What's the predatory monetization exactly? The 5 individual wakestones you can buy separately to have as extra to the 50+ you can get in game? Or the extra 1 Portcrystal to have as extra to the 11 you get in game? At least act like you put in an effort and do some research if you want to talk shit about a game.
DD2 has the same dlc style as RE games and DMC, there's nothing predatory about it.
Despite all their flaws, Ubi games usually run pretty well from a performance standpoint.
I can’t think of any that have launched with uncapped 30fps and the wild frame times/pacing that are present in DD2. Their last big AAA (Frontiers of Pandora) is not only far more visually appealing but the quality mode holds a pretty locked/stable 30fps and the performance mode targets 60 and mostly hits it.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a 10/10 game in a 6/10 body. In concept the game had every reason to great, and at times it can be. But the overall experienced is severely dragged down by a myriad of problems:
The Enemy variety is severely lacking. You fight the same enemies in the last hour of the game, as you do in the first hour. Someone on Reddit did a count of enemy variety between DD1 and DD2, and DD2 actually had less.
The Biome variety is also severely lacking. You've got woodlands, a small section with a foggy swamp, a desert, and grassy mountain area with nothing to explore.
The story is one of the worst I've seen in a video game. Pacing is all fucked up, it has no flow, you don't understand what the fuck is going on half the time and why, the actual plot itself is boring, and it's incredibly short which might actually be a good thing given how awful it is.
Characters are terrible and lack personality. I completed the game never having met that cat girl on the cover, only to find out she's a side quest.
Exploration sucks. 95% of the "dungeons" in this game are caves with the exact same earthy brown aesthetic. No crypts, catacombs, ruins, creepy castles, or any sort of proper dungeon to explore.
Affinity system is once again an absolute joke.
The Dragonsplague system is a nice idea in concept, but is retarded in it's implementation.
The difficulty balance is all fucked up. Endgame and NG+ enemies don't scale to your level. Once you hit Level 40+ and have good gear equipped, enemies can't do anything to you.
I know this will be fixed soon, but not having the option to start a New Game, in an RPG, is one of the most baffling and braindead decisions I've seen in a long time.
Combat gets repetitive and boring. You run into the same packs of enemies every 10 feet, over and over and over and over again, taking zero effort to kill them, even if they are a large monster.
The game absolutely fucking sucks and I'm perplexed at how anyone could think this is GoTY material. It's actually impressive that in the 12 years since DD1, Itsuno learned nothing.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a 10/10 game in a 6/10 body. In concept the game had every reason to great, and at times it can be. But the overall experienced is severely dragged down by a myriad of problems:
The Enemy variety is severely lacking. You fight the same enemies in the last hour of the game, as you do in the first hour. Someone on Reddit did a count of enemy variety between DD1 and DD2, and DD2 actually had less.
The Biome variety is also severely lacking. You've got woodlands, a small section with a foggy swamp, a desert, and grassy mountain area with nothing to explore.
The story is one of the worst I've seen in a video game. Pacing is all fucked up, it has no flow, you don't understand what the fuck is going on half the time and why, the actual plot itself is boring, and it's incredibly short which might actually be a good thing given how awful it is.
Characters are terrible and lack personality. I completed the game never having met that cat girl on the cover, only to find out she's a side quest.
Exploration sucks. 95% of the "dungeons" in this game are caves with the exact same earthy brown aesthetic. No crypts, catacombs, ruins, creepy castles, or any sort of proper dungeon to explore.
Affinity system is once again an absolute joke.
The Dragonsplague system is a nice idea in concept, but is retarded in it's implementation.
The difficulty balance is all fucked up. Endgame and NG+ enemies don't scale to your level. Once you hit Level 40+ and have good gear equipped, enemies can't do anything to you.
I know this will be fixed soon, but not having the option to start a New Game, in an RPG, is one of the most baffling and braindead decisions I've seen in a long time.
Combat gets repetitive and boring. You run into the same packs of enemies every 10 feet, over and over and over and over again, taking zero effort to kill them, even if they are a large monster.
The game absolutely fucking sucks and I'm perplexed at how anyone could think this is GoTY material. It's actually impressive that in the 12 years since DD1, Itsuno learned nothing.
Well put. I'm level 21 a few hours in. I enjoy it and it's fun, it has a unique flavor. But it looks like a half baked game a 7/10 for me now. Still fun though.
