This is going to be a weird review, simply because I will hardly be explaining elements of Dragon's Dogma II itself (which honestly feels thematically consistent with the game, in terms of the framing of game-as-sequel DD2 finds itself in), and rather talking mostly about myself. Let me preface this by saying I have nearly 500 hours on the Steam release of Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, as well as countless hours on both the original release and the DA release on Xbox 360 before that. I will also say that it is a shame about the performance issues of the game and that the microtransactions are a complete and utter nonissue, and I will not be addressing any of the controversy beyond that. On with the review.
This is among my favorite games I've ever played, and one of the major reasons for that is that it did one thing that I don't think I've ever seen a game really do: It treated itself as a true sequel, and did so with a massive budget. What I mean by that is that the game made zero concessions on itself or gated itself in any way to be friendly to people new to the series, instead honoring the intelligence and time investment of its longtime fans. This game was made to be the ultimate cult game sequel. It is the perfect dream that many people, like myself, thought would never happen. It took all of the weirdness of the systems, all the thematic elements, and all of the ramifications of the lore from the first game and doubled down on them in a way that felt the most intelligent and consistent of any sequel of anything I think I've seen across art and media... ever. And everything that DID have a more dramatic change made was changed in a way that made perfect sense. It's astonishing.
It felt like a game made for ME, specifically, which is something I've never experienced before. If you have a deep love of the first game like I do, then this is... perfect. There was not a single iota of disappointment I held for this game other than the very unfortunate performance issues it has launched with, of course. That has also never happened to me with a sequel or spiritual successor to anything before; There's always some niggling doubt about a system or gameplay change, or a writing or thematic inconsistency, or just SOMETHING that makes a sequel feel slightly uncanny compared to what came before it (a perfect example would be something like Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2. RPG Military Star Trek turns into edgy space military shooter with RPG elements. Don't get me wrong, I love the entire OG Mass Effect trilogy, but it was incredibly tonally and thematically all-over-the-place from game to game).
Everything that did undergo a major change makes PERFECT sense. As an example, the deeper layer of the pawn system in the first game (With all the different inclinations, how your playstyle would/could eventually change the inclinations in real-time, etc.) was... kind of a mess. You were more often fighting AGAINST it rather than letting it play out naturally, and that's if you even knew the system was there AT ALL. It was often more advantageous to alter your own playstyle to keep your pawn from going off the rails than to let your pawn's inclination change. While the revamped Pawn system in DD2 is, essentially, a simplification from DD1, I would personally in no way qualify it as a "dumbing-down"; rather an intelligent streamlining of an unwieldy feature. That's one of the few instances of where things were simplified from the first game, and I think in every single place where something similar was done, it was the correct, consistent choice. Dragon's Dogma was a complex, and at times, obfuscated and confusing game. DD2 is no less complex, but it IS a good bit less obfuscated and confusing.
This game nails EVERYTHING about what a true sequel to Dragon's Dogma should be, and, in doing so, it truly feels like the game was made for ME. And if you at all felt the same way I did about the original DD, then this game was made for YOU. Not the mainstream audience, not Capcom corporate (who still nevertheless did its best to f**k with it), not fans of other open world Action RPGs... YOU.
I played my favorite game (Final Fantasy Tactics) ever for the first time 21 years ago, and I've replayed it annually since. It has had an effect on my life in more ways than I could probably even comprehend, let alone articulate (check out my review on here to get a peek into it). No matter what games I've played since (and some that have certainly made a huge impact on me), no game has ever even made me entertain the IDEA that it could dethrone FFT, even whilst playing the game for the first time or in direct aftermath of completing a life-altering game. It just never happened. Any amazing game that I've played since then, even at their emotional apex of my interactions with it, has never even so much as made me consider that it was in the same stratosphere as Final Fantasy Tactics. FFT is so far ahead of my second favorite game of all time, Persona 4, that it may as well be on its own list entirely. The very moment when I realized I was deeply, madly in love with Persona 4, it was already a given that all it had done, all it could do, is take the spot of my second favorite game of all time. Every game since FFT has only been able to fight for the No. 2 position. There was simply no room at the top. The list of my favorite games may as well just start with P4 and go from there, while FFT sits alone in its own heavenly golden palace, never even interacting with the other games. Orders of magnitude beyond anything else I've experienced. It's on that high of a pedestal for me.
Dragon's Dogma II just stormed the palace.
