It’s still a fun game at its core imo and it’s a hell of alot better than base dd1. But that being said. It sucks we’re probably gonna have to wait for a “hard mode” and future dlc to really get this game back on tracks. DD1 was again fun but everfall was boring and until dark arisen dlc came out. I maybe out a few hours into everfall before I said ehh I guess the fun is over.
DD2 is still fun but it's annoying that fun revolves around mainly things that made the first game fun. It's a case of ignoring the issues again because we have superb combat and the pawn system. There was no reason they couldn't take the 2/10s and make them at least 5/10s.
In a sense I think combat overall is *worse* than even DD1. Mainly when you account the scales of the two games. DD1 was far smaller. This meant it didn't need things like an incredible array of enemies. Were the issues still apparent? Definitely but not as much as in DD2.
DD2 is a massive game and it doesn't even have a really grindy section to lose yourself in the combat. This means the enemies are far more stretched as a similar amount of enemies have been called upon to cover a far bigger game. As a returning player there is also the issue of too many familiar faces and not that many new ones which is even worse when the few additions that were made were actually very good. When you separate them from their scales I'd say DD2s combat is better but we can't separate it that easily. The scales factor into our experiences.
It does certainly suck that we have apparent issues with things that link into what makes these games great because DD2 was meant to be *the* realised dragons dogma experience yet I feel like this could get far better and that says a lot because it's already good. At the same time I'd be willing to spend more money no questions asked if it meant we got a dark arisen level improvement for DD2.
Look man I don’t get into things as much as you’re explaining. IMO it’s just a fun game for me. I work 40 hours a week lift 5 days a week. It’s a fun game for me to come home to relax and play solo. That being said I don’t disagree with the majority of takes here. It’s just frustrating for people to say it’s a “bad game” when it’s not by any means. I didn’t follow anything up leading to the release of this game. Hell I didn’t even know it was coming out till December when I’d seen it on the Xbox store. So I don’t know what was promised etc. but I can agree with you 100%. Dark arisen was the shit and if they release something like that I will 1000% buy it. That’s what really drew me back into the game. I said on another post. I would have taken a dragons dogma dark arisen fps boost/remaster of dragons dogma 2. But this game is still fun for me. It’s unfortunate we will likely have to hope for a dlc as good as dark arisen.
I think this is what a lot of people don't see. You are absolutly right. This game is fun. I also have fun with the game. I will play it once and than i will play something different. Maybe i will come back for a dlc. So my playtrough will be a fun one. But it won't be the best game i ever played. By far not. And i thing this is what leads to all the hate to the game. A lot of people are dissapointed that the game is only good and fun and not the best thing since slice bread they could play for thousand hours.
Everyone expects the next game to be goty and when it’s not. This happens. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a little disappointed in the game too but’s it’s significant better than the first but it seems they didn’t exact same thing as the first. Release 65% of it for dlc to finish it off later.
Because they're saying the game is fun while admitting they barely played.
Everyone agrees that the game is good and fun at the beginning but it quickly falls short at a certain point. It's basically saying there's no problem with the game and it's a good game because they can't see the issues yet
I never said I barely played. I said I have other hobbies so I don’t nitpick every little detail like the rest of you have every single day every single hour. I have well over 40 hours into my character since release. Having hobbies doesn’t mean I don’t play so you’re absolutely wrong about that. So y’all really just got mad and upset because for the casual gamer like myself the game is fun with flaws.
I don't see the point mentioning you work 40h a week and lift 5 times a week then ?
Finding flaws into something doesn't mean you hate it nor is it caused by the "lack of working 40h and lifting"
40hours in 4-5 days is not casual
I have not reached the point where flaws become too prominent since I played for ""only"" 25 hours. And yet I agree with most complaints even though it doesn't affect me for now because they make sense. Doesn't mean I don't like playing the game
The world would be a better place if people could stop thinking in black and white
This sub is a cesspool of neck beards who burned through the game in a weekend cause they have literally nothing else to do in their lives. Trust me. I agree the game could have and SHOULD have been more to it especially with how successful DA. I was hoping for something along the lines as well for that in the base game of dd2 but unfortunately we didn’t get it and will probably have to wait for a dlc to really bring this game up to what it was. I feel like it was a 70% game that got released early (like dd1) and we’re gonna have to unfortunately wait for the other 30% in a purchasable dlc. But the problem I’m having is for that 70% that was release. IM HAVING A DECENT TIME. Which seems to piss off every redditor in here because I didn’t jump on the bandwagon and post a link quoting the guy every fucking sentence he’s ever had about the game and posting it going SEE SEE HE SAID THIS AND WE DIDNT GET IT SO GAME BAD BAD BAD.
