While many have lamented that Dragon's Smegma II is essentially a remake or, at best, a 1.5 update to the original game, I'm perfectly fine with that because it's been 25 years since the original was released, there's no other RPG or game of any genre like it, and the original is one of the best RPGs ever made.

My concern with Dragon's Dogma II was that Capcom's recent output has been lackluster (I know that this is a minority position, fuck off) and has proven that they are ready to sand away the idiosyncracies of games to appeal to larger audiences. E.G., Monster Hunter.

This concern was reinforced by the amount of positive press the game received, especially from gaming journalists who were ambivalent about the original.

In a way, my concerns are justified. But thankfully, this game still understands what made the original so compelling, even if it is a bit of a step back in many ways.

It still has a beautiful open world to explore with well-designed quests that ask the player to pay keen attention to their surroundings or fuck around until something works. In general, Dragon's Dogma II simply respects your intelligence in a way that most modern AAA games don't.

It also maintains an excellent combat system with some of the best game feel of any genre.

I never tired of wandering through the wilderness, taking on hundreds of foes, experimenting with class synergy, and ensuring my pawn was well-equipped to help other Arisens in distant worlds. Scaling a fucking griffin is just as enjoyable in hour 50 as in hour 10. It gets even better when you realize you can hitch a ride on one's back as it flies away and heads off into uncharted regions.

Speaking of, this game is filled with emergent gameplay and allows the player to find many creative ways to solve problems. Did you know that when you knock a Golem apart, you can pick up his fucking head and fire laser beams at shit?

Fuck man, YouTubers are milking the ever-living fuck out of "Things You Didn't Know You Could Do in Dragon's Dogma II" videos with soyface reaction thumbnails just like they did with Breath of the Wild. I remember when I finished the first half of the Sphinx's questline, and she suddenly took off; I decided to see what would happen if I grabbed onto her tits. She took me for a ride across the entire map and brought me straight to the next destination!

I fucking love gradually making my own efficient fast travel network, the same way I did in the first game. It's still just as gratifying to drop a portcrystal in front of a quest giver to instantly teleport to them when I'm ready to turn a quest in.

I'm so glad that Capcom didn't give in to demands from a particularly vocal minority, primarily those who didn't even like the first game, to add co-op. The pawn system is just as good as the previous game and still shines as one of the game's most unique mechanics. Co-op would have ruined this, as balancing the game around both would be impossible.

While Itsuno has mostly stuck to his vision, some unfortunate compromises were made, just like with Monster Hunter before it. I felt like I was losing my mind recalling how many people complained about this game's "friction," with some accusing the developers of intentionally making the game unforgiving to sell its admittedly fucking stupid microtransactions.

I'm sorry, but anyone with this position is a walking fucking skill issue because this game is much easier than Dragon's Dogma in just about every metric. The combat is easier, the classes are more powerful earlier in the game, the world is much simpler to navigate, there are many more quest markers, etc.

My biggest disappointment with Dragon's Dogma II is just how little friction there was compared to the original. I remember that, for at least the first half of the game, wondering around at night was extremely difficult, and if I found myself unable to return to an inn before nightfall, I would sit and wait for the sun to rise.

There's nothing like that in II. Even traversing the world is much easier due to the increased emphasis on verticality.

Still, this isn't enough to ruin what is otherwise an incredible gameplay loop.

I will say that the post-game felt very rushed and is the most prominent example of a great idea that wasn't followed up on. I don't know; maybe they ran out of money.

Still, though, great fucking game. Even if it isn't the earth-shattering masterpiece that its predecessor was. It is a shame how poorly optimized it is and I won't lie and pretend that the performance didn't bother me at times. But I specialize in Eurojank RPGs, so I'm pretty used to it from this genre.

I'd say that I'm looking forward to playing the third game when it releases in 2035, but I'll probably be dead by then.