Dragon's Dogma (Series)

[Mr EliteL]

Yeesh sounds that bad huh? I don't remember experiencing such issues with the original Dragon's Dogma, if there was any it was too minor for me to notice because I was so engrossed just playing. I don't like the sound of there being just one vocation with Bows/Daggers....ugh I didn't consider there'll be DLC vocations so if a better one is in there, that's hella lame. I've got plenty of other games to play if I'm disappointed and have to wait on updates, I just hope that isn't the case.

[Moonface]

Ooh Character Creation early, nice. Hmm. So I'm wondering if all of them are every vocation in the game or are there any held back? I forgot if they mentioned if Magick Archer, Mystic Spearhand and Trickster can be learnt by Pawns or are Arisen-only.

I just saw that a new Vocation video was posted earlier today for the Warfarer class, so I'm guessing the list I had wasn't the final one (I mistakenly assumed it was).
That makes ten confirmed vocations, but I can't recall if we ever heard a number of how many are actually in the game. I can't imagine there's many left to show off if any are still left though.

[Moonface]

Been keeping an eye on the reviews for DD2 to see what common themes turn up, and seems the game builds upon what was good about the first game but also doesn't manage to ditch any of the bad that the first game had either. Besides the performance troubles though I haven't seen anything else brought up as a negative that's a step backwards, so if the good is better but the bad didn't get worse then it sounds like I'll be happy with this whenever I pick it up.

Hopefully when the game drops tomorrow and I see some streamers I follow playing it my impression won't take a step backwards based on whatever I see in those streams.

[ShiraNoMai]

The new fun narrative is: microtransactions
Other than that hot seated topic, people seemed to be enjoying it but have been having performance issues.

[Mr EliteL]

Played for a good number of hours yesterday, half of that was getting started though.

I have to say...I hated the character creation to be honest, I just wanted it to give me a basic starting point but instead it was all these er... to be honest awful realistic choices. Sure games have become almost photo-realistic with graphics and such now but damn I so preferred the PS3/PS4 Dragon's Dogma character creator, it still had a fantasy look. No I will not include the Beastren here because of the very limited option for that, and I never wanted to use that to begin with.
There was only one I could tolerate looking at for the male and even with an hour or more of trying fix him into what I wanted, I got a Jaoquin Phoenix lookalike. So I kept trying get away from that but he...still looks like the actor only much younger and off slightly, god dang it. I need to change the hair I gave my Arisen though, slightly annoyed they didn't have a hair option to flip sides. My pawn turned out better as I went for a human female, but still took a while to get her to look fine, though once I saw her in-game, I realised the choices I gave for her hair colour and skin colour were too dark and too light respectively, frick. Have to probably waste gold on the Metamorphosis thing, though there's at least barber places too for just hair and such. The only plus I have for the creator is seeing what other players came up with as I ran into a Morgan Freeman pawn on the road, which did make me laugh my head off at least.

I've had no performance issues yet but that'll probably happen when there's a Sorcerer casting spells, perhaps other large magick or a lot going on I guess.

Quite surprised items and Anodyne do not heal passed the white health, thought one would be able to but not the other, but it makes sense for the use of camping and inns, just annoying how much weight a camping kit takes and the capital's Inn is a lot for starting out. I went with Thief class to start with and levelling up the vocation then will switch to Fighter or Strider, my main pawn is on Strider already.

Oh right fall damage or at least the height for it is a little stupid though I was at like level 1 or 2 for this example; I climbed a small cliff in the middle of land, jumped down thinking I would be fine if it was DD1, but landed flat faced and died. Also died multiple times against a Cyclops and goblins but I had very low health and refused to camp (didn't have a kit on me) or go back to an inn as I had been adventuring since Melve, plus was on the quest to unlock Sorcerer and Warrior. Did eventually beat it, completed the quest fine, did some more stuff then a quest for a letter back to Melve, took the cart there but chose to return to the capital by foot. Ran into my first Minotaur at night, a good fight but I died again, though the second attempt was much easier knowing we'd get ambushed by skeletons too, plus didn't use all my curatives to defeat it unlike the time before. My next play will finish that travel back then whatever after.

