I recommend: Dragon's Dogma 2 (Review)

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Dragon's Dogma 2 is good...I think.
Video written and voiced by Ralph P
Edited by Austin B. and Stuart K.
Additional gameplay from Austin B.
#Review #DragonsDogma2 #Capcom
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[@SkillUp]

Thank you Raycon for sponsoring this video. Go to buyraycon.com/skillup for 20% off your order, plus free shipping! Brought to you by Raycon.

[@konohake]

skill up i respect you but play the first DD and i can guaranty you'd see the true flaw from the mechanically point i myself played it after DD2 and trust me there's alot more flaws in DD2 then you think

[@jac6548]

honestly one super quick easy fix that would take almost zero development time and boost the game well - at the end of the caves give some new spell or cool loot or whatever. it's an overused fantasy trope to but it's overused because it works

[@jac6548]

actually another super quick patch that would take almost zero development time...as you progress, since the monsters are the same, make them a little stronger, increase size by 10%, change color, add some easy superficial changes like, idk, horns or spikes or multiple heads or arms

[@marcusclark1339]

DONT BUY game has egregious $40 microtransactions in it, at launch, hidden from review season never about what you can stand or "not affecting the game" it always does and is a problem

[@SkullHandy]

High quality and raycon is such a bs statement. I don't know how could You eat their money knowing the shit you are advertising

[@FrancisGX]

Putting 15 year olds out in the wilderness to see if they survive confirms every suspicion I’ve had about Australians.

[@gabrielolsen2648]

Why does everyone else seem to have glossed over this anecdote

[@Seantorious]

I need to know how this isn’t even the top comment! Like wtf 🤣

[@lobsterboy2020]

We did the same thing at my school in the UK, it's pretty common. Obviously not as many deadly creatures in southern England though..

[@gabrielolsen2648]

@@lobsterboy2020 it’s definitely not common in the US at least from what I know lol. Like Boy Scouts but not any school or camp I’ve ever heard of.

[@paulmccluskey3466]

Most Australian thing I think I've ever heard

[@WT83]

Never has there been a more perfect description of DD2: "What a strange and curious accomplishment, for a game to engender such awe and affection after letting the player down so many times."

[@rocstarang5747]

"good D syndrome"

[@JBob08]

Perfectly put.

[@Mohgenstein]

Itsunos vision is to make you wonder if the game you’re playing is the best game ever or the worst game ever.

[@arustyitalianhairyasscheek5305]

Boring , generic , sluggish gameplay with no real characters would be my perfect put for this game.

[@Mohgenstein]

@@arustyitalianhairyasscheek5305 You obviously haven't played it if you think its generic.

[@steeldragon9041]

HUGE TIP FOR ESCORT QUESTS. You can grab the person, and use a ferrystone while you are carrying them and it will take them with you

[@twinkiestorrstoenailclippi2122]

Did not know that wth

[@steeldragon9041]

@twinkiestorrstoenailclippi2122 it's part of the sphinx quest, the pot one where you have to take the fragile pot to the baatal guy. Just pick him up and tp him to the pot

[@vasheldiablo507]

FYI You don’t have to pick them up. As long as they are near you when you use the stone. It worked like that in the first game.

[@ionian525]

9:41 On the "headcanon" point My friend and I did a playthrough of the first game where we tried to make Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner for a "Jimmy & Timmy POWER HOUR 4: The Dragon's Dogma". (Jimmy was Sorcerer and Timmy was a Barbarian) We also had a playthrough as the Impractical Jokers.

[@PerpetuallyTiredMusician]

Ralph my man, your script writing does not get enough recognition. Wether we agree or disagree, your videos are always on a whole other level than most if not all other reviews. Peace

[@SkillUp]

Cheers mate

[@tenisviejos]

Thanks for the great review! You captured the love-hate relationship with the game perfectly. As a former DD1 player and DD fan, I agree with all of your points more than I was even expecting. Your writing shows respect for the game and sets you apart from other reviewers.

[@jenishmaharjan9655]

​@@SkillUp bottom feeder

[@xzanthick92]

Great review….except you said William Dafoe….

[@yasielromero8236]

This is why he is one of if not my favorite reviewers, I don't know anyone else that can get in the nuances of how they feel about a game. I'm not really looking to see if I agree or not when I watch his reviews. I'm just glad to hear someone so beautifully explain what they like or don't about a game

[@DamImperial]

You can romance the brothel lady she has a whole quest chain that he must have missed

[@NionAeon]

Yeah sadly it can be easily missed, for something that involves quite a lot of back n forth, investigating etc too

[@HyouVizer]

she is pretty forgotable tho, never saw her in the main story again after forcing herself on my arisen. Totally forgot about her whore house too.

[@ATLsF1N3ST91]

I think the fact that this game doesn't hold your hand and put neon signs up to tell players what they can and can't do, a TON of people miss HOURS of content

[@henryduttweiler]

Wow you telling he missed a whole quest chain with filler, subpar dialog and a ferrystone for reward?? Unsubscribed. He clearly doesn’t know what he’s doing

[@NionAeon]

@@ATLsF1N3ST91 yep! I mean even Wilhelmina’s quest-line being missed in this review, Ralph used her as an example of a negative, which is immediately countered by people who started to understand how the game works. You have to literally think “hey, what about Doireann, in the elven village, I wonder how she’s doing after that attack?” To then check on her and see that there’s another quest-line. A lot of players are just sticking with the main, obvious quest line that DOES hold your hand in a way, and completelyyyy missing a lot of content.

[@imshail]

I really hope this game gets a Dark Arisen treatment, it's not too surprising to see it as such a flawed gem currently, considering how tiny the dev team was it's actually surprising that they got this much done, one thing I did find disappointing is them deciding to go with 4 active skills instead of the 6 most classes had for the previous game.

[@ComradeBread]

One of the most frustrating things about DD2 is it's most definitely getting the dark arisen treatment. That's frustrating because DA already exists and 2 should have already incorporated all the fixes that brought the first time.

[@elliotwatson3964]

@@ComradeBread exactly, its history repeating itself

[@mechanicalmonk2020]

You mean to tell me that Dark Arisen was the "fixed" version?

[@jas6853]

@@mechanicalmonk2020yes lol

[@dennisclancy9439]

If by "dark arisen treatment" you mean an update that still leaves the game a disappointing mess, then I'd say we could skip it this time.

[@lolmanYAA]

As a major DD 1 fan with +400hrs, this is probably the most accurate and honest review of this game. You definitely listened and heard what the original fans think of the game and presented ur opinions for newcomers to this series stunningly well. I hope this series can flourish again with the bitterblack dlc remake lol

[@Archflip]

Now even bitterer and blacker than before.

[@Syaniiti]

I'm guessing underground through certain doors you can open once you have the godsbane. Bitterer blackerer cave system.

[@TalonsII]

Just wanna say that Wilhelmina does have a quest line that deepens her character/story but it is very easy to miss. That's not to suggest that it's particularly good, it falls flat like every other story in the game, but there is more if you go looking for it.

