>inb4 this is DD2 not DD1

Yeah I know I like most of DD2's changes in a vacuum but you can't just handwave all discussion to just that.

I think one of the more lacking things DD2 has is the ability to recuperate from a realllllyyyy bad encounter, like losing two heroes bad. ^{Yeah it can happen despite the overall tankiness of everyone the HP lost eventually does start adding-up even with the passive heal. Especially if you're not running a Plague Doctor or a hero with a targeted heal.}

Three heroes is somewhat of a disadvantage, two heroes feels even worse. I mean I guess if your run gives you a path for the rest of the area without too much enemy encounters there is sort of a chance of surviving. Even then you still get just plain-impossible Road Encounters now where not all heroes were exactly built in mind to be able to just stall and survive for the more tougher enemy comps for 5 rounds. Survival is stacked incredibly against you for runs like these and as most people have pointed out, there's really just no reason to not discard your entire inventory for hope and run away as final as it feels for your run. Continuity between runs is only held together by unlocked hero skills in shrines, that's it as far as I know, any 'survivors' from that run is discarded along with whatever adrenaline gained by narrowly escaping death as their stagecoach spontaneously runs into a giant rock and crashes.

Obviously in the meta-scheme, abandoning a run isn't fully 'abandoning' a run you still get hope progress, but unlike Heirlooms or Golds or Trinkets, Hope isn't exactly a 'currency' that players have any agency in spending. The autonomy and hand of the player is no longer directly involved in the process, it's now just passive. Honestly, this progression system feels like the Hamlet 2.0 except you can't rush the good stuff that actually matters in terms of progression (Who Stagecoach Upgrades-> Roster Size Upgrades -> Training Hall -> Blacksmith -> Experienced Recruits only?), I've seen people complaining about how shitty the trinkets are for DD2 not realizing that the actually good trinkets are being gated behind grinding but for the most part what they just see is 'Oh a new type of bread was unlocked?'.

Again, yes I do realize DD2 is a different game and there's no reason for it to not be DD1 is a fine game on its own and most tweaks people are asking to improve it can be done through mods now (Outside of making random hunger checks make sense lol). I think what feedback I do have above can be separate enough from the idea that DD2 is not DD1 to at least merit some additional thoughts from the community. I mean yeah there's a myriad of ways the above concerns can be addressed but what I am more interested in is if there are other people who do share these sentiments.