Hey peeps, some clarifications/corrections: 1) My description of vocations and whether pawns could have them was messy. I conflated advanced and hybrid vocations at one point too: advanced includes Sorcerer, Warrior, and Ranger whereas hybrid is Magick Archer, Mystic Knight, and Assassin. Pawns can be sorcerers, but what I mean to say was they couldn't be Assassins, which is a hybrid vocation, which pawns are not allowed to be, although they can be advanced vocations. 2) Apparently the physical size of your Arisen and Pawn does not affect direct damage. I couldn't confirm or deny, that's just what I read in an article. So there you go! 3) Grigori didn't randomly choose you as the Arisen. What I meant was that anyone of you on the beach could've become the Arisen, but even that doesn't account for WHY, as you were picked because of your will to defy him, which not everybody there had. So it's not an arbitrary or agnostic thing that Grigori resurrects you and sends you on this journey, but my word choice (despite not quite remembering the specifics so I still would've been imprecise) was to imply that this was a hero's journey in general, a more Nietzschean/Jungian type of archetype that abstracts the dragonslayer archetype into something more primal, more legendary that we should take into account for each of us in our personal journeys. 4) At two points I say 2017's Dark Arisen. Of course OG Dark Arisen came out in 2013. 2017 was the Xbox One version' date I had seen somewhere while writing and gotten that stuck in my head. Whoops! It's funny how much you forget from your youth and have to remind yourself of XD
unfortunately dragon's dogma 2 while being very good combat and open world wise, has nowhere near a story as a bit cringe and both funny as the one. I loved DD1's story very much while DD2's story is taking itself too seriously while being very bland.
You go to the moon in FFIV (II in the West) as well. Let’s not forget the lunar battle in Yoshi’s Island either or that one side mission in Mass Effect
@@proggz39tbf, FFIV and Yoshi's Island are WAY before Wolfenstein New Order, and even Mass Effect is quite a while before then lol. Anyway I only brought up Endwalker because its whole thing was the fact we were going to the moon, and everyone went crazy about it haha
If I recall correctly, the reason you're allowed to serve the king after being let out of jail by his wife is because he literally doesn't remember. He wasn't just beating his wife because he saw her with you and got jealous, he was in a guilt fueled trance. He was calling her by another womans names, the beloved he sacrificed to Grigori when he was the current Arisen. So every now and then he just gets magic immortal Alzheimers.
Dragon's Dogma really captures the essence of Dungeons and Dragons (Or, more probably, Sword World 1.0) better than games with the official license. It just has that gritty old school fantasy vibe. It isn't trying to be anachronistic (At least in terms of the writing and cultural presentation) or have science-fantasy elements or reflect the current year. It's like if a designer from 1984 had access to tech from thirty years in the future. Eagerly awaiting a preload for DD2
Right? Its got charm out the tailpipe. Im gonna get this one physical since its one of the few that is still. I got a hundred dollars in Gamestop burning a hole in my pocket!
If you really like Wotc's Theater kid edition, I guess. I'm really referring to the BX / AD&D era chad editions. It feels more like a Dragon Age sequel than something that happens after BG2. There was really no sexual content in the first two games, and the romances were actually centered on romance. Go figure.@@arturius9715
Good description! The developers were original in creating this and kept it as realistic as possible. I love the traveling in numbers and the ability to climb on monsters to fight them.
I would like to argue that Bitter Black Isle is indeed difficult until you have knowledge on the monsters. That's what I love about this game, while gear and level do matter, knowing each foes weakness is orders of magnitude more effective and powerful. Like, living armors aren't physically resistant. They are immune after a certain point. Making you carry a mixed weapon for backup. Knowing that you can hit a drsgons tail while they are in the air for a forced knockdown helps tremendously against lightning wyrms. Hitting Deaths lantern can stun and knock him down, obviously saurians' tails. It's all very intricate and makes me tackle each situation uniquely.
Agreed. BBI isn't really as difficult as he made it sound. It's more about game knowledge than actual skill. I just recently started another playthrough to "prepare" for DD2 and I wanted to challenge myself. So I entered BBI with level 12 and killed Daimon yesterday with level 37. It was the first time I ever even dared to go there this early and I had a blast.
@teldarin7557 I also miss when RPGs let you wander into enemy territory that you may not be ready for, and you can still come out on top with game knowledge. All this level sync and equalization of difficulty kills the challenge.
A little thing i think you missed, grigori doesnt pick you "at random", in the cutscene after he smacks you your sword is stuck in his hand, you were the only one of the people on that beach to actually wound him, even if it did literally nothing. Id say thats why he chose you, even if it was entirely luck that it happened
Yes, it’s because you had the will to fight. To stand up against him, that’s why you were chosen. That’s why “Will” is talked about so much throughout the game and DLC :) (Edit: spelling mistake)
Yes! Cuz he lectures you later before the choice to sacrifice your Beloved about what makes people different from goblins or the animals is their will! Good catch, yall
I've seen a LOT of smaller RUclipsrs (actually smaller, like 5k or less) doing playthroughs of DD1 recently and coming away in love with the game and that makes me incredibly happy, especially so close to DD2.
