I should start by saying this isn't a review, more like a thank you letter. Dragon's Dogma II isn't a game I thought I'd ever be lucky enough to play, I bought the original back in 2012 and every SKU after in the hopes a sequel would arrive and it's so, so, rare to get a wish granted in this way. Dragon's Dogma II is a dream sequel and then some. From one of the best character creators I've ever used, to a deep and engaging combat system, buttressed by the intense need to manage resources and time around the combat in order to make it back to inns/camps by night. Few experiences adequately capture the highs and lows of being a wandering adventurer like this, battling a drake in a colosseum, down to our last resource, before watching the stars by the fire with my party after a hard fought victory - it felt completely perfect. So thanks Hideaki Itsuno and team, for waiting so long to make sure it was ready. I wish I was the same age as I was when the original released, so I'd have enough time to replay it a billion times, but hey, the Cycle must, and will eventually, continue.

É consideravelmente mais curto do que eu imaginava, principalmente considerando o genero

a gameplay é bem boa e o jogo em si é bem legal. o mundo é super opressor e dominar ele é gostoso

os boss são incríveis e as quests são surpreendentemente divertidas

o twist pra conclusão do jogo é muito bem feito e inesperado.

O jogo roda bem mal e tem mtos bugs :/

refazendo minha review 4 meses depois do lançamento e 240 horas de gameplay !

dragons dogma 2 é uma obra prima do genero de ação e aventura com um combate extremamente satisfatório e viciante e com o melhor sistema de criação de personagem que eu ja vi em um videogame, foi a melhor experiência que eu ja tive com um jogo recém lançado em 5 anos e é o mais perto do tipo de rpg que eu sempre sonhei que existisse

o jogo peca horrores na narrativa e nas missoes, toda a linha das quests principais no comeco sao muito interessantes, mas dai acontece um furo de roteiro imenso da metade pro final do jogo que me deixou com uma sensação muito seca quando finalizei o jogo, fora as missões secundárias que sao tipo 3 minimamente interessantes, mas mesmo com esse fator, nao interferiu em nada da minha experiência, o jogo inteiro te da uma sensação de aventura e descoberta muito foda que voce acaba nem ligando pro resto dos fatores da narrativa podre e so se importa em explorar o mundo aberto

te amo dragons dogma 2 vc nao merecia todo esse odio no seu lancamento

definitely not my cup of tea
i m 7 hours into this and tbf idk how i feel ab it
the story aint really interesting something ain’t clicking
the game looks good
i like the mechanics but maybe this one ain’t 4 me
i m feeeelinn a 6/10

"See that BIG mountain in the middle of Vermund? You can't climb it, we hope you'll appreciate the permament BIG fog of war spot on your map."
- La Creatividad Itsuno

there's Aught here...aught?....naught???...Might be the very best 5outta10 game Ive ever played, woulds def get 6outta10 if I didnot have to mod max skill slots back to 6 (see? am certifiably ObjectiveReviewer). yep, and Am 'Aught-tistic' , HAD A BLAST!😺 Relatively Speaking. Donts believe me.? I gots the "collect 80+ ubisoft exploration cointokens" cheevo well before completing the game, Please Be Understandings! AND as soon as I unlockd ForceThrow on MysticSpear, infinite slapstick LMAOings commencings, thank you based genius creatividad!!!!!!!!!!! ....lemme tell you am PositivelyBodyguarded, made mah pawn's bigg butt wide enough for me to take cover behind it for a reason (thou cannots hurts let alone see me...), even got multiple likes+heartS😻 from the massively active PeeCee community (2000+ players!!) cuz turns out folx LOL @ bigg buttz and justlikeme Cannots Lie (just look @ this one😹😹yes OFC they sent a heart😻). Now that we've gotten the fact that I'm an Undecipherable/Unhinged WeirdO out of the way, thee can DownVote and move on. mhm, Nobody is reading, nobody will know I think 'properly' modded Skryim is holistically speaking a better 'OpenWorld ARPG powerfantasy wank-off' than both Dogmas (but doesnot let me climb big monster, doesnot have pawnS, naught....is pretty different game actually...UHOH!!! what haves i done).

