In case somebody misses it: This, like all my reviews, comes from a place of positivity. I love Dragon's Dogma, and I love DD2, but it's precisely because of it that I critique it. People don't pour over 100 hours into making videos out of hatred. And if you see no flaws in the game, I envy you. Have fun, and I'll see you again very soon! PS: As I said in my more consumer-oriented review: I recommend you skip side quests and take this as a 30 hour game, it doesn't fix the design but it makes it much more enjoyable.

The Sphinx fight is a riddle. if you pay attention to all the murals with her on it or the vase with that you have to deliver the npc with her on it, you will always see that she is always getting attacked from behind... If you fight her but dont attack her from the front then she wont fly away. Once you get her life all the way down, she will acknowledge that it was amusing and she enjoyed her time with you... she will say hopefully she meets you again, drop the key and disappear

It is both exactly what I wanted from a sequel and not enough. Improves in some areas and somehow steps backward in others.

You've made a 1 hour and 20 minute long analysis, and still haven't managed to tell us where that ladder in Vernworth is - the one that my pawns keep pointing out every time I go to the armor shop (which doesn't even sell any masterworks!)

You know, one time a pawn pointed out a ladder in the middle of the night and it was helpful. Pointing out a ladder while I'm on the said ladder is... less so.

at 55 minutes in you say you have to be an archer and you can't take her out because she flies away if her hp bar is too low. this is incorrect, I did it as a warrior without my pawns aiding, telling them to wait as I 1v1 the sphynx. the puzzle is you can't damage her human parts or do so as minimally as possible, you have to do her hp bars on the animal parts, as directed in the artwork murals as the key to her weakness.

I too wish this game were better. So many steps backwards for every step forward in game design. I think removing multiple weapons from vocations, removing double jump/dodge roll, a huge open world but massive stamina management issues that are not addressed, mechanics like the reloaded save reducing your full health bar inexplicably, lack of enemy variety, lack of good quest design, enemies that spawn in instantly to gotcha (drabnir's grotto lizard looking at you), invisible walls, etc. etc. etc. I could go on

To be fair. The sword quest does unlock the Dwarven smithing in Bak. In the long run, that quest was very rewarding and it’s probably one of the best quest lines in this entire game. It made sense from a story perspective.

Vermund was so good, bahkbattal somehow felt bigger due to the verticality but at the same time more empty. Volcanic region had alot of potential but turned out to be an area they made specifically for giant tower defense with almost no content outside of unlocking 2 vocations. It really felt like content was cut

Alright, I really disagree a lot with Chapter 5, especially with NPC dialogue doesn't give you anything. NPC does tell you stuff that can ties into a quest and other tidbits about the world, some oxcart guard in both the first fortress and vermund talk about Humphrey which if you can find the guy, will lead up to a small side quest, some guy in checkpoint rest area would talk about the people who will give quest that'll unlock magick archer for you, the old man in that shore village would talk about the brine, and I found some random NPC in the inn of checkpoint area talks about Talos. All of those I found accidentally just by checking out what the npcs are saying either listening by or talking to them. Side quests also has their own stories, which sometimes would tie up to the main quest or leads up to a chain of quests that creates it own stories. Heck, some quest doesn't even tell you there's more to it even after the quest log said it's completed. They're like contained into that part of the side quest and sometime branch out to the main quest or another side quest and the game nudges you to find out more by not making things apparent, which is exactly what DD2 is all about, exploring and finding out things yourself, without the game goes "hey, you should do this" or "hey, there's more to it so let me update it in your quest log". The game only asks you to listen when it doesn't show up right in your face or even quest logs, which is not something that everyone can stomach, but to me, that alone makes the world feels more alive on top of how side quests finds you in the game.

I beat the Sphinx as a thief. You just need to attack her wings. You don't need the Unmaking Arrow. There is even a bas relief that shows how to beat her by attacking her wings. Which the same way to take down a griffin easily. Attack the wings so they can't fly away.

Thank you for that one line around a minute in "The game chooses to waste your time" I can't tell you how spot on this is and how so many people seem to ignore this, I spent 100 hours in this game before I completed it and put it down, but my god I could have easily done it in 25 hours if I wasn't stopped every 10 seconds on the road and didn't have to backtrack halfway across the map so much

You dont get it. Its a metacommentary on how gaming is a waste of time and you should spend time with your pawns at home. The best emergent gameplay is when your dog wants to play

Look Arisen, a ladder! 'Tis a mighty foe, yet no match for our combined ardor!

The best is when a pawn pushes you off a cliff.