[@NionAeon]

Yea a lottttttt of easily missed optional quests that fall flat. They’re there though, so still need acknowledgment 😂

[@MetalGamer666]

I like that the game is not afraid to have quests that you only find if you go looking for them. Although, who choses NOT to visit the brothel in ANY game!?

[@TalonsII]

Yeah I love that there is missable content. I’ve done 4 playthroughs and found at least one quest I missed on each subsequent run. I think I’ve finally found em all now but since I haven’t looked anything up I can’t be sure.

[@NionAeon]

@@MetalGamer666 😂 says a lot that I found this quest on my first playthrough

[@CptEddyPrice]

u mean 2-3 fetch quests? and a shitty custscene... afterwards she doesn't even care enough because the dragon will hold the ELF dude instead of her at the main fight xD?

[@monkfishy6348]

Dragon's Dogma 2, like Dragon's Dogma 1, is what I like to call "A Perfect 7" game. There's something about them, that despite all their numerous and obvious flaws, jankiness and half-baked systems, the imperfections somehow add, rather than subtract. It's the blemishes that make them rise above other mediocre games. Perhaps if only because they are refreshing in their attempts. They are a 10 in my heart, but a 7 in my mind.

[@JuliusCaesar103]

I call it a flawed masterpiece.

[@nazgulsenpai]

Best way I've ever heard of described

[@Evanz111]

100% agree. I’d rather a game come out flawed but distinct, then play yet another 9 or 10/10 game that just kind of blends among all the others. Very few other games feel the same way Dragon’s Dogma does to play, and set out to do what it does with stuff like the pawn and vocation systems.

[@abhiss6705]

For me it's fun , but a bit repetitive. But the performance issues are unexusable. Really jarring and takes out all the fun. I have a decent rig too.

[@1621lionheart]

That is exactly what i had in mind. Objectively its 7-8 and can't go higher, but my experience is 10/10. I got attached to my pawn now, i will not erase my save ever. It can be bigger content wise but fukin greedy Capcom need reasons to make DLC later.

[@10XSeiga]

At 18:00 at the broken bridge, if you didnt kill the final harpies you could have jumped and grabbed their legs and guided them across the gap!

[@Syaniiti]

Or gone around using a the rocks downriver.

[@The.Nasty.]

Love that you actually covered this one… after seeing your whole review, I agree with everything you said. I will say this though… I found the combat diversity, on the players end, comes from the makeup of your team. For example: using a pawn archer with status inducing arrows vs DPS arrows… if you’re playing as a sorcerer, you’d probably want an archer with arrows to drench or tar your foe, setting you to bonus damage with your lightning or fire spells. Or use a healing mage who also knows your lightning spell, thus enhancing YOUR lightning spell when you both cast. Add that to the debuff archer, and a fighter tank to draw aggro and group enemies for MASSIVE DPS. It’s another layer of experimentation I’ve been enjoying anyway.

[@gracecalis5421]

I was really hoping that Dragon's Dogma 2 would've ended up being the game that Dragon's Dogma 1 tried to be. For all the reverence that first game receives, all well-earned, so many aspects of it feel like their potential isn't even close to being actualized. It left the game feeling like it could've been so much more. Instead of the sequel realizing that potential, it ends up suffering the exact same issue. It feels not fully realized. Like the first game, DD2 is one of the best 8/10s I've ever played in my life. But it stings a bit that it's "only" an 8, knowing it has the bones of a genuine 10/10 game.

[@chriswihulu]

Think that's the curse of trying to start out on an "Ambitious" new franchise. Especially when the first game wasn't widely appreciated and it's sequel didn't happen until 12 years later.

[@jackc.5271]

I really think it's itsunos fault. He didn't direct Dark Arisen or DDO, he just directed the first game. This makes me think he doesn't really understand what the fans wanted, or what really makes a good open world game. He understands good combat and good boss fights, and his ability to make anything greater than that just isn't there. I really hope if there is a dlc, he doesn't direct it. The game needs attention from a director that genuinely understands where the game falls flat, and he just doesn't. I think he proved that with DD2. Not saying he's a bad director by any means, he created arguably the best combat system in any open world game, but he also created one of the most barebones storylines in any open world game. Seriously, some of the far cry games feel like they try harder than DD2 in the storytelling aspect. Not to mention the fact that battahls story ends extremely quickly and the last half of the game feels really unfinished. All the while he said, "this is what dragons dogma was supposed to be." I think he genuinely believes that, it's unfortunate that the fans don't.

[@canniballistic555]

@@chriswihulu How is what is essentially a remake either ambitious or new?

[@gracecalis5421]

@@jackc.5271 This will sound harsh but I think it's time Capcom gave someone else the reigns. The things that Itsunos is good at, the first game already has! And the 2nd game is them too but it feels like a retread. You mention ANY criticism of the first game and I guarantee you most players will think "Hang on... that can be applied to DD2 too". He's given us the combat system. He's given us the formula for boss fights. Any new director can simply transcript those established systems onto their next game and the weaker aspects can FINALLY be improved upon under the leadership of someone whose strengths align with that of an open world game.

[@chriswihulu]

@@canniballistic555 I was referring to the first game, that he had a vision for the first game and when it didn't get the recognition he may have wanted, he didn't think to innovate or improve. He supposedly wanted elves and orcs already in the first game, but was limited by Capcom, so his full vision may not have come to fruition once more.

[@eddieford9373]

As an American hearing an Aussie say the word "pawn" sounds a lot like the word for adult entertainment, which made this fun to listen to.

[@BadEnd98]

Funny that, one of the most popular Pawn's name, is "Pawnstar"

[@chriswihulu]

​@@BadEnd98wasn't that also the case in the first game?

[@iampliny]

Dune/June

[@SuperInu]

Meanwhile, I'm German and every time I say it, my British girlfriend goes "CAN'T YOU JUST CALL THEM MINIONS, PLEASE?!" 😂

[@raye.4459]

I too sat up at the mention of a p*rn system.

[@dylanhendley5003]

Rather than Bethesda + Dragons Dogma, I think my dream game would be more of an Outward + Dragons Dogma. I actually would like more friction in my journeying. Less camps with more limits on their bonuses, more randomization in the field enemies, etc.

[@superbuneary8819]

Exactly bro. While I'm playing I can't help but think they really shouldnt have added that damn camping mechanic. I feel like the journeying would've felt even better without any of those security. And random enemy encounters yes. Tbh they don't even need to add new enemies, they have enough enemies. They just didn't spread them properly. Imagine if we have random Medusa encounters and random dullahan encounters instead of just 1 Medusa in a specific area and dullahans at hidden locations at night.

[@mikejenkins1270]

Hello fellow Outward enjoyer, I would also love that.

[@FrozenAXL]

I always said in the passed 6 years that my dream game is Skyrim with Dragon's Dogma's combat. Glad to see someone reached the same conclusion (kind of) :)

[@DirkMcThermot]

"Dragon's Dogma 2 is...both terrible and incredible at the same time." Joseph Anderson: *heavy breathing*

[@DreadedLad88]

No one knows who the fu*k that is.

[@tbone11x]

​@@DreadedLad88 I do. Makes pretty good video essays.

[@ssjbargainsale]

@@DreadedLad88 You don't, and that's ok. No need to get mad about it

[@Rithysak101]

​@@tbone11x dudes too pretentious.