Straddles the line of idiosyncracy and idiocy even more than your garden variety wapanese title, who can do no wrong as weebs all know, it's okay when based nipponese game director lies in interviews and the game in question is undeniably unfinished Jank with less equipment slots (hotnew back-of-the-box feature they took from Skyrim). All too often leans towards latter though seeing as how, besides it obviously being a repeat of the first game In More Ways Than One, for instance """marketable features""" like the dragonplague or say carriages getting assaulted are simply just le epic troll inconveniencing middle fingers to the player that become entirely irrelevant as soon as one learns about them. The latter especially is a sticking point, Genius Creatividad Itsuno seems to think that commuting the same roads OVER&OVER in an already tedious&tepid world with little enemy variety is an entertaining activity, rather than something us full spectrum gamers with the Aught-tisms put up with previously (and yet again) in order to get to feel Epic while playing dress-up with our actionfigures/barbiedolls and bullying chimeras/drakes to death with them. PeopleS clearly have been so starved for extra dargondogma monster bullying content, or really any new notable game simply bearing the trappings of 'HighFantasyAdventure' in general (me included, am Positively Famished), that they're evidently willing to overlook an open world bordering on being as bad as Dragon Age Inquisition's, a total absence of actual dungeoneering (all them minute copypasta corridor caves DO NOT COUNT dAhligns) and really things that actually would make the experience in question constitute as an exciting Adventure. Barring maybe the Sphinx and the endgame murder mayhem festival "surprise", the latter of course is a "Limited FunPlayTime Activity" rather than a permament endgame grindfest you can optionally opt out of into NG+ like the first game's cuz genius creatividad's vision genuinely seems to have been 'No Fun Allowed' (WANT TO KEEP ON KILLINGS DO BE UNDERSTANDINGS DEAR "ENTHUSED HACK&SLASH RPG FANS"). Sorry for being 'pedantic about semantics' but very little in this nearly one-to-one thematic/aesthetic repeat of the first game, but now with a L0Lcat race that has zer0 flav0r/l0re or even meaningful gameplay distinctions, plus pathetic attempts at wannabe Game of Thrones politicking plottery, brings that term/sensation of 'ädventure' to my mind. The difficulty yet again needing to be self-imposed or modded and a total absence of new monsters that'd arouse excitementS being the biggest culprits IF YOU ASK ME. But if aimlessly hiking around grassy knolls while collecting grapes and OHKing yet more goblins is your idea of ADVENTURE then You Do You boys&gurls.

Are there there new monstarrs to discover? Well of course, like slimes for instance, and all its variants pose about as much of a threat as the ones you can encounter during the starting dungeon in Dungeon Lords: Collector's Edition (plz look forward to my upcoming 8 hour long dry pedantic objective 'anal-ytical video essay' about it where I'll summarize my playthroughS and give a cursory rundown about all its mechanics whilst proclaiming to be Insightful) but nevermind that my fellow action RPG enthusiasts. Yep, am positivelynegative for a reason, simply wish it were betterer, just liek teh first game but even more so (can Thou understand why?). But I'm sure genius creatividad won't underdeliver again after this, third time's teh charm, the copious copium huffings must re-commencings... we will get the red/green advanced hybrid katana vocation finally... ByTheWay, dids THEE notice that folx in this say Ser for some reason? I dids. Can You Guess Why? YeP, is certifiably a Gritty and Machewr prestige title, not just silly puerile action game powerfantasy, this genre has been positively Enriched ever since 2011 lemme tell you, Skryim is the criminal equivalent of a jaywalker in comparison. But this still willnot receive MTN Dewrito GOTY trophies like DargonAge Inquisition and Bitcher3 did (muchmuch worse games than this, WillNot argue, is FACTZ, and maybe preferences). And LAST BUT NOT LEAST, yes, it's true, I love how this game has almost Zer0 Muzak or even ambience, just like my favoritest nu-CapCom game, RE4 Demake. but what area/section had your favorite score? Let me know in the youtube comments, maybemight read em, for me it was The Hell On Gransys endgame.