Saving the cities in the post game is you RETURNING to the cycle. To truly leave the cycle you let the cities and world fall. There are like 4 endings let your lived one be sacrificed, fight dragon, save unmoored and let unmoored perish...(and the throne room loop could arguably be a 5th end)

Yeah the game bet like 80% on combat and personally this is great as I care about gameplay first, and my first 20-30h of the game were a 10/10 experience, I was easily able to overlook everything else. However the game kinda falls apart around lvl 35 with Batahl gear, at this point only drakes pose a challenge even in the last region. That last region is also unremarkable and small, which makes the last quarter of Elden Ring's locations look like Limgrave compared to content. Once combat stops being engaging and challenging other issues of the game become apparent. The world is not interesting enough to explore and story goes nowhere. Nobody will take my first 30h away from me though so I got my money's worth and I have a tendency to not finish games anyway. It's like that 30h in you run out of novelty and everything else is repeating the same combat against the same enemies on the same paths looting the same chests with the same items, and if it's a new cave it will have the same decor, vibes, treasure and enemies as every other cave in a region. Eventually there are no more new dynamic interactions so even playing the game as immersive sim stops workinmg eventually. I installed a mod to remove stamina drain outside of combat and it made backtracking even worse snoozefest, turns out stamina management is the most engaging part of trecking the same road in low level area for 30th time. Elden Ring had the same problem, in the late game starting with Mountaintops Of The Giants there was a noticeable drop in side objective density, filled only with reskinned enemies but much much stronger than anything we faced before. At this point player's fatique is pretty high anyway, so most players are actually probably glad they don't have to do yet another copy pasted dungeon with recycled enemies and bosses for no worthwile loot so being beelined into more of a boss rush is fine but it still showed shortcomings of the game. Yet this moment hapened for me 170h into my Elden Ring's plathrough, everything before that was varied, interesting, awe inspiring, throughly challenging, throwing new enemy types with new move sets at a steady pace, also rewarding with worthwile and game changing gear. DG2 meanwhile runs out of tricks much much sooner than Elden Ring. It can't even keep combat engaging before Unmoored World. It's a very comfy game though and I enjoyed all the tricks it employed against me... until it ran out of tricks.

Here before the Algorithm blow this man up to stardom.

It was a pleasure to work on this script, and it really resonated with so many of my own thoughts on the game. Your music ended up being such a great addition to the video! But DD2 really is a game that I enjoy despite its problems. I'm looking forward to whatever DLC they come up with, but I hope that they fill in the world that already exists, rather than create new areas to explore. The world is so vast but so repetitive, I can't help but think about what the game might be like with another year of development to flesh out more monsters, more vocations, and better incorporation of these things into the world to make it worthwhile to explore. Regardless, it'd be nice to see some of these awesome and unique mechanics/ideas inspire other games to iterate on the formula. Give me something like Outward, but with the combat mechanics of this game, and give me a more interesting story to play through!

Your comparison of DD2 to TotK made me realise that alot of the travelling issues could be alleviated if DD2 had mounts. Just a simple horse would suffice.. now that I think about it, its kind of weird that there are no horses in this grounded, medieval fantasy world. Skyrim had horses, heck even Oblivion did and it felt quite expansive when I first played through it, and their maps were smaller than DD2. Devs should also add a placeable ladder, that way we can always hear pawns rant on about them lol.

One thing that went under most people's radar: it does make a direct connection to the first game. SPOILERS: in the unmoored world, the Seafloor shrine is a 1:1 recreation of Gran Soren, and even the npcs will line up in the same places as shops were

I think I saw a ladder in your video.... I wonder where it leads?

My biggest unpopular gripe is how small the world actually is. Regardless of how long you think it takes to traverse, the game world is painfully small. Just 70 hours in and i already know every single inch of the land. 😅

Disagree on attack feedback, at least on Magick Archer. There is hardly _any_ feedback on its regular attack and most of its skills.

I 100% the game, achievements and whole map exploration within 136 hours. I feel in love with DD again, it had so much of the stuff I loved from the first game and expanded on it but, also it's flaws too. I will have to disagree with the fast travel, intentional inconvenience is a part of what makes Dragon's Dogma the game it is. If anything this game made me feel like I wanted more of it, and hopefully they add a hard mode.

Look, Arisen! There's a ladder over yon! Methinks there's aught to be found up there.

Two things. Regalia quest = you will get best shop with new armor and weapons and wymfire enhance. Sphinx fight is a riddle. You dont need arrow if you attack only specific place on Sphinx (back).

