Dragon's Dogma

Patreon: / josephanderson
Twitter: / jph_anderson
Books: www.amazon.com/...
Links:
Game Overview - 1:12
Gameplay - 5:05
Intentions Vs. Expectations - 16:27
Story - 22:53
In Closing - 31:47
Dragon's Dogma is a pretty bad game that I still enjoyed, and recommend to people who have played a lot of games and don't mind something that's rough if it has some original ideas.
If you like skill-based games then you should watch the video before trying the game, to see if there's still enough for you to like.
The video has major spoilers for everything but, as I say a few minutes in, I think this might be one of the rare games that's enhanced by having prior knowledge. Some light wiki use is also great in cutting down on some of the more obscure moments in the game.
Thanks for watching. Let me know what you think.

[@sunriseparrabellum5505]

“Warning: long video” *laughs in Witcher video*

[@Crimson350]

Was about to post something similar. Well played

[@maodan9301]

I scrolled expecting this exact comment.

[@lordvaderbossofdoom3960]

@@Crimson350 me too

[@abc-oq7dt]

You said what we all instantly thought, comrade

[@Blackieswain]

Sat through that and this while at work lol

[@wolfhoundsnow1896]

Just to let you know this game was heavily resisted by capcom. They gave in a less than modest budget as well as a rushed deadline. Hideki itsuno pushed hard and grinded to bring his vision to light. The game was unfinished as said by the man himself. Development started in like late 2000s but he pitched it in 2000. It need a second chance. Support dd2!!

[@RiotRX]

I dream of a new DD😭

[@draysmusicalshtposts6340]

Capcom leaks suggest DD2 for Q2 2022 fingers crossed!

[@SaberRexZealot]

As a huge DMC fan I feel really bad for Itsuno. Both DMC4 and DD were unfinished but so unique compared to other games of the same genres. I love the man’s work and want to see him make his dream game.

[@gameaddict1074]

That just makes the game more impressive, at least for me. Also, we need Dragon's Dogma 2!

[@astolbro7183]

I fucking hate capcom so much every single game they publish gets attacked relentlessly by those corporate fucks

[@Pillock25]

One of the many things that annoyed me was how while fighting Direwolves, a pawn through gained knowledge would yell out how fire is the key to defeating these foes, and she then proceeds to enchant my sword with an ice spell.

[@jeremyfriesen2965]

Give your pawn blank skill slots. NEVER give pawns options, they WILL make the worst possible one

[@bso1538]

well, the true fact is that you should give the pawns atleast two options... if there is no an option they will use the only one option they have... that is somethin you learn when played so many hours... even sometimes, the basic magic attack is better than an enchanted weapon

[@Dsrgreyy]

The only elemental enchantment your mage should have is holy affinity. 99% of enemies are weak to it

[@jamesloucks2562]

The Dragon doesn't steal your heart because of "your defiance" The scene plays out more like he respects you, he looks at his massive paw and sees your insignificant blade stuck there, it did nothing, you had NO chance of victory and still you stood up to this world ending monster. So he makes you an Arisen, gives you a chance to build yourself up to fight him for real. The Dragon was interesting because he DIDN'T treat you like an enemy but more like an equal in some way, even giving you words of wisdom in some instances, daring you to seek out and kill him.

[@2g33ksgamingttv3]

it almost feels like he didn't listen to any of what the dragon said, every time the dragon urges you to defeat him its not out of a villainous "hehe stop me if you can" its "i WANT you to be strong enough to stop me" and the last conversation in the temple on the tainted mountain is even dripping with respect for having managed to reach him and held onto your resolve. not to mention your entire fight with him he is praising you and encouraging you to continue and overcome him.

[@deerlow1851]

@@2g33ksgamingttv3 This game has a very special trait: If you aren't looking carefully, it's easy to dislike it. But once you take off your hater goggles you realize that it's an ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE.

[@Wizard_Pikachu]

@@deerlow1851 It's almost a masterwork, if only it had the time to cook.

[@tata021]

@@Wizard_Pikachu masterworks all. You cant go wrong...

[@jaydengonzalez9336]

@@Wizard_Pikachu Dragon's Dogma 2 hype

[@AOEclipse]

Despite all its flaws and mistakes, I will always have a soft spot for this game. I can't fully explain why but I really do enjoy it.

[@General_Fuck_Yeah_AnimeTitties]

Aye same. I’ve legitimately never been able to explain what it is about this game that can cause me to sink 10 or more hours in a single day on the weekends. It’s just so fun for no reason

[@Nebulolsis]

Same...

[@artemaniaco293]

nostalgia

[@gameaddict1074]

@@artemaniaco293 No, at least for me. I still enjoy playing the game from time to time, although you can only play the same content over and over again. It is truly a novel game and a fun one at that, but Capcom is sleeping on it.

[@gameaddict1074]

@SquirrelEats Man But it is flawed, and the reason for pointing out those flaws is so that the sequel can improve on it, thus giving us an even better game.

[@mewmeister8650]

Dragon's Dogma is the Demon Souls of a series that doesn't exist.

[@bonseez]

You're a genius

[@bonseez]

You're a modern day philosopher

[@bonseez]

You're a new age intellectual

[@bonseez]

Realest thing anyone ever said

[@revolversnake126]

damn...

[@merrickmorgan6890]

I really really wish you would have looked at the story Arc of dark arisen. It answers your question about whether or not Grigori has free will.

[@WhiskeyTango76s]

Yeah it does a pretty good job showing what's going on in the Dragon's mind(atleast with Grigori and the one who took Daimon's heart, I forgot her name). Personally I think the base game did an excellent job when showing that Grigori wasn't doing shit to hurt you or cause pain to anyone, he was literally forging you and the game shows this. This game has some flaws but it did do well in some areas imo

[@defonoteleazar4998]

The tittle of the game by itself can answer that question if you just give it some thought

[@Upsetkiller456]

bitterblack isle was a fantastic dlc.

[@erikagaming1439]

I mean he didnt even finish dark arisen so thats to be expected.

[@AydarBMSTU]

@@defonoteleazar4998 giving some though? Asking too much from joseph here (watch his silent hill 2 playthrough for another example, lol)

[@ijirving]

I still think the pawn system is one of the most innovative things in gaming, I really wish a modern game would take another crack at it.

[@mobtownamv]

If you lose to "God" your soul is taken and you become a dragon. I would assume losing your soul would also mean losing your free will.

[@TheGreatDanish]

I can see where you come from with that assumption, but honestly, trying to apply any sort of coherence to the story in Dragon's Dogma is an exercise in futility. I played this game for years and it is, in fact, exactly as disjointed and incomprehensible as Anderson says.

[@Marx_D._Soul]

...if you properly analyze the game, the lack of free will the dragon has is fairly obvious.

[@bennemeth625]

I mean the dragon ending is officially named the "servitude" ending so that should tip people off.

[@defonoteleazar4998]

The fact that the Red Dragon has a “Dogma” to follow gives enough of an answer to the free will question. Heck, it’s even unclear as to whether or not the Seneschal has free will. Some of his lines hint at this and the lyrics to the main theme outright say that everything and everyone are all just part of the cycle of eternal return. It’s all just an effort from the world to stop itself from being consumed by entropy by keeping a steady stream of player-controlled souls.

