Dragon's Dogma 2 was one of my most awaited games ever. Being a massive fan of the original, I couldn't wait to see what they would bring back, what would stay behind, and what would change. Itsuno said this is what he envisioned when making DD1 but couldn't accomplish due to hardware, budget and time constraints. And after putting 101 hours in my first playthrough, I can safely say it's DD1 2.0, even the title screen only says "Dragon's Dogma" without a "2" for most of the time. Some people didn't like this at all, but it was just as expected for me, so I didn't mind. Let's break this game down.
Starting with the franchise's most important aspect, the thing that made DD1 stand the test of time: Gameplay. This entails not just the combat but also the enemies, mechanics, exploration, movement and etc. In summary, DD2 plays amazingly well, but there are some core changes compared to DD1. In the original, each class (With the exception of the Warrior) had access to 6 skills at a time, now everyone only has 4. Some classes aren't present, but new ones take their place. Enemy variety here is better than vanilla DD1 (May be hard to notice given how much more prevalent they are throughout the map), but worse than Dark Arisen. I could go on with the examples, but you get the idea.
The combat is very smooth, it manages to still feel like Dragon's Dogma while being different. For example, you can't be as brash while attacking as in DD1, as enemies may knock you out of your feet and stunlock you. A more careful and well thought approach is needed, besides quick reflexes. Most skills are useful and most classes are very fun (Some of them more than others, as expected), and they all offer different combat and tactics experiences from one another.
But most of the time you won't be fighting by yourself. Pawns, a staple feature from the first game, are back and better than ever, it's impressive how smart they are and how much they learn from your actions. Sure, they still yap a lot and there's still a lot of repetitive dialogue, but I found them more helpful in this game than they ever were in DD1. Everything else pertaining to them is also an improvement: Their voices are better, their actions and reactions when something happens to you, them talking amongst themselves, and more. All the trials and tribulations we went through made me get closer and care a lot more about them, and parting ways with pawns I liked was always a bummer. But even then, my main pawn never left my side, and became the character I liked the most in this game (Especially after the True Ending).
Part of what made grow closer to my pawns was the exploration, and not only is it a massive improvement over DD1, I'd argue it's this game's strongest aspect. The map is massive, full of secrets and little wonders, caves to explore, and amazing views. There are no loading screens during exploration (There's actually very little loading screens in general), so everything is seamless. There's also some environmental storytelling and warnings that make this all the more enjoyable. I will say, however, that it's a valid complaint to mention that rarely do you get good pieces of equipment from exploring, the best equipment in the game is bought from stores/vendors. But that didn't matter for me, because I liked the exploration itself, to see what was out there (Or in cases of caves, in there), and Seeker's Tokens were incentive enough for me (Got 106). Compared to DD1, there's more vegetation, settlements, dungeons, bodies of water, and more biome variety. You can even climb mountains with some careful movement.
And how did the movement change. The only thing both games kept mostly the same mechanically is the enemy climbing. Other than that, DD2 movement is much more impressive both from an animation and mechanical standpoint. Moments like a cyclops tripping and hanging on to a cliff like a bridge, or getting knocked back and falling over after hitting the back of your head on a wall are very cool. Some people took issue with sliding off slippery surfaces, but it was never annoying to me. And not only does everything look cool, but the controls are tight, and the movement tech for some classes (Mainly Thief and Mystic Spearhand) is crazy.
If you played DD1, you know how its story isn't exactly peak gaming. To me, it was mostly incoherent for the first half, and there's little buildup for the second half (Dark Arisen is pretty good though in that regard). I know this is because DD1 is unfinished, but it is what it is. DD2 overall was in my opinion (And this is apparently controversial) better, but not without compromises. Marketing for the game was misleading about what characters really matter, which created incorrect expectations to some people. Without spoilers, but I also feel like sidequests are MUCH more important if you want to enjoy and sometimes even care about the main quest and its characters, and some sidequests are also sometimes complicated and weird in regards to how to acquire them. The Dragon battle is also a lot less epic, in DD1 it was a massive setpiece and now it's merely a means to get to the endgame. The endgame area is great, not a huge fan of the time limit but it's good otherwise, feels like what vanilla DD1 wanted to achieve but actually realized, and as opposed to the rest of the game you can get some valuable equipment by exploring. I just wish it had more exclusive bosses and enemies, and an actual final boss setpiece instead of what is pretty much an interactive cutscene, but it's still a great finale in my opinion.
Expanding on the sidequests, overall they're better made than in DD1, but as mentioned some of them have weird conditions for you to get them. For example, having to visit a place two or three times after certain events, or eavesdropping a rumor but you need to hear it first before talking to the NPC it's related to otherwise you can't get it. But besides that, I think they provide great worldbuilding, and made me care about certain NPCs a lot more, which made the main quest itself better.
