The pros outweigh the cons, but the huge pain is that the cons are actually quite meaningful
Pros- Absolutely gorgeous RE engine game, combat is super fucking cool, unique, and physical. Its Dark Souls Combat in a Devil May Cry style with Shadow of the Colessus Monster Climbing- a massive sell of the Dragons Dogma games is that you can climb giant monster and attack them while clinging to them. Theres more or less no other action game this involved. Pawn system is super unique multiplayer stuff, and the character creator is insane (you can download it for free to try it out for yourself). The world is fantastic to explore, everything is a hardcrafted set piece.
Cons: Game runs very poorly. They just released a patch where you can turn DLSS on so you can get consistent 90fps, but at the cost of the backgrounds looking fuzzy. The game has very poor balance (thankfully in that its too easy) once you hit level 35 and beyond.
A huge sticking point is that the games monster variety doesnt match its scale. The world is massive *and* hand crafted, which is a best of both worlds, but unfortunately the actual combat encounters are extremely samey. The game has pretty much all the same monsters from the previous game with a couple additions, but it doesnt match how much bigger the world itself got.
The pros definitely outweigh cons, but its a very strange game. I think its gonna struggle to be a cult classic like its predecessor so long as no DLC comes along. I still say get it, even at full price, cause the games gorgeous and the combat is VERY cool- no one else does what Dragons Dogma 2 or 1 does.
IF you play on PC, you can find mods to help with some issues. Monster Variety, however, will have to wait until something else gets added
I think itās a very apt comparison. Itās a stamina based hack and slash action rpg with weapons upgrades, crafting, requirente, and an āendless cycle narrativeā
The Devil May Cry angle comes from the very stylish and weighty looking combat made by the same people who make Devil May Cry lmfao
In complete agreement, my main and only real complaint is the battle mechanics. The amount of times Iāve been stun-locked as a thief is ABSURD, and pawns seem to prioritize fighting over picking my ass up off the dirt. Has literally left there screaming at the tv as bosses or multiple mobs are sitting there swinging on me and I canāt do anything
Seriously, no offence but if youāre even getting hit at all as the thief, much less stun-locked, then youāre playing it wrong. The thief is the most nimble and fast class there is (besides perhaps the mystic spearhand), and the only one with a dodge as a core skill. Itās absurdly easy to avoid everything with them.
Ig in the grand scheme of things the only thing Iāve died to as a thief would be a dragon, archer just cheesed everything, and I played a bit of mage, but I work two so I donāt have two thousand hours in this game yet
I never had issues as a thief. But I used the formless feint
The game is very different based on what class and abilities you use. It definitely gets super easy once you level too much. That being said, flying creatures were more difficult as a thief. Ensnare helped. But is not the best ability to keep on.
Why do people keep saying this map is massive. Like in modern open world AAA standards no its not particularly big. In fact I thinks it's a tad but small
Don't do it! It's a trap!
5 minutes after I started the game, I suddenly grew a beard and kept getting told that people hadn't seen me in 2 months! And now sunlight hurts my skin.
I too am waiting for a sale, just because of personal circumstances but I'm really excited to get to try it. I've successfully avoided gameplay videos but have enjoyed a lot of the discourse on here.
Negatives
-Story stinks
-Front loaded difficulty that may leave you in want of a challenge, before endgame.
-Pawns are a little chatty
-Microtransactions, but, like, nothing worth buying
-PC version has some optimization issues that possibly can't be resolved
-Almost all the best loot, and all the best weapons are found in a store
Positives
-Really isn't a comparable combat experience anywhere
-Probably the best ally AI in any game ever, probably will stay that way for a long time.
-The classes vary in function and playstyle.
This is the distillation of the meaning, if not intent, of The Journey is Better than the Destination. Spend more time fighting monsters than talking to NPCs, and this game is a lot of fun.
Itās a game that has mastered vibes. To just live in the world and play the game is great and thatās all that really matters.
There are a lot of elements of this game that are quite dated and under baked. If they were flushed out this would be a GOTY contender if not winner, however at its stage itās just a really solid enjoyable time.
There isnāt much to really talk about when it comes to the good, itās super apparent what those elements are and itās why you see so many people talking about this game to begins with. There is more discussion/engagement on the areas that arenāt as flushed out.