Not at all but if you know anything about the history of the publication they throw huge scores around regularly and like a lot of large sites nowadays are known to be partial to adding a +1/2 for advertising space bought around the time of reviews...
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a 10/10 game in a 6/10 body. In concept the game had every reason to great, and at times it can be. But the overall experienced is severely dragged down by a myriad of problems:
The Enemy variety is severely lacking. You fight the same enemies in the last hour of the game, as you do in the first hour. Someone on Reddit did a count of enemy variety between DD1 and DD2, and DD2 actually had less.
The Biome variety is also severely lacking. You've got woodlands, a small section with a foggy swamp, a desert, and grassy mountain area with nothing to explore.
The story is one of the worst I've seen in a video game. Pacing is all fucked up, it has no flow, you don't understand what the fuck is going on half the time and why, the actual plot itself is boring, and it's incredibly short which might actually be a good thing given how awful it is.
Characters are terrible and lack personality. I completed the game never having met that cat girl on the cover, only to find out she's a side quest.
Exploration sucks. 95% of the "dungeons" in this game are caves with the exact same earthy brown aesthetic. No crypts, catacombs, ruins, creepy castles, or any sort of proper dungeon to explore.
Affinity system is once again an absolute joke.
The Dragonsplague system is a nice idea in concept, but is retarded in it's implementation.
The difficulty balance is all fucked up. Endgame and NG+ enemies don't scale to your level. Once you hit Level 40+ and have good gear equipped, enemies can't do anything to you.
I know this will be fixed soon, but not having the option to start a New Game, in an RPG, is one of the most baffling and braindead decisions I've seen in a long time.
Combat gets repetitive and boring. You run into the same packs of enemies every 10 feet, over and over and over and over again, taking zero effort to kill them, even if they are a large monster.
The game absolutely fucking sucks and I'm perplexed at how anyone could think this is GoTY material. It's actually impressive that in the 12 years since DD1, Itsuno learned nothing.
Thank you. This is the most fair and accurate criticisms of this game and why I have bailed out.
The thing this game should excel at at the very least, is combat. This is the Devil May cry team… how is combat this bad?
I will never understand the hive mind on certain titles, this being one of them. DD1 fans deserved more after such a long wait.
A fair comparison is how long fans of Metroid waited for Dread, and that game is outstanding. This game is in alpha concept still. It’s the first major capcom title in a long while with a shit ton of issues.
It’s great people can force themselves through dog shit to find enjoyment but from last year to now, the amount of new titles with so much done right and well can’t be ignored.
If any other company the internet has a hate boner for made this it would be dead on arrival. If Ubisoft , EA, or Blizzard made DD2 then it would be a 5/10 at most, and have next to no sales with users saying “dd2 bad” with memes.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a 10/10 game in a 6/10 body. In concept the game had every reason to great, and at times it can be. But the overall experienced is severely dragged down by a myriad of problems:
The Enemy variety is severely lacking. You fight the same enemies in the last hour of the game, as you do in the first hour. Someone on Reddit did a count of enemy variety between DD1 and DD2, and DD2 actually had less.
The Biome variety is also severely lacking. You've got woodlands, a small section with a foggy swamp, a desert, and grassy mountain area with nothing to explore.
The story is one of the worst I've seen in a video game. Pacing is all fucked up, it has no flow, you don't understand what the fuck is going on half the time and why, the actual plot itself is boring, and it's incredibly short which might actually be a good thing given how awful it is.
Characters are terrible and lack personality. I completed the game never having met that cat girl on the cover, only to find out she's a side quest.
Exploration sucks. 95% of the "dungeons" in this game are caves with the exact same earthy brown aesthetic. No crypts, catacombs, ruins, creepy castles, or any sort of proper dungeon to explore.
Affinity system is once again an absolute joke.
The Dragonsplague system is a nice idea in concept, but is retarded in it's implementation.
The difficulty balance is all fucked up. Endgame and NG+ enemies don't scale to your level. Once you hit Level 40+ and have good gear equipped, enemies can't do anything to you.
I know this will be fixed soon, but not having the option to start a New Game, in an RPG, is one of the most baffling and braindead decisions I've seen in a long time.
Combat gets repetitive and boring. You run into the same packs of enemies every 10 feet, over and over and over and over again, taking zero effort to kill them, even if they are a large monster.
