You’re right, I’m not having fun with DD2… I’m completely and utterly enjoying every single aspect of this game. Over 70 hrs in and I have yet to talk to Brant in the tavern😂

“Dont try to fit a square peg in a round butt.” So close..

I did not spend 70 bucks on this game to speedthru the main quest so you best believe I’m exploring every cave and mountain this game has to offer and I’m having so much fun! It’s even better when I’m getting sidetracked from quests to do a monster culling or an escort quest bc it always leads me to places I never would have found otherwise. Hot take or not, dd2 is a strong contender for my goty

"Judge it for what it is setting out to be, not what you wish it was." Truly wish more people understood that. ALSO... regarding Skyrim... people need to understand "I like this game" and "this is a good game" are NOT the same

Other than accidentally loading my save at last inn and losing 24 hours of game time i have had a blast.

I love when you kill a big monster while clinging on to it's head and ride it to the ground Legolas style. That literally never gets old and is a big part of why I'm having fun playing this game.

I honestly needed to hear the sentence "you don't need to play to be the best, use whatever you like and f*** everything else telling you to be the best" I honestly started tearing up because the last fantasy game I love that I genuinely had fun with was elden ring, and the game before that was witcher 3. I can't express enough how when I took my time and actually enjoyed the game and the world of the game I had so much fun and that sense of wonder and experiences was priceless. I have respect for you brother and thank you for your encouragement 🥹

I'm like lv 47 or something... I've only done one of the initial capital missions to gain support😂. I've legit liberated the Lil town and help them escape South, killed dragons, gone to desert, saved the eleven tree, etc... I know the captain wondering wtf am I up to lol. Do i get tired of goblins, sure. But i love the progression of my playstyle to how i handle the light work. Especially the fearlessness of not caring if it's dark, compared to when i first started. The roleplay aspect of being an Archer, then Magik Archer, and now Sorcerer (to be a better MA) has been fun as well. Maybe in a week or so I'll get back to the Cap

People look up a weapon/armor guide. Literally straight line to OP gear first thing. Then complain about exploration not being rewarding 😂. This game is awesome. Combat is hella varied and fun. World is enormous with treasure hidden everywhere. Exploration is fun.

it's hard to even enjoy exploring when it's been so incredibly unrewarding. all the best gear is in shops anyway

That's right. I'm not having fun. I'm borderline concerningly obsessed with how much I'm enjoying it. I'm already on my 4th playthrough, and I can't stop. When I'm not playing the game, I'm thinking about it. I need help.

I’m a narrative/character-focused gamer. 30 hours in and nothing is gripping me. Even the combat and exploration (and especially pawn banter) has gotten very very repetitive for me. So I’m jumping back into a third BG3 playthrough and am already having way more fun. Depends on what you’re looking for.

I thought my 2,000 hours exploring every corner of Red Dead Redemption 2 before even touching Chapter 3 was excessive. And here I am with 200 hours in Baldur's Gate 3, still happily pickpocketing every NPC I see. Looks like it's a chronic case for us! Don't get me wrong, I love a good story, but sometimes I gotta make my own fun first.

So im curious on your thought on pawns because i have a whole 30 clip of me getting mauled to death while ny mages kept spamming heal😭

I played tons of DD2 and had a really great time. Saying that I'm also getting kind of bored right now because of the difficulty. Once challenging and interesting fights turned into pointless routine. I really hope Capcom will make some improvements to the difficulty and other weaker aspects of the game because I definitelly want do another playthrought at some point.