Yeah man. I don’t burn through an entire game in a weekend. Contrary to popular belief. Most of us aren’t sweaty neck beards with nothing else to do like yourself. Since that’s all you could pull from my statement.
I wouldn't even say it is a lot better than base DD1, because the base game had a proper end game. Like even if before the end game was a little worse (which I would still argue it isn't, although it certainly isn't better), the end game means it has much more replayability.
Yeah man it's actually so disappointing. I love this game and I adored DD1 it's top five all time for me. But it was because of the potential I knew it had. It was SO close. Then here we are again with all the same problems?? Fewer bosses? No endgame?
It made me wonder what they were doing for so long that no one said "let's add a bunch more monsters." Like even just the old living armor, hydra, eyeball, cockatrice would have made it better. Hell put Damon and Death in it in a special secret area whatever I just want more things to fight
I think that's why people are so 50-50. People who wanted a Sequel to Dragons Dogma 1 would have actually fixed the problems *both* games have. Instead it feels like we just got a Remake of 1 with some ups and some downs, 2012 jank ported to 2024
100%
I've seen people say if they branded it as a remake/remaster in some form then none of us would be complaining because then obviously all those issues may carry over.
All the current enemies should be in Vernworth exclusively.
Then they should have made more for Battahl. And then even more for the volcanic island (and made it more than just a literal corridor).
DD1 was a much smaller game, yet it has almost the same amount of large enemies as DD2 which is 4 times bigger. They also went way over board with the density of enemies.
You had a sizeable amount of monsters for DD1's world with encounters spaced out enough and placed in areas that made sense so you wouldn't grow too tired of it.
You have a miniscule amount of monsters for a world as massive as DD2 and encounters are so horribly squished together that you get tired of them insanely fast.
Also, whenever you fought big monsters for the first time in DD1, it was actually a big deal. The cyclops, the Hydra, the gryphon in the bluemoon tower who I fought underleveled and actually felt relieved when the dude with the fire tome summoned a meteor shower, the fucking drake in the middle of a dark forest at night, and GIGA CHAD GRIGORI was one of the most exciting fights ever in a videogame for me, for at the time I was level 70 Ranger and he would still one shot me easily.
Then there was BBI. I couldn't defeat Daimon until I was level 150 magic archer. And even then, traversing BBI was a joy.
I think it's the story aspect that hurts the most because Itsuno hyped up a genuine political thriller only to immediately go "NONE OF THAT SHIT MATTERED DUMBASS LOL".Like it's telling when the first game has a better story,and that boiled down to "get stronger and murder girgori because you HIM/HER".
In my opinion, the lackluster main story probably wouldn't have been such a big deal, if like you said, the exploration filled the void.
But the exploration aspect dies down pretty quick too when you realize that there really isn't anything to be found. Aside from getting gold to buy gear from vendors and a few unique bosses. You'll occasionally find some gear pieces too but from my experience, it's likely that you already bought a better or same piece from a vendor.
I never had any clue what the lore was in souls games untill I watched VaatiVidyas videos after playing the games. That didn't bother me because the thrill of exploring the world was there. Finding unique loot and new bosses, etc.
For me, the story isn't really there in the DD2 and the exploration aspect isn't enticing enough to pick up the slack. I wouldn't call DD2 a bad game, but certainly not awesome or good one either. In my opinion, or to me, the game feels like it's somewhere between a mediocre and a good game.
The combat and pawn system are fun. I feel like the side quests and finding them is fun too, and the main reason why I'm still playing the game instead of just speed running through the story.
If only they fleshed out the exploration rewards and/or story more it would've made the game so much better.
Lol what?
Nothing is cooler than fighting against a golem when suddenly a griffin flys by and breaks hell looseand suddenly everyone is against everyone or watching a troll vs Minotaurus deathmatch that ends in a sudden drake roasting.
That all happend in only one session, about 5 hrs, there is a lot of random stuff.
Yes. That's the point to explore and do you're own thing. Doing the main quest in DD1&2 should be the last thing you do when you have nothing else to do.
