General Gaming Dragon's Dogma II (PC/PS5/Xbox Series) - Information Thread, update (04/19): planned fixes for next update detailed

[Paperclyp]

This game has been nicely paced / or I’ve been accidentally advancing things at the proper rate. I would echo @best3444 that if anything starts to feel too stale to progress to the other country… they change things up in a few ways that make the game feel fresh again. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

[skillzdadirecta]

39 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

[Keyser_Soze]

He's 100% correct and it almost goes hand in hand with that review I posted a long time ago. This is a game you need to take slow to really enjoy, but he hits some other points too.

 

The story sucks, yeah, it was not great in the first game and like I said earlier the anime is probably the best the story has been for Dragon's Dogma and people said it's dumb. Well guess what? It's exactly like the freakin game! The story is there to send you out in the world, not something you play to mainline because it's so compelling because it's not.

I hate to bring it up but I was watching Max play it and he didn't like it. But he's also not paying attention to anything, then he gets confused. People say try a different vocation and he's not having fun as the warrior and switches to the mystic spearhand and kinda likes it but he also is not leveling up the vocation to get to the good stuff. He's not charging his stun. He says he's having no fun in the cities and when he went out exploring he had this revelation that, the exploring is really fun. Yes! Get out there and check out the world, there are so many things to stumble upon so many hidden quests and stuff, areas that you've walked past multiple times but that next time you go off the beaten path and find something you've never seen before. That's the game.

 

His thing about the armor is right too. I just wear what I think looks good, at the end of the day it doesn't matter too much. Hell half the pawns you hire are all wearing the skimpiest clothing anyway.

 

I switched classes to the Mage because I wanted levitate for an item in Vernworth and it's not super fun early on, maybe ever, but I did think it was cool how you could cast the lightning spell and keep pushing the button and you cast lightning till your stamina runs out.

[Bacon]

3 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

He's not charging his stun.

I CANNOT STAND this mechanic. I despise having to hold down R1 while attacking. It feels so unnatural to me.

[Bacon]

 

lol, I never noticed but DD2 does the exact same shit

[Bacon]

7 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Bad take about the story. Especially when it compared it to DMC. There is campy, and then there is bad. Calling DMC bad because it is campy is stupid. I love "stupid" stories like Strangers of Paradise. Dragon's Dogma's story takes itself seriously. The story isn't trying to be goofy. The story lacks characters with character, unlike DMC or SoP. I'm not going into this expecting BG3. I played DD1. I expected the same quality of story as DD1. But from what I have seen so far, it is worse. I mean, the story doesn't have to be good for the gameplay to be good, but like, if you are going to have a story, at least make it something entertaining and full of schlock. Something like nu-DOOM - Short, cheesy, basically irrelevant, but gives some flavor to enhance the gameplay. DD2 doesn't do that. It hasn't even directed me to fight a big monster yet. I mean, there was like one Cyclops but still. Don't put a piece of dog poop next to my roses and ask me to only smell the roses. I won't say the roses smell bad, but I'm not going to ignore some stinky poop.

 

Games, IMO, need a goal. It needs a narrative in which you can reach the ending. I am totally fine with a narrative that exists to drag you across the world. IMO, this is what FROM usually does, and this is what DD1 did.  DD2 does it as well, but very poorly. As in, you are more likely to drag yourself across the world on your own than the narrative is and that is pretty much the only reason the narrative exists. It is a pretty minor issue, but still disappointing when it's worse than the previous game's. DD1 was really good about getting you to the ending of the game just so you could give the Dragon the finger. DD2 doesn't really have that driving force.

 

And to be clear, I don't play games without some kind of narrative. Stuff like Minecraft, Civ, City Skylines, Sims, sports games, and much more, have zero appeal because they lack an actual story. So yeah, some kind of story/plot/narrative is needed for me.

[Mr.Vic20]

DD2’s “story” is more 1980’s Saturday morning cartoon level than your typical modern game. What’s odd is that with some tweaks it could be solid, but in stead it seems half baked and makes some massive leaps suddenly and abandons plot lines you build in the first half of the game with something akin to a house breaking up as it slides down hill. Chaotic, dynamic, but mostly ends in a mess.

[Bacon]

After all these years, golems are still the worst enemies in the game. They are fun to fight for exactly one encounter.

[Dexterryu]

Hey all.