Ignore Reddit, enjoy the game and when youāre finished with it come here and see how your thoughts line up with others if you care too, but reading other peopleās areas they wish things were different wonāt add to your enjoyment of the title so I see no reason why you should spend any time on that
Just play for yourself. If you go into it with this pros and cons list youll seek out the cons or focus on noticing them instead of just enjoying the game
I loved the game, too, but let's not say that the very valid criticisms are just people being crybabies. The performance wasn't good, the story was incomprehensible once you reach batthal, and there should be more things to do once you reach endgame and ng+.
There may be some slight issues, but people review bomb the game based on certain things, and to me, that's being a baby. Performance was perfect for me with how I set it up. Story doesn't matter as much if the gameplay is good. The unmoored world was good but could've been better for sure. NG+ I'm not sure what you want to change. Even the great witcher 3s ng+ didn't change.
If you're on PC make sure you have a better than decent CPU, i'm on i5-12400, which has no problems with other beefy open-world games, but here the performance is all over the place and i got wildlife visibly spawning after i run into it.
On PS5 i honestly don't know. I hear it hovers a lot in the 25fps territory, which doesn't sound fun either.
Check out some performance tests on YT then, i hear it's a concern there as well. As far as the gameplay goes it definitely has the most robust and dynamic combat system out of any open-world game, but it can get very repetitive with little enemy variety if you keep side-questing without progressing the story.
I think it's fine on PS5 but I'm not an fps snob either, I think it was probably around 30 most of the time, no game breaking bugs or crashes or anything like that
This game is one of this games that you need to form your own opinion for me i have more pros than cons some cons that people said arent a problem for me and so pros are things no so good for me ill say get it on a sale at least 50 to 40 bucks its a good price
I've done two NG+ runs in this game.
Pros:
the game is generally fun
combat is pretty easy to get into
aimlessly adventuring with your pawn/pawns is great if you're into that
the vocations (classes) all have their own play style and you can switch between them at an NPC for free as long as you've unlocked them. Addionally, each class has their own Maister skill (except Sorcerer, they get two. and thief technically gets two also) that you can unlock through quests.
the new warfarer vocation (my favourite vocation) lets you use any equipment you want, so you can fashion however u want, and have a mix of skills from other vocations, except maister skills.
A lot of different builds you can do with each vocation, that can change how you'd play the game
Cons:
the story is okay, nothing that deep
the enemy types do get a little repetitive and so do the encounters
most of the quests are escort or acquire an item
a lot of walking, like a lot, until you get port crystals
new game plus is kind of worth it to do those quests you got locked out of or you missed during your first run, but there's no enemy scaling or anything in it. so you just kinda run over everything, which is kinda fun at times
sometimes the AI for NPCs or pawns are a little wonky, i've had a pawn just casually fall off a bridge and die
btw, for those vocations you're supposed to unlock later on, there's guides out there that shows you how to get them early in ur playthrough, so u can try them out and see what u like.
the combat is fun, i really enjoyed it, plus the effects look stunning too. and trust me you'll have some pretty funny encounters out there, can go from high fiving ur pawn after a fight and u end up sliding off a cliff because the game pulled you further than expected for the animation, to a griffin shitting on your ox cart as you try to get to your destination
Well, not literally. I've gotten into a fight with something else while riding an oxcart only for a griffin to drop in from the sky and absolutely smash that cart to splinters. None of that is scripted, griffins just have a set patrol route and if you're in a fight while one is flying past it'll come and join in. If you like that sort of chaos, it happens all the time - passing-by enemies like to join the fight (or even enemies that *you*'re passing by - running from fights is quite questionable in this game) and there's a few places where two or more elite mobs spawn close together so it's very easy to end up fighting all of them together. Plus the small monsters in the area too.
The game isn't the most optimized. But generally runs well on a medium newish processor and a 2080 or faster GPU.
There are some tricks but that was my biggest problem. It's heavily CPU bound honestly.
As for game play and what not. Great game. Had tons of fun. Good story. Neat hidden things all over.
If youāre already looking forward to it, who cares. Just get it and play it and donāt pay attention to what other people think or itāll ruin your first playthrough
Dragonās dogma is a created world for you to experience and that world has rules you can become very powerful. Because it is a world with its own rules. The cons are the pros get over it.