It'll be a long time before I can untangle all of my thoughts to be able to determine whether there is, in fact, a new ass on the throne. But the fact that I'm even CONSIDERING it has shaken me to my core. Never in 21 years. Not a single shred of doubt. But I do know one thing for certain: In the two 14-hour marathon days I pulled prior to beating the game's true ending today, there was a singular thought that I just couldn't shake from my head: This is the greatest game I've ever played.
This is among my favorite games I've ever played, and one of the major reasons for that is that it did one thing that I don't think I've ever seen a game really do: It treated itself as a true sequel, and did so with a massive budget. What I mean by that is that the game made zero concessions on itself or gated itself in any way to be friendly to people new to the series, instead honoring the intelligence and time investment of its longtime fans. This game was made to be the ultimate cult game sequel. It is the perfect dream that many people, like myself, thought would never happen. It took all of the weirdness of the systems, all the thematic elements, and all of the ramifications of the lore from the first game and doubled down on them in a way that felt the most intelligent and consistent of any sequel of anything I think I've seen across art and media... ever. And everything that DID have a more dramatic change made was changed in a way that made perfect sense. It's astonishing.
It felt like a game made for ME, specifically, which is something I've never experienced before. If you have a deep love of the first game like I do, then this is... perfect. There was not a single iota of disappointment I held for this game other than the very unfortunate performance issues it has launched with, of course. That has also never happened to me with a sequel or spiritual successor to anything before; There's always some niggling doubt about a system or gameplay change, or a writing or thematic inconsistency, or just SOMETHING that makes a sequel feel slightly uncanny compared to what came before it (a perfect example would be something like Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2. RPG Military Star Trek turns into edgy space military shooter with RPG elements. Don't get me wrong, I love the entire OG Mass Effect trilogy, but it was incredibly tonally and thematically all-over-the-place from game to game).
Everything that did undergo a major change makes PERFECT sense. As an example, the deeper layer of the pawn system in the first game (With all the different inclinations, how your playstyle would/could eventually change the inclinations in real-time, etc.) was... kind of a mess. You were more often fighting AGAINST it rather than letting it play out naturally, and that's if you even knew the system was there AT ALL. It was often more advantageous to alter your own playstyle to keep your pawn from going off the rails than to let your pawn's inclination change. While the revamped Pawn system in DD2 is, essentially, a simplification from DD1, I would personally in no way qualify it as a "dumbing-down"; rather an intelligent streamlining of an unwieldy feature. That's one of the few instances of where things were simplified from the first game, and I think in every single place where something similar was done, it was the correct, consistent choice. Dragon's Dogma was a complex, and at times, obfuscated and confusing game. DD2 is no less complex, but it IS a good bit less obfuscated and confusing.
This game nails EVERYTHING about what a true sequel to Dragon's Dogma should be, and, in doing so, it truly feels like the game was made for ME. And if you at all felt the same way I did about the original DD, then this game was made for YOU. Not the mainstream audience, not Capcom corporate (who still nevertheless did its best to f**k with it), not fans of other open world Action RPGs... YOU.
I played my favorite game (Final Fantasy Tactics) ever for the first time 21 years ago, and I've replayed it annually since. It has had an effect on my life in more ways than I could probably even comprehend, let alone articulate (check out my review on here to get a peek into it). No matter what games I've played since (and some that have certainly made a huge impact on me), no game has ever even made me entertain the IDEA that it could dethrone FFT, even whilst playing the game for the first time or in direct aftermath of completing a life-altering game. It just never happened. Any amazing game that I've played since then, even at their emotional apex of my interactions with it, has never even so much as made me consider that it was in the same stratosphere as Final Fantasy Tactics. FFT is so far ahead of my second favorite game of all time, Persona 4, that it may as well be on its own list entirely. The very moment when I realized I was deeply, madly in love with Persona 4, it was already a given that all it had done, all it could do, is take the spot of my second favorite game of all time. Every game since FFT has only been able to fight for the No. 2 position. There was simply no room at the top. The list of my favorite games may as well just start with P4 and go from there, while FFT sits alone in its own heavenly golden palace, never even interacting with the other games. Orders of magnitude beyond anything else I've experienced. It's on that high of a pedestal for me.
Dragon's Dogma II just stormed the palace.
It'll be a long time before I can untangle all of my thoughts to be able to determine whether there is, in fact, a new ass on the throne. But the fact that I'm even CONSIDERING it has shaken me to my core. Never in 21 years. Not a single shred of doubt. But I do know one thing for certain: In the two 14-hour marathon days I pulled prior to beating the game's true ending today, there was a singular thought that I just couldn't shake from my head: This is the greatest game I've ever played.