This is mostly what I would've wanted from a sequel to Dragon's Dogma. I'll never forget being in high school and playing the demo for it. It is probably the most I've ever played a demo, and it was barely 20 minutes long. I'm a huge fan of the first game, and am a part of its cult following that it has gained over the years. I got the Platinum Trophy for it a few months ago in preparation for this sequel.
Before I talk about the game though, I will say I was very upset by the dishonest, knee-jerk reaction a lot of people had to this game's microtransactions. No, the game doesn't lock fast travel behind a paywall. No, the game does not keep your character in jail if you don't buy the goal keys. Everything is obtainable inn ready supply just by playing the game normally. You wouldn't even know there are microtransactions unless you searched the game's store page. I usually don't get too involved with this kind of controversey, but this title is near and dear to my heart and I couldn't stand seeing people be so wrong.
The actual game itself is fire. A lot of people use the word "friction" to describe many of the game's elements. Combat feels rough, but that makes it all the more satisfying. I played as a fighter class mainly, switching to Warrior and Mystic Spearhand throughout my playthrough. One thing that I felt more in this game than the first was how important it was to avoid being staggered. It works similar to the first one, but in this the enemies are much more aggressive. One bad hit will lead to you being combo'd by a whole group. It really changes how you approach a lot of situations. In the first game, I never really played any of the magic or rogue type classes, so I was never too vulnerable to stagger and I almost always had a shield on hand. Even with a shield in this game I felt myself being cautious when surrounded. It is a small change that alters the entire way you go about combat. Any time you stunned an enemy, the heavy finisher felt so satisfying, especially on boss monsters. And I found a lot of joy in pinning or grabbing smaller enemies and tossing them around. I also had a lot of fun pushing big monsters down when they were off balance. Nothing will make you feel more bad ass than stabbing a dragon in the heart!
The other bits of friction involve things like limited fast travel and lack of guidance in many situations. The fast travel system is much the same as the first game, ferrystones are needed if you want to travel to a Portcrystal and both are in limited supply (early on). Since this game's map is much bigger, ox carts are provided to travel to very specific areas at a low cost. The director was right though in that making a world fun to explore takes away the need to have fast travel... To an extent. It was fun to go around fighting monsters, exploring caves and finding treasure. But by the time you reach the post-game, you're gonna be traveling back and forth across the world for certain missions. And at that point, you're gonna only want to use fast travel if you don't want it to take forever! Some sidequests could feel a bit frustrating though, as the game never really tells you what to do in certain situations. You either have to think logically, or search REALLY hard for a solution. There were a few instances where I gave up and looked online. I wouldn't consider this cheating too much since if you recruit a pawn that has knowledge of the quest, they'll usually give the the guidance you need. Speaking of...
The pawn system is back and it is still a great and unique system that unites players indirectly. The AI is sharper, and more helpful in many situations than in the first game. Though, I wish that the inclinations had more options. Maybe I missed them, but the one I used for my main pawn, the Logistician, was very handy in sorting inventory and automatically fusing items for me.
One thing I felt was very lacking compared to the first game was the enemy variety. I find it pretty disappointing. The original game has just about ALL of the enemy types you find in this game, PLUS several boss monsters that simply didn't make a return in this game. It's pretty disappointing, but at the very least there's huge DLC potential for that so here's hoping they deliver. Dark Arisen was a fantastic, challenging, almost-sadistic expansion to the original. I'm hopeful they'll deliver again with however they expand on this game.
The story is very much what one could expect if they played the first game. The original DD answered basically all the questions about the Arisen and the cycle with the Dragon and what Pawns are. They could only tell a new story and include some new things to shake things up. And judging from what people have talked about online... The ending to this game changes severely depending on choices made. I look forward to my next playthrough.
Though I do give this a 4/5, just know it's one of the best 4/5 games you'll ever play!
Before I talk about the game though, I will say I was very upset by the dishonest, knee-jerk reaction a lot of people had to this game's microtransactions. No, the game doesn't lock fast travel behind a paywall. No, the game does not keep your character in jail if you don't buy the goal keys. Everything is obtainable inn ready supply just by playing the game normally. You wouldn't even know there are microtransactions unless you searched the game's store page. I usually don't get too involved with this kind of controversey, but this title is near and dear to my heart and I couldn't stand seeing people be so wrong.
The actual game itself is fire. A lot of people use the word "friction" to describe many of the game's elements. Combat feels rough, but that makes it all the more satisfying. I played as a fighter class mainly, switching to Warrior and Mystic Spearhand throughout my playthrough. One thing that I felt more in this game than the first was how important it was to avoid being staggered. It works similar to the first one, but in this the enemies are much more aggressive. One bad hit will lead to you being combo'd by a whole group. It really changes how you approach a lot of situations. In the first game, I never really played any of the magic or rogue type classes, so I was never too vulnerable to stagger and I almost always had a shield on hand. Even with a shield in this game I felt myself being cautious when surrounded. It is a small change that alters the entire way you go about combat. Any time you stunned an enemy, the heavy finisher felt so satisfying, especially on boss monsters. And I found a lot of joy in pinning or grabbing smaller enemies and tossing them around. I also had a lot of fun pushing big monsters down when they were off balance. Nothing will make you feel more bad ass than stabbing a dragon in the heart!
The other bits of friction involve things like limited fast travel and lack of guidance in many situations. The fast travel system is much the same as the first game, ferrystones are needed if you want to travel to a Portcrystal and both are in limited supply (early on). Since this game's map is much bigger, ox carts are provided to travel to very specific areas at a low cost. The director was right though in that making a world fun to explore takes away the need to have fast travel... To an extent. It was fun to go around fighting monsters, exploring caves and finding treasure. But by the time you reach the post-game, you're gonna be traveling back and forth across the world for certain missions. And at that point, you're gonna only want to use fast travel if you don't want it to take forever! Some sidequests could feel a bit frustrating though, as the game never really tells you what to do in certain situations. You either have to think logically, or search REALLY hard for a solution. There were a few instances where I gave up and looked online. I wouldn't consider this cheating too much since if you recruit a pawn that has knowledge of the quest, they'll usually give the the guidance you need. Speaking of...
The pawn system is back and it is still a great and unique system that unites players indirectly. The AI is sharper, and more helpful in many situations than in the first game. Though, I wish that the inclinations had more options. Maybe I missed them, but the one I used for my main pawn, the Logistician, was very handy in sorting inventory and automatically fusing items for me.
One thing I felt was very lacking compared to the first game was the enemy variety. I find it pretty disappointing. The original game has just about ALL of the enemy types you find in this game, PLUS several boss monsters that simply didn't make a return in this game. It's pretty disappointing, but at the very least there's huge DLC potential for that so here's hoping they deliver. Dark Arisen was a fantastic, challenging, almost-sadistic expansion to the original. I'm hopeful they'll deliver again with however they expand on this game.
The story is very much what one could expect if they played the first game. The original DD answered basically all the questions about the Arisen and the cycle with the Dragon and what Pawns are. They could only tell a new story and include some new things to shake things up. And judging from what people have talked about online... The ending to this game changes severely depending on choices made. I look forward to my next playthrough.
Though I do give this a 4/5, just know it's one of the best 4/5 games you'll ever play!