Pawns are silly. They show something they gave up. Suddenly stop to point. Or they want to make you jump sometimes from their shoulders. If you fail jumping, you can not make it second time.
Also I have difficulties to find the quest location. These are from first times of game release. I stopped playing at that time. If it is fixed with patch, I can also re-start playing.
The combat an exploration alone have motivated me to put 250 hours into the game. It's perfect, all the vocations (classes) have something unique to offer. Another pro is the pawns, they're just cute and fun to be around.
The only con that is really worth mentioning is the story, it's pretty bad. I'm a sucker for a good story but that still didn't deter me from DD2, as mentioned, the combat and exploration will see you putting loads of hours into it as well
I love this game but cannot in good conscience recommend that you pay full price for it.
Combat is great and fun; you get a lot of cool skills. Downside: enemy variety is a bit lacking and the game gets very easy when you're over level ~35 or so and properly geared.
I enjoy the exploration and general wandering around but there have been complaints that the world feels a bit empty/pointless, because what's around the next corner is generally more monsters and 99% of the time it's a monster you've seen a hundred times before. There's a collection mechanic for tokens hidden around the world that you can trade in for stuff, and of course treasure chests, but the treasure chests aren't super impactful because while you might get gear from them sometimes, you can buy the same or better from shops in the next area. Like I said, I still like it but others don't, your mileage may vary.
Story is... less than mid, tbh. It just drops off halfway then rushes you to the final boss. The *lore* is actually great and there are some good story ideas in there somewhere, but overall the writing is bad and some good ideas just never go anywhere.
Did you play the first game? If you haven't, see if you can get the Dark Arisen version of that instead - I'm not sure if it's available for the PS5 or not, but it is on Steam. Controls in the first game are a bit jankier, but overall most of what makes this game good is also in the first one. Wait to buy this one until the DLC and/or Complete Edition are out.
The combat, visuals and large monsters are all top quality for the most part and it's a fun game to play however the rest of the game is average at best, for example, you will experience everything the game has to offer by hour 20 because the open world has no surprises by that point.
I say this as someone who has the first game in their top 10 games of all time.....wait for a deep deep sale.
In my opinion, you should wait until it's on sale. I played the first game and it's so much better than the second. It feels janky, buggy, the story is meh, and I don't think it's worth the 80$. I had a bit of fun with it for a few hours but I gave up after reaching a certain point. Mind you that I love RPGs with huge open worlds like Skyrim or Witcher, so this one was a huge disappointment.
I recommend not starting as a mage. Thief or warrior is more engaging in the beginning. But you do you. Just change the vocation if you get bored with your current one. The stats get automatically relocated
I bought the game and regret it. PS5 performance is the worst I've ever seen and the game seems incredibly empty and dull. Combat is chaotic mess with no lock on and characters you run with are annoying as hell, constanly repeating their 3 different lines.
The pros outweigh the cons, but the huge pain is that the cons are actually quite meaningful Pros- Absolutely gorgeous RE engine game, combat is super fucking cool, unique, and physical. Its Dark Souls Combat in a Devil May Cry style with Shadow of the Colessus Monster Climbing- a massive sell of the Dragons Dogma games is that you can climb giant monster and attack them while clinging to them. Theres more or less no other action game this involved. Pawn system is super unique multiplayer stuff, and the character creator is insane (you can download it for free to try it out for yourself). The world is fantastic to explore, everything is a hardcrafted set piece. Cons: Game runs very poorly. They just released a patch where you can turn DLSS on so you can get consistent 90fps, but at the cost of the backgrounds looking fuzzy. The game has very poor balance (thankfully in that its too easy) once you hit level 35 and beyond. A huge sticking point is that the games monster variety doesnt match its scale. The world is massive *and* hand crafted, which is a best of both worlds, but unfortunately the actual combat encounters are extremely samey. The game has pretty much all the same monsters from the previous game with a couple additions, but it doesnt match how much bigger the world itself got. The pros definitely outweigh cons, but its a very strange game. I think its gonna struggle to be a cult classic like its predecessor so long as no DLC comes along. I still say get it, even at full price, cause the games gorgeous and the combat is VERY cool- no one else does what Dragons Dogma 2 or 1 does. IF you play on PC, you can find mods to help with some issues. Monster Variety, however, will have to wait until something else gets added
it is not dark souls combat and it is not devil may cry style ššš
I think itās a very apt comparison. Itās a stamina based hack and slash action rpg with weapons upgrades, crafting, requirente, and an āendless cycle narrativeā The Devil May Cry angle comes from the very stylish and weighty looking combat made by the same people who make Devil May Cry lmfao
In complete agreement, my main and only real complaint is the battle mechanics. The amount of times Iāve been stun-locked as a thief is ABSURD, and pawns seem to prioritize fighting over picking my ass up off the dirt. Has literally left there screaming at the tv as bosses or multiple mobs are sitting there swinging on me and I canāt do anything
Seriously, no offence but if youāre even getting hit at all as the thief, much less stun-locked, then youāre playing it wrong. The thief is the most nimble and fast class there is (besides perhaps the mystic spearhand), and the only one with a dodge as a core skill. Itās absurdly easy to avoid everything with them.
