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[Ivory Samoan]

Not since OG Skyrim in 2011, have I felt this type of wanderlust.

I'm happy just exploring for the first time in, well, 13 years it seems. Fuck, it's a good feeling.

45 hours in, done bugger all of the main questline, 1 of the 3 done at Vermund, not even in Battahll yet, but have popped in to not much applause.

I 100% back the lack of fast travel, shit I'm inundated with ferry stones but I still opt for walk or kart - my brain always takes the easy route in games, but when you take that choice away mostly...perfection: when the exploring and world is this good.

Gotta say the game looks phenom in 4K too, only having slight muck in the cities, but usually 120fps~
I know this isn't the experience for most on PC, which sucks. Got a 14700k though and 4090 so shit you would hope it would do ok.

 

[semiconscious]

As I said before I have mixed feelings with the game. It could have been much more than what it is, had it a better balance/difficulty, some big dungeons to explore and specially, more enemy variety. Because of all of this DD2 feels like another go at DD1 instead of an actual sequel. Wonder how they'll approach the DLC, it very well could fix all those issues...

i'm playing the digital version, &, other than the game icon in the ps5 menu, there's no mention of '2' in the game opening. it simply reads 'dragon's dogma'. so, yeah, I'm definitely seeing the game much more as a 're-imagining' of the original game rather than a sequel....

 

[Kacho]

there's no mention of '2' in the game opening. it simply reads 'dragon's dogma'. so, yeah, I'm definitely seeing the game much more as a 're-imagining' of the original game rather than a sequel....

Spoiler

 

[Agent_Nobody]

To expand on your tastes I was hoping you can answer a few questions:

• What were you expecting the game to be?
• What were you personally hoping this game would be?
• What other Capcom games have you played?
• Have you enjoyed games like soulslikes or old school games like Castlevania NES, Zelda NES, etc. where the gameplay takes precedent over story?
• Do you consider good gameplay as good of an investment as storytelling?
• If so, what makes this game a different case for you than the listed games above?

This post isn’t a gotcha attempt. I just want to know how an individual who was looking for well written story/characters happened to choose this game to play.

To be honest this game really did sort of drop the ball with the character building, especially compared to the first game. Just looking at Selene’s arc from the first game, it was simple but they gave an intriguing backstory and it was a character you could sympathize with concerning her problems, the same could be said of the other characters like Mercedes.

This game seems to just throw a major character in the main story to say maybe 3 lines, and then basically fuck off expecting the player track down someone they hardly know on their own to find out more, and even when you do it’s just dull. Hugo was probably the only decently written character and he’s pretty much a minor character relegated to a side-quest.

It’s fine to have little story, but when you specifically design the game around the player giving a shit about the characters, at least do a minimal effort at building those characters.

I love the game, but that’s probably the most eye-rolling part of it. It doesn’t ruin the game but it leaves you laughing where I’m pretty sure the devs were pulling for the exact opposite reaction.

 

[buenoblue]

I've heard 3 different people from 3 different gaming podcasts saying you can't save manually in this game and you have to go back to an inn???

The save is in the system menu you morons lol . Yeah I just save after every fight and if I die and it asks me if I want to use a wakestone I just close the game from the ps5 home menu then load back in . Takes like 30 seconds

 

[adamsapple]

I've heard 3 different people from 3 different gaming podcasts saying you can't save manually in this game and you have to go back to an inn???

The save is in the system menu you morons lol . Yeah I just save after every fight and if I die and it asks me if I want to use a wakestone I just close the game from the ps5 home menu then load back in . Takes like 30 seconds

How the fuck did I not see this yet, lol.

If I save in the middle of a field and quit the game, where does it load? On the nearest inn?

edit: At level 3, I decided to venture north instead of the story objective south and ran into a cyclops in the middle of the woods lol. 5 deaths later, it's probably not the right time to fight it.

 

[buenoblue]

It loads exactly where you saved. You just can't save in battle or if enemies are near.

 

[existensmaximum]

Is it just me or is the game extremely repetitive? Same enemies, same environments, same three colors, the same missions and the same lines from your pawns repeated over and over again. Yeah thanks, I know I can gather resources when there are resources around.