It's always that ladder on top of a building in Vernworth, the very ladder you see, and likely climb the very first time you explore the City. It's a ridiculous yet oddly nostalgic feeling that makes the strange and perplexing AI choices feel like that it was intentional, sorta like the nod at the start of the game to the tradition from the first game of Players launching Rook into the brine. Is it? I don't know for sure, yet despite the questionable choices it all feels so sincere, and I loved every moment spent in the weirdest Capcom series, that brings together, or feels like, disparate talents from the three pillars of Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, and Monster Hunter. It's a 'Jack of all Trades, a master of none" yet I feel so satisfied and amused at the end of it all.

Just an FYI. You dont need to be an archer or use the unmaking arrow to kill the Sphinx at the end of the quest. She flies away if you hit her upper half too much. As long as you just do damage to the lower half of her body, she will fight you until its over

The more I play this game, the more I love it

Great video! I've never played the first one or the DLC. I definitely plan on playing those after finishing DD2 completely to see what I missed out on. From someone who only played this, I can agree with a lot of the things you have said. From the lack of fast travel, entertaining/complex ways to traverse the world, nonstop fights every 10 feet, lack of enemy variety. Some things were incredible, that really stood out to me. I went all the way back to where you crashed down with the Griffin, to find a cave with a GoreChimera in it. I don't know if I missed that entirely from the beginning or it opened up later. The quest where you learn master skills from Trysha and her grandmother after you find and collect all the grimoires. I felt the game needed way more unique rewards from doing quest. That's the point of doing the damn quests. I thought a huge war/battle would take place when you expose Queen Disa's plans and her fake Arisen. Nothing happened and that was such a buzzkill (or I missed it). Really wish there were horses, take a ship, tamed Griffins or something to get around the map. Obviously understand the Brine wouldn't let you go across the ocean but still. Really liked going to the Ancient Battleground and using the trebuchets to break certain boulders to unlock some loot. Kind of wish they used some design like that to open up shortcuts or new areas around the map. Or even have a Cyclops or Minotaur break something. Speaking of shortcut, the one by Melve that cuts to Sacred Arbor is torture. You have to go through it from Sacred Arbors' side and even figuring it out how to open the gate was by because another cave did the same thing. Pawns can be useless by completely ignoring to levitate up/throw you up a cliff to get an item. Just wish you could do it yourself without needing to be a specific vocation. Although the atmosphere is great. The animals and people didn't make it feel completely lived in. I agree with shops should start to close at night, have some secret shops or deals go on in allies. Seeing Griffin's come down and grab some Oxen is actually really awesome. Wish there were more world storytelling. I do enjoy the game and what it offers. Just what it offers isn't fleshed out enough to alleviate the annoyances about the game. Your video sums up what's great and not so great about the game.

Mug I just love your narration. Discovered your channel two weeks ago with DD2's release and been listening to your content religiously. Also: ladder.

Ladder, and chests, and other events that leave an exclamation is not cleared up when you use it, or when the pawn opens the chest. A minor flaw in the seas of flaws, you described the bigger ones very well. I disagree with the fast travel portion a bit, but everything else is on point and helped me a bit how to feel about this game, because is confusing as hell. What a great outstanding game and what a failure in so many fronts.

The sword quest gives you access to dwarven smithing and upgraded item shop, the sphinx fight is supposed to be done by only attacking it's hind legs and body, archer not required

This is the best analysis of this game. Every single thing is on point. All the good reviews sort of ignore the bad stuff or just act like the game play trumps everything. If they legitimately listen to this video, they could make the best game ever.

such a great review and i couldn’t agree more, great modernized mechanics but sadly after my second playthough i catch myself running past mobs, fighting the same ogre and cyclops and just no sense of direction when it comes all together. i thought the story was better than dd but not the character of the dragon. i hoped for them to double down on dungeons and expand the roster of bosses and mobs, imagine if they took some creatures from the witcher and threw their own mechanics of how to fight them, that would’ve been amazing. the combat is some of the best in any 3rd person arpg that i’ve ever played (yes even > souls like) and it just makes me a little sad that we didn’t get a more focused game that fixed those issues in the first like tedious travel and repetitive enemies. i can do no fast travel but the open world serves no purpose when i run past ever mob and only have to focus when fighting a boss. exploration should’ve been a key focus point. i’d give the game an 8/10 but im in the same boat with mug thief i dont think ill be playing this again anytime soon although i will continue to think about it and what it could’ve been

Game was so fun for the first 10 hours. Once I hit level 20-25 it was just so fucking dull. Also, for a “narrative driven” game as advertised there’s no fucking story. I felt DDDA had a more coherent story.

You don't have to use the unmaking arrow to kill the sphinx, that's just the easy way. You can use melee as long as you don't accidentally hit her necklace.