Great video, but I don't like how you said the "Dragon sorta picks you at random". The whole crux of the story is that the Dragon exists as a test to find the one who is worthy of becoming the next Seneschal. He picks you as Arisen because you're the one person who had the will to stand and fight when faced with him while everyone else runs. That's an important aspect of the story and it leans into it a lot in how the pawns don't have a will of their own but the player character has a very strong will which is why they're Arisen. And on a meta level it mirrors the fact that the Arisen is the only one will true free will because the player is controlling them while the rest are npc's.
Great video! What's interesting in my playthrough, Madeline was my romanced character, however after landing on the beach, Selene showed up and said something along the lines of "You're just like me aren't you?".
@@okiemax I know. What I also figured out is that since I didn’t find Madeline (quest where she’s running from the guards) she either was killed or jailed. That’s probably why Selene showed up instead.
in dd1 character height and weight aboslutely does NOT affect damage and magic damage. those things do affect carry weight,base stamina, stamina regen, (walk)jog speed, for the torso type also run(sprint) speed, and then encumbrance level affect quite a few things as well so thats indirect effect.
Ah, I see. Okay, I read otherwise but I certainly couldnt speak much to the differences as I make my characters how I want regardless of stat boosts in DD
@@MidnightMedium well the damage you deal is directly based of you character strenght and weapon strength, depending on the skill you use it just gets multiplied, and since you can see your charcter strength stat which is based off your class and levels its easy check it yourself. You may ask but what if its invisible boost, well the augments that actually boost your stregth do it by multipling your stregth stat so that you can actually see stat change when augment works. also one thing for sorcerers and mages that would benefit from short height is increased stamina regen, as those classes benefit more from high stamina than melee classes as they use skills more. and in the end, there is no mention of stregth on wiki page regarding height nor weight. and dogma wiki is quite extensive on mechanics. you can even check all skills damage modifiers on page dogma skill multiplier data
Yeah, it made no sense to me how he played through the game, not once, but TWICE and was still only lvl. 70. I was 85-90 before I even got to Bitterblack Isle. Which imo, BBI isn't THAT hard, especially if you're the right level, and you are at least somewhat aware of what you're doing. I will admit, it does have some obnoxious enemies though. (I'm looking at YOU Eliminators. 😡) But yeah, I genuinely adored BBI, and tbh I could fight anything and have a good time in DDDA, I just love the combat that fucking much. 💓
@Exalted-Beleth I love BBI but one glaring issue with playing it so late in the life cycle is the rift crystal and purification system. It's so hard to get enough crystals now without modding or going online and begging someone to backpack your pawn 😂
It's worth noting that the reason why we know it's our pawn who is at the end of the true ending is because of the "Witch of the Forest" questline. It's often easily missed as both the start and mid-way point become closed off if you progress too quickly. The story is of Selene, a witch who lived with her grandmother until she passed away recently. It's not until finishing her quest line that you realize that her grandma is actually another Arisen, Sofiah. It's Sofiah's ghostly shade that informs you of the process of "Bestowal of Spirit." This is when a Pawn takes on the form of their Arisen due to either time or their strengthening bond. This is also why "The Fool," who is the pawn of the Dragonforged, looks like a younger version of himself. Granted, it seems the process is not complete until the Arisen's death, which is probably why "The Fool" doesn't seem to act human.
So I remember running into Selene back in 2013 but couldnt tell ya much. I actually totally forgot she was in the game because i didnt happen to go back to Cassardis and intitiate that Quina quest. I missed out on a refresher for all this stuff and its one of the coolest things in the game lore wise. Ive been getting a couple comments mentioning this connection over the past couple days but none so well explained as this one. Thanks!
Dd1 was incredibly ambitious back in the ps3 days. I am so excited to see what they can do with more time and current gen magic. I loved the interactivity especially the idea of beign able to climb almost everything
Dragon's Dogma Online in 3 lines: "We really tried but there are not enough players to keep it going." "Release it outside of Japan already! We want to play it!" "There is just no demand for this game."
I think you either misunderstood or forgot the real implications of the choice Madon gives you when it comes to killing that Salvation member in the Catacombs. The choice to kill him was fake, as he wouldn't be spared regardless, but you WERE making a choice with consequences, and that choice was whether or not you would be continuing Mason's questline. If you choose to kill the Salvation member, you get more quests from Mason later on, but you don't if you try to spare the cultist.
Yessir, he parts ways with you if you dont obey him, keeps you along if you do. I guess youre right tho, even if im musing that it seems sort of silly,, its still a choice with tangible consequences
@@MidnightMedium Yeah, this game does present you with choices that have consequences, they just aren't immediately obvious or straightforward. Like, that family you helped with the corrupt noble. Their house falls into the Everfall and they all die if you help them keep living there. But that's something you'll only find out if you kick them out because if you help Fournival, they'll tell you during the endgame that the house they were renting fell in and they'd all be dead if you had helped them before. Or the wizard who wants you to help him with the Grimoire. You can scam him (you usually learn this from your pawns) by giving him a fake duplicate of the Grimoire, and then he'll get himself killed when he tries to repay you by showing up during your battle with the Griffin as he's unaware that he's got a fake that won't actually do anything.
@@MidnightMediumThere is also the fact that you can either kill the cultist or let Mason kill them. Then, after Mason leaves, you can use a wakestone to revive him.