I have a hard time immersing myself since all NPCs suffer from amateurish facial animations and extremely ugly faces as well as shit voice acting. They're all so dull and lifeless? It's not a horrible game but so far everything just seems really mediocre. I was really expecting much better in 2024.

And.. Am I missing something or is the game really encouraging me to buy the fast travel stone thingies with real money by making them super rare to find?

 

[semiconscious]

Spoiler

right back atcha:

 

[Kacho]

right back atcha:

whoosh

Lmao

 

[Agent_Nobody]

right back atcha:

Spoiler

That was the screen before the post-game.

 

[Yerd]

I wonder if the whore outfit makes the pawn more susceptible to the dragonAIDS. I ended up reloading (other reasons) to a point she wasn't infected. Then shortly after she still got it.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

If I save in the middle of a field and quit the game, where does it load? On the nearest inn?

no, where you saved lol, only saving at an inn puts you at the inn.

I thought the dragon's illusion was only good for scaring off enemies so you can end the encounter, turns out it does a TON of stagger to large enemies, so much that griffins and ogres reach their stagger threshold every time lol:


Also really like all the wind effects here.

 

[LaughingStock]

90% of the pawns are pale white women with white hair.

 

[Kacho]

Spoiler

That was the screen before the post-game.

From a lore perspective I thought it was a nice touch.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

How the fuck did I not see this yet, lol.

If I save in the middle of a field and quit the game, where does it load? On the nearest inn?

edit: At level 3, I decided to venture north instead of the story objective south and ran into a cyclops in the middle of the woods lol. 5 deaths later, it's probably not the right time to fight it.

It’s the trick to get where you’re going on the oxcart; save before hopping on, if you want to go all the way and the cart gets destroyed just go back to the main menu without saving and reload the save hop back on and it will be different.

Conversely if you wanted off at a spot roughly halfway (like saving time going to Sacred Arbor) just reload till you get attacked.

 

[adamsapple]

What are the white exclamation marks that pop up on the mini-map for?

I'm right on top of one but there's nothing here (no chest etc)

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

What are the white exclamation marks that pop up on the mini-map for?

I'm right on top of one but there's nothing here (no chest etc)

a pawn pointed something out, could be just a ladder, lol listen to them.

 

[ssringo]

Regarding to save system just so it's clear.

The game autosaves fairly consistently. Manually saving from the system menu is just forcing an automatic save and can be done essentially anywhere out of combat.

Saving at an inn/your home is the actual manual save. It's also what updates your pawn on the server. If you load from your last inn save it deletes your autosave so don't select this unless you mean it. Some people have lost hours of progress because they didn't know or understand this.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

What are the white exclamation marks that pop up on the mini-map for?

I'm right on top of one but there's nothing here (no chest etc)

Random points of interest, while they can be important like a breakable wall, they can also be something useless like a random breakable rock. Most of them are the latter, and like the chests they show up on the mini map even though it’s gone/destroyed/looted. So don’t stress them too much.

It’s basically an extra possible hint if you’re stuck really.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

Regarding to save system just so it's clear.

The game autosaves fairly consistently. Manually saving from the system menu is just forcing an automatic save and can be done essentially anywhere out of combat.

Saving at an inn/your home is the actual manual save. It's also what updates your pawn on the server. If you load from your last inn save it deletes your autosave so don't select this unless you mean it. Some people have lost hours of progress because they didn't know or understand this.

And to further that:

Camping doesn’t count as an inn/home save just a regular one, so save your tents and have at least 2, because you can’t save scum it like the oxcart attacks unless you want to go back to the inn save.

Although you could actually make it so you save time with a inn save if you’re doing the oxcart halfway point save scum and want to sleep to morning on the nearest campsite (but could waste your time too).

 

[FoxMcChief]

90% of the pawns are pale white women with white hair.

Looks at my pawn. You right. I made mine to look like Scarlet Johansson though. Followed a quick sliders guide.