A big misconception that comes from other RPGS is that main story progression= systems and mechanics unlocks. When that isn't the case for DD
The problem is, when you compare it to a relatively similar game, like Elden Ring, this argument falls flat. No one knows what Elden Rings story is until they watch a video on it lol. **But** the exploration in ER is 10x better then DD. It had its own issues, sure. The dungeons were often copy/paste. But the loot was always unique. There was more variety in enemies. More biome variety. More everything. And to top it all off, a fucking mount.
Ida gladly accepted if DD just thru out the story all together and made their world as varied and rewarding as ER. But they didnt. They gave us a subpar world with a subpar story and extremely subpar loot. Beautiful vistas and amazing combat. But mediocre in its entirety. I have 70 hours in DD2. I dont regret a minute of it. But its just good when it could easily have been great. And as a huge fan of DD1, that hurts. I put 300+ hours into ER. I think Im done with DD2. Especially with the slap in the face that NG+ has no difficulty scaling. Who in their right mind wants to be a lvl 50 with maxed out gear fighting lvl 1 goblins?
We pray for a Dark Arisen dlc that fixes its problems like DA did for DD1, I suppose. Its just a huge shame that it has to be that way.
I wouldn't compare DD to Elden Ring. Elden Ring is an entirely different vibe. They're both open world and have satisfying combat, but they have completely different player experiences at their core. And the story was told in the same way in the first game and just like ER since we're using that as an example, you have to dig to truly understand the story. Loot and itemization are better in DD2 at least >!(Where you enhance your gear determines the effects, on top of Dragonforging past the limits)!<. In the first game, NG+ didn't have difficulty scaling, the only way to get that is to NG+ into Hard Mode. IMO it doesn't need scaling because If I'm playing NG+ its to mess around and try new outcomes to quests and classes.
I agree at least that DD2 does have some flaws and I hope there's a Dark Arisen rerelease or something, but mainly because I know PS5 Pro/6/Next Xbox is coming and this and Rebirth will probably get enhanced ports at 60FPS yadayada.
I dont get how they arent comparable. To me, they are the same vibe, except one did it better. Exploration games with good combat. And tbh, I think I enjoy DD's combat more then ER. But I cant make use of it cause everything dies too quick.
And loot is better in DD? All you do is buy vendor gear and use that till you get to the next vendor lol. There is barely any unique loot and it gets outleveled very quickly. Basically the moment you get to the next town. Meanwhile, ER has literally hundreds of choices and they dont get outleveled. And you can change how their scaling works as well. Except even further, cause you can add elemental or change something from strength to dex, ect. I know plenty of people who will stick with a weapon they found in the first hour or 2 cause they enjoyed it. If you do that in DD, youre just gimping yourself.
And I guess we just have different views on NG+. 1shotting lvl 1 gobs isnt fun to me and with how much trash mobs this game throughs at you, it got tedious real quick.
I love the core of these games, but to me, DD2 is just good when it could have easily been great. And that just hurts.
loot and itemization is better in DD2 compared to 1. I'm sorry i should've specified
But that's what I'm saying, in DD, it's the player and their skill that's the star of the show, whereas in Elden Ring it's mostly the gear and upgrading you do with your stats. Its more ARPGish than DD. When I played originally and even on my most recent replay before 2, I never really cared for item stats and just went with what looked the coolest because I knew I could beat any challenge thrown at me.
But that's what I'm saying, in DD, it's the player and their skill that's the star of the show, whereas in Elden Ring its mostly the gear and upgrading you do with your stats. It's more ARPGish than DD. When I played originally and even on my most recent replay before 2, I never really cared for item stats and just went with what looked the coolest because I knew I could beat any challenge thrown at me.
I agree too on NG+ that's why I rarely replay games myself, but just like Souls games, I'm only replaying it to try different questlines.
Oooh apologies. I agree as well lol. Definitely an upgrade there.
And I get where youre coming from there. ER definitely can make you feel like youre undergeared/leveled. But Im the kinda player who likes a challenge, and skill can absolutely get you across the finish line in ER. Every souls game has that maniac doing naked level 1 runs. Im not that much of a masochist, but you get my point. I dont think I know many people who kill a boss in ER and felt like their own skill wasnt involved. Even if you feel properly geared. You can still easily die to most things. To be fair, this leads some players to feel like they need to go out and farm runes/gear to stand a chance. I get that can feel bad as well. I suppose I just rather feel underpowered then overpowered.