[@defonoteleazar4998]

GiRayne I don’t exactly think anything would be gained by having the main character be voiced. Not in this game anyway. BB Isle is easily the place I had the most fun on, it’s a long and arduous trek through the most complexly designed dungeon in the game against the hardest enemies on a regular play through, it’s environments and enemy spawn mechanics make for fun fights. When it comes to the story, it has a lot of wasted potential. I adore the little detail of having songs with lyrics that actually mean a damn to the plot, props go to the final boss’ theme from BB Isle for that. My disappointment with the story comes from the minimal amount of set up for the reveal of the Arisen’s true nature as a willpower battery for the world. I believe you might be projecting a small bit of you sincerely think that the game has any pretensions of “profundity.” For all it’s worth, the game is incredibly forthcoming with the nature of its story, even all the stuff with the Seneschal. From minute 1 the game sets up that its characters and world are simple and in the spirit of classical Dragon Quest, with some little spunk added in to spice up the game after the defeat of the Red Dragon. The story almost feels fairy tale-ish at several points which, judging by the verbosity and language of every character, I’m inclined to believe might’ve been kinda the point. I also very much disagree that there was ever a fight with “god” at the end, if at all. At no point do the characters challenge whatever invisible force was that set up the cycle of eternal return. You can’t take the fight to god because god ain’t there, just the assistant manager. The Seneschal in this world is a dude just like you who’s pretty much just doing his job, not to mention being an overall decent guy who merely wants some vacation time from a boring continued existence. I believe the gameplay is well enough like it is, as a hybrid of genres. As Monster Hunter trying to be even more character action, the latter being the the genre that the game’s director, Hideaki Itsuno, is most famous for defining with the release of DMC3. It’s a pretty good gameplay system that could be further improved upon in a sequel (if only)

[@halifaxsteppenwulf7980]

Personally I LOVED playing as a Warrior. Their Arc of Deliverance (which is an incredible name for an ability) is so satisfying when fully charged. Dealing several massive blows and shredding off multiple health bars from massive and powerful enemies is extremely satisfying.

[@Yuuhenshin]

Harpies: 🌝 Any flying monster: 🌝

[@Taylor_Lindise]

One huge note at the beginning of the video for him taking your heart: he isn't mad at you for attacking him (this is directly from the cutscene) but rather has respect for your courage. So he decides to imbue you with a blessing... or curse...

[@purpleonion3912]

This guy forgot to roleplay on a roleplaying Game 😭😭

[@francesco3772]

Many such cases

[@peanutbutterwarrior1503]

I'd like to hear your opinion on the witcher 3 one day

[@557deadpool]

Plisken Power's The Glitcher 3: Wild Plagiarism*

[@hamzerpanzer]

557deadpool Ok...

[@ilikemipha3312]

+557deadpool Cool

[@Blurredborderlines]

557deadpool Elaborate, since no one questioned you on this seemingly ignorant statement.

[@alphonseelric5722]

Blurredborderlines it's a joke. No need to get worked up.

[@yellowlimes9093]

It hurt hearing some of the bad things be ripped apart on this game but, they are correct . I love this game but it has alot of flaws

[@vyxibel]

Played this for the first time recently and it’s one my favorite games ever. 10/10 would recommend

[@bso1538]

Great to see new people playing it

[@jase276]

Masterworks, all. Ya can't go wrong

[@word2believe]

The warrior class needed a crossbow and the ability to roll and block attacks kinda like gutts from berserk.

[@VaSoapman]

Protip: You can setup hotkeys for important items in the PC version. Like pressing 1 to lanturn, or 2 for heals. Still yeah it is kinda hidden and clunky to setup.

[@Dsrgreyy]

And on console version

[@bso1538]

Oh well... there is so many "off-set" points at the video... per example "big-or-tiny-map" that didn't even matter... it's what it's you know... it's big enough to give you atleast 20 hours of play being a bit modest... and still... don't matter much... the fun part is wander around, searching around... there is always something new you can find... and well... even if that ended being small... it's the game... also, atleast as far as I know... and of course, the Elder Ogre and the Giant Gore Cyclop were thought to be a second run at Bitterblack Isle ("normal" mobs)... "normal"... they weren't made to be attacked at level less than 100... even with that... they still over that level... in hardmode still at level 180 being low level to face the Gore Cyclops... the fun part of BBI is how they teach you that sometimes you should run from an enemy... no matter what... the Garm are the worse... fast, deadly... a moment of distraction and you are dead... no matter the healing system that you can pause or any other thing... they deal like 2.5k damage twise and you are dead... Dragon's Dogma teach you the hard way, that... knowledge is the key

[@criticalcoffee]

2016, 36 minutes: "Warning long video!" 2020, 4 + hours: "This is how you bang a striga in The Witcher"

[@jessiescholten9119]

Dragons dogma is honestly the best bad game i've ever played

[@DarkDMM]

Fun fact, the beloved can change between the bargain and the final confrontation with the dragon. For some reason even when I was going for the witch, in the bargain cinematic I got the duchess and later I got the witch. Also I like the fact that our opinion and experience on the game are oposites. I liked the main story, left the dlc part for another gameplay (that didn't happened,) enjoyed playing the warrior class. All that said, on a second playthrough years later I couldn't get myself to finish the game.

[@DEEJAYisAWESOME]

I honestly found this game much more challenging and more fun than games like witcher

[@yukariyoshisaki6333]

stat progression and skill progression arent mutually exclusive like, you can kill the Gazer (the first boss of the Dark Arisen) and the Dark Bishop (the 2nd boss of Dark Arisen) at basically level 1 with clever use of items and game mechanics, when you first approach the Ruins of Aernst Castle encounter a heavily armored warrior that is basically impervious to physical damage (the one at 11:30) if you go there as early as you can, but if you manage to knock him over you can just pick him up and chuck him off the cliff instantly killing him. sure you can just grind exp until you're like lvl 30 get a Dragon's glaze for free in Dark Arisen and oneshot everything in the story. but the same goes for dark souls, final fantasy, borderlands, Tales of, you name it. the catch is how you want to play the game, if you are not invested enough to care to find a way to kill that enemy that has way higher stats than you then maybe skill driven combat is not your thing. except if you think that system knowledge does not equal skill, in that case you better play stuff like jubeat or taiko because i cant think of many games that requires only physical skill and no amount of system knowledge (granted the instant heals from items and infinite lifes provided by wakestones are pretty bs) i dont want to discredit your opinion, i am just kind of frustrated that you tried to kill a gorecyclops with a dark enchated weapon (and apparently only 1 pawn?) but complain about not doing any damage and say its the game's fault, not to mention that are arent even supposed/meant to fight that gorecyclops the first time around Dark Arisen, the game specificly tells you that you dont need to engage in combat with enemies that are above your capability. you can play dark souls at SL1 without weapons or armor, but youll take a long ass time to kill anything, but thats not valid critisism towards dark souls having bad combat. i really like your videos and even that they are so long, but this time i cant help but downvote because there is just a lack of understanding (just a bit but still) of the game that is passed of as criticism

[@jordonkautz1470]

I agree with pretty much everything you said here. This guy clearly has experience with video games and is good at expressing his opinions in a way that clearly articulates what he does and doesn't like about a game, but I think he simply didn't play enough of this game to have valid criticisms. Many of the things he lists as a negative are only a problem because he didn't utilize the proper mechanics. Much of his criticism is due to his own choices or lack of knowledge. The story, for example. He says it's boring, bland, and not worth paying attention to then later says the game's story makes no sense. He says the combat is boring and repetitive but admits he only used three vocations which and those three just happen to be the three most basic and repetitive in the game. He mostly avoided the magic vocations and the only hybrid he tried was Assassin which, as most players can tell you, is just a hybrid of Fighter and Strider. He explored only the most bland of vocations and blames the game for his unsatisfying experience with the game's combat. He clearly didn't understand elemental weaknesses, status effects, or the effects of hitting different parts of an enemy and seems to think that the best and only way to kill something is by repeatedly stabbing it's face. He wants to be able to fight and beat every enemy he sees the first time he comes across it rather than have reason to go back and explore areas he's already been to.

