Dragon's Dogma II - "They’re masterworks, all – you can’t go wrong"

[Saark]

It is insane to me that @Saark beat the game in that amount of time. I'm 15 hours in and feel like I'm just scraping the surface.

I felt the same way, but once you reach Battahl the magic stopped for me and the desire to explore every nook and cranny kind of went away. Or rather, I just wanted to make my way to the big city in it, and then unlock the remaining vocations. Problem is, the capital is on the opposite end of the area, so you basically go through half of it already before you get there. By the time I arrived, I set out to unlock the remaining vocations, and once I did that, I was already on the second to last quest of the main-story. At that point, the desire to finish and check out post-game beat the desire to being a completionist running around a barren desert looking for caves.

My exploration statistics, for what its worth. It doesn't help that Battahl is a lot more barren, not just in a visual sense, but in a location sense as well. Which makes sense, of course, a deserted wasteland of a country is less likely to have interesting vistas and lots of dungeons, but I surely was disappointed traveling across a vast amount of mountain sides and roads without finding a single cave on my way there. Volcanic Island is even worse, as it makes up about a fourth of the world map yet most of it is inaccessible. There's no tracker for completed quests sadly, it might give a bigger and better picture of how much I skipped.

Vast amounts of the map are empty and unaccessible, unfortunately.

Spoiler

Volcanic Island (the island in the bottom right) was a massive letdown. It's basically 2 escort quests, a giant lava river, and 2 towns with one of them (the one you start the game in) having zero content. The slave-driver didn't even recognize me or have anything to say about me returning. Here's to hoping I simply missed a lot in my first playthrough.

But, again I wish I could just go back to reload my old save to discover more, but once you finish the last quest, your experience is on railroads. There's no "point of no return" warning either, it's just one NPC telling you "you should rest at an inn", which I already did of course. Little did I know the game would no longer allow me to load from that save.

People finishing it in 40 hours or less are using a lot of fast travel and hiring high level pawns.

Never hired a pawn above my level, and I used 13 Ox carts total. I used 3 ferry-stones in all of the main quest. It's just not nearly as big a game as I initially thought, and that's totally fine. I think your ~70hour estimate is pretty spot-on if you set out to explore a lot more, I just didn't feel that desire.


All of that being said, I'm already playing again to check out what I missed, this time playing the game on Hardmode (Archer) instead of Games Journalism difficulty (Sorcerer). The game is very good, don't let anybody's criticisms (including my own) sour your experience.

 

[Saark]

Where is the portcrystal at notrivendell I mean Arborheart? Cannot seem to find it.

Spoiler

There is none. From what I can tell, there is 2 port-crystals in the main game, Vernworth and Harve. And Battahl are hardcore Rift-haters, so there's none there whatsoever.

If there's no Ox-cart, you're shit out of luck, beyond finding your own port-crystals you drop, but they're incredibly rare (I know of 5, so far)

 

[Jinn]

lol my laptop can't boot the game, apparently its gpu isn't supported (gtx 1160 ti mobile)

I was musing today, "wait if the game is so CPU dependent, that would happen if I increased it's priority for the CPU ?"
so i booted up the game, opened the task manager, the details tab, found DD2, RMB click and set Priority to High
the game loads much faster and rarely drops bellow 30fps (haven't reached the city yet)

I can't believe I forgot to try this out. Thanks for reminding me! It boosted my performance considerably.

I felt the same way, but once you reach Battahl the magic stopped for me and the desire to explore every nook and cranny kind of went away.

Doubt that'll end up being the case for me. Not to mention I've only explored a small percentage of the top part of the map so far.

Have you played much into post-game yet? Heard it's supposed to get pretty juicy.

 

[Saark]

Have you played much into post-game yet? Heard it's supposed to get pretty juicy.

I finished all the quests in it (from what I can tell, none of the cities had new ones for me, at least), and gave my thoughts a few pages ago.

Spoiler

It's definitely more enjoayable on the combat side of things, but exploration becomes a slog due to the sheer amount of filler undead getting in your way *everywhere*, and I am very frustrated that finishing the final quest (without any prior warning) completely locks you out of it, forcing you into NG+ instead.

Overall I just can't put my finger on it, but something feels off about the game. Then again, it's the exact same I felt about the first one, which I greatly enjoyed as well. It might just be my choice of vocation that basically kept me from engaging with part of the combat entirely, as you don't climb enemies or really target weakspots at all as a mage/sorcerer. It's just auto-lock, cast spell, repeat (and spell-casting is dumbed down compared to the first game too).