There are many questionable things about this game and I managed to overlook every single one of them except one: The difficulty, the fact that every single enemy out there except to a certain extent the drakes are so easy, cuts a great deal from immersion because as amazing as all this intertwining of various systems is, ultimately it comes down to "what you gonna do with it?". The game is pretty good, but the lack of challenge is similar with farming achievements in WoW in legacy expansions, you are just steaming through the content, unchallenged by enemies, and the greatest challenge you gonna have is figuring out where you are on the map and how you can reach to your destination. Your points are valid up to the difficulty part. That is something you cannot overlook unless you actually enjoy farming WoW legacy achievements or RIFT artefacts or any other side content the games came out with. And I am in no way someone that likes very hard games that much. In fact I prefer the easy way. I had much more challenge in Easy mode Hogwarts Legacy which is heavily focused on the lore, than I have in DD2, a game that like you said, does not primarily focuses on the story but exploration and side activities. They said that the difficulty will auto adjust based on your performance, but that is not true. Even the new game plus does not have at very least a most minor increase in difficulty. The game seems very rushed out the gate, to the point the devs seem to have only had the time to adjust it for easy mode, leave it a lot of room for slack and potential balancing problems to pass unnoticeable. This cannot be intentional design, it's just incomplete. When you don't have time to do proper balancing, you have two options really: ship the game with its difficulty in extremes, either too hard and give it an eye-frames/cheat death mechanic and call it souls-like and leave it for the player to figure out a pattern when to use the eye-frame to resolve the awkward imbalance, or make it very easy so potential combat design flaws pass unnoticeable. Since this game is not created with such mechanic in mind, they only had the easy exit out of the situation.

This isn't something that only happens in DD2; it's that notion where games exist only for players to win and be strong, to the point that there's no more space for adventure and really degenerates into something that's all about winning and not about *playing* anymore. In real life that would be the equivalent of being successful at life but never really getting to live it. Trying to win all and be the best at anything and everything in games is a recipe for existential failure and nihilistic disappointment at the end of it all no matter what the outcome is.

I tried to take a cart to check point rest town. It was attacked by a 3 star Ogre (or what ever those bigfoot looking things are) it destroyed the cart killed the ox as I was trying to fight it a second one appeared. I then did my best Monty Python impression and "RUN A WAY". Not to mention trying to get some where and the path was blocked by by a freaking 4 or 5 star Dragon. Not knowing what is going to happen or what you'll run into makes it fun for me even though I can never find a campsite when needed. lol

Can you miss side quests from spending too much time exploring if you havent activated them yet? Because i played it on pc first and focused on the missions and side quests. When i played it on ps5, i went exploring way more and most of the side content didn't trigger for me

What I like about open world games like this, is to immerse myself in the world. See the sights, talk with NPCs, explore the world, clear the roads of monsters etc. I sometimes like to see playthroughs as well, to see how different other people's experiences are with different vocations and different choices. But a lot of people use their KZfaq handle or something instead of making an attempt to call their characters something that would fit the world, which usually annoys me enough to turn off the video.

It's because we are comparing it to Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen.

So glad you put the way to enjoy this game into perspective. I'm a Skyrim to DD world convertee and this perfectly describes my experience. I'm 200+ hours in and still haven't gotten through the first questlines from Brant.

Spot on video. I'm having a lot of fun just exploring and playing this game - unlocking random side quests and wandering. The only thing I would say about the vocations is that some of the vocations didn't make any sense to me or didn't feel particularly fun until I tried certain skills or even a skill combinations e.g. Thief smoke-bomb is fun to make all enemies backstabs using the heavy attack or the combo of tarring and explosive arrows with the archer. Anyway, as long as you're having a blast that's all that matters.

I really appreciate your approach to your content. It’s genuine and helpful. I started watching your stuff for BG3. I continue to watch your videos because you’re so entertaining.😎👍

This is a fantastic video describing why i absolutely love this game. I do like Elden Ring, a lot actually. But i have restarted a career a few times now and always play it to where it gets to hard and i fall into researching the best min max to get on with it. The fact that you can change your class and the more casual approach is what DD2 does it for me. Plus the charging pawn system is so much fun. It's a fun game that makes you feel good.

I make a habit of never watching guide videos before I've put some solid time into games like this. An example of why: when my main pawn died, I was heartbroken. I'd spent hours exploring the countryside with her, she'd had my back fighting hordes of enemies, I'd chuckled at her weird sense of humour. It wasn't until one of my other pawns mentioned that I could resurrect her at a riftstone that I actually realised this was possible. I didn't learn that from watching a KZfaq guide, I'd learned it organically by simply playing the game. (Side note, I beat a path straight to the nearest riftstone to get my nimble little archer back by my side)

Totally enjoying just exploring the world. I walk down roads looking for paths that wander off, caves or even bridges overhead that don't have an easy way to access. I head towards a destination, then let myself get distracted by something off to the side. No rhyme or reason, just wandering.

