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

[gabel]

I've unlocked all vocations, shortly before the end, but the game's just mediocre, an absolute downgrade compared to Dark Arisen in everything that counts. Still worth playing considering the sea of shit that's released in current year, but it should've been so much better.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

I am sure you have

 

[DJOGamer PT]

In other news

 

[cvv]

Broski how's the patching situation?

I've bounced off the game when my save got corrupted but I would've put the game on hold anyway, due to massive frame drops in towns. Are they addressed yet?

 

[DJOGamer PT]

If you're asking about the performance, then unfortunately no
And sadly it is unlikely it will get fixed, as for some reason they bounded all physics calculations, alongside NPC properties, into one single cpu core

 

[Yosharian]

Maybe perf fixes will come with the DLC? Who knows

Seems unlikely they will just sit on this game what with how popular it was

 

[HoboForEternity]

It's also simply worse than Dark Arisen in almost all aspects.
Maybe an expansion will elevate it a bit, but most of the flaws are systemic and unlikely to get fixed.

it's better than the original dragon's dogma without dark arisen, so i expect the expansion will give DD2 a DA treatment

 

[Suicidal]

It's also simply worse than Dark Arisen in almost all aspects.
Maybe an expansion will elevate it a bit, but most of the flaws are systemic and unlikely to get fixed.

it's better than the original dragon's dogma without dark arisen, so i expect the expansion will give DD2 a DA treatment

I'm clueless about the original DD. What did Dark Arisen add besides the Bitterblack Isle?

I'd say the only thing worse than the original that probably can't be fixed without remaking the core systems is the clunky movement.

 

[cvv]

I'm clueless about the original DD. What did Dark Arisen add besides the Bitterblack Isle?

Tons of new gear, chardev enhancements and balance changes.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I'm clueless about the original DD. What did Dark Arisen add besides the Bitterblack Isle?

Tons of new gear, chardev enhancements and balance changes.

The new equipment added by the Dark Arisen version consists of powerful items that can be found in Bitterblack Isle, not the base game, unless you're counting the forgery shop items that were originally DLC. The most important change that Dark Arisen made to the base game is to increase the number of portable Portcrystals from 1 to 5, with the other four all appearing earlier in the game than the original one found at the top of Bluemoon Tower, and to slash the price of Ferrystones by nine-tenths; this made teleporting around the world map far easier than in the original version.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I'm clueless about the original DD. What did Dark Arisen add besides the Bitterblack Isle?

Tons of new gear, chardev enhancements and balance changes.

Not to mention unlimited ferrystone and no more mercantile romances and that you didn't ask for.

 

[gabel]

Of course we also have retards like gabel here that [...] were already doomposting about it months before release.

Unfortunately most of my predictions turned out to be true.

They won't fix the removal of the layered clothing/armor system, which gave so many more options, for gameplay/stats as well as fashion.
Same with the pathetic 4 weapon skills limit which makes Warfarer an even bigger joke (equip a staff for Levitate and to kill Phantoms at the cost of one weapon skill I guess?) and soloing frustrating (especially with all the stunlocking gangsquads) instead of rewarding.
Also, nights are suddenly more relaxing to wander than during daytime, which is too densly crowded with enemies; every 5 steps another horde of hobgoblins, wolves, saurians, bandits and harpies.
The world is too large and mountainous, and the caves/dungeons suffer from sameyness and too simplistic layouts; less but higher quality would've been more. Why not cut Vermund's size by a third or half and have a BBI-like dungeon or something similar here and there instead? Even something like Soulflayer Canyon (?) is sorely missing.
Both main- and sidequests are kinda bad for the most part, and NPCs unlikable and forgettable, with few exceptions.
Also fuck these retards showing up at my residence every other night asking for an escort. Man, I miss the message boards, lol.

I may write a longer review when I finished my first playthrough, but that's the gist of it so far.
It's definitely still one of the better games of these past years, but I expected much more after DDDA.

6/10 for now.

 

[Stoned Ape]

Of course we also have retards like gabel here that [...] were already doomposting about it months before release.

Unfortunately most of my predictions turned out to be true.