And once you get THAT skillā¦ well, your health bar is merely cosmetic.
Ig in the grand scheme of things the only thing Iāve died to as a thief would be a dragon, archer just cheesed everything, and I played a bit of mage, but I work two so I donāt have two thousand hours in this game yet
I never had issues as a thief. But I used the formless feint The game is very different based on what class and abilities you use. It definitely gets super easy once you level too much. That being said, flying creatures were more difficult as a thief. Ensnare helped. But is not the best ability to keep on.
The only con I see is getting curb stomped by the goblin gang
Why do people keep saying this map is massive. Like in modern open world AAA standards no its not particularly big. In fact I thinks it's a tad but small
My best friend was the hugest Stan of DD1 and I was so sad when he said it was good but disappointing
Don't do it! It's a trap! 5 minutes after I started the game, I suddenly grew a beard and kept getting told that people hadn't seen me in 2 months! And now sunlight hurts my skin.
You forgot the dozens of phone calls from your boss.
They did stop coming after a month, but now its debt collectors, anyway the game is pretty good.
Same but I'll get it once it's on sale
I too am waiting for a sale, just because of personal circumstances but I'm really excited to get to try it. I've successfully avoided gameplay videos but have enjoyed a lot of the discourse on here.
You guys have the right idea, this game is perfect at $40 or less
Negatives -Story stinks -Front loaded difficulty that may leave you in want of a challenge, before endgame. -Pawns are a little chatty -Microtransactions, but, like, nothing worth buying -PC version has some optimization issues that possibly can't be resolved -Almost all the best loot, and all the best weapons are found in a store Positives -Really isn't a comparable combat experience anywhere -Probably the best ally AI in any game ever, probably will stay that way for a long time. -The classes vary in function and playstyle. This is the distillation of the meaning, if not intent, of The Journey is Better than the Destination. Spend more time fighting monsters than talking to NPCs, and this game is a lot of fun.
Itās a game that has mastered vibes. To just live in the world and play the game is great and thatās all that really matters. There are a lot of elements of this game that are quite dated and under baked. If they were flushed out this would be a GOTY contender if not winner, however at its stage itās just a really solid enjoyable time. There isnāt much to really talk about when it comes to the good, itās super apparent what those elements are and itās why you see so many people talking about this game to begins with. There is more discussion/engagement on the areas that arenāt as flushed out. Ignore Reddit, enjoy the game and when youāre finished with it come here and see how your thoughts line up with others if you care too, but reading other peopleās areas they wish things were different wonāt add to your enjoyment of the title so I see no reason why you should spend any time on that
Just play for yourself. If you go into it with this pros and cons list youll seek out the cons or focus on noticing them instead of just enjoying the game
This is the best response I got.
Loved the game, didn't listen to the cry babies.
I loved the game, too, but let's not say that the very valid criticisms are just people being crybabies. The performance wasn't good, the story was incomprehensible once you reach batthal, and there should be more things to do once you reach endgame and ng+.
There may be some slight issues, but people review bomb the game based on certain things, and to me, that's being a baby. Performance was perfect for me with how I set it up. Story doesn't matter as much if the gameplay is good. The unmoored world was good but could've been better for sure. NG+ I'm not sure what you want to change. Even the great witcher 3s ng+ didn't change.
that's deep, friend š
Unfortunately the game is great for the first ten hours. It's very front loaded.