 

[LaughingStock]

I don't want to sound racist but I regret making my arisen a beastren. I wish I could change it now. Beastren are boring.

 

[March Climber]

To be honest this game really did sort of drop the ball with the character building, especially compared to the first game. Just looking at Selene’s arc from the first game, it was simple but they gave an intriguing backstory and it was a character you could sympathize with concerning her problems, the same could be said of the other characters like Mercedes.

This game seems to just throw a major character in the main story to say maybe 3 lines, and then basically fuck off expecting the player track down someone they hardly know on their own to find out more, and even when you do it’s just dull. Hugo was probably the only decently written character and he’s pretty much a minor character relegated to a side-quest.

It’s fine to have little story, but when you specifically design the game around the player giving a shit about the characters, at least do a minimal effort at building those characters.

I love the game, but that’s probably the most eye-rolling part of it. It doesn’t ruin the game but it leaves you laughing where I’m pretty sure the devs were pulling for the exact opposite reaction.

I guess I and others have had the opposite reaction with DD1 in that case. I remember it being marked down for not being as narratively involved as it’s peers(like Skyrim or Dragon Age for example).

When I played DD1 a couple years ago I remember the intro cutscenes up until the main eastern city, and then hours upon hours of sidequests, traveling, and combat to the point where I had almost forgot the game had a little story in it.

The main draw for DD1 for most was always it’s gameplay features and uniqueness to mechanics like the pawns(group system), light/darkness and verticality/climbing.

In that case I expected this sequel to build upon those aspects and it did that while adding interactivity and randomness to encounters. I never expected this sequel to be a narrative jewel.

As a matter of fact, I’d say that most(keyword most, not all) Capcom games are more lore-based than story bassed affairs. Their storytelling is usually a straightforward affair of ‘this is the bad guy you will have to face at the end’ and they do a good job of making that bad guy look cool. The reason most of us here might be bigger fans of their stories is because we played their games enough to get interested in the lore.

For example like what happened to Cody in Final Fight(most of it was told through text, booklets, and background info), or Mega man 1-9 lore(also mostly booklet/background), and the deeper Resident Evil lore(mostly documents, movies, and side games).

Due to that, on the scale of storytelling to non-storytelling, aside from a few outliers, I always put most of Capcom’s library on the side of somewhere between FromSoft and Namco, rather than the story heavy types like Square Enix or Kojipro.

 

[Yerd]

90% of the pawns are pale white women with white hair.

I noticed this a few days back. I'm doing my part for diversity and have been looking for non creamy white women. I try to have at least one man besides myself in the group. My own pawn is blue eyes, dark haired lady. My kryptonite. Widely regarded as crazy bitches, all.

My original creation was trying to make a likeness of Phoebe Tonkin. Someone I just became aware of from that Boy Swallows Universe show on Netflix. She's like a younger prettier Natascha McElhone, who I'm infatuated with. I don't have the patience with the creator to get it right.

What are the white exclamation marks that pop up on the mini-map for?

I'm right on top of one but there's nothing here (no chest etc)

You will learn, the more you travel what specifically they remark about.

They point out ladders, crates, papers to read, walls to break, rocks to push and seeker tokens. Those are all exclamation points, and have a different dialogue specific to each one. They will also physically point to riftstones, camp sites, and caves. If you hit up, or Go, as they are pointing or talking about it they will lead you to those. I have mixed luck with that one. I hit up for them to lead me there and nothing registers. But, if they are pointing just take in that direction and can find it yourself. Them pointing is one of my favorite new things.

Edit: just FYI the seeker tokens are "aught to find in the area." That will put up an exclamation point and they are hidden pretty well, or in hard to reach places. They won't do more than put that mark on the map. Also they will say something like "aught catches the light" or "did anyone see that?"

 

[Pancakes and Sausage]

Slept at an inn and a strange cut scene appeared. My pawn had red glowing eyes and kind of looked like Dracula.

Apparently my pawn decided to murder the entire city including shop keepers.

Well this fucking sucks! I did use 3 wake stones to revive some important people but damn what a shitty game mechanic.

I’ve started throwing my pawn into the water every night.