[@yukariyoshisaki6333]

@@jordonkautz1470 yea its like, you are a purely physical class with no elemental options i wonder why you're not doing any damage against this fire themed enemy or this heavily armed 2m mountain of muscle. :thonk:

[@werwar27]

the water dungeon was one of the most enjoyable dungeons Ive played in an RPG. Game has a lot of potential with the sequel

[@bso1538]

LUL that was one I hate most... almost... each playthrought I did... almost... all the times I have played that cave... always a pawn fall at the water... almost ALWAYS... Hahahaha someone disappear at that cave... and... most of the cases is the ice caster wizard

[@PadChords]

In the Grigori invasion sequence where you say he is punishing your character for their defiance, I always had a different read on it. Remember how he looked down at the sword your character stuck into him? He considered your character worthy of becoming arisen based on the courage your character displayed during his attack. This comports well with the fact that the dragon is actually a former arisen who failed to defeat their "god." In fact, during your character's own fight against "god" (or one of your characters from a previous playthrough), if you fail, a cutscene plays where your character becomes the dragon, coming to earth, searching for the next arisen.

[@solodark5646]

While I love this game with all of my heart, I find myself agreeing with the points made here. I guess I play Dragon's Dogma simply because it carried me through some rough times. I'll never forget getting home, powering on my Xbox, and letting the real world's troubles be replaced by the simple cycle of fight, level, die, repeat. I would still recommend this game to anyone who wants a mindless grindfest to spend a few hundred hours on. DD is the kind of game you can play without paying much attention to. Yes, in hard mode you have to be careful, but you're not doing much actual thinking, just dodging at the right moment, and hitting the right weak spot as often as is possible.

[@matthewb-r488]

My game that helped get me through tough times is dark souls ironically

[@Rodrigo24717]

Isn't that what games are for?

[@jonnyvelocity]

DD was that game for me too.

[@IrenMasot]

7:30 it's been six years since this video was first posted and bad progression systems are still an epidemic with no signs of slowing down.

[@R.Kardos]

13:36 why are you opening the menu when the game TELLS YOU you have 4 shortcut options for consumables? Also the game gives you augs that cuts the damage you take by half early game. The game gives you so many options to avoid grind, for f*ck's sake there's ppl beating the DLC at lvl 50 mate...

[@Neorewn]

As someone that's put in 500hr+ into this game from first release (PS3 first and then bought the PC port when it came out, now working through the PS4 one), I went into this video ready to stan or cancel Jo but came out pleasantly surprised that I agreed with everything he said and managed to still love the game for what it is afterwards. I think Jo has a really diplomatic and tempered tone that makes all his criticism feel thought-out and not 'bitter'. A lot of gaming criticism that makes rounds comes from places of hatred, anger, frustration, etc. A lot of people think being spicy will get their point across when thorough and well-paced talks is what really hits your points home. Kudos on the video! Def becoming a patreon!

[@Adrian.Christ]

Dragon's Dogma is a really weird game. It's incredibly average, but the combat and pawn system are so dispreportianatly fun that I'm super conflicted about how I feel about the game overall. There's so much potential for a sequel to be amazing, but I think they're turning the franchise into a shitty MMO, so rip

[@ramue5749]

Actually Dragon's Dogma Online is a lot of fun it feels exactly like Dark Arisen just in a MMO setting, sadly there is no western release so to truly play all it has to offer you are gonna need to have a good understanding of Japanese. The new end game classes are incredibly fun to play and are way more original then the variation/ hybrids of Dark Arisen. And Capcom has stated they are interested in a true sequel, Itsuno himself said he wants to work on it as well so I hope they get him on it after he finishes DMC 5.

[@Y00bi]

@@ramue5749 It's also a shame they shut it down recently ;-;

[@RPG_Fangirl]

I find it quite silly that so many KZbinrs have little 'sorry for the video length' moments, when I am specifically looking for 30+ minute videos. This is a market that people didn't even know about several years ago.

[@RynKen]

My naturally stingy state of mind helped with one of the big problems of this game. I usually only carried around twenty healing items with me and tried using a pawns healing sigil whenever I could. I also used wakestones more for profit since they sell for so much and I saw using one after dying as a financial punishment. This is similar to something I did in Demon's Souls where I'd only have about 20 or less of each type of grass to save a little item space since I doubted that I'd ever need much more anyway.

[@UltimaOmegaZero]

I'm not sure if I'm misinterpreting here, but Dragon's Dogma using flat ratings to formuate damage is nothing new; plenty of menu-based RPGs use a similar formula, like Final Fantasy.

[@matthewb-r488]

Damage RESISTANCE not damagr

[@UltimaOmegaZero]

Subaru Conatoo So... defense, then?

[@matthewb-r488]

Yea

[@deschain1910]

You're only misinterpreting a bit. I don't think he's saying this is new or inherently bad. Rather, he's using it as evidence that the game is more gear-based and less skill-based.

[@jenniferkingston4920]

I've waited so long for this moment! :D I totally expected your critique of this gem to be mostly negative. A lot of people who don't play for hundreds of hours tend to be. The two things I love in games is in this one; Challenge and Progression. In the beginning, you're worthless and can barely survive a simple group of goblins, but as you level up, you become nigh invincible. Where you seemed to dislike this, I adore it. I remember you having a difficult time with the Ogre in Ancient Quarry at level 6 or 7, I believe? First time I killed him was around level 25, earliest was 10 or 11. That's quite the gap, mostly because I knew what I was doing. This game is more about knowledge than level, same as Dark Souls, I would say. You know when to parry a Black Knight, I know when to hit a Chimera to knock him on the ground. Using the same cheap tactic can make that fight so much easier. I do agree that Level and Gear is a big part of it, but you made it sound as if it was the only thing. I apologize if this was not what you meant to imply. Without a doubt, pausing the game and healing to continue as if nothing ever happened does kind of make it broken. however I never heal during combat. Well, except Daimon. I think it would've been a better idea to map these curatives onto the directional pad instead of the Pawns commands, because the commands don't even work in combat. Telling them to help outside of combat will heal or buff you, but telling them to Go or Come doesn't make them. They move ahead, sure, but... so what? Wakestones used to be rare in the original, and I mean RARE! Now in the Everfall you get full chunks up the ass, back then you'd be lucky if you got 2 shards from a boss. They made them more common as well as Portcrystals and Ferrystones. Also, back then, the only way to dry off your lantern was to use an item or wait for yourself to dry off, so they made it in Dark Arisen that you simply take it off and then put it back on, so count yourself lucky! You can deposit all your times by hitting start or select, on Ps3, on the tab and it asks you if you want to deposit all of them at once or not... reading that back doesn't make alot of sense, but hopefully you get what I mean. As for the story, people have dug deep into it and you can simply google it and be overwhelmed by all the theories and whatnot. And believe it or not, this game was incomplete. It was indeed a huge project and they had simply released what they had. Not unheard from Capcom, unfortunately, I can't find the post anymore. Must've been deleted. Anyway, sorry for the rambling wall of text. Great Video as always! Oh and, would you recommend Stardew Valley? I've seen a few videos and it sounds/looks like something I'd enjoy, but I'd still like your input.