 

Would love to ask your opinions about the game and whether based on the post below if I would enjoy it. I have not purchased it yet, but am thinking about it. I initially was very interested but the bugs, performance, and some of the reviews have made me hesitate. Especially at a $70 price tag. I love RPGs, and they're probably my favorite genre but like anyone I like some more than others.

 

What I like most about RPGs - Story and Characters:
Looking at the RPGs that I've loved the most. The Witcher series stands out to me as the best. The characters are fleshed out, complex, and their are meaningful choices to be made and consequences. Recently BG3 stands out, and historically ME trilogy and Dragon Age: Origins stand out (the sequels were decent, but a big step down). While I liked Skyrim the silent, bland, player character and robotic NPCs. How are the story and NPCs in DD2? Are the pawns generic or do they have real back stories and such?

 

Exploration:
I love the exploration and risk/reward of Elden Ring. The dungeons were dangerous and challenging. Witcher comes to mind here, but more because the exploration and side quests did a great job of having story elements to them rather than a just a random copy/paste bethesda style dungeon.  I've heard DD2 has great exploration and dungeons to find, but do they have narrative elements? Do they fit the story or are they just some place to find that's filled with more monsters?

Combat:
Souls/Elden Ring are the gold standard for me. BG3 too, but it's a totally different approach. Witcher was serviceable but not great. Where does DD2 fall? It looks cool from the reviews I saw but it's also an area where most reported a lot of the jankiness. 

This board has always done well steering me to good decisions. Appreciate the help/thoughts!

[Bacon]

50 minutes ago, Dexterryu said:

What I like most about RPGs - Story and Characters:

The story is very poor and worse than the first game's. I am not saying this out of nostalgia, it's just true in this game. DD2 has made some improvements but this is not one of them. I say poor, but it isn't that the story is actually bad, but that it hardly exists. What exists is bland and lacks fleshed-out characters.

 

50 minutes ago, Dexterryu said:

Exploration

There is a lot to explore but very little worth finding. You will find some weapons and armor, but the strongest weapons and gear come from merchants. Caves and dungeons are pretty shallow with only "trash mobs" or basic enemies. There are a few with boss monsters but they are on the rarer side and pretty cool. There is no narrative element for most dungeons unless you are required to go there via a quest but even then there is no real story there, it's just a cave or dungeon. They all seem to have unique layouts but not in a way that is worth praising their design. If you are just a fan of seeing what's out there, exploration is good because there is a lot to see. Basically just the first sentence again.

 

50 minutes ago, Dexterryu said:

Combat:

The combat is fun. It is also simple and easy. The problem with combat is the lack of enemy variety (even less unique bosses than base DD1). There are about 5 boss monster types that you'll fight regularly, and the game is littered with trash mobs.  So you are most often presented with the same kinds of encounters over and over again and none of these encounters require you to play differently. There are more than 5 boss-type monsters but they are rarer or simply only one of them exists. At level 50 there are no serious threats in the game. There is an extra lives mechanic with an item called a wakestone, but I only used those to revive myself after jumping off a cliff to my death because it is faster than running.

 

Edit: While I have not beaten the game, I don't believe it is worth 70 bucks. If this were 40-50 bucks I'd say that would be a fair price. Despite my complaints, I do have fun just killin' and travelin', even if that is growing stale. It is pleasing to kill big monsters.

[Keyser_Soze]

49 minutes ago, Dexterryu said:

Hey all.

 

Would love to ask your opinions about the game and whether based on the post below if I would enjoy it. I have not purchased it yet, but am thinking about it. I initially was very interested but the bugs, performance, and some of the reviews have made me hesitate. Especially at a $70 price tag. I love RPGs, and they're probably my favorite genre but like anyone I like some more than others.

 

 

I would probably recommend what I did with Best and say try the first one (Dark Arisen) when it goes on sale for $5 (which happens often). It's essentially the same game but a bit more rough to look at. If you jive with it then maybe decide to move on to Dragon's Dogma 2.

 

I really think it's a "you have to try it and find out" type game. The priorities of this game are basically your list in reverse. Very fun combat, exploration is fun and there are a lot of things to discover (no real dungeons so to speak). And the story is kind of whatever, and there meaningful choices to the quests, a lot of them have multiple outcomes and sort of character development but I think you yourself have to decide you care for the character rather than the game making you care about them. I would still say it's a bit more straightforward than the first game where my beloved ended up being the witch girl which was very strange later in the game.