 

[Topher]

Slept at an inn and a strange cut scene appeared. My pawn had red glowing eyes and kind of looked like Dracula.

Apparently my pawn decided to murder the entire city including shop keepers.

Well this fucking sucks! I did use 3 wake stones to revive some important people but damn what a shitty game mechanic.

I’ve started throwing my pawn into the water every night.

Dragonsplague strikes again

 

[tmlDan]

a pawn pointed something out, could be just a ladder, lol listen to them.

honestly, its generally really stupid and useless info and new pawns repeat the same dialogue of the ladder another pawn already marked yet chests they point out or points of interests they say they can guide me to don't get marked on the map? they just point? it's pretty lame

 

[Yerd]

Slept at an inn and a strange cut scene appeared. My pawn had red glowing eyes and kind of looked like Dracula.

Apparently my pawn decided to murder the entire city including shop keepers.

Well this fucking sucks! I did use 3 wake stones to revive some important people but damn what a shitty game mechanic.

I’ve started throwing my pawn into the water every night.

You have to periodically do the witch test.

I have taken to watching the eyes of all my pawns. I'm not sure if the other pawns get it when in your group. I have taken to not hiring pawns that have hidden eyes. I can't be sure.

 

[Topher]

I don't want to sound racist but I regret making my arisen a beastren. I wish I could change it now. Beastren are boring.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

yet chests they point out or points of interests they say they can guide me to don't get marked on the map? they just point? it's pretty lame

press go and they will guide you to it.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

90% of the pawns are pale white women with white hair.

Looks at my pawn. You right. I made mine to look like Scarlet Johansson though. Followed a quick sliders guide.

Yeah, the other thing too is they’re almost all mages or sorcerers; half of those with either overlapping spells equipped or basic equipment, some with only 2 or 3 augments, and it’s later levels.

I’ve seen multiple mage pawns with 3 even 4 weapon enchantments for their spell slots…the pawn AI doesn’t enchant that regularly and can only imbue the weapons for one target, so unless the pawn is trained to do it constantly it just doesn’t work. I have played with pawns that are basically trained to imbue basically non-stop with two and it works, but most can’t…almost sure at this point the pawns have to see it in proper use themselves to deploy it in the proper situations.

 

[Yerd]

I don't know what I did wrong, but I apparently can't do the mage master quest. I found who I'm certain must be mage master and nothing happens. I only just recently found the warrior master when I went searching for tokens in the start area. I haven't received a scroll yet, but I'm hoping when I revisit him he gives me something.

I'm going to put that off for NG+ I guess. I don't actually hate playing mage. I usually play healer and wizard types in co-op games anyway.

Yeah, the other thing too is they’re almost all mages or sorcerers; half of those with either overlapping spells equipped or basic equipment, some with only 2 or 3 augments, and it’s later levels.

I’ve seen multiple mage pawns with 3 even 4 weapon enchantments for their spell slots…the pawn AI doesn’t enchant that regularly and can only imbue the weapons for one target, so unless the pawn is trained to do it constantly it just doesn’t work. I have played with pawns that are basically trained to imbue basically non-stop with two and it works, but most can’t…almost sure at this point the pawns have to see it in proper use themselves to deploy it in the proper situations.

So, this is something I saw someone else bring up. I guess I need to train my pawn tactics? I hear other pawns remarking about, I will have to teach my master this tactic. I'm not sure what he's even talking about at the time.

My last jaunt with a couple pawns, me as mage, took forever to kill a couple big monsters. I feel like they were not trained properly.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Thinking about gifting cool items but they are actually counterfeits.

 

[adamsapple]

So are y'all ditching pawns as soon as you raise a single level above them?

Taking an ox-cart, gets stopped at night with skeletons and a cyclops. Fun.

 

[gunslikewhoa]

How the fuck did I not see this yet, lol.

If I save in the middle of a field and quit the game, where does it load? On the nearest inn?

edit: At level 3, I decided to venture north instead of the story objective south and ran into a cyclops in the middle of the woods lol. 5 deaths later, it's probably not the right time to fight it.