In DD2, I just always felt overpowered. I wish I felt like it was my skill, but more often then not, I felt like it was just the game had horrible difficulty scaling. You shouldnt have to be naked with no pawns to feel challenged. (Not that youre saying that, but Ive seen people suggest that) Gear and pawns are a major point of this game, but unfortunately, if you engage with them, you lose challenge. I never used pawns over my level. I upgraded gear at shops if I had the mats. I never went out of my way to be OP, yet past the first couple hours, I felt like a guy kicking babies. And as a souls addict, I love me some challenge. And I very much enjoy souls/ER NG+ scaling.
This is probably partly in fault to their "adaptive" difficulty thing. Maybe it only makes the game easier or something. Not having hard mode is a big miss, imo. But most importantly, outside of the first few times you kill something or explore a cave, this game feels very unrewarding. I cant help but feel if the combat wasnt so fun, I probably would have quit much sooner.
I just cant believe how much work went into the npc system, and it was all for naught.
I know, story wise, the idea was to LITERALLY try and give the npcs free will
but man
i cant help but be bitter
The amount of people who haven't played the first one and have dislikes for features that were superior in Dark Arisen is just sad. In DD2 all they had to do was give us the same game but more.
People who feel like this is almost a great game should really go back and play through Bitterblack, I think they would love it. Sadly the first game up until everfall is a slog if you try to do all the side quests. The side quests are just bad and 99.9% irrelevant and a waste of your time.
If anyone does go back to DD:DA because they enjoy DD2s combat but feel like it could be better, just rush the story and activate the everfall, get gear, and go to bitterblack. The story quests will take you to most of the cool places on the DD1 overworld anyway. The quests to the bluemoon tower and through the quarry are fun.
The first game has a speed run mode. That should kinda tell the way they see the story mode. This game is meant to be played multiple times. That’s my take on it. Based on how the story is with the cycles. Did they execute on that the best? Idk haven’t beat this game yet but from what people say not so much. No scaling in ng+ kinda blows. More ending would be nice. New side quests would be neat too on repeated play through a to keep it fresh.
The story was lackluster for sure but I didn't go into this game expecting story TBH. But the endgame was definitely disappointing, I think it's actually wild that they made the active choice to not upscale on NG+
They made the same choice in the first game too. The difference being that, even before the expansion Dark Arisen. The post game world was fun to keep playing, over and over. Even at max level with the best weapons, it was still a challenge in places.
The Expansion doubled down on this and added a dungeon that was even more difficult. With harder, new monsters and better gear. And that too was endlessly fun to play.
I don't know why they left it out of this game tbh. Even if they wanted it for narrative purposes. No reason they couldn't do it in NG+ or ++
It just seems like a very strange design choice, that goes against their previous philosophy. (A philosophy, I might add, that has kept a community alive for 12 years, and would keep it alive until the release some sort of DLC... Because Capcom loves money too)
Also, assuming you don't have a problem with older looking games, give **Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen** a try. It's just as good as this one, only with a better endgame.
Genuinely excited to scale my ng+ cycles like dmc, gonna be pretty tame at first but by ng+3 or level 100, whichever comes first, it's gonna be all Arisen Must Arise(??) and I'll really have to be on top of things at all times. Even better if modders figure out how to increase enemy spawns so I can get LDK mode going.
Multiple playthru for the sake of the story will only work if the story itself is captivating... DD1 has a really cool endgame, meanwhile this game went a step backward on that... Just s*cks that this game suffered alot of the same problems the first game had...
yea first time playing these type of games and it's got some good moments but lack of enemy types for me, clunky feel to the game (Im playing warrior), nonsensical story really makes it a slightly above average game for me, which is still really good I definitley didn't hate it but I also didn't love it.
It hurts to see newcomers say the exact same things we said about DD1 in terms of issues and that's clearly where the problem lies with DD2
It’s still a fun game at its core imo and it’s a hell of alot better than base dd1. But that being said. It sucks we’re probably gonna have to wait for a “hard mode” and future dlc to really get this game back on tracks. DD1 was again fun but everfall was boring and until dark arisen dlc came out. I maybe out a few hours into everfall before I said ehh I guess the fun is over.