There's not a lot to say about the soundtrack and sound design other than it's great. The music in this game is very good, much like it was in the first one (However, I did miss having some vocal tracks like in DD1), and the sound design for effects, ambience, combat, enemies and everything else is fantastic. Voice acting is also better, especially from pawns.
Now onto the visuals. DD2 may not have the best graphics in the industry, but it still looks very good. The graphics and lighting are great but the game still retains the DD feel, which might be because of the art direction. Ray tracing in this game is very good, but unless if you have a beefy PC, I wouldn't recommend using it for your performance's sake. Of course designs in general would be better than the predecessor, but armor and enemy designs were impressive to me, especially from the returning pieces and fiends.
For as much as I enjoyed this game, it's not without flaws, beyond the already mentioned ones. First, there's the elephant in the room: Performance. It's not as bad as people said, but it's definitely below par, and should've been much better. The MTX issue was overblown and a lot of misinformation was spread, it's bad for single player games to have them, but pretty much every Capcom game has them, including the much beloved RE4 Remake. While I didn't experience any gameplay bugs, some quests did have weird bugs that, if not for weirder workarounds, could've become softlocked. The UI, both for gameplay and menus, are a downgrade from DD1, they look better but are functionally worse, and I miss things like a dedicated button for the items menu. The save system kinda sucks, even more than in DD1, and may put you in a tough spot. The story, while better, can end very suddenly if you rush the main quest, and you probably won't care or understand half of what's happening. Caves can be repetitive and not really offer treasure or thrills, realistically only about half of them are worth exploring for some reason or the other. Not sure if it's a major problem but there's no online boss like the Ur-Dragon, I kinda miss it. And lastly, not really an issue per se but I've seen some people that disliked the plague mechanic, and others that did like it, but I accidentally managed to avoid it entirely, I wouldn't know it existed if I hadn't found out about it online. There are other smaller things, but I don't think they're worth mentioning, and you get the point: It's a flawed game, much like the original, carried by how fun it is.
Dragon's Dogma 2 will go down as another personal favorite, which I'll surely replay eventually (It's a much bigger game than DD1, so I can't do yearly replays like with it), especially whenever its inevitable DLC releases. And comparing the two games, DD2 still feels like it's missing some things, and isn't really the fully idealized concept from Itsuno. I'd say it's better than vanilla DD1 by a long shot, but a little inferior to Dark Arisen, which only makes me more excited to see what they'll cook with the DLC. Do not be fooled, this isn't a game for everyone, I'd say it's probably easier to get someone into Elden Ring than this, but if it clicks for you, then it's going to be a whole lot of fun. A friend called this "the best 8.5/10 of all time", and he's not exactly wrong, it's a fantastic diamond in the rough, but personally my score is slightly higher.
SCORE: 9/10
Starting with the franchise's most important aspect, the thing that made DD1 stand the test of time: Gameplay. This entails not just the combat but also the enemies, mechanics, exploration, movement and etc. In summary, DD2 plays amazingly well, but there are some core changes compared to DD1. In the original, each class (With the exception of the Warrior) had access to 6 skills at a time, now everyone only has 4. Some classes aren't present, but new ones take their place. Enemy variety here is better than vanilla DD1 (May be hard to notice given how much more prevalent they are throughout the map), but worse than Dark Arisen. I could go on with the examples, but you get the idea.
The combat is very smooth, it manages to still feel like Dragon's Dogma while being different. For example, you can't be as brash while attacking as in DD1, as enemies may knock you out of your feet and stunlock you. A more careful and well thought approach is needed, besides quick reflexes. Most skills are useful and most classes are very fun (Some of them more than others, as expected), and they all offer different combat and tactics experiences from one another.
But most of the time you won't be fighting by yourself. Pawns, a staple feature from the first game, are back and better than ever, it's impressive how smart they are and how much they learn from your actions. Sure, they still yap a lot and there's still a lot of repetitive dialogue, but I found them more helpful in this game than they ever were in DD1. Everything else pertaining to them is also an improvement: Their voices are better, their actions and reactions when something happens to you, them talking amongst themselves, and more. All the trials and tribulations we went through made me get closer and care a lot more about them, and parting ways with pawns I liked was always a bummer. But even then, my main pawn never left my side, and became the character I liked the most in this game (Especially after the True Ending).
Part of what made grow closer to my pawns was the exploration, and not only is it a massive improvement over DD1, I'd argue it's this game's strongest aspect. The map is massive, full of secrets and little wonders, caves to explore, and amazing views. There are no loading screens during exploration (There's actually very little loading screens in general), so everything is seamless. There's also some environmental storytelling and warnings that make this all the more enjoyable. I will say, however, that it's a valid complaint to mention that rarely do you get good pieces of equipment from exploring, the best equipment in the game is bought from stores/vendors. But that didn't matter for me, because I liked the exploration itself, to see what was out there (Or in cases of caves, in there), and Seeker's Tokens were incentive enough for me (Got 106). Compared to DD1, there's more vegetation, settlements, dungeons, bodies of water, and more biome variety. You can even climb mountains with some careful movement.