I can break Dragon's Dogma down to one word, chaos. It's incredibly fun and rewarding chaos, if you're in the right mindset, and if you're the kind of person that typically enjoys that type of game, but it's not for everyone. That was the case with the first game, and I expect that will be the case with DD2.
A tip for Defeating enemies in BBI(I read this on a forum some time ago, so please take this with a grain of salt): Look up the defenses of your enemies Daimon's physical defense is 720, while magic defense is 770. If you Fight Daimon a 2nd time, both defenses will be 1200. If your attack stat(accounting for weapon damage) is lower than the enemies defense, then you'll do heavily reduced damage(I heard it only does like 1 damage but that could be my memory failing me), If your attack stat is higher than the enemies defense, then you will do the correct amount of damage. Also on a different note, Lvl 70 is very underleveled for BBI.
Thank you! I was thinking it felt insanely low to tackle it but had gotten no good info otherwise on it from internet searches and thought it sounded crazy to have to play the game 2 or 3 times to level up enough to tackle BBI. Yeah i encountered that type of damage threshold you have to break with the living armor I believe
@@MidnightMedium I also recommend leveling as other vocations, as in DDDA, It permanently affects stat growth(Only gonna mention the first 3 vocations in this comment for the sake of getting the point across, but I recommend just googling "DDDA Stat growths"). Focusing on Health, Stamina, Attack + Magic attack, each level as these vocations will give: Fighter(lvl 10-100): 37hp, 15sta, 4atk, 2mag Strider(lvl 10-100): 25hp, 25sta, 3atk, 3mag Mage(lvl 10-100): 21hp, 10sta, 2atk, 4mag After lvl 100, Stat growth slows down significantly. This is something that I am extremely glad isn't staying in DD2.
41:47 so another thing to add in the which side quest its realize that pawns become their arisen after they die like a perfect copy which is why the dragon forged and his pawn look almost identical and the witch is a more direct case and also on the next playthrough if you do it online the god is your last save which is a neat throwback
>Assassin >Carnation + Rusted Bow >Powder Barrage, Clairvoyance, Intimate Strike >Gossip's Mask with whatever other armor just looks coolest Yep, it's gaming time. Something I like about the escort quests is you can cheese them by having a portcryst out at the end point of it if you go there beforehand and just teleport straight there... Though it's not saying much that the coolest part of escorts is you can totally skip them. Bitterblack is maybe one of my favorite areas in gaming lorewise and gameplaywise but I get not digging it- you're expected to go in at higher levels (though you can dash through upper levels for gear if you know where to go and get good rng) and yeah I do think you're expected to farm some early level bosses before you go in deeper. I won't spoil it (spoilers for something like a decade+ old game, what a tragedy) but getting to the lowest level for the first time is gonna stick with me for a while. And yeah, the anime was a bizarre monkey's paw moment. Maybe they didn't want to spoil the game endings too much but the writing largely just wasn't there which is weird because the game itself has some great writing and subtext. Like with the Wyrmhunt stuff, Duke Edmund is pretty clearly just making you do tasks that have nearly nothing to do with actually slaying the dragon because if the dragon dies or is even confronted then that's politically complicated for a guy who's whole claim to fame is "I killed the dragon you guys, have you seen my crest?" I don't think he knows the direct consequences the dragon dying will have on him but he sacrificed his beloved Lenore for dukedom and is living in the ashes of that decision. Note that Feste even puts a little jester cap on your head before you come in after you present the Hydra head and Edmund mocks you in front of the court- it's a power move. No one can be cooler than the Duke, he must always be the main man because his rule is based on a lie and his ability to back that up through ego. Hell, when you enter his court you can see Mercedes look disappointed and Julien interestingly looks disgusted at your degradation at the hands of Feste and the Duke- a really fine little detail given his issues with Gransys. Or maybe I'm reading too much into a game I've been playing for like 12 years. Anyway, the writing chops were there to make something cool, they did it IN THE GAME but the anime just has nothing to say really and falls flat.
Thanks for Assassin tips. I want to try them and the Warrior types next. Thats actually great insight on why the Dukes got you doing weird shit all over the world. Thanks for your in-depth comment!
@@MidnightMedium Dire Gouge is the Assassin meta, I just got my way of doing things. And good luck if you go warrior- they're not as bad as people say but it can be a very dull class to build out if you're not into its playstyle. That being said, a lot of the one shot meme boss kills you'll find on youtube are warriors.
@@MidnightMediumand I should add: if you manage to Dragonforge a rusty weapon it gets the ability to inflict torpor which makes enemies move WAY slower. It can be cery worthwhile for an assassin or strider to have a rusty bow, slow an enemy, then get to work in melee.
Aelinore isn't a child lmao she's 22. And the duke was choking her because his guilt over sacrificing his wife Lenore to the dragon was too great and it sent him into some sort of spiral. Plus, if you visit the castle at night, her handmaiden comes to yountelling you that aelinore has been taking to a fort in the north where shes going to be executed, and you have to sneak in in a guard uniform and break her out through the sewers.
Dragon's Dogma has been on my "to-try-out"-list for a while, and what else would push it to the top of said list if not a Medium retrospective! And the fact that you point out the Berzerk connections, because a Berzerk RPG, preferably without all the explicit rapey-stuff, sounds amazing!