The game absolutely fucking sucks and I'm perplexed at how anyone could think this is GoTY material. It's actually impressive that in the 12 years since DD1, Itsuno learned nothing.
Thanks for taking the time to write this. It's severely lowered my moderate hype for this. Still not going to play it any time soon, waiting for the next nvidia 5 series GPUs to upgrade from my 1080GTX
Thank you. This is the most fair and accurate criticisms of this game and why I have bailed out.
The thing this game should excel at at the very least, is combat. This is the Devil May cry team… how is combat this bad?
I will never understand the hive mind on certain titles, this being one of them. DD1 fans deserved more after such a long wait.
A fair comparison is how long fans of Metroid waited for Dread, and that game is outstanding. This game is in alpha concept still. It’s the first major capcom title in a long while with a shit ton of issues.
It’s great people can force themselves through dog shit to find enjoyment but from last year to now, the amount of new titles with so much done right and well can’t be ignored.
If any other company the internet has a hate boner for made this it would be dead on arrival. If Ubisoft , EA, or Blizzard made DD2 then it would be a 5/10 at most, and have next to no sales with users saying “dd2 bad” with memes.
Force themselves through dog shit? I have no issue with anyone who doesn't like a game that I enjoy, but what is with this need to characterize people like that simply over a difference of opinion?
Force themselves through dog shit? I have no issue with anyone who doesn't like a game that I enjoy, but what is with this need to characterize people like that simply over a difference of opinion?
The issues listed are the dog shit. You aren’t bothered by it or are opting to ignore it to eke out the enjoyment. Some games it’s easier to do, and for some players it’s easier to turn on this mindset.
Again, enjoy the game. You’ve waited many years for a new entry… but you deserved a lot better.
The issues listed are the dog shit. You aren’t bothered by it or are opting to ignore it to eke out the enjoyment. Some games it’s easier to do, and for some players it’s easier to turn on this mindset.
Again, enjoy the game. You’ve waited many years for a new entry… but you deserved a lot better.
This is how I feel. Itsuno has talked at length about how DD1 was unfinished, and due to budgetary reasons he was not able to achieve his true vision for the game. After DD2 I now know that was complete buillshit.
The game is certainly not perfect. Obviously disagree with Madflavor
's conclusion that the game "fucking sucks", but his specific criticisms are well thought out. I'm right around 80 hours myself and still having a great time. Biggest complaint I have is still performance, but at least that is really only a problem in the cities. That and the lack of game save/new game options are the most glaring issues to me. The gameplay itself is a lot of fun. I'd probably give it a 7.5/10 if I were reviewing it.
The issues listed are the dog shit. You aren’t bothered by it or are opting to ignore it to eke out the enjoyment. Some games it’s easier to do, and for some players it’s easier to turn on this mindset.
Again, enjoy the game. You’ve waited many years for a new entry… but you deserved a lot better.
You are making a lot of assumptions. I never played the first game enough to even compare and so I wasn't "waiting many years" at all. Maybe if I had played the first game more then I would agree with you. But as it is, I don't necessarily agree with all the "issues" listed so telling me I'm forcing myself, etc. really doesn't make a lot of sense.
The game is certainly not perfect. Obviously disagree with Madflavor
's conclusion that the game "fucking sucks", but his specific criticisms are well thought out. I'm right around 80 hours myself and still having a great time. Biggest complaint I have is still performance, but at least that is really only a problem in the cities. That and the lack of game save/new game options are the most glaring issues to me. The gameplay itself is a lot of fun. I'd probably give it a 7.5/10 if I were reviewing it.
You are making a lot of assumptions. I never played the first game enough to even compare and so I wasn't "waiting many years" at all. Maybe if I had played the first game more then I would agree with you. But as it is, I don't necessarily agree with all the "issues" listed so telling me I'm forcing myself, etc. really doesn't make a lot of sense.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a 10/10 game in a 6/10 body. In concept the game had every reason to great, and at times it can be. But the overall experienced is severely dragged down by a myriad of problems:
The Enemy variety is severely lacking. You fight the same enemies in the last hour of the game, as you do in the first hour. Someone on Reddit
did a count of enemy variety between DD1 and DD2, and DD2 actually had less.
The Biome variety is also severely lacking. You've got woodlands, a small section with a foggy swamp, a desert, and grassy mountain area with nothing to explore.