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

@@DreadedLad88 I didn’t know “nobody” was how you spelled “millions of people.” 😂😂😂 Seriously?

[@LizdardKing86]

5:40 - 5:57 "The end points are often disappointing, but the journey toward each of them is utterly captivating. Energized at all times by a potential unrealized. What a strange and curious accomplishment for a game to engender such awe and affection after letting the player down so many times.” Absolutely brilliant !

[@slt328]

Respect to Skill Up for really nailing a core part of the Dragons Dogma games: the Journey.

[@WinstonHofler]

Frankly, if it’s just more Dragon’s Dogma, I’m all in. I loved the original and am just glad to see it managed to finally get a sequel.

[@Insan1tyW0lf]

The story is not as good (more words with less impact) and character interactions seem generally shallower, but the world is seamless and impressive, and it does definitely deliver "more".

[@HHTwice]

⁠@@Insan1tyW0lfcharacter interactions seem shallower? Lmao what?

[@cylop224]

I feel the same. I only played Dragon's Dogma 1 a year ago or so, so I guess I wasn't as crazy hyped as some other people. But I don't know why people expected the developers of a brilliant but flawed game to suddenly come out with this impeccable masterpiece on their second attempt. I'm very happy with what we got, especially as we'll likely get a big expansion as well.

[@Eudolus]

17:35 "no way to get across" there is almost always a way across after breaking a bridge. There is a path for this one specifically as well.

[@monkeys7187]

32:48 at the start of the quest while he’s standing in the hall there are makeshift Gaol keys on his desk. Once he starts shaking you down you could just brake the guy out yourself.

[@nevermind0213]

The only time the stealth system worked for me was when I walked into the girl hot spring as a male arisen (without paying). Guards immediately started attacking me. I also sneaked into it from the female side by climbing through the wall after paying my entrance fee and I saw the Mage maister grandma in there. Someone please erase this from my memory.

[@Shaderox]

Funnily i played a female arisen and arrived there by the quest to escort the dwarf... but he goes in as soon as he arrives. So i had to sneak into the male side and talk to him in the bath to get the reward, and while in there the elf king approached me (seems weird, given how he/elves speaks of not traveling anywhere) and gave me the archer master teachings he had refused to give after doing the quests related to him. No guards cared though, just 3 naked adults conducting adventurer business in a now-shared-bath.

[@merManc]

One of my favourite moments of the game was similar. As a female arisen, I was in the female side of the hot spring, minding my own business, when the male elf leader appears out of nowhere, naked and blushing scarlet, to offer me his "heavenly shot" maister skill. No one batted an eye.

[@LinktheSamoyed]

I enjoyed DD2 but I loved DD1 at the time. I found 2 actually went backwards in a lot of ways. Like DD1 had a more varied map with lots of different areas, but 2 was 3 areas that felt same.

[@zolo4600]

I think I understand? Although dd2 has an overall upgrade to its aesthetics, it feels as though it was really limited to the whole narrow path skirmishes we constantly face. Dd1 had more open areas and forest encounters that also utilized hills for some more interesting encounters. Dd2 also lacked any sort of castle/tower raid missions that dd1 had with its wyrm hunt, which I really liked.

[@Insan1tyW0lf]

​​​​@@zolo4600 DD1 also felt like it had more meaningful character stories. Julian and Mercedes, Madeline, the witch in the woods, the story of the Duke, the "villain" who didn't get the end he expected - even the dragon itself - they all had more presence and personality and arc. Wilhelmina, Hugo, Sven, and a few others try to do the same here, but the interactions are shallower, with typically only 2 side quests each that offer extremely limited character detail and basically no growth or emotion, after which they just stand around and do nothing. I free the magistrate guy (SQ1), get him his glasses (SQ2), he makes some comment about exploring the "rich trove of lost histories" in this cool, hidden library vault he moved into and... Nothing. Never had any further interactions. DD2 quest lines in a nutshell.

[@BKRandy94]

I was also hoping they would have used a lot of elements of the DLC in the first game. If there were dungeons like that in place of some of the caves would be incredible getting that dungeon crawling feel and increase in difculty

[@LinktheSamoyed]

@@zolo4600 yep, the paint job is a definite upgrade, also, I was stunned to find out new game plus wasn't the cool redone much harder enemies like the first one, wolves into hellhounds, Griffin in cockatrice, etc. Made it exciting to see a whole new world. That to me was such a stand out unique feature from that game that I still think about to this day.

[@PrimalDirective]

​@@LinktheSamoyedDD1 didn't have that or hard mode until a later update. DDDA packaged everything up in a re-release. DD1 is amazing but I think this game clears the base game in almost all levels, but DD1/DA still has some unique feature and systems that it doesn't share with DD2. I'll probably be replaying each game every year for the foreseeable future just like with DD1 😅

[@brentelledge8690]

I love the glitching ox cart behind the pawn, perfect Dragons Dogma clip

[@MOS41148]

3 minutes in and I feel like Skill Up has hit the exact sentiment I have for this game. As an avid fan of the original game, I feel like the two games can be summed up in singular sentences. DD1: A great game that COULD be better. DD2: A good game that SHOULD be better. For me DD2 is a game that faithfully follows in the first game's footsteps even if those footsteps go right into an open beartrap.

[@BadEnd98]

The worst thing about DD2 is there's not more of it. We need more enemies, more map to explore, more story, more vocations to play, more skills to learn, more gears to get,....

[@AmbrosiusIII]

For real, the whole time playing it I wondered where all the dev time went. Obviously they put a ton of effort into it, but 90% of the major mechanics and concepts (even enemies to an extent) are from DD1. And this is coming from someone who adores both games

[@Samhain23]

Yes, this is exactly my feeling as well.

[@rundown132]

It's literally just a reboot of DD1 lol, with less enemies

[@xtalpax902]

Might be an experiment for MH Wilds,so they "aimed high doing less"

[@Nexyyy7]

there is literally 50+ different types of enemies, what more do you want lmao

[@scalpingsnake]

I have kept myself quite blind when it comes to DD2, thinking I will take a page out of the patient gamer's book. This is the first time I actually watched content properly on it, learned a lot. The down sides are really unfortunate but I think the reason many will find the game good is exactly what Skill up says, the realistic timing and journeying. There is a reason why I disabled fast travel in Skyrim when I mod the game, because even after playing the game vanilla for over 8 years I started immediately finding new things as soon as I stopped instantly teleporting wherever I needed to go. So combine that exploration with having to stick to people's schedules sounds really cool. It also is inevitably going to be annoying and waste your irl time but that is something I am willing to deal with.

[@KahranRamsus]

If you want examples of trespassing not being handled well, take the castle vault. You can find a Makeshift key to open the vault, and there's a guard posted there 24/7 and going closer than 5 steps in front of them has the game just teleport you back away from the door. So what's one of the solutions? Go back down the hall, grab a barrel, throw it at them to make them angry, grab them when they get close, and then go and throw them into a room behind you. In the time it takes to walk back, you can just walk up to the door now and use this fake key to open the door and pillage everything in the vault. What happens when the guard gets to the door and finds it ajar? Absolutely nothing. You open the door again and you just get teleported back to the same spot, and the guard does literally nothing. You're not even arrested and sent to Gaol. Thanks for the riches and loot that you just let me take.