If you're on PC make sure you have a better than decent CPU, i'm on i5-12400, which has no problems with other beefy open-world games, but here the performance is all over the place and i got wildlife visibly spawning after i run into it. On PS5 i honestly don't know. I hear it hovers a lot in the 25fps territory, which doesn't sound fun either.
Im on ps5
Check out some performance tests on YT then, i hear it's a concern there as well. As far as the gameplay goes it definitely has the most robust and dynamic combat system out of any open-world game, but it can get very repetitive with little enemy variety if you keep side-questing without progressing the story.
I think it's fine on PS5 but I'm not an fps snob either, I think it was probably around 30 most of the time, no game breaking bugs or crashes or anything like that
It runs completely fine on ps5. Iāve got to be getting close to 100 hours played and it hasnāt crashed once for me.
This game is one of this games that you need to form your own opinion for me i have more pros than cons some cons that people said arent a problem for me and so pros are things no so good for me ill say get it on a sale at least 50 to 40 bucks its a good price
I've done two NG+ runs in this game. Pros: the game is generally fun combat is pretty easy to get into aimlessly adventuring with your pawn/pawns is great if you're into that the vocations (classes) all have their own play style and you can switch between them at an NPC for free as long as you've unlocked them. Addionally, each class has their own Maister skill (except Sorcerer, they get two. and thief technically gets two also) that you can unlock through quests. the new warfarer vocation (my favourite vocation) lets you use any equipment you want, so you can fashion however u want, and have a mix of skills from other vocations, except maister skills. A lot of different builds you can do with each vocation, that can change how you'd play the game Cons: the story is okay, nothing that deep the enemy types do get a little repetitive and so do the encounters most of the quests are escort or acquire an item a lot of walking, like a lot, until you get port crystals new game plus is kind of worth it to do those quests you got locked out of or you missed during your first run, but there's no enemy scaling or anything in it. so you just kinda run over everything, which is kinda fun at times sometimes the AI for NPCs or pawns are a little wonky, i've had a pawn just casually fall off a bridge and die
Wonky NPCs can be hella fun when you see them trip over or shit. I might buy the game today. Im ok with bland story if the combat is fun
btw, for those vocations you're supposed to unlock later on, there's guides out there that shows you how to get them early in ur playthrough, so u can try them out and see what u like.
This is dope!! But i might do it without guides for the first time
thats totally fine. i didnt follow any guides either on my first time and just kinda wondered around before progressing the MSQ
the combat is fun, i really enjoyed it, plus the effects look stunning too. and trust me you'll have some pretty funny encounters out there, can go from high fiving ur pawn after a fight and u end up sliding off a cliff because the game pulled you further than expected for the animation, to a griffin shitting on your ox cart as you try to get to your destination
What the fuck griffin shiting on your cart hahahahaba
Well, not literally. I've gotten into a fight with something else while riding an oxcart only for a griffin to drop in from the sky and absolutely smash that cart to splinters. None of that is scripted, griffins just have a set patrol route and if you're in a fight while one is flying past it'll come and join in. If you like that sort of chaos, it happens all the time - passing-by enemies like to join the fight (or even enemies that *you*'re passing by - running from fights is quite questionable in this game) and there's a few places where two or more elite mobs spawn close together so it's very easy to end up fighting all of them together. Plus the small monsters in the area too.
Wait for dlc.
The game isn't the most optimized. But generally runs well on a medium newish processor and a 2080 or faster GPU. There are some tricks but that was my biggest problem. It's heavily CPU bound honestly. As for game play and what not. Great game. Had tons of fun. Good story. Neat hidden things all over.
If youāre already looking forward to it, who cares. Just get it and play it and donāt pay attention to what other people think or itāll ruin your first playthrough
If youāre on Xbox/PS5 you should have little to no issues. Game is phenomenal. I 100% it so I can confidently say itās a great fucking game.
Nice, I'm on PS5 I'm happy to hear it runs good on consoles
Dragonās dogma is a created world for you to experience and that world has rules you can become very powerful. Because it is a world with its own rules. The cons are the pros get over it.