Seems to me two points are basically the same thing. The complaint is about VISUAL variety specifically, because although mob families stay the same throughout there is a decent amount of change both behaviourally and in presentation through the game.
Obvious example being Harpies getting more sneaky and dropping you off cliffs later in the game.
Environmentally, I think the game is fine. Its very consistent and I don't think adding different themed areas for the sake of it would add anything to the experience particularly. I feel like complaints like this are a hangover from older eras of gaming wherte you typically always got the same spread of themed tileset areas; jungle area, volcano area, snowy area, city area etc.
The story is one of the worst I've seen in a video game. Pacing is all fucked up, it has no flow, you don't understand what the fuck is going on half the time and why, the actual plot itself is boring, and it's incredibly short which might actually be a good thing given how awful it is.
Characters are terrible and lack personality. I completed the game never having met that cat girl on the cover, only to find out she's a side quest.
To be honest its got more of a story than Elden Ring does! And I didn't see too many complaints about that.
As to the side-quests I quite like what I've seen so far, and again given many have multiple possible endings it really depends on what you did.
Exploration sucks. 95% of the "dungeons" in this game are caves with the exact same earthy brown aesthetic. No crypts, catacombs, ruins, creepy castles, or any sort of proper dungeon to explore.
Yeah, crypts and catacombs are soooo different! C'mon now. And yes there are actual dungeons as opposed to "dungeons" i.e. any cave or other subterreanean bonus area.
Exploration in this game is truly exceptional, BUT you have to work for it. Both in terms of time investment and being on an appropriate class to appreciate the verticality of the environments.
Pawn systems are imperfect (no surprise given the spaces they need to operate in are so complex geometrically) but its a huge step over the original game. Do not see any issue with Dragonsplague, as any damage caused can be recovered by in-game means.
The difficulty balance is all fucked up. Endgame and NG+ enemies don't scale to your level. Once you hit Level 40+ and have good gear equipped, enemies can't do anything to you.
There's challenge there if you want to look for it. Roll solo and keep yourself up with meds if you want to stretch a bit. And honestly if the combat was hard as hell it would make exploration in late game horrible.
I know this will be fixed soon, but not having the option to start a New Game, in an RPG, is one of the most baffling and braindead decisions I've seen in a long time.
Combat gets repetitive and boring. You run into the same packs of enemies every 10 feet, over and over and over and over again, taking zero effort to kill them, even if they are a large monster.
The game absolutely fucking sucks and I'm perplexed at how anyone could think this is GoTY material. It's actually impressive that in the 12 years since DD1, Itsuno learned nothing.
I disagree. Its a lot more "itself" than the original was insofar as its a very specific take on the format.
I cam sympathize with your frustration though, and although I disagree with your take, I can see where you're coming from.
Its surprisingly uncompromising for a big-budget title, and I think that's a great thing given how homogenous gaming is right now. And with that, its going to lose a LOT of people, because its a game that demands you to change your mindset and expectations for what an open-world rpg is.
I fully admit I struggled for quite awhile and felt like the game was constantly getting in its own way, but over time my opinion has shifted quite a bit.
Not to say I think its perfect or in any way above criticism, I just think its different. And I value that difference even when its not neccessarily what I specifically wanted or expected as an experience.
Dragons Dogma 2 is bizarre purely for all the backwards steps they took from the first game.
As an example:
They do understand part of the appeal of loot in an RPG is discovering more powerful weapons, armour etc.? The loot/progression in the game is absolutely fucked.
Seems to me two points are basically the same thing. The complaint is about VISUAL variety specifically, because although mob families stay the same throughout there is a decent amount of change both behaviourally and in presentation through the game.
Obvious example being Harpies getting more sneaky and dropping you off cliffs later in the game.
Environmentally, I think the game is fine. Its very consistent and I don't think adding different themed areas for the sake of it would add anything to the experience particularly. I feel like complaints like this are a hangover from older eras of gaming wherte you typically always got the same spread of themed tileset areas; jungle area, volcano area, snowy area, city area etc.
To be honest its got more of a story than Elden Ring does! And I didn't see too many complaints about that.
As to the side-quests I quite like what I've seen so far, and again given many have multiple possible endings it really depends on what you did.