[@JosephAndersonChannel]

I killed that ogre by changing from fighter to warrior. I stood in front of it and just kept pressing jump and light attack. It fell over and died without ever doing damage to me. It's something I cut from the video. Maybe I should have kept it in and explained that encounter. That was on normal mode though. I very much recommend Stardew Valley--but only if you like progression/incremental games. There's a lot of "grinding" but the whole game is *about* grinding and has been built around it. It doesn't have some of the conflicting design choices that Dogma has. It has a lot of content for the price too. I've played for about 50 hours and I'm not done yet. And it was only 16 bucks or so. Good to hear from you again by the way. It's always cool seeing people comment again from the start of the channel.

[@mrbubblestea]

I feel like you missed the one thing that ascends this game into Godhood; the fact that you can literally one hit enemies after some time.

[@bso1538]

Nothing like being a Warrior with Obliteration strike... oneshoot enemies that bothered so much time ago when tried to survive... just... that strike... god dammit!!!

[@alexlvivua]

This game should not work. But I love it more than any other RPG I've played, including Skyrim and The Witcher. I dunno why. I'm just hoping that for DD2 they will fix most of the stuff like healing mechanics and damadge balance. Maybe the Monster Hunter team can help them.

[@lilburtonboy7489]

I would really really really like to see the video on the different categories you mention near the beginning (Challenge vs PvP vs Progression). It's a really interesting topic, especially as gamers age and struggle to realize that their interests are shifting to a different category rather than losing interest in gaming as a whole.

[@spookyjohn6543]

Ok man wakestones make the game easier but have you tried fighting the evil eye while underleveled?

[@ChitterChatterD]

Dragons Dogma is a game that has some satisfying moments but a lot of the repetitive and nonsensical quests bog down the overall experience. I'm glad you did this critique. DD is still one of my favourite games.

[@BiscuitDelivery]

Shameless self-promotion? Fine, I'll buy your damn book. Needed something to read anyways.

[@orateusdijin6557]

same, and as a writer I guess I could read it too.

[@mansifacio5458]

The Dragon takes your beloved to test your willpower Your pawn becomes you after your death because overtime, Pawns take on the appearance of their masters, symbolising that they have become human. The story does make sense, but it's complicated and requires a lot of thought. It's a pretty unique style of storytelling, and I myself really like it. It's definitely not for everyone though

[@adan3956]

It's great game now in PC. I think it's meant to be played on PC. Yes i notice the flaw in storytelling and monster variety, but honestly the combat is one of the most fun. I definitely want to see DD2 with all improved graphic, new mechanics and story depth. Capcom made MHW, imagine what DD2 can be

[@ronnylightyear7150]

I agree, but I can't help myself seeing past it all and loving it.

[@RichieW]

I got to level 50 and decided to restart it thinking I missed half the story.. seems not... the combat is so much fun though.

[@bso1538]

yeah, low level combat is the best... I defeated a dragon at level 21... no healing challenge... of course at hardmode... and of course the physical weakest dragon, the ice one... those funny challenge are pretty awesome

[@circle_it]

Your first wow toon was a warrior? Same. The dream dude.

[@ctgooni]

Thank you for bring up the damage calculation method! It is so old school and unintuitive that if you play a split damage character like me, you're fucked.

[@leupovert6597]

The griffins popped up a lot for me. I think there's only three in the entire map, not including the one that's a boss fight, but they just swooped down on me anytime I entered their areas until I decided to kill them so escort missions would be easier.

[@travislindsey7256]

If you wait a little while your lantern will dry out and come back on

[@glowerworm]

I played Dragons Dogma bc of you Joe, and I loved it. And bc I played DD1, I bought and played DD2 and it's given me genuine hope for the video game industry and it's artistic value going into the future. Absolutely sublime game (with problems but so many more innovative gems). I have long had suicidal tendencies and finding great video games has been my lifeline, giving me motivation to continue when nothing else motivates. Dragons Dogma was one such game. So your channel and work has genuine influence, even if it probably feels mostly like a sometimes fun job to you. I appreciate what you do.

[@UToobUsername01]

About the damage system: its meant to be tough so you learn the patterns. If you ever played old capcom games like ghouls n ghosts you would know that it take millions of mistakes to get the right combination of timing and distance to make perfect run. But in this game it was most likely there to make you feel powerless and not to be good gameplay mechanics. It reminds me of bosses in capcom arcade games where they would make them damage sponges so you would most certainly die and have to continue on the next man (back in those days arcde operators needed you to do die to make profit) while finishing off the crippled boss. Monster hunter surprisingly has this very same mechanic in the early part of the game when you take down your first big monster. You are given a weapon that is so soft it goes blunt constantly while the monster takes about 40 mins to finally kill. But when you do it, you feel like a badass because of the committment necessary to hold on that long. (like Rocky Balboa taking punishment in the rocky movies and slowly wearing his opponent down a bit at a time) Perhaps that was to stretch the game out to be longer (like the repetition in JRPG of grinding to kill things) or to make you feel weak. Whatever it was, it is something I have gotten used to from many japanese games. Old arcade games like Final Fight had bosses like this (Abigail healthbar being the longest which takes ages for Guy to kill him) and also other capcom beat em ups. It's not bad design so much as part of the charm of capcom title because I see this game as the "Dungeon and Dragon's arcade hack n slash game for the 3D generation" haha. The emphasis is on the "action" in the "action rpg" label more than the "rpg". (capcom has done the pure genre before through their Breath of Fire titles) Personally I would like to see capcom do a sequel to this game and maybe have nintendo help fund it and make it an exclusive similar to what nintendo did for Bayonetta 2 when nobody else wanted give sega/platinum the money to make it happen. Capcom and platinum are the kings of good (arcadey) combat in games, and for a long time many western RPG's weakness was the feeling that weapons impact felt too floaty. (blizzard being an exception to this rule since they were the pioneers of the action rpg since diablo 1 days) So when capcom released this at the time, they actually filled in a gap in the genre for western-themed rpg gaming. IE most WRPG seem to have bad janky combat. (yes that includes witcher 3 - see Worthabuy's review of witcher 3 and his hilarious critique of the poor combat in this game) It was a great decision imo because it showed two things: 1. capcom is capable of doing an open world game...and 2. they proved you don't need bad combat for RPG in open world RPG genre. Witcher 3 and Skyrim were examples of bad combat where you don't feel connected to the action very much. (bow and arrows felt ok in skyrim though)

[@allistercrawford2205]

Its completely obvious You did not pay any attention to the plot of the main story or Bitter black Isle story

[@Smitty_Werbluntjaegermanjensen]

The funniest part about this game is that you can romance fournival's like 12 year old daughter for whatever reason. Got that ending my first playthrough

[@brentnixon834]

Your comments on grinding and gear ... you do realize that this game was pushed as a jrpg those are staples in that genre....like dragon quest cant beat something go level up buy new gear. This wasn’t supposed to be a western rpg.