Man, I honestly haven't felt any loss of steam for anything except the pre-postgame (heh) grind of trying to find drakes and carve them up before the point of no return. I just finished leveling my last vocation after, what, 80-100 hours in, and it's still just as much of a blast as it was early on. Granted, I am playing with a mod that lets the Warfarer truly commit to the bit and be every single vocation at once with three full moves each, but even switching back to leveling one at a time was a good time. Quests were fun and had interesting little stories, scouring every last corner of the map felt rewarding... The biggest sources of jank that have truly annoyed me were "why can't I select multiple items when moving them between packs, only when selling" and "why does stamina run out so quickly when running around out of combat". Other than that? It feels old-school in the right ways for me. I'm with Writing On Games here in thinking that all the little bits of friction actually make it more fun.

The cape clipping through the shield on chapter 3 drove me crazy!

It's still one man's vision And not a conglamoration.

The random wandering pawns auto-talking to you, making you stop sprinting and 180-ing your character, EVEN IF YOUR PARTY IS FULL, and there being no way to turn that off, is infuriating. On the note about the Blacksmith quest with the sword you need to repair, there is a gigantic reward for it: it turns that Blacksmith into a Dwarven Smithing location, which otherwise you need to trek ALL THE WAY to Gautstafr's home (or put down one of your limited Portcrystals at it) to achieve. And, for Armor espescially and most Melee Weapons, the Stagger Resist and Bonus Stagger Damage Done increase destroys the other 3 smithing styles so hard it is not even funny. Also a correction about the Sphinx: from the murals, you can see everybody just hitting her legs and lower body and rear. If you don't want to play an Archer (which is, by a mile, the best way with the Unmaking Arrow): simply hit her in the legs, belly and butt and NOWHERE ELSE until she relinquishes the key and poofs away.

I was so disappointed by this game. I didn't get the true ending but either way, I finished the game feeling like it was one big grind for nothing. The lack of story development really hurt this game. By the end of it, I just wanted the game to be over. The little lore drops here and there kept hinting at a more fleshed out storyline that was just over the horizon, but it is perpetually unrealized. I decided to start a new game instead of NG+ to work towards the true ending, but the thought of doing all of that running around again has put me off. This game feels like it could have been so much more, but it ends up leaving you unsatisfied in the end. I really wanted to love dd2.

I think you made a lot of valid criticism on DD2 and I completely agree with most of it; great combat, poor enemy variety and a lack luster story amongst many. I am still sour about the fact that I thought the game "ended" when I sat on the throne after killing the dragon. Even the game told me "are you sure? are you absolutely sure?" when I wanted to start new game plus. I completely missed the unamoored world in my first playthrough. And I loathed the fact when I finally got some challenge, I was thrown in the ending sequence when I entered the main hub. The game does a really poor job at giving you a challenge after you levelled up and have your vocations maxed. And when it finally does it squanders the challenges by forcing it behind some kind of timed sequence. I kind of missed the Everfall and Bitterblack Isle in DD2. Heck I wish they made it easier to go into unamoored world in new game+. All and all, I still love the game for all its flaws. No game is perfect not even my favourite game of 2024.

I agree with the issues you describe for traversal, but in spite of understanding the problem I'm finding that it's less a design problem and more a matter of taste and preference. As I get more familiar with the world and how long it will take me to get from A to B, I have much less of a problem fighting the same enemies again and managing my stamina sprinting through the roads. It becomes a game in itself: trying to avoid wear and tear so I don't have to stop to camp, eliminating enemies as swiftly as possible to get to my destination before nightfall, managing my stamina so I don't completely drain it right when I walk into a fight. I understand perfectly why people would sum this up as tedium, but the more I do it the more I fall in love with it. It feels like playing the first Dragon's Dogma, but with an actual reason to worry about what fights I run into. My only complaint is there's not enough monster types, or not enough difference between the monster variations, for this to work as intended. Overall I think your review perfectly describes what's what with the game. It does an amazing job preparing someone new to the franchise for what to expect from the game. But also for many of the critiques I end up thinking "Yes, but that's what I like about it!" If dungeon design, itemization, enemy variety, skill variety, post-game, and the fight with the Dragon itself was done just somewhat better, this would be a perfect game for me. And frankly those are superficial elements to me, the core gameplay loop is everything I, personally, wanted out of this IP. I do hope they expand on and refine things like story, questing, traversal, etc., in follow ups and sequels, but I also hope the remain uncompromising in janky and tedious mechanics. Inconvenience and finding a way around it is what I love about games. The unyielding reinforcement of and absolute freedom in tackling them is what make Dragon's Dogma what it is to me.