Ha yeah its much more wholesome than Berserk but def has some nods. I forgot to mention Selina the witch and her house w grandma is just like Schierke (sp) from Berserk. Speaking of Berserk, there is one game on Steam called Berserk: Band of the Hawk that looks like a great adaptation
By the way you can kill and then resurrect the guy in the catacombs with a wakestone, pleasing Mason because you killed him, but also allowing him to go free. Very expensive choice but definitely what a lawful good paladin type would do.
A tip, Hard mode I believe is more for mid to late level players where the appeal is both you and the enemy can essentially kill each other in a matter of seconds. For lv 70 it's not recommended as that's fairly low.
Yeah i played the first 15 hrs or so on it and liked the extra XP but bats would halve your health bar and some random attacks would just zero you so had to turn it down to Normal to get it done anytime soon
Counter point. Wolves and goblins dropping 10k gold makes the game economy very forgiving and you quickly can buy gear to balance it out. The hardest part of HM is everything before gran soren. After that it's practically free. Plus you can start the file on normal, death run for discipline ring in BBI and then swap to hard to cheese double rings. Hoping 2 will have hard mode again.
Hard mode is kind of like playing Dragon's Dogma if the enemies were from Dark Souls. They're far more unforgiving and your positioning (or rolling/parrying) is much more important to survival. In Normal Mode you can pretty easily just tank hits and heal with a mage pawn or curatives until the enemy is knocked but Hard requires you to play correctly and manage your stamina constantly. The enemies die slightly slower due to less knocks but you're dealing the same amount of damage. It's a very OP vs OP situation in endgame. This does mean Hard Mode is way easier as the vocations with daggers or shields available since their ability to avoid damage doesn't require managing your stamina, and is also largely the reason why Warrior is the weakest (hardest) class in Hard Mode endgame.
I actually really like running draining stamina. If you’re not paying attention, you *should* get ganked by a group of goblins, a group of thieves, or a pack of wolves. It’s why despite loving the storytelling and world building of Baldur’s Gate 3, I need to be in the right mood to play it. If a game would combine the storytelling of BG3 and the gameplay of DD better than Dragon Age Inquisition, I’d love it. I don’t dislike Inquisition, I just prefer DD’s gameplay and class system.
I just dont think its a meaningful choice and occuring over and over is an unnecessary hassle, an over simulation to me. The sequel still suffers from this too but you dont lose stamina as fast and you run faster by default so thats nice. Man, I really want to play BG3 but the Xbox version still has save file problems
Thoughtful and witty. Plus, a lot of background on development cycle and assorted reference material. I can’t help but point to the RUclipsr Nihil.0, who made DD content, especially combat related, for years and years, and is a source of both information, inspiration, as well as evocative soundtracks (the song selection on his videos is sublime). Speaking of which, the original DD main song was changed for the Dark Arisen release. It is a monster, a banging tune of Japanese pop rock. A must listen. The one thing this video missed was a look at the way the game world itself after Gregori (spoiler) dies. The way the sky glows demonically. New, more powerful enemies. It’s a remarkable transformation, and incredibly fun to play in, and is my favorite part of the game. I had a similar sad story as a Sorcerer, which seemed so slow. (Alliterate much?) Here’s the thing: There’s a mechanic called Spell Syncing, that shortens your cast time immensely. It does require that you have at least one other Sorcerer pawn. Essentially, while one of you is casting a spell, if the other starts casting one, your timer is shortened to however much time they have left. Go watch Nihil.0 battle with his Sorcerer and team of 3 Sorcerer pawns. It’s crazy. They fire off so many spells, as they can spell synch with each other. Dragon’s Dogma is one of my favorite games, and because of that, lead to one of my worst disappointments. I was total stoked to go into ng+. I had struggled mightily through the menacing post-Gregori landscape, and descended many times into the labyrinth. But when I started ng+, I thought I had done something wrong, because apparently ng+ is the same difficulty as the regular game. After bulldozing through the first half an hour, I gave up, dejected. There’s always Bitter Black Isle, which will always be tough, but I was really looking forward to taking on the main game. If DD2 can do ng+ right, I’ll squeal like a little kid.
Great comment! Yeah, that original menu theme was bumping! Playing Dark Arisen for first time in years meant i heard the different one which is beautiful but much different vibe. Lemme go fire up the old one right now! Yes, Spell Syncing! I guess i was too conservative as i just had 2 sorcerers to try it out with but never really saw the difference. Perhaps the pawns disposition made their order of spellcasting too dissimilar to mine.
@@MidnightMedium The pawn tendencies aspect was, and still is, one of the best mechanics in all RPGs. And as incredible as it is, it’s just as obscure. Even with the online documents that explain it, it’s hard to grasp, much less implement. Part of what drew me into loving it, was that you molded your pawns over time through giving them commands. Or fireside chats. I was an impatient sort, my first run, and spammed the command to follow me, as I’d forge ahead. Eventually, my pawns wouldn’t even leave my side during battle. That’s when i went online, and got acquainted with pawn inclinations, because i just knew that something had changed, but wasn’t sure how or what. Definitely check out Nihil.0 ‘s Pawn Guide. He can show how to craft a pawn to act in very specific ways. It’s remarkable. And if that’s not enough, he shows how to make a team. With other characters, build pawns to your specifications, then hire them out with another character. That’s how Nihil.0 was able to do a 4 person Sorcerer team that work in Union.