[@depoant]

Ohh...I triigered dragonsplague in Vernwoth on purpose to just open that door...guess I might had do what you diid XD

[@Pabzooloo]

There was no guard there when i went in there one time. Im thinking he must've died somewhere at some point lol.

[@wistfulwizard307]

There was no guard when i found it, i just unlocked the door and looted the place 😅

[@Patek.01]

@@depoant Bro nuked a city to get some money LMAO

[@Turkeyfoot1990]

He does leave eventually.

[@DrRipper19]

Hah that journey over destination thing is something that I've always found is weirdly compelling in a lot of otherwise half-baked or unfinished-feeling open world games, like the early years of Conan Exiles and the way that Minecraft was before they started fleshing out the item economy. I get the impression that if this game's difficulty/stat balancing, enemy variety, and main storyline writing were better, it would be one of the greats.

[@teemunnee]

I am always impressed by how well you can verbalize thoughts I didn't realize I was having about games. Fantastic review. I keep using the word "gritty" to describe this game. It's not grand, the vistas are beautiful but in a more understated way, and the NPCs are never as interesting as you want them to be. Almost as though you went into a fantasy world and expected the grandness of Elden Ring, but you got there and they were like, "oh no sorry, it's a little different here- you still gotta pay your taxes." But if you can find the beauty in its simplicity, you're in for a stellar time.

[@umphreak9999]

i'm getting flashbacks to PreRec's (rip) review of DD1, where Jack explained that he hated every individual aspect of the core game mechanics and still ended up somehow loving the game

[@cutuljo1606]

man I miss PreRec

[@Highlander77]

For the record, the beat method for getting back to Bakbattahl from the vocanic isle if you don't have a Port crystal placed there is to Ferrystone to Vernworth, and then take the ox cart to the Checkpoint Rest Town and then again from there to Bakbattahl. I feel like people overlook the ox carts a lot. But they alleviate a lot of the fast-travel woes.

[@0ldmanstew]

What really stood out to me was the dialogue/voice acting. Im taking a very slow burn approach to the game but in my limited play time so far there were definitely moments that made me chuckle or nod my head in appreciation. The ‘vibe’ of the dialogue I really enjoy. Humorous at times but not ridiculously cheesy like some other games/tv shows often have. Really enjoying it so far.

[@TheFeralFerret]

It's a fantastic action combat sandbox. The 'RP' in RPG is really not present, aside from faffing about with pawns, but it's so much freaking fun. The combat is so slick.

[@GodOfWarConnoisseur]

It looks meh AF

[@trignite]

The combat is fun for the first 20-25 hours then everything dies in a few hits to the point where you HAVE to gimp yourself by using starter weapons or a mod to give everything 2-3x more HP so things dont die instantly and there's no scaling on NG or harder difficulty so doing NG is just pointless. There's also barely any new enemies in the other areas, and worst of all there's no reason the fight any of the monsters differently, you just fight them all the same way, they have barely any mechanics. Yeah, you can burn the wings on a griffin to stop it from flying, but why bother they die so quickly. Yeah, you could try and focus on the legs and push an ogre down, but this will happen from your pawns anyway. It just gets so repetitive. Worst thing about the game that Ralph didn't even talk about is the loot. None of the chests give a good weapon or armor piece aside from maybe the black matter mace. All the best items are in the shops at the city. The chests just give useless consumables or some gold

[@canniballistic555]

I really dont understand the idea that this game is a sandbox.

[@rpemulis]

@@canniballistic555 every game is a sandbox.

[@TheFeralFerret]

@@trignite Personally I was disappointed, and then I modded the difficulty instead of whining. 135 hours and still having fun.

[@Alvadar65]

18:58 with this part you could have fast traveled to vermund and then used an oxcart to the checkpoint town and then an oxcart to get to bakbattal. Also by that point in the game you are meant to have explored enough or have enough rift crystals to have some port crystals and the foresight to put one down in the capital before leaving. I know that isnt the point that you are trying to make in this example, but I wanted to mention it none the less.

[@oliverpower138]

Ralph, a note for the quest bug mentioned at 32:26. You can kill all the guards and open the jail cell with a gaol key. Then just pick the kid up and take him outside to progress the quest. I actually got myself out of 2 other bugged quest lines with this type of trick

[@eldenboi7632]

Loved your stories Ralph. Keep 'em coming if you can, in your future reviews 🙏😁

[@SanityPotion776]

You’re damn right you recommend DD2 Ralph. DD2 was a game that was not even on my radar. Was bored one afternoon and decided to check out gameplay on Twitch thought it looked entertaining enough. Picked it up annnnnnd I now have 200+ hours played and am 6 playthroughs in, getting my 100% of the game on my 4th. Even after all those hours and playthroughs, every subsequent playthrough I’ve discovered something new. Whether it be a new ending to a questline, a new NPC interaction, or new item and location. I fucking love it and hope we get a DLC that expands on the world and difficulty.

[@JudgementNutter]

Just gonna wait for Dark Arisen 2

[@FynPrint]

I like how Ralph brought up D4 in this. As someone who plays both DD2 and D4 - It's actually quite a weird sensation I get when playing an A(asym)RPG that has an overtuned scaling system (D4) - and then hop on another A(adv)RPG with an under-tuned scaling system. Although weird, as a sensation, I really like the feeling I derive from my gaming sessions.

[@jamespearce9973]

Hired some great Pawns. 'Taylor Rift' was a highlight 😂

[@kysimple1313]

As the biggest fan of Dragons Dogma 2 that opening line was the single truest thing ever spoken in this universe. Past, present or future.

[@Luke-lg4vx]

Giving our mom premium audio?

[@bendova_smith]

Fantastic review, Ralph and team. I have seen so much coverage of DD2 -- and yet I still haven't felt like I've seen enough to make a purchasing decision. And this review finally helped me understand why haha, great one guys.

[@ShiningEyeBrigade]

Once again, Ralph finds a way to bring new ideas and a new essence of what a game is about (new to me anyway) to the conversation about a video game.

[@andyfaces]

Gotta ask.. did you miss the rest of Wilhelmina's questline?

[@LuisMiguel-on5oe]

seems like he did

[@Shocknfunk]

And also looks like he didn’t realize Brant gives em a portcrystal that would be ideal to place in Bakbattahl. That’s fine I didnt really do any of the main story in vernworth til like 30 hours in.

[@Hexxagone850]

Of course he did, you have to give her flowers to increase affinity then wait a day, then come back then go into a room to trigger a cutscene. Its Elden Ring levels of stupid quest design. I know about the quest and I still havent been able to trigger it after giving her multiple flowers

[@Hagosha]

@@Hexxagone850 doesn't have to be flowers. and her quest is tied to her affinity so of course you have to interact with that system to increase it enough to continue. Now, the affinity system could DEFINITELY have been handled better (though it's still better than the first game), but it's there.