Another point about reactivity: the mission where the Empress lures her would be assassin for you to capture, only for the traitor to poison herself before being questioned. Me, having 5 wakestones, thought, "Oh naw I got your ass, death won't save you from this one". But the game wouldn't let me use them and the quest ended anti-climatically. Not only is this a disappointing lack of reactivity and limited player options, it's also straight up lore-breaking to not be able to use a wakestone. Compare that with Dragon's Dogma 1, if you fight Ser Julien and kill him, the quest ends there. But you can use a wakestone and revive him. He will then go to the Gran Soren prison, from there you can break him out and carry him out of prison, thoroughly confusing him about the Arisen's decision making process. And on top of it all: he can still become your beloved after all that

i enjoy the tedium of travelling throughout the world of Dragon's Dogma II. i like the slow pace and lack of urgency. the combat is always satisfying even against the same enemies. the world is beautiful and wandering throughout is a reward in itself. as for enemy variety more would be nice but there's hardly a lack of it, besides it's how you approach combat and not what you fight, a reskinned griffon with a breath attack isn't gonna change combat funamently, besides when multiple enemy types join any given fray it can dramatically alter any encounter. The world and the characters within are shallow and two dimensional because it's just a stage for your act, an act as the arisen fulfilling a preordained destiny, the real world is beyond this facade, everyone is a puppet and everything is a stage prop.

Great video! The sphinx can be killed without her getting away by not striking her jewelry/face/chest. You have to hit her back primarily. But yes unmaker is best unless you hit an inn first so you can afford a mistake. Minor nit pick!

Dude.. you have been really cooking something here Thank you really nice video I found you through your in debt analysis on lords of the fallen altough i never played nor did i plan on playing it, just loved to hear you talk, you have really good points. I rarely comment, but now i really want to leave my appreciation here, your videos are great man, i really enjoy your channel. I watch every Video

31:50 My issue with this part is the fact that by the point that you already explored the same road , you probably have enough money to buy ferrystone. At least by now, i got to elvel 31 and i have money to always have a ferrystone to go between Harve and the main city

I believe the reason why combat in dd2 is good is because they have years of experience from MH series.

Really comprehensive review. Like the format alot. Although I might be tripping but I think there where some parts u straight up added from Ur short term review. Nothing bothering really but got me confused what video I'm listening to. Good job, keep it up dude.

"Ladder me this arisen"

The Greater Will is LITERALLY just the game master. The entire thing is a blatant allegory for tabletop roleplaying.

I have enjoyed and sunk a good bit of time into Dragon's Dogma 2 so far, however, I really wish they would have put more effort into the writing of the story and world. I have found myself quite annoyed at the lack of consequences of plot progression and choices, especially regarding Vernworth's ruling class to be the worst. It's hard to remain immersed when I am told that I am the rightful king and then after exposing the corruption and slaying the Dragon I come to find out the old Queen's kid is now in charge and none of my decisions matter. Also ladders.

Great video! The variety graph at 39:11 is exactly how I felt about the game at each point, glad I'm not the only one. DD2 is a great game, with many problems, the top three being imo 1) low enemy variety and difficulty, 2) vast but under-utilized open world, 3) pretty dull story telling. Actually 4th problem is all the "ladder" comments by pawns.

And another thing SPOILERS pathfinder isn’t the seneschal, it’s implied that Rothias was the seneschal and bailed when he found out about the pathfinder, and also it seems that DD2’s world is built on top of DD1’s world as the sea floor shrine looks exactly like Gran Soren, you can also find bluemoon tower and cassardis in the unmoored world

I love the combat, the exploration, the pawns and upgrading weapons. What I find very hard to forgive is how in pursuit of ‘the vision’ it disrespects my time, in fact it actively abuses it. There’s sitting on benches waiting for shit to happen there’s running out of stamina just running down a road you’ve travelled a hundred times. Itsuno has said that travel is boring if your game is boring. He also has said he’s pro player choice yet they have hobbled travel not having the confidence to give the player the choice not to ‘slow travel’. I spent a couple of hours handing in fetch quests and upgrading a couple of weapons( different smiths). It took that long despite spending a couple of hundred thousand on port crystals. There is nothing new or interesting on your 100th ox cart ride, there is no emergent gameplay when a goblin wolf or harpy attacks on the cart. Worse if some NPC just smashes it so you’re walking. A lot of stuff you can’t even blame on ‘the vision’ it’s just no implemented in a friendly way. Ironically a couple of things that they introduced in Dar Arisen would alleviate things immensely, an eternal ferry stone and a couple more port crystals would be a massive help.

Yeah I’m definitely going to go up the ladder with this one going to finish the first game (assuming I don’t get distracted by other games first) before even thinking about the sequel. I’ll probably even wait for the inevitable “Dark Arisen” version as that when most people got into DD1. Great video excellent analysis looking forward to more.