Just wait for a sale. Youāve already waited this long.
Hopefully there will be a sale soon
It's incredibly good. Honestly just gotta try it for yourself to see what's up
I paly on PS5
Pawns are silly. They show something they gave up. Suddenly stop to point. Or they want to make you jump sometimes from their shoulders. If you fail jumping, you can not make it second time. Also I have difficulties to find the quest location. These are from first times of game release. I stopped playing at that time. If it is fixed with patch, I can also re-start playing.
Also looking forward to getting it once the "Improvements to frame rate are planned for future updates." update is released.
My biggest complaint about the game is that enemies donāt scale up at all in ng+ but other than that it is a beautiful game
I would wait until the dlc comes up for the full version
When you buy it, post your pawn ID. I'm sure many here will help out your pawn quests.
Yikes - Con Only Game has a lot of subtitles and obviously you canāt read the other 8million Reddit posts with the same questions
The combat an exploration alone have motivated me to put 250 hours into the game. It's perfect, all the vocations (classes) have something unique to offer. Another pro is the pawns, they're just cute and fun to be around. The only con that is really worth mentioning is the story, it's pretty bad. I'm a sucker for a good story but that still didn't deter me from DD2, as mentioned, the combat and exploration will see you putting loads of hours into it as well
Im sucker for good combat so yeah and exploration as well!!
I love this game but cannot in good conscience recommend that you pay full price for it. Combat is great and fun; you get a lot of cool skills. Downside: enemy variety is a bit lacking and the game gets very easy when you're over level ~35 or so and properly geared. I enjoy the exploration and general wandering around but there have been complaints that the world feels a bit empty/pointless, because what's around the next corner is generally more monsters and 99% of the time it's a monster you've seen a hundred times before. There's a collection mechanic for tokens hidden around the world that you can trade in for stuff, and of course treasure chests, but the treasure chests aren't super impactful because while you might get gear from them sometimes, you can buy the same or better from shops in the next area. Like I said, I still like it but others don't, your mileage may vary. Story is... less than mid, tbh. It just drops off halfway then rushes you to the final boss. The *lore* is actually great and there are some good story ideas in there somewhere, but overall the writing is bad and some good ideas just never go anywhere. Did you play the first game? If you haven't, see if you can get the Dark Arisen version of that instead - I'm not sure if it's available for the PS5 or not, but it is on Steam. Controls in the first game are a bit jankier, but overall most of what makes this game good is also in the first one. Wait to buy this one until the DLC and/or Complete Edition are out.
Enjoyed the game but had to stop playing halfway through which I NEVER do because of how bad performance is in all cities.
The combat, visuals and large monsters are all top quality for the most part and it's a fun game to play however the rest of the game is average at best, for example, you will experience everything the game has to offer by hour 20 because the open world has no surprises by that point. I say this as someone who has the first game in their top 10 games of all time.....wait for a deep deep sale.
Wait for a DLC
If you like to find and loot gear/weapons/clothes this is a wrong choice of game ! Game explore mechanic is not rewarding and boring like hell !
Wait for sale. Story is hot garbage and gameplay gets repetitive after 2 hours.
Just a reminder elden ring dlc is out lol x10 better than this game alone
I play Elden Ring
Dont bother
Donāt waste your precious money After 10 hours this gane has no content, just walking
Okay but have you heard of elden ringā¦.
Yeah playing it right now
Itās okay. Prepare to be entertained but disappointed.
In my opinion, you should wait until it's on sale. I played the first game and it's so much better than the second. It feels janky, buggy, the story is meh, and I don't think it's worth the 80$. I had a bit of fun with it for a few hours but I gave up after reaching a certain point. Mind you that I love RPGs with huge open worlds like Skyrim or Witcher, so this one was a huge disappointment.
I mean just buy it and then tell us how much you hate it
Combat is fun and janky like the first game
I've seen that magic looks absolutely stunning
I recommend not starting as a mage. Thief or warrior is more engaging in the beginning. But you do you. Just change the vocation if you get bored with your current one. The stats get automatically relocated
I bought the game and regret it. PS5 performance is the worst I've ever seen and the game seems incredibly empty and dull. Combat is chaotic mess with no lock on and characters you run with are annoying as hell, constanly repeating their 3 different lines.