Dragon's Dogma 2 is a return to the "hardcore/cult classic" dark fantasy role-playing game. The power fantasy combat returns, combined with a thrilling world to explore. The game does not cohesively come together, much like the original. Which is a shame, but I'm already hopeful for a "Dark Arisen" expansion to further explore the combat.
Pros:
- Vast open world, that is rewarding and interesting to explore
- Gameplay and combat are excellent with lots of vocations
- The Pawn system remains one of the most innovative and unique game systems
- Voice acting and dialogue are excellent
Cons:
- Enemies quickly lose any threat to the player. The game stops feeling challenging quickly.
- Lack of monster and enemy variety
- Due to above, exploration loses it's thrill, and you mow through packs of weak enemies.
- Quest design does not complement fast-travel system, unless you read guides and plan ahead.
- Story has weak pacing, was short, and lacking depth.
- No Mystic Knight, Trickster was a complete mistake
- (Disclaimer: I'm no music expert) The OST was high-quality, but felt deprived of anything unique or emotional
Overall:
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a game that is fun to explore, with excellent combat and multiple vocaitons/party synergies to try. The pawn system returns, and the enemies from the original; but the player grows strong too quickly and outlevels the game/enemy design. The games looks really good, with improved UI over the first title. There are perfomance issues in towns, but I never had issues during combat. The story starts strong, but quickly falls off. The true ending was somewhat satsifying. They wanted to focus more on the story, but most of what I found interesting they used from the first game. I found the soundtrack largely forgetable. The original featuring "Into Free" by Bz was going to be hard to beat, but it feels like the ignored the originals electric guitars and unique OST which is a shame.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a fun dark fantasy adventure. The sense of adventure, and preparation is excellent. The combat and pawn system serve only to highten it. I'm definitely hoping they release expansions that focus on the combat, because that is the true strength of the game.
Pros:
- Vast open world, that is rewarding and interesting to explore
- Gameplay and combat are excellent with lots of vocations
- The Pawn system remains one of the most innovative and unique game systems
- Voice acting and dialogue are excellent
Cons:
- Enemies quickly lose any threat to the player. The game stops feeling challenging quickly.
- Lack of monster and enemy variety
- Due to above, exploration loses it's thrill, and you mow through packs of weak enemies.
- Quest design does not complement fast-travel system, unless you read guides and plan ahead.
- Story has weak pacing, was short, and lacking depth.
- No Mystic Knight, Trickster was a complete mistake
- (Disclaimer: I'm no music expert) The OST was high-quality, but felt deprived of anything unique or emotional
Overall:
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a game that is fun to explore, with excellent combat and multiple vocaitons/party synergies to try. The pawn system returns, and the enemies from the original; but the player grows strong too quickly and outlevels the game/enemy design. The games looks really good, with improved UI over the first title. There are perfomance issues in towns, but I never had issues during combat. The story starts strong, but quickly falls off. The true ending was somewhat satsifying. They wanted to focus more on the story, but most of what I found interesting they used from the first game. I found the soundtrack largely forgetable. The original featuring "Into Free" by Bz was going to be hard to beat, but it feels like the ignored the originals electric guitars and unique OST which is a shame.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is a fun dark fantasy adventure. The sense of adventure, and preparation is excellent. The combat and pawn system serve only to highten it. I'm definitely hoping they release expansions that focus on the combat, because that is the true strength of the game.