The franchise has so much potential. Could give Witcher and RDR a run for it's money if given enough investment. I came across an article where Witcher 3 had more than 1500 people working on the game, while DD2 in comparison had roughly only 350. If given more manpower, I can only imagine a more elaborate story and quests and a better streamlined rpg experience. It has all the ingredients of an awesome franchise. If this game is a re-boot of the 1st, I'll hope they'll give it a proper sequel that will live up to it's fullest potential.

the first time i use the pully lift system in bhattaal (or however you spell it) i was so happy to find another route without having to fight everything....then a griffin came from no where and smashed it to pieces and i fell to my death.

Dragons dogma 2 is legit one of the most unique games ive ever played. It illicits feelings from me that other games dont. At the same time, once you actually begin to level up and progress, it loses its charm. Killing a cyclops with a single meteor just doesnt hit the same as having to climb up to its head and stab it

Superb analysis. And as you've already mentioned: I'm having so much fun even though there is this great amount of flaws. Putting a bit more time into development or hiring a bigger team to work on that gem would've left a great and recognizable impact. But lets see... I'm deeply hoping that the DLC surprises us with a miracle and lifts that already really rock solid game into astonished & magnificent spheres. Because if it'd reach them, DD2 could be the gamechanger it meant (or rather desires) to be. PS: Mug, you're a real G. Your content is always nothing less than on point.

Just watched the video and it’s very on point with my own opinions, the praises and criticism are valid and given everyone will have their own unique experience, lots of what you described I resonated with and will say you did a fine job on your analysis, here’s my sub and keep up the good work.

There is actually a "legitimate" way to battle the Sphinx. And, technically, there are hints as to how to do it. How anyone would actually decipher these "hints" on their own (in a game that autosaves) I do not know. The rest of the video, I largely agree. A bunch of half-baked ideas.

I'm about half way through the review, where you talk about travel. i just wanted to say that in my opinion the best thing that can happen to this game is an enemy randomizer mod which sprinkles end-game monsters through the open world. Or, you know, Capcom could actually take the time to design a proper hard mode which not only inflates hp and enemy damage, but also changes the location of powerful monsters to make the encounters more interesting. I say this also because my favorite cave in the entire game is a shitty little cave in Batthal, called "Darkbeasts' Den" which contains end-game Saurians. It is the only cave that I'm aware of that does this and when I first entered it the monsters almost kicked my ass but it was just so refreshing seeing those unique monsters inside a random cave. If the game had more encounters like this it would be a lot better in my opinion. Imagine walking down the same road you've already traversed 5 times, but this time there is a Black Chimera ambushing you and you are underleveled because it is an end game monster. Along side adding end-game mobs randomly and making them ambush you when you least expect it I also think hard mode should eliminate a lot of campfires. There are way too many to the point where you can basically avoid the night for the whole game. What is the point of adding such an unforgiving and intimidating mechanic, when I can basically skip it whenever, wherever, for free. Hopefully an enemy randomizer mod is being worked on by someone so ng+ can actually be interesting.

57:08 "Giving up the ghost" means "dying" or "to die."

To me one of the game's sins that really indicate the failure in direction is cramming in the affinity system to the detriment of acceptable performance and presentation in cities. Even if you can deal with the framerate seeing NPCs pop-in AS YOU BUMP INTO THEM just breaks immersion. A competent director would know when to cut a feature (like dragonsplague) when they can't fully flesh it out properly. Especially when all the feature does is make the game worse. Cut affinity, cut dragonsplague, reduce the size of the map, and instead make systems, like variety in monster spawns and better dungeons, that improve the game rather than drag it down.

I think the problem of low enemy variety is actually due to being limited to a single weapon and four skills. You simply don't have enough *_tactical_* variety. If you had enough skills and enough variance in those skills, then _this_ group of goblins might represent a significantly different experience from _that_ group of goblins. As it is, every encounter with a particular enemy type on any given journey plays out the same way. For example, you fight a cyclops and spam Frosthunter Bolt, and a few minutes later you fight another cyclops and ... spam Frosthunter Bolt. The only variation you get is by changing equipped skills (or changing vocations, which, of course, changes equipped skills). Having multiple weapons, one ranged and one melee, on the hybrid vocations in DDDA meant that you were always presented with a tactically significant choice every moment of every combat. DD2 removed that, and in doing so made combat less contextually dynamic and reduced perceived variety.