@@ErosXCaosi was also in the dark on exactly what pawns were going to do in accordance with my Knowledge Chair settings. Wonder how different itll be in the sequel!
And that one Japanese I think it was Famitsu article Ive linked in description claims Itsunos had this idea since grade school, though what parts of it were fleshed out beyond "fantasy rpg" i dont know
Right, which is what i meant by long stretches without being able to save. Very few places out in the world auto save for you (some gates do for instance) but its hardly something you can plan for unless you happen to go a place youve already been and know you can count on it
BBI is still difficult around level 150 as well. Personally I've never beaten awakened Daimon, but that's just down to me refusing to spam the archer cheese strat for it.
The point of the scene with Aelinore and Edmun is to show Edmund cracking due to his deal with Grigori. There was nothing fetishized about it. He went in there to kill Aelinore, not rape her or whatever the implication here is. The only awkward part about it is getting caught with another man's wife.
Def didnt think it was sexual assault. I only commented the child bride vibes of their general relationship were creepy. You make a good point that its to show somethings off about Edmun before we know why tho
The wiki for dragon's dogma, she isn't that much smaller than a female Arisen. like Mercedes story shows the culture of Gran Soren is misogynistic meaning Aleniore and Mercedes are just political pawns. I wouldn't be surprised if Aelinore is naïve. I highly doubt the game devs would have s*x scene in the quest Duchess In Distress if she was a child.@@MidnightMedium
@knightgallade8431 youd hope but its not like Japanese media hasnt seen its fair share of sexualizing minors. Doesnt help either that Aelinore and Edmun mirror to the incestuous relationship of the king of Midland initiates with Princess Charlotte from Berserk, a comparison I made at first based on physical resemblance alone but another commenter pointed out it got worse. Just sayin.
My guy putting out quality content like he has big man boots to fill and I think he can get there. Great analysis of what makes Dragon's Dogma so unique. The sequel might be the shake up in the industry for this year.
My boots are a little roomy, maybe Ill fit them one day ;) I appreciate ya! Yeah, i hope it blows the doors off the industry :) nobody else is doing anything quite like it it has personality, quirks, prob a low floor but high ceiling learning the best builds and pawn dispositions and stuff
I wish you mentioned how much the world changed during post game. It honestly made me wonder if you didnt explore anything after killing the dragon aside from the giant hole
I'd be interested to see that, no lie! My only question would be, what would logically have compelled me to stop the momentum of the story at this point and wander around? After killing the dragon, the hole opens and its right there waiting for you to go down. It's not like you start outside the walls and are tempted to go see what lies over the horizon or something.
@@MidnightMediumI dont remember if theres any quests or anything that have you go back out into the world after killing the dragon because I havent played in a few years. But all enemy spawns are completely different in the open world i.e. theres a smaller dragon enemy where the griffons nest is. The road from cassardis has hell hounds instead of wolves, stuff like that
Lol the world actually changes alot, and there's alot more to do other than go down the hole. New quests for you to do, Bitterblack Isle with Dark Arisen. It turns into a different game. But okay...
Love it! Magick Archer all the way. I cant remember if i got nervous about picking the right class and looked up which is best or just happened upon it but i usually dont play archer or rogue classea but i really leaned into with this game and have really not had this much fun with how a class has felt since
Bitterblack Isle was designed for high level players with optimized gear from Urdagon. Since the level cap was 200, Level 70 is way to low for that content
Love the video, I do want to point out however that god isn’t dead. So, Savan pulls the godsbane blade from his chest and you then put it into yours. A point of commitment as god that you destroy the thing that you spent so long trying to get back. “Finish the cycle of eternal return” defies the reality of what happens, and subverts player expectation that you are breaking free from this cycle when you are simply continuing it. Making you no different from the pawns after all. The arisen is needed for the world to go on, and when the god’s will depleted, they must find a new arisen to take their place. The lore is pretty crazy and deep and I love it :)
Interestingly Hard mode makes BBI "easier" due to double XP. Sure you take double damage but the enemies hit hard enough as is that you can't really trade blows anyway. Or it could be just me having played the game enough that hard mode straight to BBI on a new game feels like the best way to do it.
The music of DD1 was great and i really hope in DD2 they will use electric guitars but unfortunatelly i havent heard any trace of it in preview materials sadly
Right? Also the music in the character creators really subdued, chill classical stuff so no idea what that says about the expectation we should have of the rest of the soundtrack
No kidding! Im in the US and ordered a copy online so mines not getting here for a couple days so ive not turned it on yet. Actually come to think of it, i didnt order deluxe anyway XD
"They're mostly masterwork all, you probably won't go wrong" just doesn't sound as good 😂. For real though, I love this game, I have bought and played an arisen to max on 4 different platforms. DA was an improvement in basically every way except for the start menu theme song. Here's hoping DD2 gets the respect the first one deserved. Though I think we will see a lot of people bounce right off of it sadly, I can already see it happening with these videos on "the best vocation"
33:00 you get a creepy feeling from just talking but you can get a whole night terror if you complete her quest line, which is easilly missable. Because at the end, she gets imprisoned by duke and you break her out ... right after banging her in her jailcell, essentially. I finished (haha not funny) this quest for the first time just yesterday in my 100% achievements run and now I'm uncomfortable too. Even worse is that i got out of my way to get Mercedes to be picked by dragon but now i've no clue what's coming. The dragon is within a few fights, please, pray for me brothers.
