Survivors of the Void is a DLC that adds a lot of excellent content, with a few questionable balance changes included in the patch that came alongside it. I highly recommend it for its content design and changes that liven up the base game, though the simulacrum mode is a monotonous horde mode that isn't worth the time spent on it.

The new void items are all extremely interesting and unique, and make for some interesting build variety and trade offs, though some are probably slightly overtuned at the moment. The regular items are also a welcome breath of fresh air for returning players, generally being more niche than their base game counterparts and making for a deeper experience overall, allowing for a lot more build variety over the course of a normal run. Roguelites like Risk of Rain 2 live or die off of their item pools, and the changes made here make the average run much more diverse, with more meaningful choices between items than in the base game, where item design was generally more straightforward and raw stat upgrades made up a larger portion of the pool.

The survivors added by the DLC are both fun and worth playing, though not equal in polish. The Railgunner is a very straightforward and strong survivor, providing a unique new playstyle that seems to have a surprisingly high skill ceiling and decent mobility. The Void Fiend is an interesting departure from Hopoo's general design philosophy, and is the most mechanically complex survivor added so far. It has an interesting skill set, but doesn't seem to be tuned properly as picking up any healing items breaks the character's main mechanic, preventing the corruption meter from ticking up even when at max health. This means that in most runs, you're stuck with half a survivor. Given that Hopoo didn't add alternate skills to this survivor due to the added complexity of the transformation, the Void Fiend is a disappointment that needs a desperate balance pass, though it's conceptually unique and definitely not a lost cause.

Stages in Risk of Rain 2 are complex and difficult to evaluate without extensive play, but the new stages are visually appealing and a lot of fun in my (limited) experience. Once again, they appear to be a significant departure from Hopoo's previous design philosophy, being more intricate than their counterparts at the same level. It's too early to evaluate whether this novelty will wear thin, but I've enjoyed them thus far. The new enemies added are also a nice change of pace and integrate well with the base game, though they clash visually as most have a subtly different art style than the original enemies.

Overall, the DLC adds an excellent amount of content for its 15 dollar asking price (though I bought it for 10 due to the release discount). If you're an experienced player, the new items and mechanics make for a refreshing experience and can give you dozens or hundreds of hours of fresh gameplay. While the amount of new content isn't as overwhelming as something like The Binding of Isaac's Repentance expansion last year, it's an excellent expansion for the price point despite its flaws. For new players, I'd still recommend the expansion as the content included is excellent, but I believe the DLC would be best appreciated by those already familiar with the base game, as the new content is generally less straightforward for beginners and it's easier to make a "bad" item choice than in the vanilla game.

Survivors of the Void is a DLC that adds a lot of excellent content, with a few questionable balance changes included in the patch that came alongside it. I highly recommend it for its content design and changes that liven up the base game, though the simulacrum mode is a monotonous horde mode that isn't worth the time spent on it. The new void items are all extremely interesting and unique, and make for some interesting build variety and trade offs, though some are probably slightly overtuned at the moment. The regular items are also a welcome breath of fresh air for returning players, generally being more niche than their base game counterparts and making for a deeper experience overall, allowing for a lot more build variety over the course of a normal run. Roguelites like Risk of Rain 2 live or die off of their item pools, and the changes made here make the average run much more diverse, with more meaningful choices between items than in the base game, where item design was generally more straightforward and raw stat upgrades made up a larger portion of the pool. The survivors added by the DLC are both fun and worth playing, though not equal in polish. The Railgunner is a very straightforward and strong survivor, providing a unique new playstyle that seems to have a surprisingly high skill ceiling and decent mobility. The Void Fiend is an interesting departure from Hopoo's general design philosophy, and is the most mechanically complex survivor added so far. It has an interesting skill set, but doesn't seem to be tuned properly as picking up any healing items breaks the character's main mechanic, preventing the corruption meter from ticking up even when at max health. This means that in most runs, you're stuck with half a survivor. Given that Hopoo didn't add alternate skills to this survivor due to the added complexity of the transformation, the Void Fiend is a disappointment that needs a desperate balance pass, though it's conceptually unique and definitely not a lost cause. Stages in Risk of Rain 2 are complex and difficult to evaluate without extensive play, but the new stages are visually appealing and a lot of fun in my (limited) experience. Once again, they appear to be a significant departure from Hopoo's previous design philosophy, being more intricate than their counterparts at the same level. It's too early to evaluate whether this novelty will wear thin, but I've enjoyed them thus far. The new enemies added are also a nice change of pace and integrate well with the base game, though they clash visually as most have a subtly different art style than the original enemies. Overall, the DLC adds an excellent amount of content for its 15 dollar asking price (though I bought it for 10 due to the release discount). If you're an experienced player, the new items and mechanics make for a refreshing experience and can give you dozens or hundreds of hours of fresh gameplay. While the amount of new content isn't as overwhelming as something like The Binding of Isaac's Repentance expansion last year, it's an excellent expansion for the price point despite its flaws. For new players, I'd still recommend the expansion as the content included is excellent, but I believe the DLC would be best appreciated by those already familiar with the base game, as the new content is generally less straightforward for beginners and it's easier to make a "bad" item choice than in the vanilla game.