"Ladder"

Great video that gave words to many of my thoughts. I truly did enjoy my first jaunt through the game. I kept switching vocations and tended to use underleveled pawns since I used my friends' who were a ways behind me. So combat did feel fresh for most of the first run. But man have I had a rough time trying to pick up NG+ after seeing it remove all the portcrystals the post game unlocked and the ones I had placed. The story did feel like it lost itself half way through, which was a bummer. I really enjoyed the story in DD1 and was honestly hoping for a simple retelling. Instead we got what felt like a petulant child upset that his toys aren't behaving. In short, climbing the ladder once was fun. But getting kicked back down and having to climb it again, not so much. Now if only my pawn was as good at finding a cohesive plot as he was at finding a ladder...

its just baffling that the devs decided to implement the same exact ng+ system that base dd1 was criticized for. and its probably time to admit that a well executed story and engaging open world is just not part of istuno's vision if those elements remain "underdeveloped" 12 years later. unless the franchise falls under another director, its unlikely dd will ever excel in those areas in future releases.

Excellent analysis! I fully agree with you on this one. Still going through the game myself, almost done now. I had fun, but there's just so much wasted potential. I thought this would be the GOTY, but I think Helldivers 2 will take it. Also, look a ladder! Excellent find! Might as well make use of it.

Your questing take is so weird. Dragons dogma is all about carefully placing your portcrystals to have the fast travel be earned. then you can do the quests in the most efficient way. The characters are fun and enjoyable. but they do lack some pay off on the unmoored world.

All Final Fantasy games has it's only style. FF7 and FF8 is cyberpunk for an example. But where first FF16 is more classical fantasy. Final Fantasy 1 to 16 covers high fantasy to cyberpunk and everything in between. The only thing that is consistent from all Final Fantasy games are some of the monsters and Cid with his air ship.

Thanks for the video. Gotta have the ladder. Looking forward to future content. =)

Okay, I really love your analysis of DD2. It's really onto the point. But on a serious note, only psychopaths have a lantern enabled at daylight.

My takes on how to make traversal more engaging: • Make combat encounters on roads during daytime rare. Relegate them to the byways and side paths. But also make enemies tougher to beat. Bloat their HP to 3x and damage to 2x if you have to. At night time, enemies would roam the main roads, but at the same rate/population as those in the byways during daytime. This also helps alleviate the problem of becoming overleveled quickly and becoming burnt out and bored of combat since you aren't just raking in tons of Exp from *_simply travelling and having to deal with the enemies in the way._* • In turn. Have more neutral NPCs travelling along the roads that have some exposition dialogue. Such as directions to settlements, interesting locations, what materials you can gather in the vicinity, hints to ambushes, monster dens, and bandit camps, and so on. Have the occasional merchant or two roam roads as well to buy basic supplies from and sell off vendor trash to to lighten your load. • And for probably the most controversial for fanboys of this series but *beneficial for practically any and every conceivable fictional media possible.* Dialogue via party banter. _Overhaul the entire pawn lore so that you only have your personal pawn,_ and the other two people in your party are real companions with actual character, personality, and worldview. These companions are made up of multiple (up to the amount of vocations the game has, at its lowest) characters you can hire or ask to join you in your adventuring. Imagine in the first game if Quina was a mage and Steffen was a sorcerer and you can bring them along to travel and fight alongside you. This then allows the setup for party banter during travelling. Having your companions comment on current events, current quests, completed quests, and their opinions on these matters. How you reply to these comments would in turn affect your personal pawn and develop their character bit by bit as well as affect how the companions view and treat you.

Thank you, finally someone has pointed out the elegant in the room. Also, ladder.

Great video. This was really fun to watch, and i agree with everything here. My favorite moment in the game was when i was wandering around the mountainsides of Vermund, i was playing as a sorcerer and i had my gang of pawns, and i was like, "this is the best Lord of the Rings game ever made" . The early-game was really special but it's unfortunately all downhill from there. Best pawns i hired : Karl Marx and Steve (Steve Jobs)

Superb, Absolutely superb video, well written and informative piece of media.

I believe it's been going around that you can beat the Sphinx without the unmaking arrow. There are hints on how to do it in the lore of the game. I think the statues/reliefs in the world. Show it.