[@RikaRoleplay]

If you have good items that pair well with each other, they stack, which is VERY against the norm for RPGs, so Conqueror's periapt stacks on itself, which is a consumable, which if you use multiple of, you become much stronger. At a low level, upon going to Grand Soren your first time, you can buy many of these easily, and then destroy any boss you are struggling with, as long as you have leveled your vocation at least a little (or use strider/ assassin for your vocation). Similarly, Demon's Periapt boosts magic, so there is that as well). Lots of consumables will make you fairly powerful. The most powerful thing early game lots of empty flask vials, which you take to a healing spring, and then use with your pawns to fill with healing spring water. If you ever would die, your pawns instead use those healing items to heal you to save you. Late game, wakestones and large mushrooms and pariapts are used to fight anything meaningful especially in bitterblack isle. Having a friend (such as me) on your friend's list allows you to use their pawn, which will destroy anything you come across (except in bitter black isle)

[@LdNidd]

I love this game, it was my favorite open-world game until Elden Ring came out. It's still one of my favorite games of all time. Watching this, I realize that of the many different types of players you mentioned, I tend strongly towards games of character progression as the main mechanic. Dragon's Dogma, the Souls games, Zelda, and my favorite series of all time Metroid-all of these have very strong elements of character progression, the steady climb up the ladder of power. I like that I now know that about myself, so thank you for helping me really understand a big reason of why I play games like these.

[@theblackgeno1848]

It's funny I see comments talking about how great this review is but it just sound like every other review I read or hear, it's just him telling you why the game is bad but they still like it. He never tells why he likes it,and no one get me wrong he got a lot of good points but he's really just saying everything I already heard.

[@DeMomcalypseLive]

theblackgeno 18 Well I mean, flaws can be objectively identified, so odds are, you're going ot hear the same criticisms from everyone

[@Buliwyf90]

good job mate, a great game that tries to be ambitious, and is fun as hell, and 80% of what you have to say is how bad it is. Also not a single word about the soundtrack, really?

[@LordOfZ3]

I think it’s a great game but the points you made about it being vast empty world and doing nearly no damage to some enemies are spot on. It’s still one of my favorite RPGs though

[@Nuck-Fo0bZz]

Love how you picked the Fume Knight for the "challenge" part of the "Why Play Games" part as back when I used to tweak I got my ass stomped by him for 70 hours straight lmao. I was too greedy. Didn't poke and run, poke and run.

[@JakeTakesTheCakes]

I didn't do that ONE quest for the duchess where you rescue her from the tower and because of that I ended up with the merchant lady I never talked to. Like, I literally did every quest for the duchess but when the dragon had my "beloved" some random lady I had bought a knife from once showed up...

[@grassrash6162]

Okay dude. I play this game on a new save, hard mode and with only my created pawn. I play as an assassin because he has the reset skill which is basically an animation cancel u can use at any time. I don't give a fuck about leveling because when using that skill correctly combined with the other ones, I can be as aggressive as I want without getting hit. Because of SKILL. The experience and gold that come with it is enough on hard mode so that everything isn't a punching bag. In other words, I disagree with your statement of illusory skill in this game.

[@grassrash6162]

People usually have trouble finding the limit of game mechanics. In your case, you just didn't find the limit of the game's combat system. So... as those crazed fans would tell you: "Get Gud". Actually good advice for you

[@grassrash6162]

@@CallMeTeci It's not my job to find a skillful way to play every class. I only play assassin and am describing my skillful experience with the game. I'm so sorry that you have a hard time finding interesting ways to use class abilities lol

[@zensoredparagonbytes3985]

21:07 If your lantern gets wet, all you have to do is, open up the menu, go to cloth, use it, and voila, lantern works again. The mechanic is that it is drenched. And everything that is drenched in the game, can be dried with a cloth. About the looting. You don't. You let your pawns do the menial tasks. Like digging up resources or mining by giving them a pick axe. Thats why they have their own inventory. No wonder you disliked the game as it seems you never figured out some of its mechanics. Which some of them are hidden and can only find if you experiment, or play the game long enough. This is why these critiques are entertaining at best, but never a guideline to try out a game. Because not everybody plays a game the same way.

[@zensoredparagonbytes3985]

@@CallMeTeci thanks to gamers like you we have now these dumbed down kindergarten level games that hold your hand all the way up to the cash shop. Challenge yourself for once and try to use your brain. If I figured it out through trial and error, imagine a smart and eloquent person like yourself.

[@zensoredparagonbytes3985]

@@CallMeTeci There are two kinds of people in this world. One that pushes a button when nobody tells them to. The other wait till they're told.

[@viachesslove9907]

@@CallMeTeci pussboi waits for guidance, chads slam Daimon with their cock. this is ENTERTAINING and FUN lmao.

[@timoyr2954]

I kinda' disagree on the healing part (granted that I always healed with the hotkeys, so I had a delay between healing and action). At higher levels, the weight of healing items basically forces you to only have 10-20 healing and stamina potions. Basically working like in Bloodborne. While I don't think it would be broken if you did have the ability to carry more (like in Demon's Souls). With wakestones I disagree. It's a godsend when you accidentally fall of a cliff (deaths that to me are just annoying). They're also extremely optional. This is the only game I've played where other than not carrying the item or choosing the perk, you can even decline the option to be revived. I just don't understand these kind of critism. How is complaining something being too easy a valid critism if you are yourself making it that easy? Outside your skills as a player, of course.

[@viachesslove9907]

Joe loves to shit on top of mechanics he didn't understand or didn't want to go deeper with his "analysis". Wakestones are great for BB farming or as a cash source (Everfall is ez after hitting BB deep enough). Daimon slams very hard and some people love to farm his stuff time after time. + on healing items, lol. also if one wants to carry more shit within light limit - Sinew is the answer. Or a pawn-mule. Or multiple pawn-mules. I mean - c'mon. This is a game with enough options for having fun. I actually don't understand that dmg complaint. I personally wrecked two ogres with a very low dmg weapons and lvl in general and found that as a funny experience. I stuck upon them at night and we had been fighting until dawn. Pinching elder ogres for 40 minutes with shitty bows/daggers. Praying gods to make that 1st undead dragon to finally die, dodging and staying alive for an hour. Those events were tight and made my blood boil with adrenaline. Now I don't remember having issues with anything and anybody during the current run as Archer, after 500-600 hours in DD:DA. That's why those "deep analyses" sucks w/o updates/replays of whatever to correct opinions on some stuff. I watched him a lot during 2018-2019 but no more.

[@shinka_lanzanken]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that there was no mentioning of I- frames of some of the skills that each vocation has.

[@A9YearsOldNOTYouTuber]

This has so much bias in it, you were barely scratching the surface of this game.

[@kaneda7368]

because playing a game twice is barely scratching the surface.

[@quartoturno3664]

Despite being 3+years old review, he sure didn't play the game using everything to actually pinpoint its true flaws. Overall, he tried, but lacked the proper approach on the system and the game

[@Upsetkiller456]

Hopefully Dragon's Dogma 2 is going to happen now that DMC5 was a huge success, Itsuno did have this game on his wishlist for him to stay at Capcom.