 

[HoboForEternity]

lol my laptop can't boot the game, apparently its gpu isn't supported (gtx 1160 ti mobile)

I was musing today, "wait if the game is so CPU dependent, that would happen if I increased it's priority for the CPU ?"
so i booted up the game, opened the task manager, the details tab, found DD2, RMB click and set Priority to High
the game loads much faster and rarely drops bellow 30fps (haven't reached the city yet)

I can't believe I forgot to try this out. Thanks for reminding me! It boosted my performance considerably.

I felt the same way, but once you reach Battahl the magic stopped for me and the desire to explore every nook and cranny kind of went away.

Doubt that'll end up being the case for me. Not to mention I've only explored a small percentage of the top part of the map so far.

Have you played much into post-game yet? Heard it's supposed to get pretty juicy.

I tried using a program called lossless scaling where it gives you frame generation that you can use for any GPU. gave me 60 fps even in cities, but still doesnt get rid of the denuvo stutters.

there are minor artifacting but much better than having it run unstably between 40 and 60 fps

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

I'm currently 31 hours in. I still haven't progressed the story beyond "meet black guy in tavern" LOL. Still have only used oxcart once. I used the port crystal a second time because I thought a certain quest was on a timer but that doesn't seem to be the case. So 3 fast travels total. Thas how you separate the men from the boys.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Ok how long does it take to unlock warrior?

 

[Jinn]

Overall I just can't put my finger on it, but something feels off about the game. Then again, it's the exact same I felt about the first one, which I greatly enjoyed as well. It might just be my choice of vocation that basically kept me from engaging with part of the combat entirely, as you don't climb enemies or really target weakspots at all as a mage/sorcerer. It's just auto-lock, cast spell, repeat (and spell-casting is dumbed down compared to the first game too).

I can't imagine playing mage/sorcerer for a first playthrough. That's third replay stuff. You sadly robbed yourself of half the fun of the game right there.

Ok how long does it take to unlock warrior?

Really as quickly as you want if you b-line to the city.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I can't imagine playing mage/sorcerer for a first playthrough

Or any playthrough, for that matter.

Really as quickly as you want if you b-line to the city.

I see, was hoping I could get it earlier this time. Ah well, I still have another week before I have the time to play this anyway.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Going off this I could be a real dick but I ain't that way. You did rush through the game but it sounds like fatigue set in. It happens. Some people can play Elden Ring for thousands of hours and have a blast the whole time. Around the 200 hour mark I was rushing to get it over with (it just felt like lousy bargain bin Dark Souls at that point) but unfortunately for me the game dragged on for another 50 hours. It didn't help you were maining a mage/sorce which most people agree are the lamest classes. If I was forced to play as one of those two I wouldn't be a DD fan either.

 

[Saark]

You sadly robbed yourself of half the fun of the game right there.

It's not a big deal, as enemies don't scale at all in NG+ and the stats you gain from leveling aren't supert impactful either, not at the level I'm at. So just picking up a new vocation makes it feel fresh the second time around.

It didn't help you were maining a mage/sorce which most people agred are the lamest classes. If I was forced to play as one of those two I wouldn't be a DD fan either.

There's definitely some truth to it, the overall gameplay experience is a lot easier and straightforward. I greatly enjoyed my Strider DD1 playtime, but I also had a blast as a caster. Unfortunately the spell system in DD2 is a straight downgrade to DD1, as there's no more upcasting of spells, you just equip the higher level version. Between that, and Quickcasting being a thing for anything but the Maister spells, and enemies giving you a lot of time to actually cast spells, and combat felt much less engaging for sure.

That being said, there's a noticeable decrease in explorable areas in the second main area, and virtually none in the third, if you can even call it a third. I'm also starting to believe that something bugged out for me quest wise, as I mentioned before, I never had certain events trigger in my playthrough, and did not get certain quests in Battahl either. I'll be interested to see how peoples opinions change as they keep playing, I definitely enjoyed the first half of the game a hell of a lot more than the second one.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Rumor is, the best class in Dragon's Dogma games is the Uninstaller.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Rumor is, the best class in Dragon's Dogma games is the Uninstaller.