[@Hexxagone850]

@@Hagosha The game doesnt tell you this so of course he missed it. Why walk around giving flowers to NPCs? and it doesnt trigger when you do it once so there is no reason to do it again, which is what you have to do to get this quest. there could have been a questline to raise affinity but there isnt, just give her items until it triggers

[@mellar5864]

"A whole lot of caves, most of them full of lizards." That should have been the entire review :'D

[@SuicideforDummies101]

The Sphinx is behind one of them

[@markyturner]

… and slimes.

[@RecentCobra]

That's just untrue, most caves are filled with Goblins or Humans. Not many have lizards

[@Dino9474]

Not one comment mentions your character’s name. That right there is a crime mate because I was chuckling hard when I saw it 😂 Great review as always and I used to go on expeditions like that for Boy Scouts! You unlocked some good memories I hadn’t reflected on in some time. Thank you Ralph ❤

[@adrift4days]

It's a beautiful day outside & I'm stuck in my office at work. Then like a beautiful ray of sunshine, a the Skill Up review of DD2 has been bestowed upon me. Been looking forward to this one!

[@codycline2975]

Waiting on a call from a rental truck company so I can finally move, this video came out at just the right time 🙏

[@DroneCorpse]

good luck on the move!

[@97wojak]

One of the most unique games out there. I call it team based medieval Death Stranding

[@PrimeAdvance]

Wow.... that hiking story man, that sounds crazy and dangerous as! One heck of an adventure though haha

[@mikeesteves8427]

its almost a pet peeve at this point but i always find it disingenious when people talk about fast travel in this game and act like ferrystones and portcrystals are the only way to fast travel. Most of the major settlements in this game are connected via the wagons and they only cost 100g or 200g vernworth melve vernworth checkpoint checkpoint bakbattahl and with just that youve secured transportation to and from all the major hubs of the game except the one at the volcanic island and the elven town. Sure you still have to walk back to the nearest town but its only the nearest town that you have to walk back to when you want to get most of anywhere on the map.

[@cylop224]

Disingenuous? Feels like a bit of a reach to me, or like you wanted to sound clever by using the word disingenuous. It's probably just a simple oversight. I doubt anyone's trying to hide the fact you can use oxcarts.

[@mikeesteves8427]

​@@cylop224 is it not? The man has clearly played this game a lot so theres no way he doesnt know about the oxcarts. Yet he still chose not to mention them. Unless youre implying that he doesnt know about oxcarts? I find that to be a stretch considering he made a whole 40 minute review on the game and probably did extensive research. Ive watched many different videos about this game and discussions on the topic of how they handle fast travel in dragons dogma 2 and ive rarely seen anyone mention oxcarts as a viable form of fast traveling between major settlements and thats the thing that upsets me enough to call it "disingenious" here so i will admit that its not a reaction that was caused by this video alone. Im just trying to figure out why this basic game mechanic is rarely mentioned when people complain about how fast traveling is handled in the game. In my opinion theres a huge difference in the picture painted if we compare the narritive being "oh you can ONLY fast travel with portcrystals and ferrystones and they are finite in each playthrough and the only way to get more is to pay money" versus "oh theres oxcarts that allow you to travel between all major settlements in the game that cost you measly 100 to 200g and a bit of ingame time in addition to the portcrystals and ferrystones that are finite to each playthrough and do cost you money if you want more". Like do you not see how the picture painted is vastly different? To clarify im not attributing malicious intent to the reviewer here im just saying that they are willfully leaving out important details to a contetious topic. Oxcart travel is near impossible to miss, the pawns mention it all the time and the game even hits you with an introductory quest to the system once you enter vernworth.

[@maxwellvindman7212]

Wait the settlements are filled with automatons?!?! Somebody call in an orbital laser.

[@thats4thebirds]

Oh and my god. Cannot believe we stamina runs out… OUT OF COMBAT. In a world where the only danger is stepping on a goblin every 10 yards like an errant Lego piece

[@PeePeePooPoo2112]

I remember hearing that stamina was infinite outside combat and was so hyped lol I was so sad when I found out that was a lie

[@Natsocenis]

there is a mod to fix that on P.C, theres actually a few QOL mods that have made this game awesome for me.

[@HeyArno1d]

If you're on PC - there is a mod for this problem)

[@MrTrueCaller619]

Capcom still stuck in 2012

[@ImTakingYouToFlavorTown]

One of the best features of Elden Ring is the change to stamina not decreasing outside of combat.

[@reza494]

4:36 I dunno how much you are into anime but what you are talking about here reminded me of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. That "it's the journey that matters" is one of it's motifs.

[@Geezusmusic]

That camping trip sounded awesome and insane.

[@Yusosuki]

Okay, I am not saying that the story is amazing. But I am on my 4th play through, and the amount of story that is missed if you don't do side quests at certain times is really astonishing. When you state that you never see Wihelmina again after she saves you from the guards, you could be correct. Unless you do the side missions that lead to her backstory that leads to the true ending for the queens story. This is a game that is going to take a while for everyone to figure out all the possible endings and best way to get the full story. Love your coverage and this video.

[@mellar5864]

i could miss 50% of the story and it still would be dogshit, all of the characters are extremely robotic, honestly some of the worst writing and voice acting a have had the displeasure to experience.

[@thereal4579]

Side quests and stories were all shit, I couldn't be bothered to do a second playthrough much more, a 4th.

[@canniballistic555]

AFAIK, there is only two endings, the fake one and the real one, which is similar to the first game, and while the choices and things you do along the way might differ and add to the flavour, it doesn't really effect the outcome, and the overarching plot makes anything you do moot.

[@stve01]

Yeah, this just isn't for me. Thank you for articulating your thoughts so clearly. A great review as always.

[@OldMateJohn]

17:50 you can duck down to the left and climb up the side of the cliff face to get across that broken bridge

[@AlkisGD]

27:50 - This perfectly encapsulates my own experience. In fact, I paused my playthrough to go finish Alan Wake 2, then started Lies of P, checked out Tunic, and have also been playing Helldivers 2 instead of finishing DD2 because ... I shouldn't be able to bully dragons at Lv65. I don't even use OP skills like Formless Feint! I use Smoke Bomb and Plunder! 😭 This situation makes me appreciate the balancing of Fromsoft games. Now, if only those games had combat as potentially deep as DD2, with multiple classes and skills and enemy climbing 🤩

[@user-tw1kj3jp9w]

Damn Ralph you've created the Perfect Review. I don't think it's your best (your best goes way beyond simply reviewing a game) but in terms of covering and critiquing a games elements and synergies this review is absolutely flawless, anyone who hasnt played this will know everything they need to know about this games strengths and weaknesses as well as how it feels to play it, absolutely brilliant!

[@uptownmurda]

Son…this man’s reviews are fuckin stupendous. You are truly a master of your craft. I’m buying this game.

[@fleeplayTV]

"may reveal ought you have not seen before" I see what you did there Ralph.

[@leonardchurch814]

Imma say a quote that really settled my feelings on DD2, “Friction makes sparks fly.” That sentence alone sums up DD2 for me and what makes it stand apart from its contemporaries.

[@thereal4579]

...that's such a vague expression....

[@Nikelaos_Khristianos]

Sparks can also set things on fire and make a burning mess.