Yeah, crypts and catacombs are soooo different! C'mon now. And yes there are actual dungeons as opposed to "dungeons" i.e. any cave or other subterreanean bonus area.
Exploration in this game is truly exceptional, BUT you have to work for it. Both in terms of time investment and being on an appropriate class to appreciate the verticality of the environments.
Pawn systems are imperfect (no surprise given the spaces they need to operate in are so complex geometrically) but its a huge step over the original game. Do not see any issue with Dragonsplague, as any damage caused can be recovered by in-game means.
There's challenge there if you want to look for it. Roll solo and keep yourself up with meds if you want to stretch a bit. And honestly if the combat was hard as hell it would make exploration in late game horrible.
It was added in under a week. Non issue now, so why bring it up when its no-longer relevant?
I doubt you tried every vocation, and every skill setup combination.
I disagree. Its a lot more "itself" than the original was insofar as its a very specific take on the format.
I cam sympathize with your frustration though, and although I disagree with your take, I can see where you're coming from.
Its surprisingly uncompromising for a big-budget title, and I think that's a great thing given how homogenous gaming is right now. And with that, its going to lose a LOT of people, because its a game that demands you to change your mindset and expectations for what an open-world rpg is.
I fully admit I struggled for quite awhile and felt like the game was constantly getting in its own way, but over time my opinion has shifted quite a bit.
Not to say I think its perfect or in any way above criticism, I just think its different. And I value that difference even when its not neccessarily what I specifically wanted or expected as an experience.
This is the first time in years I've ever seen Famitsu scoring a game below the average from western media. DD2 was really rough in Japan with the average score at Amazon being 2.5/5
For Famitsu? Absolutely, this means DD2 would be a 6/10 average in the western reviews. Ever heard of the Nintendogs controversy? They gave 39 or 40/40 when the rest of the world gave 8/10 and this is considered the pinpoint where they would score games 1-2/10 points higher than anyone else.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a 10/10 game in a 6/10 body. In concept the game had every reason to great, and at times it can be. But the overall experienced is severely dragged down by a myriad of problems:
The Enemy variety is severely lacking. You fight the same enemies in the last hour of the game, as you do in the first hour. Someone on Reddit did a count of enemy variety between DD1 and DD2, and DD2 actually had less.
Enemies offer more variety in how they interact with the world, characters, and how they attack/ambush/move. I would rather have fewer enemy models but far more complex and interesting ways these monsters can interact with the player and world.
Having Harpies try and sneak up and make you fall asleep by staying just out of reach before swooping down and trying to lift you off cliffs? Having Goblins attack enmasse with ambushes? Having bandits use traps and try and steal your items before running away? Walking at night to see an ambush of goblins only for them to run away and sound a retreat as a minotaur shows up.
These are just a few examples from the early game, as to prevent spoiling things for players still interested. These are also far more complex and interesting situations than what the previous entry provided.
The Biome variety is also severely lacking. You've got woodlands, a small section with a foggy swamp, a desert, and grassy mountain area with nothing to explore.
The biome variety is fine for the world this is. I would be more disappointed if it was pointlessly shoehorning in constant out of nowhere "unique" biomes that didn't match the world and tone. Imagine going from forests to suddenly a lava filled hellscape or walking 5 minutes and finding yourself in a frozen wonderland. That would take me out of the experience and make the world far less believable.
The story is one of the worst I've seen in a video game. Pacing is all fucked up, it has no flow, you don't understand what the fuck is going on half the time and why, the actual plot itself is boring, and it's incredibly short which might actually be a good thing given how awful it is.
The Pacing is what you make of it. It is the same pacing as in the first game. It asks you to live in the world, not bum rush objective after objective, or do 4 quests all at once. It also depends on what quests you do and when. For example,
the first quest I did when I met with the guard captain was to help out at 3 locations around the immediate vicinity of the capital. I took my time and treated each outing as its own adventure. Every time I do that, I met with sven, whom I helped when he was nearly caught for stealing. By the time I was done with that initial task, I had finished Sven's sidequests and was given a set of noble clothes, perfect for letting me kill two birds with one stone. I was tasked with entering the noble's masqeurade party, which I also used as an excuse to learn more about the Queen and her plans. Both flowed well into each other and made perfect logical sense in doing it in that order. It also felt like a nice reprieve from the saving of small settlements and knights around the capital.