[@barbedwire4452]

Playing this game as we speake and its my favorite action rpg ever...so far

[@goofygoober9719]

Long video, you say? I bet you can make a longer one

[@michaeldodge9020]

Very well done video. I'm currently on my first full playthrough, but it's my 2nd character. I started the game, found Bitterblack Isle early (as the game encourages you to), realized I'm not suppose to be there, and my masochistic Dark Souls ways kicked in and I basically cleared the entire island up to the last boss before progressing maybe 20% in the story. So at level 115 I was doing the story on normal mode and realized I had fucked myself. I made a new character, on hard mode, and limited myself by refusing to enter BBI (except for one cool piece of headgear), and I would only carry VERY limited curatives on me, and no wakestones. Granted, the player shouldn't have to limit themselves, that's the developers' jobs, but this is making the playthrough much more fun and challenging. Everything you said about the game's healing and damage systems is true, but by limiting oneself, it can still prove to be interesting and challenging.

[@shadowmane55]

This is so funny.. I was thinking about Dragon's Dogma 2 earlier and how i can't wait for the release... Then I thought to myself "I wonder if Joseph Anderson has done a video on DD".. and here we are lol.

[@4minutesavedme]

I have a massive love/hate relationship with your content. You're easily one of my favorite streamers ever and overall, you just seem like a really chill dude. But then there are your analysis videos which I think are for the most part, very inconsistent. It's not even just because I disagree with you, I genuinely think your critique is often not fair or logical at all. This video is especially bad. I have a million things I wanna say but I'm gonna keep it somewhat short. First of all, combat. Saying that the combat isn't skill based is somewhat valid but not completely accurate. There is plenty of skill when it comes to learning the most efficient strategies to take down your foes. Which body parts to strike first, which elements to use, which enemies to prioritize etc. and stuff like perfect blocks and combos are purely skill based too. But the thing is, the game isn't designed to be just skill based. The combat is a combination of Devil May Cry and Monster Hunter and it is brilliant. The parts of the combat that are inspired by MH are the following: Preparation, endurance and part breaks. Preparation is a big part of DD. If you go into a fight without the proper items, elements and skills then you're gonna be in for a rough time. Next, Endurance. Endurance is what makes the boss fights in MH and DD some of my favorites in all of gaming. Dark Souls bosses take only a few minutes to kill which makes them incredibly boring and unsatisfying to beat. In MH and DD however, fights take a LONG time by design and they're often genuinely exhausting which makes them so fun and rewarding. My first Drake battle in DD took me over an hour and during the fight, the sun set and rose. That fight is still one of my most treasured gaming experiences. Moving on, part breaks. Yeah, that's pretty self explanatory I think. Choosing which body parts to target is a big part of DD and can really change the flow of combat. Now then, what part of the combat is inspired by DMC you might ask. Well, the style. Yeah, that's pretty much it. Whereas the boss battles are inspired by MH, the normal battles are inspired by DMC. Creating fluid and stylish combos is a huge part of the combat which a lot of people, including you, seem to completely ignore. And guess what? Style requires creativity which in turn requires skill. What little I saw of your fights against the small enemies looked pretty amateurish. Slaying goblins is supposed to look like a beautiful, bloody dance but you made it look like a turn based game. That's completely fine btw but I can't take your critique of the combat seriously when it seems like you're ignoring what makes it so good. Let's talk about the story next. DD's storytelling is similar to many JRPGs. What that means is that a lot of the story and worldbuilding is learned by talking to the dozens and dozens of NPCs that inhabit the world and their dialogue changes every time you progress in the main story. I don't know if you ignored the NPCs but I'm gonna assume you did and that's probably a big reason why you thought the story was all over the place. Something else I wanna mention is the world. You said that the world felt dead. I don't understand that at all. DD's environmental sound design is some of the best in the industry and the overall geographical design of the world is really unique too. Then there's the day-night cycle which completely changes the way the world looks and feels. It even changes all the enemies. And after defeating the dragon, the world changes again. In total, DD has 4 unique world states which is 3 more than most other games. There are also a few quests that can fail which makes it feel like the world actually moves on its own and isn't there just to be your playground. The food rotting also adds to that feeling. There're some other things that bothered me about this video too. Like the fact that you didn't even mention the incredible music or the unique layered armor system but maybe you just don't care about those things which is fine. Something that isn't fine however, is the misinformation. There're two things specifically that caught my eye. I wouldn't be surprised if there're some other things too but I can't be bothered to watch the video again. Anyway, you complained about having to deposit items individually and how you found that to be incredibly tedious. Well, that made you look pretty dumb. When depositing, you can deposit all the items in a category at the same time. The input for it is on the screen at all times so it's not even a hidden mechanic or something. The other thing is turning your lantern back on after it gets wet. You don't have to go into the inventory to do that. Originally, you actually did have to do that but the modern version of Dark Arisen has hot keys which you, once again, completely ignored. You can even add your healing items to the hot keys which makes the combat feel even better. I got some other things I could talk about but I think I'm gonna leave it here. I really like your streams and I think even your videos have some good stuff in 'em but this video feel very low quality and is easily your worst one.

[@chidzhustle3570]

Exactly how I feel )didn’t read entirely but for the most part). I love his content but his take that combat is no skill is just wrong objectively- I get where he’s coming from, but that’s so pedantic and “well, actually if you get super high gear then it’s easy”… well, DUH!

[@limawhiskey7451]

wholeheartedly agree with you on every point you made 👍

[@UToobUsername01]

About grinding in general: It is interesting when people criticise grinding in games for being repeititious but in the real world I would assume characters would take years and years to become elite badass status and as we become more and more jaded, we all expect games to have less grinding than the past for quality-of-life reasons. If you were to ask a person who only ever played one or two games a year if grinding was a big deal they might just shrug their shoulders because they only have a handful of games they play. To me ALL RPG is grindfest. You cannot avoid it and yet we all expect to avoid it when in reality characters can't change overnight. You have to be a weakling to illustrate how much different you are to the strongest thing in the world. If you started out tough people will feel the game is too short for an epic rpg game. Others might say it was more fun because it is fast paced but you got to look at what things were like back in the xb360 and ps3 days: open world rpg were more few and far between. Maybe they expected you to devote all your waking hours on one or two games not have a choice of dozens of open world titles to choose from like today. And so that is my defense for this mechanic. If you played many jrpg of the past like the dragon quest or final fantasy games, then it is something you expect. And modern games like Monster Hunter play on the idea that you can play as a weakling simply by going in with gear that is older (no stats are tied to the player character, only gear) and showing off by doing a naked run to prove you are a badass who can avoid every attack consistently and not die. I am interested to hear your opinions on monster hunter's combat.

[@kennygutierrez6809]

And yet somehow this game is basically a better version of Breath of the Wild back in 2012 of all things.