Chaos is not a pit. Chaos is a ladder! And thank you for the well-made video! I also had a few impressions of how the travelling system could be made a bit more varied and exciting (feedback welcome): Oxcarts: Maybe you could upgrade them in exchange for coins to make them more stable and safer or unlock new destinations by uncovering routes? Transport towers (Bakbathal): Unfortunately, these are also a bit pointless for me at the moment. Maybe you could use a kind of gondola system with fixed departure times that works independently and is faster? Griffins/dragons: Maybe some kind of item or spell (book) to be able to "manipulate" them for a certain duration to control them? Perhaps in combination with a saddle that you have to carry with you like the tent? Would definitely make gryphons and dragons attractive :D Last but not least (I hope I'm not the only one who feels this way), a private small boat or small ship? By the way, I like the Port Crystals but not the Travelling Stones, I think they could be cancelled altogether. I think it would be cool if you could use on the port crystals itself to control where you are going? Like in gothic 2 with the portals in lategame. That's it from me! Cheers

I was super bummed when I beat the game and realized there’s no real reason to continue playing. There’s no meat to it. Was fun for awhile but has no character. 6/10

You're wrong about the sphinx fight. The clue is in the riddle of the urn. You can attack her as a mystic spearhead and in the back. The mural where the man is show some one wielding a mystic spear and the urn show spears that point to the sphinx's back. Doing this the sphinx wont fly away and you can save the arrow for later.

to be fair i’m excited over and over again each time i go into combat…

Good job bro, that is indeed a very insightful review and I do appreciate you taking the time to inform fans of this game. I personally dropped the game for now because I feel like it just doesn't do enough to make the players life easier which I believe is important in a modern game. When you begin and you are unfamiliar with it, you are immediately being overwhelmed with 100 different items like potions, ingredients,curatives,elixirs, spellbooks, edibles, rotten items items that some of them are useful and some are not. So you are getting encampered all the time, you don't know what to do with those items and not only you have to manage your inventory you also have your companion and then all the other optional pawns. The game is just too complicated, you are spending too much time on trying to make sense of every little thing that is thrown at you, it really can be to put it that way a pain in the ass.

Off topic but was the magick archer chest armor piece in chapter 3

Ladder. I love your videos!

bro is that a flyff OST u were playing at the beginning ?!?

There are more Skeleton Lords. I assumed they were called Fell-Lords. But not a lot. Theres like... 3 ive found

For the sphinx quest The pot and murals tell you not to hit her humans parts that’s why she runs away you don’t have to use the unmaking arrow 55:34

Idk it got tedious for me towards the end,it was ok.

Really great video! I used to play DDDA lot and was really happy when i found out the game would have a sequel but i was still somewhat sceptical so i didnt buy the game up to now and i dont plan to before any big DLC comes out. Its just sad to see how half baked the game came out when the franchise could have been great but since this one "failed" i find it hard to believe there will be another part for it. I really hope there will be patches to smooth out the general experience so we can all be called out by our pawns about a ladder that we have been to the other side of multiple times!

Thieves are the only class that can dodge???!!!!!! Ahhh man thats a bummer 😞

I don’t want to be nit picky but thieves are not the only vocation that can doge💀

(First off spoilers) I might crap on the game but this is because I really enjoyed the game. In DD1 I liked that your player character appears as the boss if you NG+ after true ending DD2 has you doing all of these quests you're going to be the King you're going to beat the dragon this and that and in the end like that regalia sword quest doing it doesn't do anything to the main story no way after all the Dirt you dug up on the queen did they let her spawn become King that's just goofy. Or the Giant you can literally rest a few days and the game will kill it for you a well thought out story would say let the giant kill the bad guys and then it will become the boss maybe you have to help the dragon defeat it and it would have destroyed the city in it's path but in DD2 no it does not destroy the city it tries to go around it so why were we fighting it? why help the bad guys? to help the main story progress as it is supposed to? Even the dragon's Plague maybe if the Pawn does this it makes the pawn into a boss that spawns the final dragon and nets you the bad ending and it's also a boss fight that gets rid of your pawns boom calamity not just a weak ass mechanic that shows who the essential npcs are. DD2 is one of my favorite games I liked the feel of the play but the story was insulting and the NPCs are dumpster juice. They didn't even really explain why the bads were doing so much evil to begin with, so the queen was wanting to stay in power that's it so phaseus wanted to unmake the order? why? The main story was a HUGE weak point of DD2 Idk if I should blame Capcom or Itsuno for the halfbaked nature of the game but yeah that's my thoughts I'll likely pick it up again when there is DLC but for the time being just gonna reach my level 100 and call it quits for the game. Ty for solidifying my thoughts on the game I was kinda wavering but you were saying what was in back of my mind mostly (I didn't care about traversal I did very little trekking since had many farry stones)

Completing the regalia sword quest unlocks Sara as a merchant. She then can upgrade your weapon with Dwarvin smithing giving your armor knockdown resistance and giving your weapon more knockdown power as well. It’s actually the best upgrade in the game. You also can just set a port crystal at bakbattahl and use ferrystones to travel back in forth..

Surely there's time for a quick qip? Ere we continue on our merry way!

Too much of anything is a bad thing, I think DD2 exemplifies this extremely well