 

I think you might find something to like here but like I said maybe try the first one.

[Dexterryu]

7 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

I would probably recommend what I did with Best and say try the first one (Dark Arisen) when it goes on sale for $5 (which happens often). It's essentially the same game but a bit more rough to look at. If you jive with it then maybe decide to move on to Dragon's Dogma 2.

 

I really think it's a "you have to try it and find out" type game. The priorities of this game are basically your list in reverse. Very fun combat, exploration is fun and there are a lot of things to discover (no real dungeons so to speak). And the story is kind of whatever, and there meaningful choices to the quests, a lot of them have multiple outcomes and sort of character development but I think you yourself have to decide you care for the character rather than the game making you care about them. I would still say it's a bit more straightforward than the first game where my beloved ended up being the witch girl which was very strange later in the game.

 

I think you might find something to like here but like I said maybe try the first one.

 

24 minutes ago, Bacon said:

The story is very poor and worse than the first game's. I am not saying this out of nostalgia, it's just true in this game. DD2 has made some improvements but this is not one of them. I say poor, but it isn't that the story is actually bad, but that it hardly exists. What exists is bland and lacks fleshed-out characters.

 

There is a lot to explore but very little worth finding. You will find some weapons and armor, but the strongest weapons and gear come from merchants. Caves and dungeons are pretty shallow with only "trash mobs" or basic enemies. There are a few with boss monsters but they are on the rarer side and pretty cool. There is no narrative element for most dungeons unless you are required to go there via a quest but even then there is no real story there, it's just a cave or dungeon. They all seem to have unique layouts but not in a way that is worth praising their design. If you are just a fan of seeing what's out there, exploration is good because there is a lot to see. Basically just the first sentence again.

 

The combat is fun. It is also simple and easy. The problem with combat is the lack of enemy variety (even less unique bosses than base DD1). There are about 5 boss monster types that you'll fight regularly, and the game is littered with trash mobs.  So you are most often presented with the same kinds of encounters over and over again and none of these encounters require you to play differently. There are more than 5 boss-type monsters but they are rarer or simply only one of them exists. At level 50 there are no serious threats in the game. There is an extra lives mechanic with an item called a wakestone, but I only used those to revive myself after jumping off a cliff to my death because it is faster than running.

 

Edit: While I have not beaten the game, I don't believe it is worth 70 bucks. If this were 40-50 bucks I'd say that would be a fair price. Despite my complaints, I do have fun just killin' and travelin', even if that is growing stale. It is pleasing to kill big monsters.

 

Thank you both. This definitely sounds like a wait for a big discount/sale type game. I did try the first one though not until recently. It was hard for me to gauge because it was very dated in pretty much every aspect... quests, character interactions, and world design (felt big, full of 'stuff', but empty of substance).

[best3444]

27 minutes ago, Dexterryu said:

 

 

Thank you both. This definitely sounds like a wait for a big discount/sale type game. I did try the first one though not until recently. It was hard for me to gauge because it was very dated in pretty much every aspect... quests, character interactions, and world design (felt big, full of 'stuff', but empty of substance).

 

I recommend not buying it for your tastes. Especially since you said you didn't like part 1. This is basically identical to that with very little improvements. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Dragon’s Dogma 2 doesn’t care about you in the slightest, and it’s the single most attractive thing about it

WWW.VG247.COM

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Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the most expensive indie game ever made, and I won’t hear otherwise.

 

Quote

 

Dragon's Dogma 2 is the kind of game major publishers just do not make anymore. The sort of divisive project that’s so thoroughly committed to its bit, you’re either on board with it or you’re out. Even if you may not be thrilled with every decision made to get it there, you have to at least appreciate its gusto.

 

Lucky for me, I am as on board with its madness as I am fascinated that Itsuno and co. managed to convince Capcom to give them the money and development time needed to bring it all to life.

 

 

Quote

 

If I want to be flippant or reductive, I’d say Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a game that isn’t concerned with your feelings about it. The vast majority of big games today are built to enshrine you as the only character that matters before you could even press a single button. The world, its people, the systems that govern it are all made specifically for you to experience. Outside that context, they’d have no reason to exist, and no purpose of their own.