[@TheLastVoodooMan]

Too bad you didn't tackle some greater details, overall it's a fair review to a game I really like. Here's what you could have tackled: -Character Stats progression: Every class gets a certain amount of stats for every level you gain through exp. While pure mages get more magic based stats and MP, warriors get more strength and HP (the reality might differ) Thus you can't really level as a mage and go warrior in the end game, let's say after level 100 as you get the elast amount of stats from that point on. -Character size and weight: both of these impact your character. A big heavy one is slow, but is the hardest to shake off from monsters(afaik), a small light one is fast,gets shaken off easily but might fit into places a big character might not reach -The permanent damage mechanic: you can only heal so much with healing spells, the more damage you take the fewer max HP you have, though your massive amounts of healing herbs make this no problem, as items are the only way to heal those permanent wounds I tend to agree with most of your criticism, but came to arrange myself with it's flaws. I think percentage defence is kind of silly, unless it depends on your or the enemies' level. But then again, if I earned myself a high level weapon I want to be able to kill a high level enemy if I do it right and I do think skill is important unless you overlevel and overgear as much as you can. You have a point that such experienced developers should have made a better game, I personally blame it with their inexperience with western rpgs

[@astolbro7183]

Its dumb that they let you go to bitterblack before the everfall

[@astolbro7183]

So meny people get turned off on dd because they went to bitterblack to early

[@viachesslove9907]

@@astolbro7183 one comes to BBI and sucks cvck. one should turn around and go elsewhere. or not. because one can spend time on BBI even on lvl10. if "people" gave up because of BBI or "hardcore" nature of Normal mode - this game is rated as 18+, such people should have developed some critical thinking and try to overcome "difficulties" this game has. The same can be said about DS1 and the graveyard/tomb -- "it should be closed 'cause it's hard". The game explains itself through this mechanic, w/o red/yellow lvl numbers in name bar, w/o big UI warnings, w/o closing content behind story progression. One can return to BBI later and shit all over Rotunda of Dread and Daemon, no problem.

[@Woowoobang]

This game is really good and challenging if you commit to a few handicaps. First, no healing items. Rely on one pawn, your custom pawn, to heal you when necessary. This way you have to wait for the pawn to cast a healing spell and it really helps the combat system and does force you to become better and emphasizes skill over items. Next forget the wakestones. Don't use any. Last, only bring your one custom pawn and definitely play on hard mode. Personally I created a "Link" character and Zelda was my support mage. It worked incredibly well. These few limitations really changed the game and made it one of my all time favorites. Some people frown upon self imposed handicaps but I can say without a doubt that handicaps are necessary if you want to experience games the way you like best. Stop relying on game creators to get every single aspect of a huge game exactly how you like it. Play the game, realize its flaws, and self impose limitations if you really want a challenging experience. This works very well for most RPGS. I hope this information helps and trust me when I say that this sort of strategy really works and is thoroughly enjoyable:)

[@cloudsweater]

With the success of DMC5…DD2 better be very good. I enjoyed Dragon’s Dogma but damn…I can’t stop thinking about DD2

[@Leebftw]

Video Should be called someone who didn’t get dragon dogma reviews dragons dogma

[@fergusofdalibor4264]

True

[@davidryatta701]

Apologies for length of video.. makes one 6x longer later on... More seriously I really loved Dragon's Dogma, I used a guide as I really wanted to go through the various quests and romantic options and I never really knew what was going to lock out a different path if I didn't do the right thing. I did always wonder if the lack of Dragon focus was partly intentional.. you become Arisen and suddenly you have expectations thrust upon you and your essentially dragged into everything after that, then it hits you with the return of the dragon and a reminder of what your original purpose was. I think there's a lot more to this that you could go into, the game does reward exploration despite the small map size and the quests; while escort missions do add to the world and add variation to what you do from story quest to story quest.. I'm going to enjoy trying this again with the new release and Dark Arisen. But the god ending.. I loved that; the idea that your god and have almighty power but no one can see you and you can barely interact with anybody. Being dog is boring and you look for an escape, I think that's what they were going for. I did love how if you play through with your Pawn on the second adventure the ultimate god you fight is your original self.. cute touch

[@VorpalTiger]

apperently you had no idea you could set up hot keys for items. once you do you hold both L1 and R1 then press a D-pad direction and it will use that item assigned to it

[@otakon17]

No way! I have played this on both Xbox360, PS4 AND PC and never knew about this feature! Trying this when I get home.

[@kaneda7368]

@@otakon17 And that's the problem. If it wasn't for the comments on this video, I would've never known that there's hot keys in the game. Not the player's fault for not knowing IMO.

[@jimifender22]

Been playing DD recently as DD2 is coming out soon. An incredibly flawed game but still a ton of fun imo, excited to see how DD2 turns out because while the first game was fun there are so many areas they can improve on

[@B-019]

I've noticed the same "pause and get all your HP back" problem more and more in games, and I wish there was something to counter it. Otherwise there's no tension in combat unless healing items are rare or heal slowly over time, like the lifegems in DS2. Another approach I'd like to see would be, for lack of better words, a "tummy meter." Whenever you eat food, you fill up a chunk of a meter. When that meter is full, you can't eat any more food or healing items until you make room, probably through spending stamina or time to "burn" it off. You could even tie this with difficulty, where the meter burns quicker or is removed entirely for Easy difficulty, while it burns more slowly for Hard difficulty. Lower-quality items like cheese wheels in Skyrim would become less desirable because they're less "calorie dense" or whatever -- they heal you instantly, but it's an inefficient use of your meter. Specialty meals like in BotW or healing potions would become more useful because they're more "efficient." Seems like a pretty easy system to implement, but instead we keep getting these pause-and-feast games, so maybe I'm missing some issue with the idea? But I'd love to see it tried out.

[@snakeshepard9761]

This also suffice for Dragon's Dogma 2, which is worse than the first under basically every aspect.

[@lemonprime7889]

21:15 The point you made about putting the lantern away and getting it back: I didn't know all you had to do was put the lantern away and put it back out to dry it. I actually did buy the Clean Cloths for removing the "drenched" status. Did you not know about Clean Cloths? Or were you just saving inventory space?

[@kpjlflsknflksnflknsa]

That healing mechanic would take all tension out of the game. Holy shit. Can't believe they did that.

[@mixoops2212]

Skyrim had the same mechanic, so what's the problem. (Sorry, just commented out of saltness, please ignore.)

[@W0lfguard1997]

I swear I took every skill and perk that maxed my climbing damage and overall melee damage and with the weapon from the final boss my damage looked like your first example of damage reduction. The first time I met an elder ogre I just had to run from him cause he took literally no damage. Same for the final dlc boss. And then i learned to embrace the explosive arrow multishot...

[@kitsunekaze93]

i like the way damage is calculated in this game, if i face something way out of my league, i should not be able to hurt it. or if some small old creature tries to hit me, i should take no damage. i like the wakestone system, as it gives the option to make this single player game easier by simply having them on you, i hovever played through almost the entire game without using them, i only used ONE on the awakened form of the Daimon. I barely used healing items either, as i just assigned my pawn as a healer. what i did NOT like with the game, was bandits/human npcs being so vastly different in power levels with no indication. one bandit dies in one hit and hits like a marshmallow, the other bandit takes a meteor to the face and then proceeds to murder you in one single hit. An important thing you need to take to heart in this game ( and the loading screen tips tell you this! ) is to RUN. if you find a golem while being low level with only magic spells equipped? run. oh dear, run. you will spend in game DAYS fighting it otherwise, only for it to grab your pawn and heal up after an hours fight... its all about knowing weaknesses and strengths. fighting a golem? equip frazil/gicel/bolide as a sorcerer, or go melee. fighting a dragon? use explosive bolts as a magic archer, and wreck it in a few shots. having a hard time? go grind levels! use peripherats, use wakestones. other than that, i really enjoyed the game, although it does make me angry at times.

