When comparing Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows vs Dungeon Defenders II, the Slant community recommends Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows for most people. In the question“What are the best PC Tower Defense games?” Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows is ranked 6th while Dungeon Defenders II is ranked 31st. The most important reason people chose Gemcraft: Chasing Shadows is:
The main mechanic of the game is using gems that provide properties like splash damage, poison, chain lightning, etc to your towers in different combinations. Add to that the fact that there are 7 levels for each gem, you have to manage your mana, there are multiple difficulty levels that change the amount of experience you gain, there are multiple kinds of spells, 25 passive skills and talisman fragments among other variables that you have to balance and you end up with an impressive amount of choice and depth.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Addictive, in-depth gameplay based on combining gems that provide different traits to your towers
The main mechanic of the game is using gems that provide properties like splash damage, poison, chain lightning, etc to your towers in different combinations. Add to that the fact that there are 7 levels for each gem, you have to manage your mana, there are multiple difficulty levels that change the amount of experience you gain, there are multiple kinds of spells, 25 passive skills and talisman fragments among other variables that you have to balance and you end up with an impressive amount of choice and depth.
Pro More than 140 levels
With so many levels to play in the game will last a good while. Each map is varied and with that makes for an experience that does not get tiring either.
Pro Visual appeal
Charming characters, vibrant colors, and an art style that is cohesive across all their content.
Pro Free to play
You have access to all levels and difficulties and the 4 starting heros. New heros can either be bought or unlocked by earning defender medals through mission completion and daily quests.
There are hero costumes which can't be earned in game but they are purely visual. The only advantage a paying player can buy is more bag space or extra hero card slots (you get +1 card slot when you unlock a hero with in game currency but can buy more if you want duplicates).
Pro Constantly being improved
There are updates nearly weekly and always new levels and characters being added. The more recent Incursions have also been more of a challenge compared to some of the original content.
Cons
Con Can seem too heavily luck based
Hit damage is luck based meaning that it is up to the game at points as to how much damage is given making for a bit of an imbalance when winning in just a few strikes in one game and then having to do many hits in another.
Con Everything that was wrong with Dungeon Defenders 1, is also wrong in this version
Bad gear balancing, pay 2 win gear, 1 builder 3 dps, many hackers/cheaters.
Con Still in development (as of 8/25/16)
Each patch often brings as many bugs or balance problems as it does bits of additional content. They are usually worked out but it might turn away players looking for a finished product.
Con No challenge until the highest difficulty
There is a campaign mode but it's far too easy even for brand new players. And after you're done with the campaign, your fastest method of leveling to cap is running the same boss repeatedly on a low difficulty. Why have 8 difficulty levels if you encourage your players to skip half of them through poor balance?