[Moonface]

The new fun narrative is: microtransactions
Other than that hot seated topic, people seemed to be enjoying it but have been having performance issues.

The amount of people jumping onto the bandwagon about the microtransactions just because they read an article that was designed to make it sound as horrible as possible is insane. Nothing Capcom is selling for this game is something you can't get just from playing the game normally, just like in any other game of theirs that has done the same thing such as RE4R and DMC5. If anyone actually buys any of the microtransactions this game has I have to question why you bothered to even buy the game.

Quite surprised items and Anodyne do not heal passed the white health, thought one would be able to but not the other, but it makes sense for the use of camping and inns, just annoying how much weight a camping kit takes and the capital's Inn is a lot for starting out. I went with Thief class to start with and levelling up the vocation then will switch to Fighter or Strider, my main pawn is on Strider already.

The max health depletion mechanic is new for this game right? I don't recall DD1 having it.

I've seen the part where you lose your heart to the dragon for DD2; what did you think of it EL? I'm a little iffy about it but maybe it didn't come off as strong as it should because I wasn't paying close attention to any of the gameplay and/or cinematics that happen before that scene happens.

[Dragon Lord]

After playing DD2 for the past several days, I can safely say that I should have bought Rise of the Ronin instead and waited for this game to be on sale.

The fact that they didn't improve the climbing mechanic at all is enough for me to regret buying this game full price. You still can't climb in the right direction 90% of the time and still get teleported to random parts of the monsters body for no reason, making it impossible to stay on the weak spot of certain monsters.

[Moonface]

I don't think I ever climbed on anything in DD1, or at least did it so little I recall nothing about it; I always just shot everything with my bow.
Also based on what I've seen of it, RotR is not a game worth full price either.

So earlier today Capcom shared some of the planned updates for Dragon's Dogma 2, which are as follows:

Updates for All Platforms (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Steam)

• Adding the option to start a new game when save data already exists.
  
• Changing the number of "Art of Metamorphosis" items available at Pawn Guilds in the game to 99.
  
• Making the quest that allows players to acquire their own dwelling (where they can save and rest) available earlier in the game.
  
• Miscellaneous text display fixes.
  
• Miscellaneous bug fixes.
  

Updates for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S

• Adding the option* to switch Motion Blur on/off in Options.
  
• Adding the option* to switch Ray Tracing on/off in Options.
  
• Adding the option to set Frame Rate to either Variable or Max 30fps in Options.
  *These options will not affect the frame rate significantly. Frame rate improvements are planned for future updates.
  

Updates for Steam

• Improving quality when DLSS Super Resolution is enabled.
  
• Fixing an issue where models appeared low-quality under some specific settings.
  

The updates will go live as soon as they are ready per platform.

[Mr EliteL]

I agree people talking about micro-transactions being a big deal is bollocks, should only be applicable to anyone who wanted to speedrun out of the gate or who are incredibly lazy to explore and take the time to progress with weaker equipment until you find better.

The Dragon scene was weaker than DD1's in my opinion. You look like just some random soldier with nothing special about them, sure your interaction with it is similar that you attack with no effect whatsoever but at least in DD1 you could tell you're fighting to defend your home village when mostly everyone else has run away, and the sword gets lodged into the Dragon. For DD2 I had no idea where the location was too, just an already destroyed area when there's multiple like that in DD2 I can't tell which one we went to yet.

The updates sound fine, Art of Metamorphosis needs to be cheaper though, same for haircuts and such. I didn't know about the own dwelling but sounds like it'll already be better than DD1's where you can't even rest for free there which made no sense at all and had to use the Inn at Cassardis...what the frick was that about? I would've restarted my game if the option to was there, but I fixed my Arisen's hairstyle already and not bothered about the skin colour anymore.

