Image: maJAJa

Platform hack n' slasher Dungeon Munchies - the debut game from oddball Taiwanese indie outfit maJAJa - was a real 'hear me out' game. Yes, it's a bit wonky and rough-edged, with oddly scaled sprites and bizarre game mechanics. But under the surface was shockingly deep ARPG buildcrafting, and a bizarre, wacky webcomic-style story that gradually took its characters and world more and more seriously, until both writer and player were fully invested. Four years after the original game's finale dropped, Dungeon Munchies 2 has now arrived in early access to continue its grand saga of undead gourmet action.

Not to be confused with hit manga Dungeon Meshi (aka Delicious in Dungeon) beyond the very loose similarities of 'eating monsters', the original Dungeon Munchies was a hallucinatory, weird trip through a high-tech fantasy world that had died, risen again, and died once more. Humans are functionally extinct, and only monsters, ghosts, dragons, skeletons, and ambulatory vegetables live here now. And the occasional all-consuming cosmic horror.

You played as an intern line cook, raised by the necromancer chef Simmer to beat up monsters and figure out what meals you can make out of them, with your equipped menu of snacks changing your abilities, finding weird synergies to clear out whole screens of monsters, which in turn generated more ingredients, and the loop went on. Very satisfying number-go-up stuff. But it was only half of the appeal.

The story, and specifically the comic-style art, silly faces, and genuinely good comic timing (and occasional dark pathos) were a huge part of the appeal. It didn't take long to warm to the plights of Simmer and her BFF/rival, the spirit-dragon Grill, and for things to escalate to dramatic, world-threatening steaks. Things got spicy, the drama got juicy, and eventually, Earth looked pretty much cooked.

Dungeon Munchies 2 looks to pick up where the first game ended: With the complete destruction of Earth, and the beginning of a new story on the far side of a portal to some far-flung corner of the universe, full of delicious new creatures to explode and cook, and a cast of new weirdoes to meet. As with the first game, maJAJa are here for the long haul on early access. The initial release is relatively slight at just the first chapter (around 2-3 hours), with the remaining parts coming over the next 2-3 years. Initial response is mostly positive, but obviously this is intended for fans of the first, and won't be ready for some time.

While that first course probably won't fill you up, it does come at a heavily discounted price. Dungeon Munchies 2 is out now for £9.09/$10, with a 10% launch discount until November 12th, but it's a good chunk cheaper if you own the original game. Which, given how story- and character-driven the original was, you should probably play that one first.