Thank you for the refreshingly sensible video. This is how I always play these sort of open world-type games: as sandboxes. I don't think I've ever actually completed a main story line beyond the first few quests which simply get you into the game to begin with, and I'm having a blast. It's your game. You paid for it and there's no "law" that says you have to play it in some set-piece, linear fashion. I really don't get some peoples' need to feel competitive with another person's single player experience.

It's a bit quicker to "skip the story" for NG+ when you have a stock of ferrystones. Skipping ahead in the normal game is fine, but you are seriously limited on Portcrystals and Stones if you do this and there are 1-3 weapons locked behind quests that are really good to have. So there are a few "mandatory" quests if you want to do certain builds not for min-max as much as just specific purpose/utility reasons. Like freezing enemies etc..

After I maxed Mystic Spearhand, I had the feeling that I “HAVE” to max all other vocations. That really burned me out and the game got really boring coz I don’t like other vocations. So now, I’m just exploring and ignore other vocations. Now the game is fun again 😊

my first playthrough was 97 hours of the greatest fun i had since my first playthrough of elden ring when it came out.

My experience with DD2 has been eerily similar to my experience with DD1: initially, I was having a blast. I was fully immersed. The night was dark and full of terrors. The combat system was so deep and rewarding but also flexible, with room for self-expression. Then the level gap between me and the enemies widened so much that chimeras turned into angry kittens. Dragons felt as dangerous as my neighbor's pet iguana. And that's when I realized that what I truly wanted was for Fromsoft to poach some Capcom devs, specifically the ones who keep designing amazing combat systems 😛 I haven't played DD2 in days, because around Lv65 running around the map to do silly fetch quests no longer feels like an adventure. It feels more like an Ubisoft collectathon without the fast travel. The night _must_ be dark _and_ full of terrors. It needs to be respected and I need motivation to use OP skills instead of spamming light attack. Horizon Zero Dawn / Forbidden West have the same problem, if you don't play at the highest difficulty: you've got a deep combat system with elemental weaknesses and debuffs and enemy weakpoints and resources and parts that can be attacked with the proper element for massive damage but then the resource is destroyed, etc., _but_ lower difficulties give you zero incentive to care about any of that. There's even an easy loot option, where the enemies have an X% chance to drop a part, even if you used explosives to turn it into fine powder. It's sad.

With the way I play video games, DD2's saving method is no problem for me. Just before I log off I always go to an Inn, or my home, or a comfy spot, save and leave the character there, ready to play from that spot when I come back. I do that with a lot of games that you don't need to do that, it's just an immersive way to play. Although it would've been nice to have the same saving method that Skyrim used. A literal pause of the moment you're in, and can do it at any time, even combat.. All games need save methods like that.

Performance has gotten better because of player based solutions including modding in proper DLSS. Game is enjoyable, but if client side does not get fixed we will have endless agitation from disappointed purchasers, aka crashing should not have to be fixed by the buyer.

The exploration in DD2 is awesome, the whole map feels as good as Elden Ring so far. The different vocations keep game-play fresh... I think there are a bit too many items around, but they do try to combat this with enabling your pawns to craft on their own. Those sort of systems could be dialed in more but they keep the game interesting.

I agree with the take that we should just play to explore. My issue with that though is the inventory and weight system is such a pain, I actively find myself not looting things just so I don't have to manage them later. My pawns say there's a cave nearby and I'm already teetering on Heavy load so I lose my motivation to go explore it.

I only wish NG+ was harder-and I didn’t have to create my own difficulty by playing without pawns or mages for their support…

My only gripe about the game so far is the lack of sticks and rocks lying around to distract my pawns from the valuable loot in the game like in DD1

Despite its flaws this is one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. I almost passed on it because of the hysteria but I found it to be completely overblown once I was 5 hours in and things started to click. I’ve never played a game where there was so much tension during exploration and I love how fast travel actually involves planning and strategy. Truly a flawed masterpiece in my opinion.