They won't fix the removal of the layered clothing/armor system, which gave so many more options, for gameplay/stats as well as fashion.
Same with the pathetic 4 weapon skills limit which makes Warfarer an even bigger joke (equip a staff for Levitate and to kill Phantoms at the cost of one weapon skill I guess?) and soloing frustrating (especially with all the stunlocking gangsquads) instead of rewarding.
Also, nights are suddenly more relaxing to wander than during daytime, which is too densly crowded with enemies; every 5 steps another horde of hobgoblins, wolves, saurians, bandits and harpies.
The world is too large and mountainous, and the caves/dungeons suffer from sameyness and too simplistic layouts; less but higher quality would've been more. Why not cut Vermund's size by a third or half and have a BBI-like dungeon or something similar here and there instead? Even something like Soulflayer Canyon (?) is sorely missing.
Both main- and sidequests are kinda bad for the most part, and NPCs unlikable and forgettable, with few exceptions.
Also fuck these retards showing up at my residence every other night asking for an escort. Man, I miss the message boards, lol.

I may wright a longer review when I finished my first playthrough, but that's the gist of it so far.
It's definitely still one of the better games of these past years, but I expected much more after DDDA.

6/10 for now.

I agree with a lot of that, but not all. I certainly don't miss message boards, and I actually enjoy telling NPCs I don't like (most of them) to fuck off if they turn up at my door asking for an escort.

I miss the general armour design from DDDA, not just the layering. There are some great sets, but a lot of it is just goofy.

I particularly miss the lack of something like Soulflayer Canyon or any interesting dungeons/towers. I do think a lot of the overland areas are better than DDDA, though. Particularly Western Vermond (ancient battleground is definitely the most interesting location in the early game) and the Volcanic Isle. The Unmoored world is my favourite part of the game.

More than any of that I'd prefer an official Hard mode, though. The game is very easy and I miss how exciting exploring BBI could be.

For me, four skills is a 33% upgrade on the 3 that warrior had in DDDA, plus they have the shoulder barge interrupt on top of that! Warrior was mid at best in DDDA (unless you really enjoyed spamming jump attacks) and is much better in DD2.

Warfarer can just carry a staff around in inventory and equip it when you need to levitate/shoot phantoms instead of wasting a skill slot on swapping weapons.

Overall I hope the expansion adds a load of high-risk exploration, a big dungeon, and a big increase to the enemy pool. If they do all of that then I'd think it would be a decent upgrade on the original overall.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Unfortunately most of my predictions turned out to be true.

Lol "predictions"
You're making you were copy-pasting your shit doomposts from /v/, as the devs went along and revealed things

They won't fix the removal of the layered clothing/armor system, which gave so many more options, for gameplay/stats as well as fashion.

This was only true while the player was still using low-mid armor or slutmaxxing
With mid-high level armors everyone looked mostly the same

Same with the pathetic 4 weapon skills limit

Only Mage and Sorcerer suffered from this restriction, every other class benefitted as they have more core skills and the weapon skills are more versatile

and soloing frustrating

Solo is mean to be an exceptional challenge run, as the games are meant for the player to at least always have the Main Pawn
Also git gud
There's a guy on /vg/ddg/ that has been for the last month doing a sort of LP of his solo warrior run

Also, nights are suddenly more relaxing to wander than during daytime,

I've found that nigths are about the same in danger as DD1

which is too densly crowded with enemies;

Enemy encounter are denser outside main roads, just like DD1

The world is too large and mountainous

The level design of DD2 world is the most substancial improvement over DD1
Exploration is closer to Gothic 2

Even something like Soulflayer Canyon (?) is sorely missing.

Batthal kinda serves that function already

Both main- and sidequests are kinda bad for the most part,

High quality criticism right here

and NPCs unlikable and forgettable, with few exceptions.

You know what that reminds me of? DD1

Man, I miss the message boards, lol.

Message boards made the game feel like an mmo

I expected much more after DDDA.

Such as?

 

[mediocrepoet]

Man, I miss the message boards, lol.

Message boards made the game feel like an mmo

Don't be so dismissive. Who can forget such high quality quests like kill 10 rats or collect 25 harpy pinions? They really made the fucking game work, ok?

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

I still say this game has above average storytelling. Punks want me to believe Bethesda slop is better than this? Bitch plz. And the quest design is second to none. And the exploration. And the combat. And the world design. Capcom didn't let us down, we let Capcom down.

 

[gabel]

I'm not autistically adressing every single one of your quotes, but I want to clarify some things.