 

Dragon’s Dogma 2, however, has an entirely different approach. It’s still a game, sure; meant to be played and everything, but it wants you to seek out the experiences it holds. It wants you to fail, miss out on content because you didn’t get a subtle hint some NPC you met two hours ago dropped, or even finish the game without knowing that certain quests and relationships could’ve played out entirely differently had you been a little bit more experimental.

 

This is a game that wants you to beat a path to its fun, because it’s in that journey that you’ll fall in love with it. My favourite games are those whose possibility space allow for, and expect, failure. In that sense, failure is not something to avoid, it’s built right into the way designers want you to play them.

 

 

Quote

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is not a toy box; it’s an escape room with no attendees and no orientation session. If you choose to get locked in, you’re going to need to rely on your wits to find your way out. But once you do, it’s going to feel more fulfilling, and it’s not one you’ll soon forget.

 

 

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is all about the journey — of figuring out how to even play it

WWW.POLYGON.COM

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The best way to play Dragon’s Dogma 2 is with an open mind

 

Quote

 

By the end of the game, I had uncovered much of its huge world, increasingly discovering that there’s not much variety in the monsters that I fight. At this point, I’ve battled hundreds of goblins, dozens of bandits and harpies, handfuls of ogres, minotaurs, and cyclops. Battles have begun to feel increasingly dull as a result; it’s a huge world with too little variety in the things I fight.

 

It’s the exploration that kept me going, even as I almost accidentally “beat” the game before I was emotionally ready to do so. I saw the conclusion within sight, and so I retreated to take a more circuitous path. The spectacle that comes from fighting giant brass statues or talking dragons isn’t nearly as attractive as discovering a well-hidden enclave of elves — who don’t even speak my language! — or a giant sphinx armed with challenging riddles.

 

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the best video game adventure I’ve experienced since Elden Ring, a far more approachable open-world game that has no doubt colored how players perceive this year’s big fantasy RPG. (It certainly did for me.) But like another FromSoftware game, the original Demon’s Souls, I found that once I had accepted Dragon’s Dogma 2’s peculiarities and deciphered what it was asking of me, I fell deeply in love. Dragon’s Dogma 2 awakens those old feelings of learning to overcome my expectations of what a game should be, then discovering new types of experiences along the way. That’s the best kind of journey.

 

 

[best3444]

I don't appreciate games that don't explain mechanics or quest details. That's not fun game design FOR ME. 

[stepee]

I’m not playing this one much yet but I’m dipping in here and there and I did unlock thief vocation so I’m happy about that and also the night time is beautiful looking on oled.

[best3444]

1 minute ago, stepee said:

I’m not playing this one much yet but I’m dipping in here and there and I did unlock thief vocation so I’m happy about that and also the night time is beautiful looking on oled.

 

Just don't travel at night time or you will be absolutely raped. 

[skillzdadirecta]

@Commissar SFLUFAN are you playing this? What are your thoughts?

[best3444]

5 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

@Commissar SFLUFAN are you playing this? What are your thoughts?

 

He doesn't play games. He posts articles about them. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

6 minutes ago, skillzdadirecta said:

@Commissar SFLUFAN are you playing this? What are your thoughts?

 

Oh, I'm not playing it - I just think it's a very interesting case study in game design that swims against the prevailing current of open-world gaming trends.

[skillzdadirecta]

2 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

Oh, I'm not playing it - I just think it's a very interesting case study in game design that swims against the prevailing current of open-world gaming trends.

The thing that's absolutely hilarious to me is the first game did exactly the same thing and people seem surprised even though there were plenty of videos saying what the game was BEFORE the game came out. In some ways the first game was better than this one and in others, it's inferior. 

[Biggie]

Ok so I put on the fancy clothes and mask. Walk into the masquerade to confront the fake Arisen. Keep getting attacked over an over again. I’m seriously about to delete this goddamn piece of fucking shit. It’s horribly done. 

[eventide11]

19 hours ago, Bacon said:

I CANNOT STAND this mechanic. I despise having to hold down R1 while attacking. It feels so unnatural to me.

Yup. Switched to Warrior and IMMIDIATELY switched back because of that. And attacks are entirely too slow. Nothing fun about that class

[Biggie]

8 minutes ago, eventide11 said:

Yup. Switched to Warrior and IMMIDIATELY switched back because of that. And attacks are entirely too slow. Nothing fun about that class

It’s not just the class it’s the entire game. It’s not fun. 