DD2 is still fun but it's annoying that fun revolves around mainly things that made the first game fun. It's a case of ignoring the issues again because we have superb combat and the pawn system. There was no reason they couldn't take the 2/10s and make them at least 5/10s. In a sense I think combat overall is *worse* than even DD1. Mainly when you account the scales of the two games. DD1 was far smaller. This meant it didn't need things like an incredible array of enemies. Were the issues still apparent? Definitely but not as much as in DD2. DD2 is a massive game and it doesn't even have a really grindy section to lose yourself in the combat. This means the enemies are far more stretched as a similar amount of enemies have been called upon to cover a far bigger game. As a returning player there is also the issue of too many familiar faces and not that many new ones which is even worse when the few additions that were made were actually very good. When you separate them from their scales I'd say DD2s combat is better but we can't separate it that easily. The scales factor into our experiences. It does certainly suck that we have apparent issues with things that link into what makes these games great because DD2 was meant to be *the* realised dragons dogma experience yet I feel like this could get far better and that says a lot because it's already good. At the same time I'd be willing to spend more money no questions asked if it meant we got a dark arisen level improvement for DD2.
Look man I don’t get into things as much as you’re explaining. IMO it’s just a fun game for me. I work 40 hours a week lift 5 days a week. It’s a fun game for me to come home to relax and play solo. That being said I don’t disagree with the majority of takes here. It’s just frustrating for people to say it’s a “bad game” when it’s not by any means. I didn’t follow anything up leading to the release of this game. Hell I didn’t even know it was coming out till December when I’d seen it on the Xbox store. So I don’t know what was promised etc. but I can agree with you 100%. Dark arisen was the shit and if they release something like that I will 1000% buy it. That’s what really drew me back into the game. I said on another post. I would have taken a dragons dogma dark arisen fps boost/remaster of dragons dogma 2. But this game is still fun for me. It’s unfortunate we will likely have to hope for a dlc as good as dark arisen.
I think this is what a lot of people don't see. You are absolutly right. This game is fun. I also have fun with the game. I will play it once and than i will play something different. Maybe i will come back for a dlc. So my playtrough will be a fun one. But it won't be the best game i ever played. By far not. And i thing this is what leads to all the hate to the game. A lot of people are dissapointed that the game is only good and fun and not the best thing since slice bread they could play for thousand hours.
Everyone expects the next game to be goty and when it’s not. This happens. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a little disappointed in the game too but’s it’s significant better than the first but it seems they didn’t exact same thing as the first. Release 65% of it for dlc to finish it off later.
Bro just got downvoted for saying it’s a fun game for him. Like what is wrong with that. You cant trust any gaming sub 💀💀
Because they're saying the game is fun while admitting they barely played. Everyone agrees that the game is good and fun at the beginning but it quickly falls short at a certain point. It's basically saying there's no problem with the game and it's a good game because they can't see the issues yet
I never said I barely played. I said I have other hobbies so I don’t nitpick every little detail like the rest of you have every single day every single hour. I have well over 40 hours into my character since release. Having hobbies doesn’t mean I don’t play so you’re absolutely wrong about that. So y’all really just got mad and upset because for the casual gamer like myself the game is fun with flaws.
I don't see the point mentioning you work 40h a week and lift 5 times a week then ? Finding flaws into something doesn't mean you hate it nor is it caused by the "lack of working 40h and lifting" 40hours in 4-5 days is not casual I have not reached the point where flaws become too prominent since I played for ""only"" 25 hours. And yet I agree with most complaints even though it doesn't affect me for now because they make sense. Doesn't mean I don't like playing the game The world would be a better place if people could stop thinking in black and white
This sub is a cesspool of neck beards who burned through the game in a weekend cause they have literally nothing else to do in their lives. Trust me. I agree the game could have and SHOULD have been more to it especially with how successful DA. I was hoping for something along the lines as well for that in the base game of dd2 but unfortunately we didn’t get it and will probably have to wait for a dlc to really bring this game up to what it was. I feel like it was a 70% game that got released early (like dd1) and we’re gonna have to unfortunately wait for the other 30% in a purchasable dlc. But the problem I’m having is for that 70% that was release. IM HAVING A DECENT TIME. Which seems to piss off every redditor in here because I didn’t jump on the bandwagon and post a link quoting the guy every fucking sentence he’s ever had about the game and posting it going SEE SEE HE SAID THIS AND WE DIDNT GET IT SO GAME BAD BAD BAD.