Unfortunately most of my predictions turned out to be true.

Lol "predictions"
You're making you were copy-pasting your shit doomposts from /v/, as the devs went along and revealed things[...]

Blatant lie.
I never posted or even lurked on 4chan /v/ or whatever. This is my oldest post (from 2019) on the dex that I could find on the topic, which is a bit of a hassle since I nuked my old account which makes it hard to search for old posts. I'm quite sure there are older ones and I promise I didn't copy any of them from /v/. Yes, I got some things wrong as well; the game turned out not as bad as I had feared, but many predictions still turned out correct:

Even if it's a new Dragon's Dogma, prepare to be disappointed.

Between the almost perfect char creator, the awesome, responsive combat, the nine vocations, hundreds of skills and augments, dozens of quests, pawn system, layered armor system, hundreds of different armor/clothing parts, weapons, materials and consumables, I'm pretty sure a lot will be missing from a potential sequel.

The char creator is more complex than before, but at the same time more restrictive.

The dagger/bow vocations Strider, Assassin, Archer and Magick Archer, which were the most fun and versatile, all lost their daggers, and as a result suffer deeply from the restriction to 4 skills, your saying core skills compensate for that must be a joke: the roll core skill we had in DDDA was better than the dash we have now. All classes suffer from the 4 skill limit, except maybe Warrior. Also, where is Double Vault? Warfarer, which you normally unlock pretty much right before the endgame, is a poor substitution. Many vocations lost useful skills as well. Sorcerer could charge Focused Bolt and keep moving about before unleashing it, no longer possible.
Even many Augments are worse than before.

The layered armor system mattered throughout the game, because you could make so many distinct looking outfits, it was crazy. And in endgame armor didn't really matter that much, especially once you had it dragonforged. Now every second support pawn in the Rift wears that ridiculous corset, because for some reason it has the best armor values for support classes (i.e. anything but Fighter and Warrior). You're shilling for the removal of one of Dark Arisen's best systems.

Roads used to be somewhat safer in DDDA, yes, but that is no longer the case, every 5 meters waits some kind of encounter, and it gets boring quickly. Nights feel way more relaxed in that sense, and the few Skeletons, Undead and Phantoms you encounter don't really pose a threat. To find something more interesting like a Dullahan or a Wight you have to win the lottery, encounter them during a quest or consult a map.

I used to play DDDA completely solo from start to finish, I even did the solo BBI challenge as soon as you could get there, and I had a blast (literally—where are Throwblasts btw? Why can you use explosive and other special arrows only with specific skills?). It was fun all the way. I still try to play DD2 solo, and it is possible, but more often than not do I think to myself "fuck this" and take my main pawn, just so the 7 Hobgoblins, 4 Bandits and 3 Harpies don't gang up on me on the main road in bright daylight. And where's the Autonomy Augment?

And yes, the world looks great and exploration is fun, and it feels like they got the population with the larger monsters like Cyclopes, Ogres, Minotaurs, Chimeras, Golems, Griffins and Drakes about right (maybe a bit too dense, but meh. And where are Cockatrices?). But it still feels a bit too big. What I don't like are the many samey-looking caves and tunnels. Why not make the world slightly smaller and put a bit more effort into distinct-looking dungeons and slightly more enemy-variety? Soulflayer Canyon for example was also no masterpiece, but it was unique. I wish DD2 had at least some more of that, considering the size of the overworld. And no, Battahl is Vermund in red with even more gang-squads and climbing (which is automated to a large extent now). Though I'm thankful it exists, it suffers from the same problems Vermund does: appx. 30% too big, too mountainous and too many gang-rapey trashmobs with not enough variety. And who the fuck thought that skyway was a good idea?

All this sounds more negative than I mean it really; but they had such a great foundation with Dark Arisen—which will forever be in my top 10—and 12 years time, I just expected them to come up with a better world, story, and to expand on the existing systems instead of gutting them to such an extent.

 

[Cyberarmy]

All this sounds more negative than I mean it really; but they had such a great foundation with Dark Arisen, and 12 years time, I just expexted them to come up with a better world, story, and to expand on the existing systems instead of gutting them to an extent.

This but all we have now is DD 1,5 with nice graphics and better exploration but with less threats and variety.

