies. This was my least favorite type of mission in VH and it seems to be what the entirety of VH2 is built around. If I wanted to play Tower Defense, I'd play Tower Defense. The final boss fight, spoiler alert, is not even a fight. You literally kill streams of enemies until his force field's HP hits 1. He then blows up and the game ends on a pathetic attempt at a cliff hanger. I understand the attempt at a military strategy/real-time invasion, but it simply fails to be enjoyable.

4) End Game: It's about what you expect. You get "random" dungeons [just reskinned areas of the main story] and tasks to complete within them. Some of them also have interesting things that makes them substantially more difficult [Your companion won't help, can't regen life/mana, etc]. I did a few of them on heroic difficulty. They were a challenge. The quirky interactions don't take place between Katarina/Helsing so it's basically just the mindless challenge of slaughtering enemies with certain affixes that make the already poorly balanced gameplay more difficult. I'm glad they added this feature. Unfortunately, it does not do much for me because I've already done a lot of this in Path of Exile AND Path of Exile's system is better. All in all, I think it will be fun for people who haven't already beaten the model to death in other games, but wasn't real fun for me.

5) Multiplayer: Much like during the launch of the first game [in which it wasn't even functional], multiplayer is quite buggy. In fact, I've only successfully joined 1 game [I've tried to join many], and the host disconnected shortly thereafter, rendering my efforts obsolete. I've also tried hosting multiple times. I will get a message that "x is trying to join your game", but they are never successful in doing so. Not sure if it is a bug, a lack of stable connection, or what, but multiplayer seems quite hit or miss.

Verdict:

If you did not play the first game, don't buy this. The first is a much more complete experience.
If you loved the first and are desperate to see where the story goes, buy this.
If you loved the first for what it was, and aren't too attached to the story, don't buy this.
The game simply lacks what made the first game worth playing - the quirky nature, originality, and great atmosphere - while not really fixing any of the detracting factors of the first game [lack of real diversity via skill tree].

This game is a perfect quick fix if you have a Diablo/Path Of Exile craving, but don't want to spend another hundred hours to satisfy it. Game's story lasts for about 15 hours at normal pace, but there are possibilities to continue playing if one wishes to: the story can be replayed at higher difficulty and there are scenarios that are certain non-randomized levels with varying challenges for end-game.

My advice is to play the first game first (because it is pretty good too), then import the character into the second game (just a button click away) and continue the story with 30 new levels of skills. Van Helsing II is otherwise a very nice game, good-looking steam-punk theme, good voice acting and an entertaining story, plus a lot of parody and great humour with references to various pop culture. Game play offers three classes and there are several builds to explore. Tons of items, including legendary and set items.

Game runs smoothy, with an occassional crash (had about 3-4 crashes during 20 hours), but game saves frequently so one seldom looses progress. No other issues encountered here. Combat is fun and satisfying, and it is very entertaining to explore the world. This is actually the first game of this style where I bothered to pay attention to the story and other lore-related details. Great fun stressless casual hack-n-slash game!

The Great:

- Compelling isometric ARPG combat
- Varied and satisfying skills and progression system
- Satisfying execution of almost every aspect of the game
- Tower defense (optional) mini-game that is good enough to be sold as a standalone game (almost worth the price for it alone)

The Good:

- Well written and delivered dialogue and narrative
- Strategy elements added to already great ARPG mechanics
- Very similar to previous game (which was also great)
- Good loot dropping ryhthm

The Bad:

- Very similar to previous game (previous game was great, so this is only slightly bad)
- Some of the added elements weren't fully realized (e.g. sending followers on quests had little to no impact on game)

Conclusion:

If you like isometric loot ARPGs (like Torchlight), this is a must buy. Even if you don't, this game is absolutely worthy of a purchase at some pricepoint.

I have played the closed beta which consisted of a multi-stage invasion of your fortified resistance forces by the bad guys. It played exactly like the first game, which for me was a very good thing. I played the first game on heroic to offer some challege, as anything less and it seemed I would just steamroll the enemies. I imported my Hunter character (I finished the first game with the Hunter and the Thaumaturge, but I could never get the hang of the Arcane Mechanic) and the game started up on the heroic difficulty. It was much more difficult this time around. I don't know if I was under-geared, as I could never complete the post storyline challenge quests from the first game, or if they just upped the difficulty in general. The loot drops were appropriate and generous.

Overall, I am really looking forward to this release. I am really excited that all your equipment, gold, and character skills carry over.

You will learn to loathe the throngs of flying robots that shoot electricity. Absolute and complete loathing.

I bought VHII for 10 dollars with an online coupon. Even though I'm sure I didn't get the BEST deal out there I'd say it's money well spent.

I never played the first game. So, I started on this one with a new toon and leveled him up to 30 by the time I beat the game on Hard Mode. Then, went to veteran mode afterwards on fearless and had a blast. The loot was much better on the higher settings and for those who like crafting -- you can spend a good amount of time sifting through loot to enchant and enhance your gear to get the most defense/offense out of them. If you don't like crafting then I'd stay away from that part.

Replay value is fairly good. The story itself isn't spectacular, but if you're going for achievements it's always nice to get a few new options when you do the second run through. If you don't want replay value. It took me roughly 28 hours to beat it first time through on hard mode. So, again worth the ten bucks I spent. Voice acting for main toons is good, and side characters is a bit shady from time to time, but overall good with music that is also good. Nothing was annoying to my ears.

Tower defense is tricky. Harder the mode you put it on the less likely you are to succeed. Or, maybe I just suck at tower defense, but on fearless mode it was crazy as the joker with 300 minions willing to do his bidding.