Hey Sparty, can you run a poll on what level people are? I'm level 70 and still having a blast

Yooo love the Mythica shoutout love those schlocky masterpieces, i played dd2 by avoiding the story all together i think i ended up with like 65 hours and i hadnt done all the first vern main story missions, combat and the exploration of the world carried the game so hard for me and for all its flaws ( and it has quite a few ) its a fun as fuck game, great work as always Sparty.

This! This video summed it up so well. 99% of the fun of this game for me is just having my own fun, using the gear I think makes me look like a cool traveler and imagining mini stories in my head. The game instills a feeling of adventure in me that’s unlike anything I’ve really played, and I think that’s where most of the appeal (for me personally) is

I started ranking up all the vocations for the augments, but it was actually really fun trying out the different vocations.

Can you unlock Mystic spearhead without touching the story? Or the fighter maister skill?

What I like about Skyrim and BG3 is that there are choices and the choices affect the story. I haven’t really seen that in DD2. Someone got exiled and I change the power dynamic in the village but nothing happened. I’m still enjoying DD2 but I’d still go back to play Skyrim but don’t see myself coming back to DD2 after I finish. Maybe I’m not that deep into the story and this opinion may change but that’s how I feel as of now.

I only recently got access to the brothel after looking it up. You have to do a few main story missions to get there. Up until I needed the brothel, I was content to let the Evil Dragon wait and the False Arisen keep my throne warm. I do hope there isn't a lot locked behind more main story missions.

Dude, I have played Shyrim since Xbox 360 days and still have not done the story. My wife "finished" the story in no time. I looked at the screen and saw Whiterun all jacked up and asked her what she did. So apparently there is a war? I still haven't picked Stormcloak or Imperial yet. That is how I am enjoying DD2. Love it!

I haven't finished the game yet I'm still exploring them up and I'm like around 200 plus hours in. The reason why I still keep playing the games because of the fact that the Encounters in game are kind of crazy sometimes you encounter Bandits and goblins together attacking you at the same time or like you're fighting a cyclops and then Griffin comes out of nowhere and then joins in on the fight. I'm having a good time playing the game.

I never got far in skyrim despite owning the xbox version, the ps version, the pc version and all the remasters hahaha

Due to work I cannot give it the time I want to give it. I play 2 to 3 hour sessions. Love the game but I have 1 or 2 major gripes with it. DD1 let you set 3 defensive and 3 offensive skills which created a nice pallette of skills to play with. DD2 let's you set 4 skills only. This feels like a big setback. Not only in power but mostly in playing with enemies. It feels very limiting in buildfun. Also the bestiary is not very varied. Beyond that the game is fun to walk around in and just explore around. Just wish I had more time to play and truly enjoy it 😢😅

I was having fun, but then I got to near end game and next to no gold to purchase the better items, I know you can farm fruit and sell it, but that’s not why I bought the game. I don’t want to waste hours of my free time picking and buying fruit ,like some farming simulator. Things cost way to much and our rewards are way to low.

Excellent video buddy! U hit the nail on the head with everything u said! I love an open world game as well where I can go off piste and just explore and find cool caves etc 😊

I appreciate this video a lot. At the launch of diablo 4 i enjoyed figuring it out as i went, changing my build with different gear pieces etc and a friend just followed a guide on exactly what to do and was confused about why he wasnt enjoying it. Roleplaying and being in the world is so much more important than trying to play it perfectly.

Over 100 hours. Still in the unmoored world. I'm still having a great time. As an OG Dragon's Dogma fan, this game has made me so happy despite the glaring flaws.

Mod scene for DD2 looks promising, I've been enjoying the game but the dialogue gets stale fast. Hope that is on the list of things to fix, but eh performance is the main thing they have to focus on and that's sad to see, if the game did not launch with Denuvo there would be far fewer issues, the fact they blame Npcs that have limited dialogue is alarming to me. xD It feels like someone at CC just really hated the IP and did their best to make it a lesser experience.