Much of the game is sidequests. Exploring, interacting, talking, living in the world. It is an RPG that asks you to immerse yourself in its world. You don't just go up to random people and get given the quest to go kill a dragon, instead you learn more about them. YOu may find a spat as you walk around the town at night, which leads you to finding the man pretending to be a beggar. You may find a random letter that leads you to a catacomb where you learn of a rare and royal item that also houses some unique battles.
These characters are memorable, but in a more down to earth way. From Sven understanding where he was raised from, but seeing the way the world works and wanting to do better, to prove that he can stand on his own two feet as one such example. Again, keeping it mostly from the early game as to not spoil others.
Exploration sucks. 95% of the "dungeons" in this game are caves with the exact same earthy brown aesthetic. No crypts, catacombs, ruins, creepy castles, or any sort of proper dungeon to explore.
You clearly didn't find many of the dungeons. I have found hidden glowing ruins of a bygone age, spider-filled caves housing the remains of a lost adventurer's party. A gastly forest that obfuscates the paths and has a hidden village leading to a dullahan. There are crypts, there are catacombs, there are castles and dungeons to explore. You just didn't find them.
It is definitely not great, but works for what it needs to. I was never a fan of "keep giving item x to make npc like you more!" concepts. I prefer interacting with and helping them far more.
The game clearly hints at it early on via your pawns and those you bring with you, and if you don't pay attention you could end up causing a massive cataclysm level event, though it can still be fixed and offers a unique adventure for you to go on that you may miss out on.
The difficulty balance is all fucked up. Endgame and NG+ enemies don't scale to your level. Once you hit Level 40+ and have good gear equipped, enemies can't do anything to you.
I know this will be fixed soon, but not having the option to start a New Game, in an RPG, is one of the most baffling and braindead decisions I've seen in a long time.
Combat gets repetitive and boring. You run into the same packs of enemies every 10 feet, over and over and over and over again, taking zero effort to kill them, even if they are a large monster.
As mentioned before and by others, the furhter you get into the game the more tactics and choices the monsters will use to try and stop you. Some monsters will feel trivial due to understanding how they work, their level of innate intelligence (Goblins are not as intelligent as a minotaur or gryphon for example), and the area you fight them in. If you don't want to fight them, you can always run past them with little issue.
The game absolutely fucking sucks and I'm perplexed at how anyone could think this is GoTY material. It's actually impressive that in the 12 years since DD1, Itsuno learned nothing.
Itsuno has learned plenty and the upgrades and updates shown in this game are clear for those enjoying it. It is sad that you didn't enjoy the game, but many of your issues are from you either not properly paying attention (dragonsplague, enemy ai), missing things (dungeons, unique and difficult encounters), etc.
Enemies offer more variety in how they interact with the world, characters, and how they attack/ambush/move. I would rather have fewer enemy models but far more complex and interesting ways these monsters can interact with the player and world.
Having Harpies try and sneak up and make you fall asleep by staying just out of reach before swooping down and trying to lift you off cliffs? Having Goblins attack enmasse with ambushes? Having bandits use traps and try and steal your items before running away? Walking at night to see an ambush of goblins only for them to run away and sound a retreat as a minotaur shows up.
These are just a few examples from the early game, as to prevent spoiling things for players still interested. These are also far more complex and interesting situations than what the previous entry provided.
The biome variety is fine for the world this is. I would be more disappointed if it was pointlessly shoehorning in constant out of nowhere "unique" biomes that didn't match the world and tone. Imagine going from forests to suddenly a lava filled hellscape or walking 5 minutes and finding yourself in a frozen wonderland. That would take me out of the experience and make the world far less believable.
The Pacing is what you make of it. It is the same pacing as in the first game. It asks you to live in the world, not bum rush objective after objective, or do 4 quests all at once. It also depends on what quests you do and when. For example,
the first quest I did when I met with the guard captain was to help out at 3 locations around the immediate vicinity of the capital. I took my time and treated each outing as its own adventure. Every time I do that, I met with sven, whom I helped when he was nearly caught for stealing. By the time I was done with that initial task, I had finished Sven's sidequests and was given a set of noble clothes, perfect for letting me kill two birds with one stone. I was tasked with entering the noble's masqeurade party, which I also used as an excuse to learn more about the Queen and her plans. Both flowed well into each other and made perfect logical sense in doing it in that order. It also felt like a nice reprieve from the saving of small settlements and knights around the capital.