[@Max7Rush]

Thanks for videos, man. I really like that you go that deep into studying the game, very interesting to listen to. And exactly because of that i'm surprised that you missed some very important things to talk about. First is skills. You don't even describe how useful, varied and good those are. I can't talk in full depth about them as i didn't play every vocation, but things like piercing arrow, strider's slide moves and so on make combat unique and very responsive, it almost feels like you're playing character action game. And the second thing is elemental damage and weakness. All that no damage problem goes away as your pawn buffs your weapon with element that enemy is weak to. Anyway, keep doing your work, man.

[@uwillnevernoewhoiam]

this review is as flawed as the game

[@ratlinggull2223]

I think I agreed the most on the defense/damage calculation part. Terraria also did flat reduction and it's bullshit as you see your attacks all deal 1 damage at the beginning of hardmode (when every enemy gains insane defense), or trying to fire a low-damaging rapid fire gun only to see streams of 1s and 2s instead.

[@jackaruby4222]

*cries in warrior main*

[@lovablecylinder2524]

I just completed the game a few hours ago, and you've once again relayed my thoughts to near perfection. I gotta say though, the beloved thing has to be one of the jankiest romance systems I know of. Out of all the weird design choices and pretty big issues this game has, I'm still hung up on that. I knew about it going in, so naturally I max affinity with Mercedes as she was my waifu of choice, but since I did Ailenore's questline, because why would I not, I get this bitch whom I have zero interest in, but the game decided I actually do.

[@Archflip]

I find the Beloved system to be so funny. It's kind of like an analogue fortune-teller of who you'll end up with if you want it to be, but it wasn't fleshed out enough for it to make the right decisions. Hence a lot of people apparently ended up with innkeepers or shopkeepers originally. Dark Arisen added an item that you can give people to reset them down to zero affinity to make it clearer (though personally, I feel like the ring should have reset everyone else's affinity anyway to make things crystal clear). Or you should have been able to lower their affinity by giving them obviously useless cow dung or something. As a system though, I applaud it's implementation to make almost every NPC romance-able in a way. Escort quests exist for a lot of characters, even inconsequential ones. And almost any of them can appear in the crucial cutscenes and have unique things to say after being saved. And it's technically LGBT friendly too. Expanding on this system to maybe have more presence would have been fun.

[@kirax2996]

Wait ... the damage ratings and the 'heal back to fullhealth' system are exactly the same problem with the combat in breath of the wild?

[@tytusbombus4110]

im late, but in fact youre wrong, defense when calculated against player is not flat, it is % reduction if i remember correctly it was like from 0 to 200 you get 1/2 reduction from 200 to 400 you get 1/4 on 800 1/8 and so on. I quess im not a fan i instant healing i would sure like to have like a few times more health but without ability heal during combat, or better no ability to heal fast in addition. I dont think that enemy flat defense is bad at all though, i belkive however that problem of not reaching tresholds is more of issue with not beeing able to allocate stats yourself as well as large gap betwen dlc and normal game enemies, also lantern can be hotkeyed :D

[@BadassArabianMofo]

First game I've replayed at least 10 times.

[@clonerstive]

Warning: "long" video! >not even 45 minutes Lol 2016 KZbin was wild

[@MrSameion]

yeah, yesterday i watched an 5 hour Oblivion Review.

[@funninoriginal6054]

2018 Joseph Anderson: *3 hour God Of War review*

[@christiancassam]

funni n original 9 hour Witcher video incoming

[@hector-m-carrillo]

@@christiancassam it's more ~15 hrs

[@SubliminaIMessages]

*laughs in EFAP*

[@goddessrick8734]

The ending of this game was almost traumatic for me. Dragon "I have your beloved" Me "Dafaq!? Who's he talkin about? Me (see's blacksmith surrounded by goblins)

[@wedantaawatara7824]

@KonicavaBR that is the mid game

[@FilmFan-iv7sz]

I had same issue he kidnapped reynard the merchant but I never used him. So I was like who this guy lol

[@caesarthemonkey2488]

Theyre masterworks all

[@aeroga2383]

you can't go wrong

[@dexunen]

LoL

[@sirconstantine8329]

I'd like to answer a few of the questions you brought up and also point a few things out. Firstly, Grigori doesn't take your heart as punishment for defiance. He takes your heart in order to make you an arisen, because you didn't run away from him; you stood your ground and fought him even though you knew you would most likely die. You showed resolve and proved that you had the will to live, which is one of the traits of the arisen. Also yes, he offers you a chance to give up your beloved to see if you have the strength to face him, or if you are weak enough to give up the person you love and live in shame knowing that you achieved nothing. The reason Grigori is so friendly and seems to want you to kill him is because he does. He knows that he is nothing more than an obstacle for you to overcome, and he does want you to succeed. But you have to earn your victory by besting him in a battle to the death. The seneschal is not actually God. He's simply the keeper/watcher of the world that maintains order and is given the power of creation as well as immortality. Basically, he's a glorified manager. This can get very confusing since the only way to kill the seneschal is to use the "godsbane" blade. The reason killing Grigori unleashes more monsters is because doing so opened up the everfall which Gran Soren was built over. There were many monsters inside the everfall and when it opened, they escaped. Grigori's death marked your victory and showed that you were worthy to challenge the seneschal, which you could only do if the everfall was opened. It is mentioned several times throughout the game that the longer a pawn stays with its master, the more it starts becoming like its master, until it begins to change into its master and becomes human. Selene the young witch in the woods is one of the pawns that mentions this and the dragonforged and his pawn also mention this. It is hinted that the arisen that become dragons do not retain knowledge of their previous lives, as Grigori himself in the final battle seems to regain some memories, as he says that he now remembers the pain he feels you inflicting upon him as he too once inflicted it himself. I hope this helps answer a few of the questions.

[@muso-kayumethedreambat7654]

Awesome run down of the lore and story i think this game has a very interesting lore and world

[@tonytony8872]

Isnt it also hinted that dragons do remember who they are....they are just compelled to obey the senechal. In bbi it mentions it in the stone of remembrance

[@Gilgaemesh]

Playing this game with the original Japanese audio does help to understand things better.

[@FullBitGamer]

This boy lores

[@triplespearmint]

Thank you for this. I just recently completed the game and gotten all the achievements after binge playing it. I really love the game and this video really does no justice for the game in regards to the story. I've watched several reviews on this and they all seem negative. I can't understand why. The story is actually pretty great once you piece them all together, especially during the second play through. It feels sad knowing that many people who have tried this hated it.

[@ZenakuShinigami]

THE WIND IS PUSHING ME

[@Rislear]

this comment is what I came to this video for

[@izigurusumardi8934]

ZenakuShinigami WOLF HUNTS IN PACK

[@DavidUtau]

INTO THE CURRENT AGAIN

[@Nutt_lemmings]

Goblins!!!

[@forgiveness7959]

GOBLINS ARE WEAK TO FIRE!

[@MrMedal01]

"Use fire!" "Strike with fire!" "Even in numbers, a weakling is a weakling still!" "Their kind hates ice and fire BAWLS!" "Goblins hate fire!" "We have triumphed" "We have triumphed"

[@neansath]

This is why I throw every pawn to a body of water.

[@keijohwade8348]

"Wolves hunt in packs!"

[@fredrikgranstrom6743]

@@keijohwade8348 no shit

[@keijohwade8348]

@@fredrikgranstrom6743 just my favorite pawn quote lol

[@lux-6477]

ahahahah! TODOS odian el fuego.... >< EVERYONE hates fire fuking no souls people