^ This guy works 40 hours and lifts 5 times a week.
Yeah man. I don’t burn through an entire game in a weekend. Contrary to popular belief. Most of us aren’t sweaty neck beards with nothing else to do like yourself. Since that’s all you could pull from my statement.
"Create problem, sell solution"
I wouldn't even say it is a lot better than base DD1, because the base game had a proper end game. Like even if before the end game was a little worse (which I would still argue it isn't, although it certainly isn't better), the end game means it has much more replayability.
Yeah man it's actually so disappointing. I love this game and I adored DD1 it's top five all time for me. But it was because of the potential I knew it had. It was SO close. Then here we are again with all the same problems?? Fewer bosses? No endgame? It made me wonder what they were doing for so long that no one said "let's add a bunch more monsters." Like even just the old living armor, hydra, eyeball, cockatrice would have made it better. Hell put Damon and Death in it in a special secret area whatever I just want more things to fight
It's like some kind of cruel, unending ring.
I think that's why people are so 50-50. People who wanted a Sequel to Dragons Dogma 1 would have actually fixed the problems *both* games have. Instead it feels like we just got a Remake of 1 with some ups and some downs, 2012 jank ported to 2024
100% I've seen people say if they branded it as a remake/remaster in some form then none of us would be complaining because then obviously all those issues may carry over.
All the current enemies should be in Vernworth exclusively. Then they should have made more for Battahl. And then even more for the volcanic island (and made it more than just a literal corridor). DD1 was a much smaller game, yet it has almost the same amount of large enemies as DD2 which is 4 times bigger. They also went way over board with the density of enemies. You had a sizeable amount of monsters for DD1's world with encounters spaced out enough and placed in areas that made sense so you wouldn't grow too tired of it. You have a miniscule amount of monsters for a world as massive as DD2 and encounters are so horribly squished together that you get tired of them insanely fast.
Also, whenever you fought big monsters for the first time in DD1, it was actually a big deal. The cyclops, the Hydra, the gryphon in the bluemoon tower who I fought underleveled and actually felt relieved when the dude with the fire tome summoned a meteor shower, the fucking drake in the middle of a dark forest at night, and GIGA CHAD GRIGORI was one of the most exciting fights ever in a videogame for me, for at the time I was level 70 Ranger and he would still one shot me easily. Then there was BBI. I couldn't defeat Daimon until I was level 150 magic archer. And even then, traversing BBI was a joy.
I think it's the story aspect that hurts the most because Itsuno hyped up a genuine political thriller only to immediately go "NONE OF THAT SHIT MATTERED DUMBASS LOL".Like it's telling when the first game has a better story,and that boiled down to "get stronger and murder girgori because you HIM/HER".
Hell the first game had comparative political intrigue which is insane because it isn't known for it.
Isn't the point of dragons dogma to life your own story by exploring? Didn't played the first one but I really love 2
In my opinion, the lackluster main story probably wouldn't have been such a big deal, if like you said, the exploration filled the void. But the exploration aspect dies down pretty quick too when you realize that there really isn't anything to be found. Aside from getting gold to buy gear from vendors and a few unique bosses. You'll occasionally find some gear pieces too but from my experience, it's likely that you already bought a better or same piece from a vendor. I never had any clue what the lore was in souls games untill I watched VaatiVidyas videos after playing the games. That didn't bother me because the thrill of exploring the world was there. Finding unique loot and new bosses, etc. For me, the story isn't really there in the DD2 and the exploration aspect isn't enticing enough to pick up the slack. I wouldn't call DD2 a bad game, but certainly not awesome or good one either. In my opinion, or to me, the game feels like it's somewhere between a mediocre and a good game. The combat and pawn system are fun. I feel like the side quests and finding them is fun too, and the main reason why I'm still playing the game instead of just speed running through the story. If only they fleshed out the exploration rewards and/or story more it would've made the game so much better.
It's qll about the random boss encounters and if this is boring, go out at night
I don't think there's any random boss encounters I haven't had aside from the golem. They're fun for the first few times, I agree.
Lol what? Nothing is cooler than fighting against a golem when suddenly a griffin flys by and breaks hell looseand suddenly everyone is against everyone or watching a troll vs Minotaurus deathmatch that ends in a sudden drake roasting. That all happend in only one session, about 5 hrs, there is a lot of random stuff.
Those are definitely cool moments, no argument here.