I did the quite long-ish story quest you get from Brant Sunday which took me to three different locations, did them all by foot. Headed back from the cave area in the quest I came across my second Minotaur, it was with some other creatures which I did not stop to look at because I didn't want to fight the Minotaur and get to the nearest campsite, which I found not so far from where I was. Unfortunately Minotaur was still aggro'd and we ran into Goblins and Saurians so we could not start a camp and decided to fight everything. Ah that was fun getting stun-locked as I tried to revive teammates but we survived with the help of a random Oxcart spawn where the NPC soldiers helped out. I was surprised they and the Oxen survived too, although the cart didn't.

During that quest I begun another which was to help a ruined town that had been overrun by Saurians which was easy enough.

Afterwards I did the elf guy, Gwyn-something, quest so had to switch to the Archer class, so I explored a lot between where he wanted me to go then back down to the ruined town as I had to revisit it. On the way we came across my third Minotaur which I avoided because I was getting close to the ruined town, only to find a what I thought was a Drake before the town. I did attempt to fight it but I was in the Archer class from the earlier quest which I just suck with and had to quit when I couldn't revive my Pawns. Hoped to use DL's Pawn to fight it as there was a Riftstone in the ruined town when I loaded back in only to find not every Riftstone allow "Search for Pawn" option so far I believe only the capital Riftstone can, so had to settle for another pawn that was present in the Rift. As I was somewhat low on health I decided to camp before facing the Drake but it had disappeared so perhaps it was a time of day thing when it'll spawn. I'll check back as I finished the quest at the town then returned to the capital (need to learn the name ).

[Moonface]

The Dragon scene was weaker than DD1's in my opinion. You look like just some random soldier with nothing special about them, sure your interaction with it is similar that you attack with no effect whatsoever but at least in DD1 you could tell you're fighting to defend your home village when mostly everyone else has run away, and the sword gets lodged into the Dragon. For DD2 I had no idea where the location was too, just an already destroyed area when there's multiple like that in DD2 I can't tell which one we went to yet.

Okay so it does seem as random and disconnected as it came off to me when catching it on a stream even with all the stuff before it. I get the feeling the only reason it's done as a flashback scene is because opening the game with that scene would've been really shit but rather than make something better they just push it back a bit into the story instead.

The updates sound fine, Art of Metamorphosis needs to be cheaper though, same for haircuts and such. I didn't know about the own dwelling but sounds like it'll already be better than DD1's where you can't even rest for free there which made no sense at all and had to use the Inn at Cassardis...what the frick was that about? I would've restarted my game if the option to was there, but I fixed my Arisen's hairstyle already and not bothered about the skin colour anymore.

I don't even remember buying a house in DD1 and thought that was a new feature for the sequel. Unless you're referring to the house we have in the starting town rather than a place we can buy in Gran Soren, in which case yeah I remember that place. I guess they just never made it free to rest in so the inn has a purpose.

---

So I don't know if this is being highlighted in the game or not, but Capcom have put up a survey for Dragon's Dogma 2 asking for opinions on the game and future DLC plans, and completing it will get you an original wallpaper: https://www.enqform.capcom.com/form/pub/form1/dd2_en2

I just did it, although there wasn't a lot I could answer having not played the game yet. I find the DLC question to be stupid because you either say you'll buy it no matter what, or you'll buy it depending on price but how much I'd be willing to pay for a DLC would depend on what it contains. I'd rather the game have asked what we'd like to see content wise in a DLC instead and then ask a price we'd want to pay for that stuff.

Also, the wallpaper is....not good. Here's the 1080p version of it and it's just four people standing on a hill looking at some shit. They just took a screenshot in-game, slapped a logo on it and shipped it as an incentive when I was expecting something a little more custom for my time and input.

[Mr EliteL]

Yeah I meant the little home in Cassardis we have, there wasn't one we could buy/receive. If they didn't add a bed in it I'd understand a bit more, though would make the Arisen look even more poor than what they started out with.

Did the survey and just filled the DLC bit with a BItterblack Isle type content and duo vocations.

[Dragon Lord]

So I decided I'm putting DD2 down for now. Just can't find the game enjoyable at all. Feels far too outdated and too samey to DD1 to really be any fun. Traveling the "open world" is boring as hell and the combat has already become extremely stale. Especially with how they throw enemies at you every 5 feet.