You'll have the choice of loading from your last save (including autosave) or your last rest at an inn.

 

[gunslikewhoa]

Thinking about gifting cool items but they are actually counterfeits.

Fake portcrystals and/or ferrystones have the potential to be pretty nasty.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

I guess I and others have had the opposite reaction with DD1 in that case. I remember it being marked down for not being as narratively involved as it’s peers(like Skyrim or Dragon Age for example).

When I played DD1 a couple years ago I remember the intro cutscenes up until the main eastern city, and then hours upon hours of sidequests, traveling, and combat to the point where I had almost forgot the game had a little story in it.

The main draw for DD1 for most was always it’s gameplay features and uniqueness to mechanics like the pawns(group system), light/darkness and verticality/climbing.

In that case I expected this sequel to build upon those aspects and it did that while adding interactivity and randomness to encounters. I never expected this sequel to be a narrative jewel.

As a matter of fact, I’d say that most(keyword most, not all) Capcom games are more lore-based than story bassed affairs. Their storytelling is usually a straightforward affair of ‘this is the bad guy you will have to face at the end’ and they do a good job of making that bad guy look cool. The reason most of us here might be bigger fans of their stories is because we played their games enough to get interested in the lore.

For example like what happened to Cody in Final Fight(most of it was told through text, booklets, and background info), or Mega man 1-9 lore(also mostly booklet/background), and the deeper Resident Evil lore(mostly documents, movies, and side games).

Due to that, on the scale of storytelling to non-storytelling, aside from a few outliers, I always put most of Capcom’s library on the side of somewhere between FromSoft and Namco, rather than the story heavy types like Square Enix or Kojipro.

That’s precisely why I said it didn’t ruin the game...for the most part it’s about killing monsters almost non-stop, getting bum rushed and sent off your heels once in a while is pretty much the best part.

But it still lacks compared to the first game in terms of having characters that you could be invested in even in a minor way, the ’beloved system’ (even quest system TBH) in this game is similar in a lot of ways to the Fable games….yet a random villager in Fable probably had more character with almost 1/10th of the dialogue.

I don't know what I did wrong, but I apparently can't do the mage master quest. I found who I'm certain must be mage master and nothing happens. I only just recently found the warrior master when I went searching for tokens in the start area. I haven't received a scroll yet, but I'm hoping when I revisit him he gives me something.

I'm going to put that off for NG+ I guess. I don't actually hate playing mage. I usually play healer and wizard types in co-op games anyway.


So, this is something I saw someone else bring up. I guess I need to train my pawn tactics? I hear other pawns remarking about, I will have to teach my master this tactic. I'm not sure what he's even talking about at the time.

My last jaunt with a couple pawns, me as mage, took forever to kill a couple big monsters. I feel like they were not trained properly.

I’ve been keeping my pawn as my class (theif) and have kept them with identical skills and they mirror my opening’s; yank them off balance or down with the ‘implicate’ then tackle or or jump stab holding Y/triangle. Even using it to yank Rattlers so their weak belly is facing up.

They follow all that to a T.

Yet I give them the ‘Formless Feint‘ skill without using it myself and they barely touch it.

 

[DavidGzz]

I am so tired of infiltrating the same castle a billion times.

I just sped run all of that with the guard armor on, you don't have to worry about stealth. But yes, they are the worst part of the game either way.

 

[Kacho]

So are y'all ditching pawns as soon as you raise a single level above them?

Totally normal. I like throwing useless pawns off cliffs and into water.

 

[TintoConCasera]

So are y'all ditching pawns as soon as you raise a single level above them?

Used to in the first game, but in DD2 it's easier to grow attached to them thanks to the improved banter, so I keep them around until I'm like 5 or 10 levels above.

They even comment on this, saying things like "I can feel our bonds have grown deeper" and stuff like that.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

So are y'all ditching pawns as soon as you raise a single level above them?

Taking an ox-cart, gets stopped at night with skeletons and a cyclops. Fun.