@@MidnightMedium i know. I never actually played bitterblack at all when dd came to steam all those years ago. Though i did use a certain famous glitch to get some gear to smooth out the road ahead )
Its not an interesting or fun tradeoff, its obnoxious. Theres so much dead space you need to get across anyway so why bore the player with all the run sprint rest rest run sprint. Its not the same as Soulslike stamina lets say because those games encourage you to tread slowly and be cautious, plus they dont have empty space to traverse on the regular. Here in DD its just boring filler
@@MidnightMediumfighting the dragon is just so much fun, the dragon fight in dragons dogma 2 is almost as good but just doesn’t have the charm of the first games right, though I think overall dragons dogma 2 is a better game than the first
Well, Ive got a DD2 video as well. I dont think anything about its any better excepg ox cart travel. And DD2s dragon fight is completely straightforward, no ballista, doesnt have the fun taunts, and has almost no context for what this battle even means. Thought it was really weak
@@MidnightMediumI like both games almost equally, I love dragons dogma 1 because it’s one of the greatest rpgs ever made, and I love its sequel because it really improves on the gameplay, yes dragons dogma 2 has a weaker story but it gets the gameplay right, and I don’t think dragons dogma 1 has that much of a story either since both games are more about world building and other stuff than telling a detailed story
7:44 It's one of my favorite things about this game. I really hope DD2 kept that. I learned a bunch of words from it by playing it in full english recently. (I think my first playthrough when it came out on PC was in french)
I love it! Its so charming. Amazed the anime went away from it entirely. Heres to hoping DD2 does. I think its a little more toned down based on promos but still quite British English at least
@SkunkFarmer420 ride on! Dark Souls is such a standout game. I find myself referencing it all the time. Just for shigs, some of my fav RPGs are Morrowind, Dragon Age Origins, Fallout New Vegas, and Mass Effect 2
I think the devs could have made pawns much better in DD 2 by using AI for generating dialogue. AI's proven to possess the ability to have more realistic conversation when compared to using recorded lines. AI probably could have solved the problems with pawns repeating things players heard numerous times, or at least make it seem more believable by having them say the same thing differently. AI can also help pawns generate new dialogue based on situations and events.
I mean its pretty much gonna be the same idea governing how they choose what to say. AIs not magic, its still has to have decision trees accounted for. Obviously now its clear that some responses like "thats a thought" get applied to 10 different opening lines from another pawn, but is that worth doing? Its gonna be jarring until its not and not requires a lot of prob unnecessary tinkering to make incidental chatter almost as crafted as quest dialogue
Yeah if i wasnt pressed for time and could deal with having to grind through some of those sections where you get killed out pf nowhere, Id leave it on Hard. Def do so if i ever have the urge to go back
@HighFunctioningMedium do not forget to use the consumable items either. They stack up to 8 times. Magic archer spell buff stacks 4 times. Free pro tip, my guy. Have fun one or two shooting big monsters.
Yeah, upon researching kinda "what went wrong" with BBI, I realized that the curatives you can stack up with bonuses (which are a bit cryptic up front as to what they affect) are the key, kinda like how Magick Rebalancer is super important but you may not realize why its good based on its kind of misleading description. That BBI becomes a bit of either a huge grind or just dumping 5 potions at a time to do silly things isnt the most exciting outcome I couldve hoped for
Good video, I do have one piece of criticism though: bringing up Berserk periodically just to bring to attention possible visual inspirations without estrapolating any kind of thematic similarity or larger point really felt like a waste of time
@arturius9715 it's a fair piece of criticism, but let's not forget there was actual berserk representation in the form of armor sets in the original release. Including guts' armor, and griffith's. They weren't in the re-release due to licensing. I think it's fair to note though there is some ties in it's dark fantasy theming.
There's a lot of points here, like you could argue Dark souls is more inspired, but I'd say only really in it's character design, and obvious homages like rhe greatsword throughout the franchise, as well as something like the sword hills in elden ring. I'd argue that dragons dogma feels more inspired in its combat feel, and its world feel.
Thanks so much! Im gonna be honest, this is already my fourth or fifth best performing video in its first two weeks so this above and beyond what I imagined was gonna happen!
Yet another great retrospective from you. Love the part, where ur talking about the initial pitch cause i never really delved into this part of DD (even though I love the game). PS: Plus points for mentioning The first Witchergame, my darling. :)
Thanks, pal! I didnt know until very recently how much cool backstory it had either. Yes, Witcher 1 gets dumped on way too much. I have a big soft spot for it.
Madlad! Im so tempted to go back and grind it out so i can beat Bitterblack Isle someday. Dragons Dogma 2 didnt do much for me so Im even more hyped to go back and take advantage of all my progress in the original
That same “undercookness” in the story kinda reflects the story in the anime version too. I shit you not, I ONLY watched the first and last episode (as a test) of the show and missed NOTHING for it. Protag-kun meets his pawn and sets off to meet the dragon in episode 1. Last episode he fights the dragon- with no mention of anything in between the season (no people he met or places he’s seen).