In conclusion, I am FullyIronyzed (and lovings it...). Had this pretty Magical princess hired for 68 ingame days at one point (wasn't the only time I hired her, was even levelings up alongside Me...). yep, sent over a wakestone.😻😻😻😻 "gamers", please understandings, I charge up my RiftCrystals, got somany 'DisciplePoints' IRL not just ingame...........will unlock Sorcerer at this rate......

ps: i genuinely donots understand why the lolcats even exist if they donot for example at least have +ClimbingBonus. nobody has played Daggerfall they couldve easily gotten away with plägiärizing it... andWHY DO THEY TALK THE SAME SILLY RENFAIRE ËNGLISH AS EVERYONE ELSE AND SOME EVEN HAVE ABRAHAMIC NAMES??? PLEASE EXPLAININGS DEAR GENREFICTION WORLDBUILDING ENTHUSIASTS!!!!!!!! AM THE DANGEROUSEST TYPE OF FULL SPECTRUM GAMER, CAPABLE OF PETTY NERDY PEDANTRY, YOU BETTER WATCH YOU'RESELVES! ACKSHUALLY,.. am positively self-conscious...I LMAO @ Myself all day every day (am a LOLcat IRL)

pspspspsps🐈: so sorry my dear fans of highquality gamecube game 'StarFox Adventure', but I had to do it, had to do the needful! SO LONG GAY BOWSER 😺

is my mostest objectivest review yet. zer0 upvotes from reddit rats, guaranteed. :)

this is not for me at all. although the game have a lot of interesting ideas, i don't they are combined in a way to make a good game. I love the idea of having open ended quests, where you have to carefully explore and make sense of the world around you to progress. I love the execution of the combat, the classes provides a huge variety and quality of approaches to combat (i specially love using rogue to climb the shit out of monsters).

However, in my opinion, the combat encounters are too frequent and takes too long to make the exploration enjoyable. It seems like a minor issue, but over time, this emptied my enjoyment for both combat and exploration. I played for around 20 hours and really don't feel like playing anymore.

DD2 is a great game with some aspect holding its greatness back.
The moment-to-moment gameplay with so many volcations/playstyles and random beast interactions are Peak, and exploring and moving through this dangerous world and how you interact with diff systems of this world via it being exploration, quests or pawns, it all comes together in such a great way that it all feels natural and seamless like no other OW game.
The Side quest also plays big part in making this OW feel seamless and Not gamify, SQ are multi-missions, diff SQ intervene with each other, the way diff SQ characters talk to each make this whole OW feel like a living breathing place, and best of all u don’t have SQ marker on map, the npc’s comes to u during exploration or in towns ask for ur help and it became this whole new adventure.
And not to mention how fun, responsive and versatile the core gameplay itself is, and with 10 different build styles, with each feeling so diff having its own progression at the same time while keeping the quality up, its amazing how much this game packed in its gameplay department.
But main issue for me is that how horrible it is optimized, and its story is weak but man I don’t wanna spoil there is reason to why story is weak and when the main twist happened, the actual plot reveals itself, it is very clever and deepen the lore, but still don’t make up for the story to be ehhh.

8/10, would've been easy 9 if not for horrible optimisation.

Have to admit that I'm shelving this for now, but I've had a lot of fun with it. It's just an exhausting game to even think about playing. The friction is the point and I think it makes the game better, but to think about progressing in Dragon's Dogma II is to commit to playing for several hours and use up valuable resources. It's a system that I think works excellently while swept up in its majesty, but once you fall outside of its grip it can be too intimidating to return to.

I do intend to finish it, when everything dries up. But who knows if it ever will.

First of all, I'd like to argue this is not even an RPG. Role-playing pertains to player choice regarding their interaction with the world, which extends to how you solve problems and treat the different characters -- and often factions -- presented to you. By this definition, Planescape is an RPG, Morrowind is an RPG, Deus Ex is an RPG, Baldur's Gate, Divinity 2, etc -- all real RPGs. Not Dragon's Dogma.

Dragon's Dogma II has one solution to everything: kill more monsters. It is really nothing more than a quite simple action game embellished with visible numbers -- you don't even get to choose which attributes to upgrade to level up after leveling up. The combat is very straight-forward button mashing -- with a character that controls like a tank -- that doesn't come close to the complexity of games such as Ninja Gaiden, DMC, Bayonetta, or, to draw a comparison more suited for modern audiences -- Souls.

So if you're either looking to role-play or have some kickass combat, the game isn't it. It falls short in every way but the presentation, which I did find beautiful, which is the only reason I'm giving it a mildly positive rating at the end of the day.