[@SuicideforDummies101]

Pat nailed it with that one. The lack of a hard mode or difficulty scaling though gets in the way of that currently though.

[@leekyonion]

​@Nikelaos_Khristianos better to go out in a fiery blaze of glory than to die in the darkness of insignificance

[@bozzwick]

@@Nikelaos_Khristianos but fire can keep you warm and cook your food. Fire can be good. (Depends on how literal you want to take a metaphor)

[@themetal2244]

I don't know what the state of DD1 was at launch, but when I played it, it just seemed like a far more complete game than the current state of DD2, even ignoring the Bitterblack isle DLC (which was incredible). DD1 and 2 have the same amount of trash mob enemy variety, but DD1 is half the size, so it works much better. DD1 has more variety in its boss encounters with the evil eye beholders, hydras, cockatrice fights, and probably more I'm forgetting despite being a smaller game. I seriously cannot believe they ported the golem of all things to DD2 while ignoring these monsters. The first 10-20 hours of DD2 being the best due to player weakness was a solved problem in DD1. The boss fights in DD1 felt harder across the board and had a much wider range of difficulty from monster to monster. At most stages of the game, there were fights that could knock you on or ass if you weren't careful. It had a more reactive world with better and more interesting characters and a FAR better endgame than DD2 (the everfall was incredible, as was the narrative with the former king turning against you). Classes felt better to play with more skills and generally felt more balanced (other than warrior). In DD2, IMO, thief feels way more powerful than every other class, easily taking down the strongest drakes at lower levels even with sub optimal gear. Trickster as a class with no offensive abilities just feels kind of shitty to play. Sure I can buff my party and do some fun shenanigans, but during every encounter, all I can think is "This would've taken less than half the time if I was a thief and just killed these enemies outright." God help you if you run into a golem as trickster and have to entirely rely on the borked pawn AI to target the medals correctly. It just feels like a step back in all things except overall scale, and I'm honestly extremely disappointed. Here's hoping some good DLC like dark arisen could fix some of these issues down the line.

[@SuicideforDummies101]

Did you do the Sphinx encounter? Or engage with the Forgery system? I really loved so much of the review, but there is a LOT more to discuss with these other hidden systems with the Pawns. Love this game to death for that.

[@teelor221]

God damn my man’s writing is on point, great vid

[@makcraft]

Would love to see a review of an old game Outward from Ralph, since that "adventure" non-handholding feeling is what that game is about.

[@kwest4204]

Fingers crossed he'll cover Outward 2🤞

[@MarigoldAW]

@@kwest4204 Did they announce a sequel? I worry about it because of the mixed reception of the DLCs they released. Hope they truly learned

[@kwest4204]

@@MarigoldAW oh yeah, the sequels been fully revealed, looks great.

[@dragonflight2468]

18:30 ..... Why *didn't* you set a portcrystal in Battahl....?

[@Insan1tyW0lf]

Yeah, that was basically a must. Portcrystals are easy to miss though if you aren't hitting the side quests consistently. Volcanic camp too was a must.

[@CQchaos7474]

Wish they stayed around in ng+

[@TheRyderShotgunn]

the best part about "dungeons" in DD2? DD1 had better dungeons. real dungeons. a tomb built into a waterfall likely the first or second dungeon you come across at the start of the game. it's half flooded when you first go in, and you cannot actually drain the water until later on in the game when a dedicated quest to go in there. at first, its a saurian (lizardmen) nest, but once you drain the water and reveal the submurged lower half where all the coffins are, it turns into an undead tomb with skeleton warriors and mages. then, following the quest, you take a side path from the lower half to a large room in the back and you fight a freaking cyclops in a big room filled with loot chests. and a mine that's infested with monsters with a merchant at the entrance asking for your help to clear it out so he and other merchants can take it as a shortcut through a mountain, and once you clear it out, it actually stays cleared, and workers return to the mine to work, the merchant from before sets up inside of the mine and sells you some interesting items, and the best part is that the mine network expands over time as the work continues and opens up new paths and rooms with new loot. and then there's the catacombs, with something like 3 or 4 separate entrances all over the region, one of which is practically right outside the capital city, but theyre all locked, and the only way in that doesnt have a lock is really far away, and the catacombs are fucking SPRAWLING, with lots of rooms and multiple floors. meanwhile, in DD1, there's one true dungeon. and it holds such significance in the game's eyes that you get an achievement for going into it. and it's really big, and really long, but also really linear. anyways, see you fellas in another 12 years when dragon's dogma 3 finally realizes itsuno's vision lol

[@kjj26k]

Wait, what? What game has what dungeons...what? I think your comment needs some more organization.

[@TheRyderShotgunn]

@@kjj26k i disagree

[@hobojoe9717]

@@TheRyderShotgunnHe’s not wrong. Near the end you said “meanwhile in DD1” after you just talked about DD1…I assumed you meant to say DD2, but yeah

[@strifexiii9557]

The game IS Itsuno's vision.

[@truedps8]

Eh DD1 has like 3 actual dungeons. While I do agree they are better than DD2's dungeons, there really aren't many of them. DD2 has a ton more dungeons but those dungeons are just interesting enough to make you want to explore them, they're not interesting enough to fully remember. Dungeons were never really the focus of either game though, and DD2's open world makes DD1's look like shit.

[@potatoeOnRooftop]

I absolutely love this game. I really hope they make a third entry and fledge out a the systems but this for me is the perfect adventure simulator. I binged this so hard and It was blast from start to finish. I agree that it sometime felt like there could have been more tho. But for me personally this was an incredible video game.

[@ravengorepictures]

lmao at the escort mission. I know exactly which mission that is. Luckily for me, I had the foresight to search for a fast travel point in the Capital City and not seeing one, so i used one of my Portcrystals in it. Im glad i did that, cuz that escort mission would've pissed me off.

[@doubledangerous7898]

I was LOVING it in the first like 20 hours, but there was a moment when I realised that 'this was it', and it broke my heart. I found it super hard not to compare it to Elden Ring, and I feel like the overall choices around simply getting around was the biggest point of contention. In ER, you zip across the landscape (and obv have the ability to fast travel at will), then during dungeons, progress is achieved in inches. In DD2, you crawl across the open world, fighting the same mobs over and over and over again, and there's no signature dungeon payoff for your troubles. I do not class tiny caves, with identical enemies to the open world as dungeons. They are a minor interest in the first couple dozen hours, but after you've seen 10, you've seen them all. The combat is so laughably easy that I resorted to ditching all my pawns and exploring solo, just to have any sense of 'stakes' or danger. In short, it went from 'this is my game of the year!' to an absolute chore to plod through, in the blink of an eye.

[@cartoonvideos5]

Yes

[@HHTwice]

Don’t forget to mention how meaningless the open world is in ER, how repetitive its randomly scattered dungeons are other than Legacy dungeons, how many recycled enemies and bosses are regurgitated especially late game, and how the best approach to combat is pressing circle at the right time, and how it’s story is told in an even more convoluted way via post it notes scattered around the world. Wouldn’t want to leave those details out now would you? We’re being unbiased and all lol

[@doubledangerous7898]

@@HHTwice ok mate, whatever you say

[@abyssalrayz9499]

@@doubledangerous7898he’s not wrong tho

[@darny2314]

@@HHTwice Still more variety than DD2 tbh. Combat in DD2 is better for sure, I'll give you that.