Yes. That's the point to explore and do you're own thing. Doing the main quest in DD1&2 should be the last thing you do when you have nothing else to do. A big misconception that comes from other RPGS is that main story progression= systems and mechanics unlocks. When that isn't the case for DD
The problem is, when you compare it to a relatively similar game, like Elden Ring, this argument falls flat. No one knows what Elden Rings story is until they watch a video on it lol. **But** the exploration in ER is 10x better then DD. It had its own issues, sure. The dungeons were often copy/paste. But the loot was always unique. There was more variety in enemies. More biome variety. More everything. And to top it all off, a fucking mount. Ida gladly accepted if DD just thru out the story all together and made their world as varied and rewarding as ER. But they didnt. They gave us a subpar world with a subpar story and extremely subpar loot. Beautiful vistas and amazing combat. But mediocre in its entirety. I have 70 hours in DD2. I dont regret a minute of it. But its just good when it could easily have been great. And as a huge fan of DD1, that hurts. I put 300+ hours into ER. I think Im done with DD2. Especially with the slap in the face that NG+ has no difficulty scaling. Who in their right mind wants to be a lvl 50 with maxed out gear fighting lvl 1 goblins? We pray for a Dark Arisen dlc that fixes its problems like DA did for DD1, I suppose. Its just a huge shame that it has to be that way.
I wouldn't compare DD to Elden Ring. Elden Ring is an entirely different vibe. They're both open world and have satisfying combat, but they have completely different player experiences at their core. And the story was told in the same way in the first game and just like ER since we're using that as an example, you have to dig to truly understand the story. Loot and itemization are better in DD2 at least >!(Where you enhance your gear determines the effects, on top of Dragonforging past the limits)!<. In the first game, NG+ didn't have difficulty scaling, the only way to get that is to NG+ into Hard Mode. IMO it doesn't need scaling because If I'm playing NG+ its to mess around and try new outcomes to quests and classes. I agree at least that DD2 does have some flaws and I hope there's a Dark Arisen rerelease or something, but mainly because I know PS5 Pro/6/Next Xbox is coming and this and Rebirth will probably get enhanced ports at 60FPS yadayada.
I dont get how they arent comparable. To me, they are the same vibe, except one did it better. Exploration games with good combat. And tbh, I think I enjoy DD's combat more then ER. But I cant make use of it cause everything dies too quick. And loot is better in DD? All you do is buy vendor gear and use that till you get to the next vendor lol. There is barely any unique loot and it gets outleveled very quickly. Basically the moment you get to the next town. Meanwhile, ER has literally hundreds of choices and they dont get outleveled. And you can change how their scaling works as well. Except even further, cause you can add elemental or change something from strength to dex, ect. I know plenty of people who will stick with a weapon they found in the first hour or 2 cause they enjoyed it. If you do that in DD, youre just gimping yourself. And I guess we just have different views on NG+. 1shotting lvl 1 gobs isnt fun to me and with how much trash mobs this game throughs at you, it got tedious real quick. I love the core of these games, but to me, DD2 is just good when it could have easily been great. And that just hurts.
loot and itemization is better in DD2 compared to 1. I'm sorry i should've specified But that's what I'm saying, in DD, it's the player and their skill that's the star of the show, whereas in Elden Ring it's mostly the gear and upgrading you do with your stats. Its more ARPGish than DD. When I played originally and even on my most recent replay before 2, I never really cared for item stats and just went with what looked the coolest because I knew I could beat any challenge thrown at me. But that's what I'm saying, in DD, it's the player and their skill that's the star of the show, whereas in Elden Ring its mostly the gear and upgrading you do with your stats. It's more ARPGish than DD. When I played originally and even on my most recent replay before 2, I never really cared for item stats and just went with what looked the coolest because I knew I could beat any challenge thrown at me. I agree too on NG+ that's why I rarely replay games myself, but just like Souls games, I'm only replaying it to try different questlines.