Holy shit, that anime was bad. Watching more Berserk since, its like theyre going for deep/edgy/sexy and even that weird 3d animation style its had over the years. Rough stuff
I skipped the story section as I don't want to be spoiled in case I return to it, but I did kinda bounce off this too. The amount of my time that was wasted by running to and from opposite corners of the map with the irritating stamina system really put me off it. Who knows, maybe I'll give it another go in the future. Great video, dude! I learned a lot about the game and series!
I found assassin only worked well for me if I treated it like a fighter class anyways the arrows more so became a utility solver tough enemy slow them down, enemy focused on me stagger then arrow fold spam, enemy focused on pawns then just jump him I did however find it kinda neat having elemental damage between daggers and swords because it basically had me cover everything but holy and dark But the best part is being able to just turn on double jump if you ever need it
Good review analysis. Understandable why you bounced off of the Dark Arisen content, you're intended to go through methodically and repeatedly to get stronger to face the new challenges, AND use other players and online resources to get the advantage, a la Monster Hunter. I think it works and it's one of my favorite expansions of all time, but it's not gonna be for everyone and especially doesn't work for someone that's playing through to make a RUclips video.
Thanks! Yeahh, im not a grinder much at all. Its why i dont play MMOs. Im off work because of an injury so ive much more time but its just not worth the squeeze for me.
I find that most peoples criticisms of this game are strawmen arguments at best and that the people who usually criticize games LIKE dragons dogma don't really understand the things they are critiquing. Always makes me highly excited whenever someone uploads a video essay about DD cause I can easily debunk it from an understanding of what makes games like this tick. If you like Dragon's Dogma, play Outward. Less monster climbing, but in return you get a lot of what makes DD great and a niche, and more of what could've made it even better.
Yup, I instinctively know that as I played them on release but got distracted by seeing 2017 as the Xbox One release date while researching and kept saying it in my head. Whoopsie!
No need to be condescending. Hes just a player saying he didnt jive with it; hes not making any big claims. And like most things in DD, the nuance of what makes classes good is not very face up, like Magick Rebalancer for Magick Archers
@@MidnightMedium I just finished watching the entire thing. Height/weight affecting magic damage? Not using the Athleticism augment to minimize stam drain when sprinting? And, by Cor, attempting BBI at level 70 AFTER going through 2 PLAYTHROUGHS. Please, brother, play the game more before posting a video of this length. And, hey, sorry for the vitriol. But holy fuck, dude
Yeah 2 is finally starting to click and get fun. Thief over mage any day unfortunately. Tho i may go play some sorcerer here before i seek out spearhand, the one ive wanted to play since the beginning
33:12 My brother in Christ, this statement alone tells me you haven’t read the manga. It wasn’t included in the anime for a reason. Believe me. It is FAR more explicit than Dragon’s Dogma.
While I understood what it meant DDO got me confused every single time when mentioned due to having played Dungeons & Dragons Online for years back in the day. :-D
I just got to know about Dragons Dogma after the launch of the second title, I've been a Ubisoft Andy through the years and why haven't I heard about it before? It's awesome. I feel robbed by not being informed about the first game all these years. I'm having so much fun that I only just got to Battahl after 80 hours in the game. Is it perfect? The hell do I know, I've been enjoying internet's most hated games, so the conclusion should be that it's also "bad". I think it's amazing though.
Yeah, Im not enjoying the 2nd game nearly as much but Im glad Itsuno and company are having banger sales and getting the first game exposure which 12 years has buried. I never understood how the game could sell so many copies but still never be a topic of conversation in anything but dedicated fan rabbit holes
@@MidnightMedium Yes, it's actually crazy. The game has so little handholding that you don't even hear about it. That's great dedication from the developers right there.
BBI really doesn't pull any punches, and without properly min-maxxing your levelling process it's very easy to gimp yourself to not do any good damage to the higher end enemies inside. It's intended to be the hardest content with the idea you grinded out UR-dragons and every optimal thing to run BBI. You just weren't properly set up for that content because of your character stats/builds.
Exactly. But i was also given the impression you didnt have to basically be 130 levels higher to start either. But im not a grinder like that anyway so oh well
i am a warrior class all the way, idgaf what people say. the game makes greatsword use feel incredibly satisfying. i appreciate a class that encourages more careful timing and stamina use, makes combat feel more rewarding for me. All the vocations have their perfect player! I encourage anyone to give all a good try, give them some time, check out other peoples builds, because a vocation later on can really surprise you!
The eternal ferrystone was a save data transfer bonus items from playing vanilla dragons dogma to dark arisen on ps3 and xbox 360 and wasnt an exclusive item for the later ports as well as 100 thousand rift crystals and 6 armor sets outfits.
I did enjoy watching your video all the way through. It is interesting to watch videos on how people experienced the game either when it came out or in the re releases.