[@tacothunder2298]

For yall information... when doing the Sphinx puzzles, give her a portcrystal when she asks for a valuable item and she will duplicate it. I followed a clueless guide on youtube and gave her a golden trove beetle and now i'm missing an extra portcrystal I could have placed in the volcanic area. Now I have to run there from Battahl city every time. Eff that. Over 70 hours in and i'm about to start a new character instead. OCD wont let me play without that extra portcrystal.

[@canniballistic555]

And now the gnawing, unanswerable question emerges: "If the MTX didn't exist, would there have been more port crystals in the game?"

[@Insan1tyW0lf]

​@@canniballistic555 No. Same deal in the first game. It wants you to travel by foot.

[@canniballistic555]

@@Insan1tyW0lf If that were true there would be no port crystals at all, let alone ones you can buy for cash.

[@tdarassp]

Check mate

[@basiicbid8032]

@@canniballistic555🤦🏾‍♂️It’s more nuanced than that. He wants you to travel mostly by foot but at the same time recognizes that it’d be super annoying having to walk across the entire map just to upgrade a weapon

[@steubenbreunden]

Wait did you say "Show 'em Austin" for that character creator edit? Is Austin back in the video editing brig?

[@filipkaniski421]

11:33 you are very wrong about not seeing Wilhemina again, she has an entire quest chain that’s actually pretty engaging but extremely missable. Not really your fault though there’s a lot in this game that’s very missable and unfortunately I feel like those things are the most interesting parts of the game. I will say I also think people are piling on a bit with respect to the story. You need the “head canon” you mentioned to flesh out a lot of the worldbuilding but based on how people were describing it I was thinking I’d be skipping every single line of dialogue but it’s really quite serviceable if not compelling in the early to middle part of the game. I’ve heard it kinda goes off the rails at the end though and I haven’t gotten there yet. Overall agree with your review though, I play games for gameplay and setting and getting to enact a lord of the rings fantasy with combat this fun is something I’ve really enjoyed.

[@Xl_Fenrir_lX]

This game’s exploration was so good to me because you could look at any structure on the map and go there. In the other sense you could make it to your destination and look back on where you came from and it adds to the sense of adventure and gives story to your journey. The other game that did this so well was Dark Souls 3, and I believe Miyazaki in an interview said he specifically leaned into that direction, that you could look back from many of the points on the map and see where you came from or where you are headed next.

[@hershmergersh6733]

the more i hear positive reviews for this game, the more I notice the extreme cope it takes to see it in a positive light

[@redfin382]

Its fun when you are exploring and your max health is at 25%. You keep seeing elite enemies and you are just running by everything trying to make it to the nearest campfire. The sun is setting and you are panicking.....thats a fun time. All the quests are literal fetch quests and the amount of escort missions is fucking crazy. One thing I didn't experience is cutting off parts of the mini bosses. In the first game you could cut tails off, you could cut one of the heads off a two headed beast in order to stop its magic attack. Maybe I just couldn't make it happen but I was trying to cut off wings or 2nd heads and it didn't happen.

[@SoraRyuuKamii]

THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING THE STEALTH SECTIONS; I've been ragging on a lot about it, and it just feels missing. There's some rank and file soldier armour you can find around vernworth, and a beastren helmet you can buy that's the exact same as what they wear in the FORBIDDEN research lab, both of which I had assumed were going to be for said stealth sections. As for robbing people in sight, Myrddin the sorcerer maister is the only npc in the game that will actually react to you stealing things.

[@bezoro2008]

Some of the best content in DD2 are the side quests, thing is they are missable. If you progress too much in the main quest for example dozens of hours of side content simply becomes unavailable to you. The ending of other side quests also affect the ones you will have available. (I've had multiple people die, get thrown in jail, lose their jobs, move to another village...) It also requires you to be super thorough and talk with everyone, multiple times. It expects you to just get lost in it explore and backtrack extremely thoroughly. I put DD2 up there with BG3 if you can believe it. But I feel most people simply don't play it like it wants you to and therefore end up with a painfully shallower experience. As an example I'm 75 hours in and still not even close to done. (most people finish the game in 25 to 30 hours and miss most of what the game has to offer) A shame that it seems he didn't encounter any of these. They are multi-phase, have multiple endings, tie with multiple other side quests and even the main story.

[@LordShrub]

Ugh there was that quest with Lubomir getting poisoned by Elena the nun. I arrested Elena after Lubomir was moved to the basement. The quest completed, I assumed that Lubomir would now recover. Fast forward a few days later, I visit the chapel and they tell me Lubomir died. I searched online and it said that I was supposed to go to the doctor again and bring him to Lubomir, outside of the actual quest. Then I get another quest to decipher a letter and hire a Pawn as a quest guide and the pawn tells me that I need to talk to Lady Elena and takes me to the entrance of the noble area. By this time I had forgotten the name, but I checked the character in the History compendium and lo and behold it was the nun, so the Pawn was actually trying to lead me to the jail to talk to her.

[@KingRat543]

Yea, 140 hours in now. Still trying to find first seeker token, and even using a map I've found 50 new ones but not the first or finders token...

[@Ceece20]

I’ll just wait for a 50% sale and a year, assuming they fix the technical issues and everything

[@danglezbenderz]

I'm honestly really curious what the budget was for this game. They only had a team 1/4 the size of the team that Capcom assigned to the newest Street Fighter game and I really wonder how much better this game would have been with more resources thrown at it.

[@johnnygao4993]

Does anyone know the name of the track that starts playing around 12:14? Also just wanted to say that that part of the review (including the personal story after) was particularly moving - reminds me of Dunkey’s GOW reviews, where the commentary crescendos with the music into an emotional high

[@rjt6765]

Not the conflict against your foes, but the journey with your bros. 🤙

[@sinh7765]

I was expecting/hoping they would build up on what dark arisen left behind. Unfortunately they did not.

[@Mohgenstein]

Because the person who made dark arisen wasn’t itsuno

[@sinh7765]

@@MohgensteinI am aware. But because itsuno didn’t work on DA, doesn’t mean anything good DA brought for the game should suddenly be forgotten and not iterated upon.

[@plplplplplpl7336]

12:57 One thing i have to say, i love the intro theme. Idk something about it is magical and i could listen to forever

[@McCoy_Buck]

You want to have a solid experience in DD2? Disable your mini map. You can always reflect back on it in the pause menu. That will give you that experience that he talked about being dropped in the middle of nowhere and going on a journey.