Much of the game is sidequests. Exploring, interacting, talking, living in the world. It is an RPG that asks you to immerse yourself in its world. You don't just go up to random people and get given the quest to go kill a dragon, instead you learn more about them. YOu may find a spat as you walk around the town at night, which leads you to finding the man pretending to be a beggar. You may find a random letter that leads you to a catacomb where you learn of a rare and royal item that also houses some unique battles.
These characters are memorable, but in a more down to earth way. From Sven understanding where he was raised from, but seeing the way the world works and wanting to do better, to prove that he can stand on his own two feet as one such example. Again, keeping it mostly from the early game as to not spoil others.
You clearly didn't find many of the dungeons. I have found hidden glowing ruins of a bygone age, spider-filled caves housing the remains of a lost adventurer's party. A gastly forest that obfuscates the paths and has a hidden village leading to a dullahan. There are crypts, there are catacombs, there are castles and dungeons to explore. You just didn't find them.
It is definitely not great, but works for what it needs to. I was never a fan of "keep giving item x to make npc like you more!" concepts. I prefer interacting with and helping them far more.
The game clearly hints at it early on via your pawns and those you bring with you, and if you don't pay attention you could end up causing a massive cataclysm level event, though it can still be fixed and offers a unique adventure for you to go on that you may miss out on.
There are plenty of very difficult encounters that you clearly haven't found yet.
Already was fixed, even before your post. So this point is moot.
As mentioned before and by others, the furhter you get into the game the more tactics and choices the monsters will use to try and stop you. Some monsters will feel trivial due to understanding how they work, their level of innate intelligence (Goblins are not as intelligent as a minotaur or gryphon for example), and the area you fight them in. If you don't want to fight them, you can always run past them with little issue.
This is pretty much the norm in most RPGs.
Itsuno has learned plenty and the upgrades and updates shown in this game are clear for those enjoying it. It is sad that you didn't enjoy the game, but many of your issues are from you either not properly paying attention (dragonsplague, enemy ai), missing things (dungeons, unique and difficult encounters), etc.
When I made my earlier post, I was in early endgame, fought one of the endgame enemies, and then basically lost interest and quit the game. But I thought I'd be fair, and actually fully explore what endgame has to offer. Because maybe you were right, maybe I didn't get into the real shit. The big boy fights. So I spent the past few days doing just that. I fought all the endgame enemies, and yeah....sorry man but I still feel the same. Nothing in the game past the first 10 hours remotely challenged me. I actually started farming certain enemies because I got the endgame gear and wanted to upgrade them. At one point I'm fighting a Gore Chimera and I melt him in less than a minute, and it kind of hits me. Why bother farming for endgame gear, if I'm already at a point where enemies are dying so incredibly fast from me tickling them? So I kinda just stopped.
I think the core gameplay is a lot of fun, but the systems surrounding it are poorly implemented. I'm not trying to have a god gamer complex. I'm not that good. But if they game offers things like endgame gear, optional bosses, and NG+, I need motivation to do that. And if my character is at a point where enemies can't do anything to me, then I don't see the point. I've seen some people say "Play a different vocation" or "Play without Pawns", but imo the onus is on the game to challenge me.
If the game had more enemy and dungeon variety, harder challenges, and level scaling with NG+, it would've brought the game up a couple points for me and I'd be having a much better time. But I wanted to give your criticism a fair shake a least.
This is how I feel. Itsuno has talked at length about how DD1 was unfinished, and due to budgetary reasons he was not able to achieve his true vision for the game. After DD2 I now know that was complete buillshit.
I will wait for that leaked DLC to release and then play DD2 Gold Edition before seeing if I agree with this post and your first one. All of your complaints might be outdated by then(hopefully) and even you knew that could be the case in your first post.
Considering that nowadays - well, for the last 20 years - video game reviews don't use the full spectrum, only 7-8-9-10. We can already see how the lopsided feedback is effectively killing the new, high budget games.
DD2 sure has been a disappointment but it still kept me hooked for more than a hundred hours. Both the sequel and the first game had great potential that was unreached due to budget, time or whatever other constraints the development team might had to face, but they are both still very fun games to play through.
I think DD fans had crazy expectations for the game, myself included, but the undeniable truth is that the end product feels like a very unique game that's quite fun to play through, even with it all flaws.