[Paperclyp]

4 hours ago, Biggie said:

Ok so I put on the fancy clothes and mask. Walk into the masquerade to confront the fake Arisen. Keep getting attacked over an over again. I’m seriously about to delete this goddamn piece of fucking shit. It’s horribly done. 

 

This happened to me. I had to wait a couple days and try again, then was able to go in with no problems. Annoyed the hell out of me too. 

[Keyser_Soze]

Amazing patch hit

 

[PlayStation®5 / Xbox Series X|S / Steam]

• Fixed issues that prevented progression in some quests.
• Fixed some terrain that caused characters to get stuck.
• Miscellaneous bug fixes.

[Biggie]

8 hours ago, Paperclyp said:

 

This happened to me. I had to wait a couple days and try again, then was able to go in with no problems. Annoyed the hell out of me too. 

Game sucks. 3/10

[Keyser_Soze]

13 hours ago, Biggie said:

Ok so I put on the fancy clothes and mask. Walk into the masquerade to confront the fake Arisen. Keep getting attacked over an over again. I’m seriously about to delete this goddamn piece of fucking shit. It’s horribly done. 

 

9 hours ago, Paperclyp said:

 

This happened to me. I had to wait a couple days and try again, then was able to go in with no problems. Annoyed the hell out of me too. 

 

I tried to do that mission but the guy at the door told me the masquerade wasn't taking place that day so I left. Is that possibly something that happened to you?

[Paperclyp]

2 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

 

I tried to do that mission but the guy at the door told me the masquerade wasn't taking place that day so I left. Is that possibly something that happened to you?

No, for sure not. The masquerade was absolutely happening and the guy was like hey come on in bro welcome to the masquerade and then I was cut down haha. There was also a guard on the perimeter who would attack me randomly. Waited probably 2 in game days and went back in, nothing different other than time passing, and it was fine. 

[Keyser_Soze]

I mean yeah it could be a bug. I've had random NPCs attack me before. I don't know if this happened to you but did you do the mission with the little girl in the slums?

 

Anyway at the end of the mission the mom attacked me for some reason and then my pawns killed her. I had to use a wakestone on her to revive her on the spot and then she was fine.

[Paperclyp]

1 hour ago, Keyser_Soze said:

I mean yeah it could be a bug. I've had random NPCs attack me before. I don't know if this happened to you but did you do the mission with the little girl in the slums?

 

Anyway at the end of the mission the mom attacked me for some reason and then my pawns killed her. I had to use a wakestone on her to revive her on the spot and then she was fine.

 

Maybe a bug, maybe I had done something unknowlingly that pissed off the guards and the game has some kind of hidden GTA star meter than needs time to cool down, who the hell knows. I can't emphasize enough that I still adore the game, and one of the things like about it is that it doesn't spell everything out for you - but I think it crosses a line sometimes in withholding certain mechanic information to the point of frustration. Almost always with NPCs / stealth. 

[Biggie]

2 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

 

Maybe a bug, maybe I had done something unknowlingly that pissed off the guards and the game has some kind of hidden GTA star meter than needs time to cool down, who the hell knows. I can't emphasize enough that I still adore the game, and one of the things like about it is that it doesn't spell everything out for you - but I think it crosses a line sometimes in withholding certain mechanic information to the point of frustration. Almost always with NPCs / stealth. 

I’ve cooled on the game and it’s soured on me. So many small things ruin it. 

[Paperclyp]

Just now, Biggie said:

I’ve cooled on the game and it’s soured on me. So many small things ruin it. 

 

That doesn't surprise me. I hope you get some fun out of the rest of it. 

[Keyser_Soze]

16 minutes ago, Paperclyp said:

I can't emphasize enough that I still adore the game, and one of the things like about it is that it doesn't spell everything out for you - but I think it crosses a line sometimes in withholding certain mechanic information to the point of frustration. Almost always with NPCs / stealth. 

 

I ran into one of those "aha" moments the other day, in regard to mechanic information, although it was kind of spelled out.

 

I don't know if you have done the quest int he slums regarding the church, but one of the NPCs tells you how to arrest someone, so when I got to the end of the quest I was looking all around the city to get the person arrested, and then I looked it up (so I guess more of an aha after the fact) and yeah it was basically what the guy told you. It doesn't tell you in the quest notes how to do it, which is why I was a bit lost. But it was fun ultimately doing what the NPC said and it actually working.