 

[Carceri]

They won't fix the removal of the layered clothing/armor system, which gave so many more options, for gameplay/stats as well as fashion.

This was only true while the player was still using low-mid armor or slutmaxxing
With mid-high level armors everyone looked mostly the same

Ah yes, this retarded argument. The problem wasn't the armor system, it was the fact that for some reason the devs decided to slap on the high lvl. equipment all the stats and resistances they could find in the game, and then add some augments on them as well, just for good measure. So the ''solution'' was to ditch a really cool system instead of maybe not put crazy op items in the game. And it surely worked, so much variety now in DD2 with this 3 piece amputated armor system. Clearly, nobody is wearing now the top obvious armor for its vocation, the fashion set, or the naked 'armor', just like in the original game.

 

[Yosharian]

People put slutty armor on their pawns because A) they want them to look slutty B) it makes them more appealing for fellow players, resulting in more RC

This isn't rocket science

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Ah yes, this retarded argument. The problem wasn't the armor system, it was the fact that for some reason the devs decided to slap on the high lvl. equipment all the stats and resistances they could find in the game, and then add some augments on them as well, just for good measure. So the ''solution'' was to ditch a really cool system instead of maybe not put crazy op items in the game. And it surely worked, so much variety now in DD2 with this 3 piece amputated armor system. Clearly, nobody is wearing now the top obvious armor for its vocation, the fashion set, or the naked 'armor', just like in the original game.

Not sure what your point is. I wore all the skimpy fashion shit in late game because I could. Min-maxing autism is not at all required in this game, which is incline.

 

[processdaemon]

The ending is bittersweet but ok. It does feels somewhat rushed, but I guess it gets the job done. DDDA did a better job at that, I think.
Also, no idea why I got Glyndwr instead of Ulrika as the "number one friend" in the credits, wtf.
I made sure to give flowers to Ulrika every once in a while just to get that elf staring at the horizon before the credits roll.

I rejected all contact with Glyndwr after completing his questline, and he still ended up as the "number three" in the end slides, with Ulrika as "number one" and appearing in that brief sea-horizon scene. It seems the affinity system of Dragon's Dogma 2 has issues, just as Dragon's Dogma originally did before being largely fixed in the Dark Arisen version.

Yeah, I haven't finished the game yet but despite mostly ignoring them after the elfcity quests when I went to the hot springs Glyndwr and his father were there, so I think something in the affinity system just makes it really hard to escape elven manlove in this game.

 

[Carceri]

Ah yes, this retarded argument. The problem wasn't the armor system, it was the fact that for some reason the devs decided to slap on the high lvl. equipment all the stats and resistances they could find in the game, and then add some augments on them as well, just for good measure. So the ''solution'' was to ditch a really cool system instead of maybe not put crazy op items in the game. And it surely worked, so much variety now in DD2 with this 3 piece amputated armor system. Clearly, nobody is wearing now the top obvious armor for its vocation, the fashion set, or the naked 'armor', just like in the original game.

Not sure what your point is. I wore all the skimpy fashion shit in late game because I could. Min-maxing autism is not at all required in this game, which is incline.

My point is that the removal of the original layered armor system for the sake of variety, is just pure bullshit. It's a lame excuse for lazyness.

 

[gabel]

Man, I miss the message boards, lol.

Message boards made the game feel like an mmo

Don't be so dismissive. Who can forget such high quality quests like kill 10 rats or collect 25 harpy pinions? They really made the fucking game work, ok?

No, but you could accept them and do them on the side. Now I meet random NPCs on the roads who want to be escorted who-knows-where, and some fuckers I taught the art of the bow or something even pester me at my residence every other night.
I'd take the "kill 10 harpies" message board quests over that any day.
Not to mention the random pawns wanting to join my party every 100 yards.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Man, I miss the message boards, lol.

Message boards made the game feel like an mmo

Don't be so dismissive. Who can forget such high quality quests like kill 10 rats or collect 25 harpy pinions? They really made the fucking game work, ok?

No, but you could accept them and do them on the side. Now I meet random NPCs on the roads who want to be escorted who-knows-where, and some fuckers even pester me at my residence every other night.
I'd take the "kill 10 harpies" message board quests over that any day.
Not to mention the random pawns wanting to join my party every 100 yards.

So... basically a whole lot of stuff that has nothing to do with the boards... and escort missions.

Ok.