[@serjofcinder8925]

I'm loving it so far with all it's faults. 90 hours in and can't get enough

[@UniverseGlider2]

Daaaaaang. I hit credits in 37 hours. I think I played it wrong lol

[@serjofcinder8925]

@@UniverseGlider2 duuudee... I've fully explored Vermund but only just over half of Bahtal. I'm exploring every inch of the map, already found 200 seeker tokens and leveled every class up to max for both me and my sexy pawn. The combat keeps me going

[@UniverseGlider2]

@@serjofcinder8925 I found like maybe 10 of those. I did love the combat but that was about the only thing I did. Maybe the exploration. I’d describe this game as greater than the sum of its parts. Because I did enjoy it despite having gripes with essentially every single aspect of it

[@charliem5604]

Got bored and didnt finish it after 70 hours, meanwhile I have over 200 hours in DD1

[@maharaja101]

Took me around 100 hours to finish the game. Explored all of the map and did all of the side quests that I could find. My only real gripe right now is that I still want more but it's not really worth it to keep playing unless I start a new game from scratch and lose all my current progress. Enemies in NG+ are far too weak to be engaging and you can't even do any postgame grinding in the unmoored world because they put a timer on it for some weird reason. So now I'm basically stuck waiting for a DLC lol.

[@thmistrapillay1811]

Honestly I'm probably gonna love the absolute hell out of this game. The Gameplay, monsters, environments and exploration looks amazing. I don't need too much more than the that. This looks like it's going to be _the_ fantasy game for me. Not in that it'll be THE BEST fantasy game..... but it'll be a lovely, gentle, pure fantasy game to sink into and easily fall back into continuously as days go by Almost like an easy open-world Monster Hunter (but not exactly like MH because MH is the best thing ever made)

[@Twist3dBeatz]

You’re absolutely gonna love it. My favorite thing about these games is the simple fact that you can grab onto and scale all the large enemies in the game instead of wacking at their feet like in most rpgs lol. That alone made me love this franchise 😂

[@superbuneary8819]

The master works all you can't go wrong.

[@null5489]

if only the game didn't become braindead easy way too quickly. It's doesn't take much to feel nearly invincible, killing most large enemies in under a minute, with a pawn who can meteor anything into oblivion if you do low enough damage for them to get the cast off before whatever you're fighting dies. There's plenty of other issues with DD2, but the fact it doesn't have a hard mode, like DDDA, or much of the challenge that Bitterblack Isle provided, is enough to take what fun the combat system can provide and squander it. Hopefully they make another expansion to remedy the glaring flaws here, and add back in some more enemy variety too.

[@MrProdigy810]

Not sure about the characters portion. There’s several characters with a lot of meat to them and stories besides that are actually quite interesting. How you access them though is really obscure and their objectives are often vague, so I can see how they’d be missed. Case in point, the brothel owner

[@brandtmiles2373]

Your anecdotes about the escort quest, the spellseal door, the one-way lift, all of that...I experienced the exact same thing in the exact same sequence of events 😅😅😅😅😅

[@nazgulsenpai]

When I was 15, I was sitting in my underwear playing Unreal Tournament in my room. Australians sending their kids to survival camps. :o

[@biobroly5272]

Haha I went to the same thing, was a lot of fun - the occasional brown snake not withstanding 😂

[@mo-akif]

fr i was like omg bro is telling us a torture story and looking back at it fondly hahahaha. but fr i wish i had that exp; sounds amazing, even if a lil dangerous.

[@bozzwick]

Bro, we don’t want to picture a 15 year old on their underwear, we ain’t diddy or Epstein.

[@yoshy5651]

We were all 15 at some point. No one is sexualizing except u :0 Anyways no shade have a good day :)

[@Daishi0861]

It's not unusual to have scout events like this in the US either.

[@MrAustyn88]

"This game has so many problems, so much broken shit, so many half baked systems, and so much unrealized potential." That is also Starfield, but Starfield doesn't come together well unlike DD2

[@aaronpatrick7954]

If they made a game combining Dogma’s vocation and exploring, with the dynamic monster battles and gear crafting of Monster Hunter World. I would play that game for years. Even if the story/side quests were just ok.

[@Shaderox]

It's funny how he calls bethesda having consequences while Dragons Dogma 2 has like 2 or 3 outcomes to many quests, some more hidden than others. Case and point, he mentioned hes introduction to Wilhemina but never seeing her again. That means that during the palace stealth part, he didn't take the route where he ran into her, and also that he never visited her place of work and spied on her conversation with a noble which starts of her quests with siding with her or the noble and atleast siding with her the quest has cutscenes & later romance scene. And that's true for a lot of quests, some as simple as do or don,t some depending on how you do quests, and some depends on if you use the forgery to give a real item or a useless copy, aswell as getting other NPCs involved with depends on if you've done their quests or not.... DD2 is FULL of choices & consequences, it's just not presented in a "do good/do bad" dialogue option. And while he did the same mage & magic archer focus i did, judging from the footage, i think he missed out a bit on the combat experience by not engaging in the grapple mechanics melee got going on. I did that a lot in the first game (too bad the Assassin vocation didn't make it into the 2nd game) and it's really a extra layer of fun... also playing a caster now in the 2nd game it feels like it's just missing something the first game had, can't really put my finger on it but the "caster fantasy" is very similar in the 2nd but it just felt more right in the first one. (Also ironically, when he talks about that only-one-way-in-bridge incident.. hes a sorcerer, and as you can see in the clip, downsteam the gap is smaller, so a sorcerer (or creative person of some other vocations) can make it across. Creativity and that accursed ping of Seeker Tokens is a recepie for getting to a lot of places, some less intended than others) that said, it defiantly has a lot of issues all over the place, like the few skills you can equip for each vocation, constant & tedious inventory management because weight, heavy focus on travel but a severe lack of enemy variety (really, if they just improved that from 95% goblin,wolf,harpy,saurian ambushes to have variety it would go SUCH a long way to improve the game), and with the focus on travel & exploration they really should have taken a note from Elden Rings playbook and hide special & unique loot all over the place, not just ingredients and collectable tokens. Also crappy performance, and a widespread "invisible floor" bug that's still not fixed 2 weeks after launch, I have to play it in compatibility mode for Win7 for it to render the floor (it run noticeably even worse in compatibility modes but atleast i have a floor to walk on). Forturnetly last night I installed mods, and 2 that really improves the game is one to get the Eternal Ferrystone from the first game, really helps one you got some portcrystals and tired of your goblin & saurian genocide... and also one to remove the visual effect they put on your gear if you fully upgrade it ("Dragonforge"), I don't know who at Capcom approved that "Dragoncum" effect but they shoud take a severe paycut and apologize to the artist they forced to implement it. I can live with some of the downsides, but I atleast want to look good and not an embarrassment while i do it. Overall, i'd summarize Dragons Dogma 2 like fast food. I order a big juicy burger, it's not all the picture promised it would be. but I'm still gonna eat my burger (and enjoy it).

[@caseymantle2097]

Pretty much agree, but also feel the classes were chopped up and lost a lot of meat compared to DD1. The only classes I feel were equal or better were mage sorc and warrior. Its definitely dated but I do think its worth playing DD1 and the DLC for context. The DLC has some great combat, loot, story, and cuts out a lot of faff from the formula as well as letting you tackle it at any point so it can be as easy or hard as you want. Playing the first will also give context to how many enemies and monsters we really lost in 2, and how all the bosses and mobs have identical movesets so it feels like there was near no evolution to combat (imo). Overall opinion while playing for me is that DD1 did most everything equal or better, and all we gained for it is graphics. Feels like the budget, performance, release time, etc all suffered to bring up the graphics.