The original Dragon's Dogma and the original Dark Souls are sister games that share many of the same surface-level philosophies of game design, but which spiral out into radically different directions the deeper into them you play. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Dragon's Dogma II and Elden Ring, sequels to those games which arrived over a decade later, have the same fundamental relationship to their source materials, and to one another. Both games see an exponential increase in scope compared to the past games in their lineage, without fundamentally altering the core experience of those original games. Neither game feels like a completely original thought.

Elden Ring had the benefit of wrapping all of the past Souls/From Software games into one narrative. That game is crammed with character archetypes, bits of visual language and combat encounters taken from past Souls/From Software games, but as a singular package, it is nothing if not ambitious. Dragon's Dogma II, however, is simply Dragon's Dogma again, but worse in all the ways that matter.

Dragon's Dogma II is Dragon's Dogma if it was wider, denser, longer, and more photorealistic, but ultimately without novelty, without a knack for pacing, and without a meaningful sense of identity. It is the same game but it takes longer to play it, the same game but with fewer, less interesting problems to solve, the same critical spin on Joseph Campbell's hero's journey, repeated again nearly verbatim, producing only the most modest variation of the original's grand finale, for no particular reason.

The combat system is still beautiful. I love the strict limitations each class is burdened with, the way the game forces you to lean into your class' strengths without being able to satisfactorily negate its weaknesses. But I really, really don't love the obscene density of combat encounters throughout the open world, which for some reason is like 400% as large as the original, but with seemingly only 85% of the variety in enemies. The constant repetition of the same fights, which always occur, Dark Souls-esque, in the same places on the map, often overwhelmed the joy of the combat system. There are times in this game where you have to deliver a letter somewhere, to a person who won't tell you what the letter said, but only after having fought over a hundred discrete monsters and bandits to do so - which is insane.

The gorgeously drawn photorealistic graphics, while a marvel to look at in the abstract, are nevertheless another unwelcome change. In the world of Dragon's Dogma, NPCs are not written like they're people, but are instead written like they're NPCs. They're automatons who serve a sort of thematicly relevant role within the metaphysics of the world, a middle ground between pawns and humans; they're basically pawns who do not understand that they're pawns. When these automaton-esque NPCs possess a slightly stylized look, putting them at a greater distance from human beings, the unreal, dehumanizing nature of their design synchronizes with their unnatural look. In Dragon's Dogma II, a realistic-looking human man will approach you, open his mouth, and emit the stilted, wooden prose of a chatbot roleplaying as a medieval peasant, which feels so much more callous and unsettling.

The magic of the original is still here in fits and starts, and the relationship between player and pawn is still an incredibly compelling one. But in every way that matters, this is a less creative, less engaging, and more onerous iteration of a game that was already pretty damned good the first time around.

It's a solid adventure. But it's lacking something and I can't quite figure it out.

PROS: Character creator is great. The environment is well done. Combat is solid. Pawn system is good (although I don't know why they removed pawn quest/monster knowledge from DD1).

MID: Lots of caves to clear (but no lore attached to them — few bosses — little variety). Cutscenes are good (but not enough of them). Some cool looking NPCs (but not enough quests, or time, with them). If you like a challenge, you won't find any here (unless you go pawnless).

CON: The story is sadly not very grandiose; feels like there should have been more story beats/events. I didn't particularly care for any characters in DD1, and that's sadly the same for DD2. And, although the map was well designed, I feel like it was lacking some more important areas. Maybe some big dungeons/puzzles, or another big city off the beaten path. Exploring wasn't particularly rewarded.

Anyway, I finished it (which is a good sign for me that something clicked). When I was reasonably levelled, and found an OP pawn, it was much more enjoyable to explore. If you like a chill fantasy adventure, I would recommend! If you want a spectacular respect-my-time kind of game, I sadly cannot.

It’s amazing how natural the adventure feels in this one. It’s the same open-world philosophy as Elden Ring or Breath of the Wild - the main force driving you forward is your curiosity (literally most of the quests and locations in this game are optional), leading you to unexpected discoveries and random situations you’ll remember for a long time. Pawns at your side create this great feel of fellowship even tho they’re not really characters (I thought I was gonna lose it when my pawn caught me while falling of a wall). I love how there isn’t any distinction between side quest and main quest, just do the stuff that seems the most important and interesting to you.

Look, all I’m saying is: if a game makes you whistle LOTR theme music out of nowhere then it’s doing something right