For this being "Itsuno's true vision", it really, really sucks.

[Mr EliteL]

I've been enjoying the game up until a point and there's so much wrong with the game but I'm just about managing to get by and still want to play. DD1 is so much better though unfortunately, miss the actually good jump, double vault, Magick Archer for how you move about much better if you have Instant Reset, letting you reach heights and lengths plus dual weapons and them having skills each. DD2's single jump is so garbage, running jump is just as useless and I can't reach a ledge just above me. So I have to switch to Mystic Spearhand for a lunging attack that can be used in midair for a somewhat lengthy type leap, or switch to Mage for Levitate for any good height, but I've yet to even bother levelling up that class but I don't like playing as Mage/Sorcerer.

Luckily I do like Mystic Spearhand so I can use that lunge skill to help with moving, but dang I've overshot and fell into the Brine a few times. I also like Thief for obvious reason being closest to Assassin, getting used to Archer now Magick Archer id OK at least but it's nothing on. Trickster is kinda oof, I can't enjoy that playstyle either, I'd rather get stuck in with the action instead of standing around casting or blowing incense about. Fighter lacks Dragon's Maw which I loved in DD1 plus I preferred other variation of skills in DD1's Fighter than DD2's. Warrior I haven't tried yet but looks better than DD1.

The latest thing that's really bugged me is the Sphinx riddle quest of find the location of the first Seeker Token you collected, which I do not remember apart from it being Vermund's side and somewhere between where you start after the intro, Melve and Vernworth, possibly including Sacred Arbor too...and why the hell is it timed?! Past couple days I've spent looking for it using some help, even unlocking Trickster to rank up for the augment that glows Seeker Tokens plus the special one you have to find to no luck, and I'm on the final day now. I already visited the Sphinx to check if talking to her resets the 7 days but it doesn't, I spoke to her twice earlier and the dialogue didn't change or add "you have this many days left", but that time it automatically finished the quest and failed me, so I'm restarting my save to see if I can reach a spot I think could be the Finder's Token although the game auto-saves way too much.

I'm liking the multiple locations for villages though, think I counted at least 11 places (haven't opened the whole map yet) as opposed to DD1's 3, like the Pawn interactions, as I said before I enjoy the Spearhand and Thief vocations, exploring even old areas just in case I missed things or didn't go a certain way that's still black out on the map, oxcarts helping with fast travel if I want it, although battles I agree are a bit too often especially if escorting someone but they decide to fight something you're trying to avoid for their sake, although I must admit when I had the Magick Archer elf with me she did very well with us. Currently in an escort even during my hunt for the Finder's Token and although the NPC (not the elf) likes to jump into a fight she's at least staying alive and holding her own for now.

Wish camps included vocation change, like if you want to switch with your Main Pawn or use a weapon's vocation you picked up or just have on hand, plus actually learn skills and such instead of having to rely on the Vocation Guild/Inns which are normally way too far away from where you are. Plus other things I like/dislike/wish but can't think of right now.

[Moonface]

Seems like it was a good thing I didn't pick the game up yet due to not having finished DD1 fully. Hearing that enemy encounters are often doesn't surprise me when I consider how much of the marketing was focused on combat and very little in the way of exploration or other stuff. Maybe if they give this game a chunky update like DD1's Dark Arisen they'll tweak a lot of stuff to make it better but I get the impression it would be such a big rework of a lot of stuff that it might not happen.

[Dragon Lord]

I imagine there will be a lot of reworks if this game gets a Dark Arisen style expansion. I can see the Thief vocation getting hit with some pretty big nerfs, since it's absolutely stupidly busted and is by far the strongest vocation in the game for pure slaughtering. I can see them delivering some DD1 Assassin-esque nerfs to the Thief.

I guess that's one argument in favor of not dropping DD2 right now. If I want to enjoy Thief in all of its broken glory, I better do it now before they do nerf it and it's too late. But the idea of playing DD2 is just... bleh.