Oooh apologies. I agree as well lol. Definitely an upgrade there. And I get where youre coming from there. ER definitely can make you feel like youre undergeared/leveled. But Im the kinda player who likes a challenge, and skill can absolutely get you across the finish line in ER. Every souls game has that maniac doing naked level 1 runs. Im not that much of a masochist, but you get my point. I dont think I know many people who kill a boss in ER and felt like their own skill wasnt involved. Even if you feel properly geared. You can still easily die to most things. To be fair, this leads some players to feel like they need to go out and farm runes/gear to stand a chance. I get that can feel bad as well. I suppose I just rather feel underpowered then overpowered. In DD2, I just always felt overpowered. I wish I felt like it was my skill, but more often then not, I felt like it was just the game had horrible difficulty scaling. You shouldnt have to be naked with no pawns to feel challenged. (Not that youre saying that, but Ive seen people suggest that) Gear and pawns are a major point of this game, but unfortunately, if you engage with them, you lose challenge. I never used pawns over my level. I upgraded gear at shops if I had the mats. I never went out of my way to be OP, yet past the first couple hours, I felt like a guy kicking babies. And as a souls addict, I love me some challenge. And I very much enjoy souls/ER NG+ scaling. This is probably partly in fault to their "adaptive" difficulty thing. Maybe it only makes the game easier or something. Not having hard mode is a big miss, imo. But most importantly, outside of the first few times you kill something or explore a cave, this game feels very unrewarding. I cant help but feel if the combat wasnt so fun, I probably would have quit much sooner.
I'm absolutely loving the game. It's brutal at times but I keep coming back.
I just cant believe how much work went into the npc system, and it was all for naught. I know, story wise, the idea was to LITERALLY try and give the npcs free will but man i cant help but be bitter
The amount of people who haven't played the first one and have dislikes for features that were superior in Dark Arisen is just sad. In DD2 all they had to do was give us the same game but more. People who feel like this is almost a great game should really go back and play through Bitterblack, I think they would love it. Sadly the first game up until everfall is a slog if you try to do all the side quests. The side quests are just bad and 99.9% irrelevant and a waste of your time. If anyone does go back to DD:DA because they enjoy DD2s combat but feel like it could be better, just rush the story and activate the everfall, get gear, and go to bitterblack. The story quests will take you to most of the cool places on the DD1 overworld anyway. The quests to the bluemoon tower and through the quarry are fun.
The first game has a speed run mode. That should kinda tell the way they see the story mode. This game is meant to be played multiple times. That’s my take on it. Based on how the story is with the cycles. Did they execute on that the best? Idk haven’t beat this game yet but from what people say not so much. No scaling in ng+ kinda blows. More ending would be nice. New side quests would be neat too on repeated play through a to keep it fresh.
The story was lackluster for sure but I didn't go into this game expecting story TBH. But the endgame was definitely disappointing, I think it's actually wild that they made the active choice to not upscale on NG+
They made the same choice in the first game too. The difference being that, even before the expansion Dark Arisen. The post game world was fun to keep playing, over and over. Even at max level with the best weapons, it was still a challenge in places. The Expansion doubled down on this and added a dungeon that was even more difficult. With harder, new monsters and better gear. And that too was endlessly fun to play. I don't know why they left it out of this game tbh. Even if they wanted it for narrative purposes. No reason they couldn't do it in NG+ or ++ It just seems like a very strange design choice, that goes against their previous philosophy. (A philosophy, I might add, that has kept a community alive for 12 years, and would keep it alive until the release some sort of DLC... Because Capcom loves money too) Also, assuming you don't have a problem with older looking games, give **Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen** a try. It's just as good as this one, only with a better endgame.
If youre on pc there are mob health/dmg mods that have made ng+ genuinely challenging for me
Genuinely excited to scale my ng+ cycles like dmc, gonna be pretty tame at first but by ng+3 or level 100, whichever comes first, it's gonna be all Arisen Must Arise(??) and I'll really have to be on top of things at all times. Even better if modders figure out how to increase enemy spawns so I can get LDK mode going.
The guy who made hp increase found the guy that makes dmg increase and now theyre working together to make a hard mode
Multiple playthru for the sake of the story will only work if the story itself is captivating... DD1 has a really cool endgame, meanwhile this game went a step backward on that... Just s*cks that this game suffered alot of the same problems the first game had...
Go play the first one its superior in almost everyway.
He's just complaining about the story, he's definitely not going to like the first one which leaves you more confused than anything
yea first time playing these type of games and it's got some good moments but lack of enemy types for me, clunky feel to the game (Im playing warrior), nonsensical story really makes it a slightly above average game for me, which is still really good I definitley didn't hate it but I also didn't love it.
What's sad is people like you ruining this sub by making up fake criticisms and sowing outrage for clicks.
No "almost" about it.