I never play RPG games like this. My first playthrough has been mainly close combat until the wayfarer. After a little experimenting, my next playthrough will be mage/sorcerer. I will have a mage main pawn and 2 thieves. It's going to be a whole new combat playthrough and as you said, the combat is what this games about. Plus exploration....which I know I missed and locked myself out of a few things. Right night I'm still in the underworld. I killed all beacons to allow me to completely explore what is has to offer. I have only rested 1 time. I came in at level 60, 300 thousand in gold and farmed 200 wyrm crystals before going in. So I bought and upgraded everything I could for me and my pawn. I'm still farming the underworld because resources are very plentiful here. That way my mage/sorcerer will have the very best gear off rip next playthrough. I'm having a blast man. Nowhere near moving on yet. Worth every penny in my opinion.

I have like 200 hours and I’m level 80. It’s been great so far, if you’re just killing enemies and running around for hours, it’s no fun. Do some of the quests, find seekers tokens, or just do what I do and farm enemies for materials to max out my equipments. 200 hours and I’ve only beaten the game once and haven’t even seen the unmoored world yet. There’s so much to do. The actual main quest is kind of boring and short, but there are many other side missions with various outcomes.

i forgot about skrim lol and you said, the game is an experience and figuring out how you wanna do it

I really enjoyed this video. I think you are bang on when you say you don’t have to minmax. I typically minmax for a first run of a game but then it’s really fun playing with other weapons. For example, Elden Ring has tons of really fun weapons that may not be the best in slot but just are super enjoyable to play with. I found the same with Borderlands 3. Keeps things fresh.

My first play through, I did just the story and breezed through. My second play through I’m just exploring and occasionally doing the quest and it’s way more fun like that

I've said this on another channel, but this is truly how I play DD2: “It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” I'm 136 hours into DD2 on my first playthrough and am just now getting ready to head to the end game content. Strangely enough, I've probably completed very few quests compared to the time played. The Sphinx for example: I couldn't complete on the questions that many have failed on so I'll do it in NG+ I love the exploration, the pawns banter, the pawn quests. If they know where something is you haven't found, follow them. You'll discover other things along the way more times than not. I think we have all rushed too fast through game content and then when it's over, we sit around a bitch about how we don't have any good games to play.

You know what? I agree with you. I’ll explore more in my ng+ map. Not rush the game. But maaaaan, I wish theres eternal ferrystone in this game.

From my experience with the game, it's the journey that was most memorable. That and the pawns iv come across. I literally had He-man and another pawn named Chaos that I spent hours with and had so many memories made with them

I completely agree with everything you said... however as a new player (noob) to DD2 I did find the game a bit difficult in combat. I did stray to explore and wood bandits were a bit much to handle. I guess since there is not much tutorial in game to guide you build your persona in the world and set the stage on the how to's. ... other than that the game is great. I normally play games from the elder scrolls, conan exiles, and resident evil as an example. ... thank you.

"It's a sipping whiskey" is what I'm going to say about it. Most propper whiskeys, scotches and that sour mash stuff American's are crazy for are great to have a nice big mouthful of and you can get through a bottle or several with some friends in a night with a bit of ice or cold water to keep it chilled or you can just have it straight and it tastes lovely. Then there's the whiskeys and scotches that are made with just tons of peat and smokey flavours infused into them, lovely if your of a mind but you'll drink it by yourself have a glass or two and that will last you 4-5 hours as you read a book, let the slightest sip play out the robust flavours across your tongue and become infused with warmth. It's not that taking large gulps of the liquid is unpleasant, it's that the slow consumption gives and enhances the flavours present... All of which is a REALLY long-winded way of saying its a slow paced game that is pretty antithetical to most games. Rushing to get shit done will punish you and spoil your experience.

I played Dark Arisen for ten years and I will be playing DD2 for the next ten years. That's what this game is about.