I’m ditching my pawns as soon as I finish their 10000 gold quest

And mines set at 10000 too to kill an ogre (already passed the cyclops badge) and since my pawn looks exactly like Chloe Grace Moretz (my own creation) and is in full maxed out dragon forged (with the low weight = big damage ring) I be Pimpin’ it:

And that’s on xbox with no friends playing (ok one but pretty sure they quit) Although it’s starting to feel like the start to the movie the Equalizer with some of the returning pawn reports lol.

’They changed my clothing regularly‘, and ‘We visited the hot-springs nearly every day’ I expect that…. but then I get the ‘I suffered greatly at the hands of the Arisen’…like what the fuck did you do to my pawn?

 

[Yerd]

I'm about to tackle this medusa with myself as rank 1 fighter. I think it will be easy.

 

[Yerd]

I’m ditching my pawns as soon as I finish their 10000 gold quest

And mines set at 10000 too to kill an ogre (already passed the cyclops badge) and since my pawn looks like Chloe Grace Moretz (my own creation) and is in full maxed out dragon forged (with the low weight = damage ring) I be Pimpin’ it:

Although it feels like the start to the movie the Equalizer with some of the returning pawn reports lol.

’They changed my clothing regularly‘, and ‘We visited the hot-springs nearly every day’ I expect. but then I get the ‘I suffered greatly at the hands of the Arisen’…like what the fuck did you do to my pawn?

Since changing into the whore outfit, I just stayed at an inn and had a full page of gifts. I would usually have 2-5 people using it. People are easy to please.
How do you set the "quest guide" to yes?

 

[March Climber]

That’s precisely why I said it didn’t ruin the game...for the most part it’s about killing monsters almost non-stop, getting bum rushed and sent off your heels once in a while is pretty much the best part.

But it still lacks compared to the first game in terms of having characters that you could be invested in even in a minor way, the ’beloved system’ (even quest system TBH) in this game is similar in a lot of ways to the Fable games….yet a random villager in Fable probably had more character with almost 1/10th of the dialogue.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I agree with you regarding everything on DD1, except for the story and characters. Except for a few of them with a single catchphrase, I found most of them expendable and forgettable, but it didn’t matter because the gameplay did the heavy carrying. It retained that Capcom flair that I enjoy so much.

I guess I would feel more empathetic about the story/characters being lackluster if this were a different series.

On a side note, I think that companies that are amazing at narratives should help companies who are great at action, much like how Platinum games helps out other companies with combat systems. For example I think people would love the idea of the Nier writers helping out the likes of companies like Capcom with more thought-provoking storytelling.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

Since changing into the whore outfit, I just stayed at an inn and had a full page of gifts. I would usually have 2-5 people using it. People are easy to please.
How do you set the "quest guide" to yes?

Whore your pawn out enough that they learn enough from the ‘tricks/johns’ that they end up knowing more than you do on quests because they whored around, then the quest guide on your pawn will automatically set itself to ‘yes’

 

[Kacho]

I’m ditching my pawns as soon as I finish their 10000 gold quest

Same lol. If there isn’t some money to earn its off to the drink with them.

 

[Agent_Nobody]

Same lol. If there isn’t some money to earn its off to the drink with them.

Just watch for pulsing red eyes

 

[Kacho]

Just watch for pulsing red eyes

Have yet to see it, but I did get the pop up. I’m colorblind so it might be impossible for me to tell.

 

[adamsapple]

I’m ditching my pawns as soon as I finish their 10000 gold quest

And mines set at 10000 too to kill an ogre (already passed the cyclops badge) and since my pawn looks like Chloe Grace Moretz (my own creation) and is in full maxed out dragon forged (with the low weight = damage ring) I be Pimpin’ it:

Although it feels like the start to the movie the Equalizer with some of the returning pawn reports lol.

’They changed my clothing regularly‘, and ‘We visited the hot-springs nearly every day’ I expect. but then I get the ‘I suffered greatly at the hands of the Arisen’…like what the fuck did you do to my pawn?

P you know what, that's a smart idea, but so far all the pawns I've seen mostly just get out a shard when you complete the request, I guess I'll filter out some more and get the ones which offer cold hard Cash instead.

There's no negative to just drowning them?