Rumour is, your jokes would be more fresh and original if you used the Self Ejecter.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Rumor is, the best class in Dragon's Dogma games is the Uninstaller.

Rumor is hitting the gym makes your fatass less fatter.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

medicatedpoot, are you still butthurt cause I linked a professional review saying dragons duckma 2 is an infestation of filth?

 

[mediocrepoet]

medicatedpoot, are you still butthurt cause I linked a professional review saying dragons duckma 2 is an infestation of filth?

Yeah. Totally devastated as usual with whatever forgettable nonsense you post anywhere. Quit fellating yourself.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Porky has cybersex with troons on codex discord.

Shit I forgot spoiler tags.

Spoiler

Porky has cybersex with troons on codex discord.

And he's FAT!

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Heh, this game occasionally has that same spirit as FromSoft stuff where it wants to be a giant dick towards you. I'm still escorting the elf to his destination for god knows what reason. It doesn't even show up in the quest menu.

But I've come to a river I need to cross and conveniently on the other side there's a Griffin hanging out and then a little ways up stream there's a Drake. I can probably handle the Griffin but this elf I'm escorting isn't a pawn. If he dies he's gone. Also fighting it might attract the Drake. If this is anything like DD1 the Drake will smoke my entire party and shit on the remains of us. I can either venture far up river and pray there's an easier crossing or try to run past the thing that will certainly murder my entire party in seconds.

Decisions decisions... I'm gonna take a break and figure it out tomorrow. Very interesting situation.

 

[Saark]

The best moment in the game for me, but also one of the most annoying ones, was using one of those Ropewas in Battahl. After spending about 2 minutes on it, and being very close to my destination, being assailed by Harpies multiple times on my way already, a Gryphon decided to fly straight into it. He demolished the cart I was on, and we all fell to our deaths. Since he was still on the same path after reloading, I was forced to go by foot, because the Ropeway unusable due to this feathery menace.

 

[mediocrepoet]

The best moment in the game for me, but also one of the most annoying ones, was using one of those Ropewas in Battahl. After spending about 2 minutes on it, and being very close to my destination, being assailed by Harpies multiple times on my way already, a Gryphon decided to fly straight into it. He demolished the cart I was on, and we all fell to our deaths. Since he was still on the same path after reloading, I was forced to go by foot, because the Ropeway unusable due to this feathery menace.

My favourite was fighting goblins at the end of a bridge and accidentally hitting the bridge moorings and taking out the bridge, killing two of my pawns, including my main pawn.

Get off the bridge when the Arisen's in town!

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

Yeah, decided to wait a while on this one. Fuck paying full-price for a game with so many problems, but it seems good enough I can ignore the random niggers.

Will be waiting for an expansion like BBI (the best part of DD & I'm very sure it'll still be better than DD2). I hope exploration is better in that you don't get quest stuff if you find it while exploring (before talking to relevant NPC).

I also hope there's an option to hide that Hud, I don't need all my binds on screen telling me what to do. The controller using mouthbreathers are, and always will be, harbingers of decline.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

The best moment in the game for me, but also one of the most annoying ones, was using one of those Ropewas in Battahl. After spending about 2 minutes on it, and being very close to my destination, being assailed by Harpies multiple times on my way already, a Gryphon decided to fly straight into it. He demolished the cart I was on, and we all fell to our deaths. Since he was still on the same path after reloading, I was forced to go by foot, because the Ropeway unusable due to this feathery menace.

My favourite was fighting goblins at the end of a bridge and accidentally hitting the bridge moorings and taking out the bridge, killing two of my pawns, including my main pawn.

Get off the bridge when the Arisen's in town!

There's a Bridgeburner joke here somewhere...

 

[mediocrepoet]

This basically echoes some earlier things but I thought the specifics were interesting.

 

[Saark]

This basically echoes some earlier things but I thought the specifics were interesting.

There's some decent benchmarks buried in this article as well, as well as some specifics as to what might be causing it, and what fixes we might be seeing in the future.

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/dragons-dogma-2-performance-analysis/

Unrelated -- For those who are as annoyed with the save-game situation as I am, there's a good mod for it that lets you have infinite saves.

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonsdogma2/mods/52

 

[Yosharian]

The thing that is getting tiresome for me is the monster density, there is too much fighting trash monsters and after a certain point it gets a little bit repetitive

Luckily my spells are starting to hit like a truck after I got a new staff from the Elven village so I can just murder goblins etc with ease now