I literally explored the entire map before even doing the masquerade ball

I picked the game up a little late, been playing for a couple weeks now. But I just got done with probably my 5th or 6th round of 5-6 hour jams on my first NG+ run, with no clue how much time my total playtime is, and I'm still finding new stuff to do. I did the main story on my first run and was surprised how short it was, so on my ng+ I went straight to the volcanic island right at game start because I was leveled and hadn't unlocked warfarer or magic archer. I haven't fought the medusa yet (even in my first playthrough), did the sphinx quest in its entirety for the first time because I fuxxed it up on my first run, just scratched the surface of Batthal exploration, and the volcanic island is still pretty much new territory. I'm no where near sick of this game. I just finished Vermund main quest a couple hours ago so I don't have to keep using ferrystones or the side routes into Batthal. Imo the gameplay loop is very satisfying. With how short the story is, and admittedly disjointed, the game is practically begging you to take a different approach, and when I did I found a lot of information about the main story is buried in side quests, and only after taking time to find that information did it start to feel more complete. Sorry this was long, I haven't been socializing since I picked the game up lol. Great video!

I think watching this made me realize I like story more than combat, and that's where this game falls short for me. The combat here is fun, if not a little easy, but the story makes a huge impact on me.

Yes, that's what I was also thinking about keeping in mind that this is a Capcom game. This game combat system reminds me of Monster Hunter and as a good fan of it I can really enjoy all the fights, for me the problem comes with the in-betweens, for example: I always have to keep in mind the weight and all the fruits or meats i have in inventory, or I end up running in circles because i'm trying to find out that person i have to speak to but the quest doesen't say where is it esactly (and i don't even want to start talking about the phoenix), i could go on but all what i'm trying to say is that this game has a very good combat system but good fights are really not frequent enough if you consider all the time you lose doing all the rest. also the interface of the game is very old style in my opinion, especially when it comes to the combat, there is so much going that you really struggle to understand if a certain ability is active or not or if youre actually holding on to the monster or just standing on it, but you're absolutely right, because of the hype and the company I was trying to like it so much but I don't have to, I'll try to enjoy the rest of my run and then i'll put it away and play something else, thank you for the video, it helped a lot 😁

I waited a couple weeks to get the game because people were bashing it so bad. Then I started seeing some good content on youtube and got it. I'm so happy I did. I'm having so much fun. Not a perfect game by any means but a lot of fun.

HAVE FUN! I love it man. Thanks for the video.

Going from a full team to just me and my pawn owning everything that crosses our path is fantastic . I used a cyclops as a bridge and completely turned a griffin into stone . I thought dragons dogma was amazing just letting me climb the monster but now I’m hooked. There’s no point in mid maxing a thief with feintless feint or w.e it’s called is basically unstoppable

I like the little detours and side-tracking in DD2, it's been the best and most rewarding way to play the game. Some of the encounters have been hilarious. Some of the better weapons I've found in cave chests also without spending gold

This game became MUCH better after downloading some mods for unlimited Ferrystones & Portcrystals. I still walk/run everywhere most of the time but there's times where it becomes way too excessive.

One of the coolest things that happened to me while playing this game was because there aren’t multiple save files, I played on two accounts. Then while playing on one of the accounts I ran into a pawn that looked familiar and then I realized that my pawn from my other profile was wandering around on this alternate profile so I hired it and had two pawns that I created traveling with me. Lol😂. II probably could have searched for my other pawn but how this happened was way cooler.

It's not a true sandbox. There's no consequences for theft, killing NPC's. You can't swim. You get tired after sprinting for 3 seconds.

Thanks for saying what I've been thinking. For me, I don't play video games for a story. I play for interaction. If I wanted story, I'd read a book or watch a movie. With DD2 I love the exploration and combat. Finding that next bit of gear, hidden area, etc.. I'm really enjoying the game and haven't touched much of the story.

800 hours in BG3. Am having a great time in DD2, just exploring. Getting myself into trouble, dying but still.... Reminds me of my time in Morrowind wandering around and dying lots.

I just love the combat in this game. One time i came across bandits attacking an oxcart. Then 2 armored cyclops showed up. Then a griffin landed. I let the cyclops smash everyone so i could concentrate on them. Get some cool gear, try the different classes, smash everything.

I have over 260 hours in it, and I'm sad that I no longer have a goal other than the seemingly unreachable level 200. I'm at level 102, maxed every vocation, did every quest, explored every location, did everything and I'm basically a god, but a god out of content. Now I wait a year or more for DLC and look for something else to fill the RPG void. Sad times. It was a great game.