Flaws which imo aren't that many. For me, it's a lack of more dungeon types (would have loved something resembling the water god temple from the first game for example) and the lack of challenge, since aside from drakes and two other random cave boss fights (the chimera in waterfall cave and the liche + lord skelleton duo in a tomb in Battahl) most of the game felt more like a power fantasy rather than an actual challenge. This would have been a dealbreaker for me if the combat wasn't as fun as it is.
Thankfully, both those issues might be fixed in the future. The former with a proper DLC expansion, and the later with the inclusion of a Hard Mode, which in PC is kind of already available thanks to the Custom Difficulty mod.
The lack of J-Rock in the main menu is another big issue. What were they thinking?
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a 10/10 game in a 6/10 body. In concept the game had every reason to great, and at times it can be. But the overall experienced is severely dragged down by a myriad of problems:
The Enemy variety is severely lacking. You fight the same enemies in the last hour of the game, as you do in the first hour. Someone on Reddit did a count of enemy variety between DD1 and DD2, and DD2 actually had less.
The Biome variety is also severely lacking. You've got woodlands, a small section with a foggy swamp, a desert, and grassy mountain area with nothing to explore.
The story is one of the worst I've seen in a video game. Pacing is all fucked up, it has no flow, you don't understand what the fuck is going on half the time and why, the actual plot itself is boring, and it's incredibly short which might actually be a good thing given how awful it is.
Characters are terrible and lack personality. I completed the game never having met that cat girl on the cover, only to find out she's a side quest.
Exploration sucks. 95% of the "dungeons" in this game are caves with the exact same earthy brown aesthetic. No crypts, catacombs, ruins, creepy castles, or any sort of proper dungeon to explore.
Affinity system is once again an absolute joke.
The Dragonsplague system is a nice idea in concept, but is retarded in it's implementation.
The difficulty balance is all fucked up. Endgame and NG+ enemies don't scale to your level. Once you hit Level 40+ and have good gear equipped, enemies can't do anything to you.
I know this will be fixed soon, but not having the option to start a New Game, in an RPG, is one of the most baffling and braindead decisions I've seen in a long time.
Combat gets repetitive and boring. You run into the same packs of enemies every 10 feet, over and over and over and over again, taking zero effort to kill them, even if they are a large monster.
The game absolutely fucking sucks and I'm perplexed at how anyone could think this is GoTY material. It's actually impressive that in the 12 years since DD1, Itsuno learned nothing.
Have you played SMT V? The exploration in DD2 reminded me a lot of the exploration in that game.
Sure, like 90% of the dungeons are caves, but the overworld itself often feels labyrinthian enough and it's filled with stuff to find, like treasures, seeker tokens or cool encounters, like the Medusa lair.
It’s not bait. The vast majority of “dungeons” in the game are caves, and I absolutely stand by that point. Even Tinto who’s defending the exploration of the game concurs that 90% are caves.
It’s not bait. The vast majority of “dungeons” in the game are caves, and I absolutely stand by that point. Even Tinto who’s defending the exploration of the game concurs that 90% are caves.
I think because Dragon Dogma is trying be more grounded and less fantastical like Elden Ring, you are not going find visual striking locations like City of Nokron or Miquella's Haligtree in DD2.
It’s not bait. The vast majority of “dungeons” in the game are caves, and I absolutely stand by that point. Even Tinto who’s defending the exploration of the game concurs that 90% are caves.
But there are ruins, castles and even crypts to explore and you said there arent any.
As for story, worst you ever seen and not understanding whats going on? How hard is it to understand that a false arise has taken your place. Once again hyperbole.
There technically are, but barely. Compared to the amount of caves there are, there aren't nearly enough other types of places to make it feel balanced. As it stands, it's overwhelmingly caves with the same aesthetic.
As for story, worst you ever seen and not understanding whats going on? How hard is it to understand that a false arise has taken your place. Once again hyperbole.
It's not hyperbole. The story is terrible. I said it's "one of" the worst I've ever seen, so let's not misrepresent my point. And yes it is hard to understand what's going on. The basic gist of the plot? Yeah I can understand. But things like the how and why are badly told. The pacing and the flow of the narrative is a mess, and character motivation and development are paper thin. Yes, the story is really bad.
Madflavor points, despite rather enjoying the 113 hours i spent on the game