And how did the movement change. The only thing both games kept mostly the same mechanically is the enemy climbing. Other than that, DD2 movement is much more impressive both from an animation and mechanical standpoint. Moments like a cyclops tripping and hanging on to a cliff like a bridge, or getting knocked back and falling over after hitting the back of your head on a wall are very cool. Some people took issue with sliding off slippery surfaces, but it was never annoying to me. And not only does everything look cool, but the controls are tight, and the movement tech for some classes (Mainly Thief and Mystic Spearhand) is crazy.
If you played DD1, you know how its story isn't exactly peak gaming. To me, it was mostly incoherent for the first half, and there's little buildup for the second half (Dark Arisen is pretty good though in that regard). I know this is because DD1 is unfinished, but it is what it is. DD2 overall was in my opinion (And this is apparently controversial) better, but not without compromises. Marketing for the game was misleading about what characters really matter, which created incorrect expectations to some people. Without spoilers, but I also feel like sidequests are MUCH more important if you want to enjoy and sometimes even care about the main quest and its characters, and some sidequests are also sometimes complicated and weird in regards to how to acquire them. The Dragon battle is also a lot less epic, in DD1 it was a massive setpiece and now it's merely a means to get to the endgame. The endgame area is great, not a huge fan of the time limit but it's good otherwise, feels like what vanilla DD1 wanted to achieve but actually realized, and as opposed to the rest of the game you can get some valuable equipment by exploring. I just wish it had more exclusive bosses and enemies, and an actual final boss setpiece instead of what is pretty much an interactive cutscene, but it's still a great finale in my opinion.
Expanding on the sidequests, overall they're better made than in DD1, but as mentioned some of them have weird conditions for you to get them. For example, having to visit a place two or three times after certain events, or eavesdropping a rumor but you need to hear it first before talking to the NPC it's related to otherwise you can't get it. But besides that, I think they provide great worldbuilding, and made me care about certain NPCs a lot more, which made the main quest itself better.
There's not a lot to say about the soundtrack and sound design other than it's great. The music in this game is very good, much like it was in the first one (However, I did miss having some vocal tracks like in DD1), and the sound design for effects, ambience, combat, enemies and everything else is fantastic. Voice acting is also better, especially from pawns.
Now onto the visuals. DD2 may not have the best graphics in the industry, but it still looks very good. The graphics and lighting are great but the game still retains the DD feel, which might be because of the art direction. Ray tracing in this game is very good, but unless if you have a beefy PC, I wouldn't recommend using it for your performance's sake. Of course designs in general would be better than the predecessor, but armor and enemy designs were impressive to me, especially from the returning pieces and fiends.
For as much as I enjoyed this game, it's not without flaws, beyond the already mentioned ones. First, there's the elephant in the room: Performance. It's not as bad as people said, but it's definitely below par, and should've been much better. The MTX issue was overblown and a lot of misinformation was spread, it's bad for single player games to have them, but pretty much every Capcom game has them, including the much beloved RE4 Remake. While I didn't experience any gameplay bugs, some quests did have weird bugs that, if not for weirder workarounds, could've become softlocked. The UI, both for gameplay and menus, are a downgrade from DD1, they look better but are functionally worse, and I miss things like a dedicated button for the items menu. The save system kinda sucks, even more than in DD1, and may put you in a tough spot. The story, while better, can end very suddenly if you rush the main quest, and you probably won't care or understand half of what's happening. Caves can be repetitive and not really offer treasure or thrills, realistically only about half of them are worth exploring for some reason or the other. Not sure if it's a major problem but there's no online boss like the Ur-Dragon, I kinda miss it. And lastly, not really an issue per se but I've seen some people that disliked the plague mechanic, and others that did like it, but I accidentally managed to avoid it entirely, I wouldn't know it existed if I hadn't found out about it online. There are other smaller things, but I don't think they're worth mentioning, and you get the point: It's a flawed game, much like the original, carried by how fun it is.
Dragon's Dogma 2 will go down as another personal favorite, which I'll surely replay eventually (It's a much bigger game than DD1, so I can't do yearly replays like with it), especially whenever its inevitable DLC releases. And comparing the two games, DD2 still feels like it's missing some things, and isn't really the fully idealized concept from Itsuno. I'd say it's better than vanilla DD1 by a long shot, but a little inferior to Dark Arisen, which only makes me more excited to see what they'll cook with the DLC. Do not be fooled, this isn't a game for everyone, I'd say it's probably easier to get someone into Elden Ring than this, but if it clicks for you, then it's going to be a whole lot of fun. A friend called this "the best 8.5/10 of all time", and he's not exactly wrong, it's a fantastic diamond in the rough, but personally my score is slightly higher.
SCORE: 9/10