Music - 7/10
Challenge - 9.5/10
Loot - 9/10
Skill system - 7/10
Story - 7/10
Price - 10/10
Overall - 8.5/10

Van Helsing has his work cut out for him. For all the monsters he's slain, the looming spectres of Diablo, Torchlight, and Path of Exile cast an imposing shadow over the rugged hero. To set itself apart, this modern dungeon crawler has to find a way to truly sink its claws into the player beyond the usual loot'n'grind. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing II, the second part of a planned trilogy by Neocore Games, succeeds remarkably in carving out its own identity, but at the potentially steep price of polish and balance.

The visuals and soundwork of Van Helsing II are competent, with a few bright spots. The graphics are technically solid, with varied color palettes that provide atmosphere as Van Helsing explores underground caverns, snowy forests, and laboratories full of disgusting experiments. The voice acting is serviceable and the musical score is suitably sweeping and epic, with a few catchy songs, but nothing new for the genre.

A common criticism of dungeon crawlers is that they start off slowly, and Van Helsing II does everything in its power to defy that stereotype. Players of the first Van Helsing will be pleased to find that they can import their character into the sequel, with all of their skills and equipment intact. Newcomers are able to create a character of one of the three classes -- the iconic Hunter, the mage-like Thaumaturge, and the tech-oriented Arcane Mechanic -- that begins at level 30, giving them a set of gear and plenty of skillpoints to spend. Those who find the game's in-depth, granular skill system a little too daunting can start at level 1 without any major handicaps, giving them more time to learn the deep mechanics of the game.

These mechanics are much of what set Van Helsing II apart, but also where this ambitious title first stumbles. The game is unapologetically complex; each class has four primary stats and access to dozens of abilities, all of which can be upgraded up to ten times. There are plenty of ways to construct a character, but unfortunately, not all of them are viable. Many skills pale in comparison to others within the same tree, and it's easy to find yourself with a build that simply doesn't work. Luckily, a respecialization option is both cheap and accessible, making it easy enough to experiment until a satisfactory skillset is found.

There is a lot of content in Van Helsing II, and most of it is implemented well. The usual prerequisites for the genre are in place: a lengthy storyline with plenty of side quests, co-operative multiplayer modes for both the campaign and individual scenarios, and a 'Battle Royal' PvP offering for those wishing to test their mettle against other players. What sets Van Helsing II apart, however, is its dedication to making its single-player experience memorable to the player. Throughout the fifteen to twenty hour campaign, Van Helsing spends plenty of time fighting his way through hordes of enemies, but he also fortifies and defends his Secret Lair (yes, that's what it's called in the game).

The Lair -- the heart of the Resistance movement of which Van Helsing is a critical agent-- is unlocked early in the game, and houses merchants, alchemists, and enchanters capable of modifying and upgrading Van Helsing's equipment. It also grants access to a couple of additional minigames that add much-needed variety to the usual action-adventure fare, including tower defense-style sequences in which Van Helsing must prevent the antagonist's forces from discovering the Resistance's hideout, and a menu-driven command center where the player can build a small army and send them on missions that grant equipment and monetary rewards. Though fairly basic in design, both of these distractions are plenty of fun, and I often found myself teleporting back to base to play with them between campaign missions.

The combat itself doesn't introduce any shocking twists, but it stands proudly with the best in the genre. With eight of his abilities available on the skill bar at any given time, Van Helsing is never lacking for tools with which to fight, and a generous cooldown on potions and plenty of ways to restore health and mana keep things moving at a tight pace. Enemy variety is impressive, with three or four new kinds of foes introduced in each zone, and multiple difficulty levels allow players to suit the challenge to their preferences. The biggest problem that I found was that pure melee characters never really come into their own. Every class has ranged options (and, in fact, the Hunter is the only one that can melee at all), but for all the depth of the skill trees, there's no real way to avoid the punishment that comes from being surrounded by the game's dangerous enemies. It's certainly possible to succeed with a melee-oriented build, it just never reaches the destructive potential of the other choices.

It's a good thing, too, because the plot of the campaign doesn't stand too well on its own. The storyline is basic, but decent enough: after slaying the evil Professor Fulmigati in the first game, Van Helsing finds that the exiled General Harker has returned to take his place. Setting out on a mission to overthrow the new government, the monster hunter is joined once again by the ghost Katarina, who has to be one of the most obnoxious characters I've ever encountered in a videogame. A constant presence at Van Helsing's side, she's an endless font of overwrought sarcasm and grating negativity; in the first two hours of the game alone, she voices her distrust of a new character seven times. I counted. As if to make things worse, she and Van Helsing trade uninspired quips with depressing regularity; the tone of the story, which can get fairly dark at times, is completely offset by the constant, heavy-handed references to games, books, and movies the pair make. Occasionally, a gem of a line can inspire a smile, but for the most part, it's a distracting and desperate attempt at humor.

Further putting a dent in things are the technical issues. The game isn't particularly buggy, at least not in the conventional sense, but it found some creative ways to hamper my enjoyment. Load times are far too long for a game of this size, and even inexplicably happen just from alt-tabbing. The camera is solid enough during gameplay, but in cutscenes, it has a habit of taking nauseating jaunts for seemingly no reason. Oftentimes, a scene with two characters simply standing on either side of a table discussing tactics is lent a surreal air as the perspective randomly changes.

Despite these problems, it's hard not to recommend Van Helsing II. Most of the issues it has feel like the inevitable consequences of making an ambitious game on a small budget, and I have to applaud Neocore Games for packing so much content into their latest endeavor.