Dragon's Dogma 2 is a very hard game for me to rate because there is genuinely a lot that is not good with it. With that being said, this is one of my favorite action RPGs in terms of the fun factor and combat and exploration carry basically all of the weight in that aspect.
Combat is fluid, weighty, environmentally interactive, and diverse. Enemy variety can dry up due to the density of encounters and it is very easy to overpower via levels but the unique feel of each vocation and ability variety make it an absolute blast to fight in most encounters.
Exploration isn't super rewarding in terms of loot but the way combat plays out can feel very organic in a way I never experienced in other games. Going out into the wilderness with your pawns genuinely inspired a feeling of going on an adventure and the tension, the intrigue, and the challenge all pooled together for a great experience.
With my former experience with Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, it was good that this was all I expected and wanted out of the series as it satisfied what I wanted out of the game. However, that's where most of my positives dry up.
The story is even less cohesive than the original title with a kind of cool overall theme that is accompanied by characters that feel unimportant and uninspired, poorly paced story quests, and a general lack of urgency or importance.
The graphics are pretty solid and the world carried a gritty, realism inspired fantasy look but it has an overall lack of diversity and interesting art direction. A lot of the world lacks the magnificence and wonder expected of the fantasy experience, instead replacing it with a plethora of scenic vistas that don't really tell a story.
For fans of the first entry in the series, Dragon's Dogma 2 feels a lot like a greater volume version of the original with none of the hoped for improvements. If you go in looking to fight a bunch of monsters in a fun and badass way, this game can be incredible, as it was for me. If you want more out of this game or something resembling a halfway decent experience as an RPG, it will probably be best to look elsewhere.
Combat is fluid, weighty, environmentally interactive, and diverse. Enemy variety can dry up due to the density of encounters and it is very easy to overpower via levels but the unique feel of each vocation and ability variety make it an absolute blast to fight in most encounters.
Exploration isn't super rewarding in terms of loot but the way combat plays out can feel very organic in a way I never experienced in other games. Going out into the wilderness with your pawns genuinely inspired a feeling of going on an adventure and the tension, the intrigue, and the challenge all pooled together for a great experience.
With my former experience with Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, it was good that this was all I expected and wanted out of the series as it satisfied what I wanted out of the game. However, that's where most of my positives dry up.
The story is even less cohesive than the original title with a kind of cool overall theme that is accompanied by characters that feel unimportant and uninspired, poorly paced story quests, and a general lack of urgency or importance.
The graphics are pretty solid and the world carried a gritty, realism inspired fantasy look but it has an overall lack of diversity and interesting art direction. A lot of the world lacks the magnificence and wonder expected of the fantasy experience, instead replacing it with a plethora of scenic vistas that don't really tell a story.
For fans of the first entry in the series, Dragon's Dogma 2 feels a lot like a greater volume version of the original with none of the hoped for improvements. If you go in looking to fight a bunch of monsters in a fun and badass way, this game can be incredible, as it was for me. If you want more out of this game or something resembling a halfway decent experience as an RPG, it will probably be best to look elsewhere.