“Why you aren’t having fun in Dragons Dogma 2…..cause you’re not a fun person”😂

Some of the most crazy part of dd2 is at night when you and your pawn are just exploring then your lamp turns off. You try to turn it on but it would not turn come on, youre left wondering if its oil or just bug then at the corner of the woods a ghost appears with its head in its hand glowing in the night approaching you then you realized that its very presence is cooling up the air and putting out your lantern SHIIIIIIT!!!

I listened to other youtubers about using fighters .they class them as weak but now i am enjoying the fighters becahse of cool they look doin the moves

I'm starting my new game plus playthrough with just me and my pawn and using old weapons with no Mage. Just for fun. Nice video man.

I’m having a great time. But, it needs to be harder. 3 classes are effectively immortal! That’s nuts.

Hated mage. Hated leveling Mage. Mage was terrible. Now that Mage is maxed in vocation and i've switched to non mage, i am absolutely having fun and enjoy exploring every nook and cranny.

Exactly how I've been playing this game, exactly my approach to these types of games. If I want a good story, I read a book. I play video games for FUN. I approach DD2 the same way I approached DDDA and Skyrim. For me it's about being effect while looking good and having fun. Fashion Dogma bby.

You don’t have to wait to be on a certain quest to get through the gate in the checkpoint rest down all you gotta do is just wait for one of those oxcart to go through and the gate will open and you have to run through really fast because the guards will attack you lol

I’m having Fun, I just feel like the first one was a lot smoother. It feels like I be having to force my character to move in certain places and when he running he wanna move like it’s assassin creed

Totally agree. What ticks me off are the people bashing the game over things that they personally don't like. Just accept that it's not for you, and play something else.

So spot on all the way around. This is the 1st video game in a very long time for me that I’m so addicted to that I have trouble putting it down. I also have just been having fun with the combat with different vocations without a feeling that I’m grinding also. I don’t always fight with the strongest skills or even how a vocation traditionally plays either. I keep changing up my play styles within each vocation to mess around & have fun. For example, I went from hanging back & being boring with my archer to jumping, sliding & kicking in combat both in the air & on the ground with really cool quick shots & focused quick shots in between as well as other skills. I even figured out how to slide into a deathly shot catching enemies off guard & not being stuck immobile with that skill. I also slide through smaller enemies, turn around for a quick shot to the chest & then follow up with a final kick to the face. Harpies are also more fun to kill when I quick shot them down, run up to them & then crush their skull under my boot before they can get back up. I just keep switching things up for style points I guess which is the real fun of this game.

Dang, I have over 90 hours in the game. Wandering around and exploring every path is what makes this game fun.

I'm glad someone made a video about this, it seems like people assume something different here, based on the look and then they're overwealmed or don't get what they've expected. It's not a Soulslike, it's not like Skyrim or Baldur's Gate, it's not a rpg foremost, it wears its skin. I would describe the first Dragon's Dogma as a small Devil May Cry in a big world and the second one as a sandbox action game. And yes, Capcom isn't the story company, one should know, they're the king of gameplay and I would expect memorable characters I like but rarely a great story. The closest to this might be DMC3 and that's not deep, here as well the great characters are carrying the narrative, it's literally character driven...

Well I'm having fun in DD2, but I am a sucker for any game design that distracts me with exploration. I lost over 2000 hours to Skyrim over the years cross all platforms. I have 1567 hours on Steam alone. So far I have 100+ hours in Dragon's Dogma 2.

Yea, I use mid game armor, and avoid grabbing pawns with maelstrom and the meteor spell. It makes it a bit too crazy.

Also, could you do a Champion of Tzeentch build in BG3?

I was having fun until I kept discovering that Capcom deleted hours worth of saves, killed off my village, and irreversibly forced me into endgame.

When it comes to open world adventure rpgs I like making my own story. I know I’m not alone. One of the most all-time popular mods for Skyrim is Alternate Start: Live Another Life. I think some people just have an obsessive fixation with bringing this game down. BoTW didn’t have a great story or enemy variety either. Elden Rings combat was not nearly as deep (one weapon skill).

I’m just having fun exploring and leveling up the different vocations. Each play differently.