Yeah i played it all on release back in the day so replaying recently and trying to get farther was a bit of a trial by fire but im glad i returned :) xbox 360 holds so many of my best memories
when it comes to the world, i wouldn't say Mediterranean, i'd say it's closer to the rolling hills of Wales, the location in britain they visited, it resembles the coasts and brecon beacons especially
Fantastic retroperspective on an fantastic game. Thanks for your hard work and all the informations you've gathered. 🤗 I've first tested the demo on the gamescom 2011 and wasn't that fascinated back then. When it came out 2012 I've got it on release on the XBox 360 and finished the game several times beacause it was so good. Bought it again later on PC and finished it again several times. For me DD is one of the best games ever made. When they've announced part 2, it was one of the best news for me and soon it's time to jump in that fantastic world again. 💪
Played this but was given Pablo, the inkeeper as my love interest. My character is man, now I don't know if I can proceed playing this. Going to my house in Cassardis and findind Pablo laying on the floor gives me the creeps. I should have just opted to sacrifice him when Grigori asked me to choose.
Hey, Pablos got a lot of love to give, just give him a chance XD technically the game shows you a brief cutscene if you sacrifice your homie (as shown in the video) and then fails the game, making you reload anyway
Huh, i never looked at it like that. I also really struggled through bitterblack isle and i wouldn't have ever made it Daimon had the wiki never carried me. I would've given up at the Dark Bishop had i not looked up how to beat him. Like, who would've guessed that an UNDEAD enemy would be weak to dark magic, hell who even would've guessed the best means of killing him, being the maelstrom spell, was dark magic? I still really enjoyed the dlc tho despite the frustrations.
Yeah, the Dark Bishop or whatever hes called is fairly specific, isnt he? It makes sense in retrospect but not in what youve been learning. Kinda why i didnt really care after a certain point. Games that take away the sort of suck me out of the game to statcrunch or whatever lose me
Interesting that he used Neverending story as inspiration. I wonder what all he took from it. The main character remakes the world similar to the seneschal. When i first seen the sphinx from dd2 i instantly thought of the Neverending story. Gmork and grigori are both heralds of destruction and slaves to godlike entities.
Unfortunateky the Elenor(or whatever her name is) questline pretty much locks her in as your spouse. Which is kinda unfortunate, then again the whole romance subplot is unfortunate. I think the new(ish) My Time at Sandrock does romance so much better, having you go on actual dates with the characters (granted it gets a little tedious and repetitive when you'd only doing it to rack up points)
Great video, I love dragons dogma like no other. The only thing I've got to point out, BBI is indeed difficult no doubt and I almost entirely agree with your points of spongy enemies that deal lots of damage. But to counter your point, Dragons Dogma's systems heavily favor equipment over levels. Your gear when entering BBI was frankly weak, the queens set and other dlc outfits are not particularly good outside of the absolute beginning of the game and your weapons given to you after you beat Grigori are only just good enough to do endgame content but are meant as stepping stones to the best equipment in the game. The Everfall has the best pre BBI equipment in the game and is meant to upgrade you over time before entering BBI. While it only helps initially the Everfall gear is meant to ease you into BBI until you progress and upgrade accordingly. While I'm sure you did as you progressed through BBI, your initial entry seemed quite harder than intended. Are you expected to know that? Not really, so I'm not trying to rag on you or anything. I just had a chuckle when you said you were getting thrown around and then said the gear you were using. Love your video and I agreed with pretty much the entire video. Keep it up!!
Funnily enough, BitterBlack Isle is where I spend most of my time. The normal game after a second playthrough doesnt hold much interest for me, especially if you've done all the quests... 'properly'. BBI feels like a rogue like or something. The loot is randomised and certain rooms are randomised as well. The sort of nonsense it can throw at you can be fun. Also I found most of the fun in assassin was in having a leveled up rusted bow and masterful kill, with a whole lot of blast arrows.
I'm a level 22 Archer in DD2... ...Are moves like Tenfold Arrow, and the attack at 36:28 where the Ranger in DD1 fires about 15~20 arrows into the air and rains them down still in the game? ...Maybe they are higher level abilities? 😗
So Tenfold Flurry unlocks at lvl 5 of the Ranger vocation according to the wiki. When you say Archer what do you mean? Cuz Ranger, Strider, and Magick Archer are the bow classes
@@MidnightMedium From what I understand, the 'Ranger' which was a specialist version of the 'Strider' class in DD1 allowing you to use the Longbow weapon type, has simply been replaced by the 'Archer' starting class in DD2 (Which you can use Longbows with). My DD2 Archer character DOES have a 'Tenfold Arrows' ability, but it's not the shotgun blast we had in DD1, but instead x2 arrows fired simultaneously, but in 3 burst (total of 6 arrows being fired), so it's substantially less impressive. I was commenting the other day elsewhere that I could have sworn the Ranger in DD1 was way more powerful than its Archer counterpart we have in DD2! 😭 -Maybe they changed it for balancing reasons.
@GunterThePenguinHatesHugs oh hell im sorry. I totally read too fast and didnt realize you said DD2. Couldnt tell ya there. Only pawned a lil mage, some thief, and now mostly spearhand so far in 2
Hey peeps, some clarifications/corrections:
1) My description of vocations and whether pawns could have them was messy. I conflated advanced and hybrid vocations at one point too: advanced includes Sorcerer, Warrior, and Ranger whereas hybrid is Magick Archer, Mystic Knight, and Assassin. Pawns can be sorcerers, but what I mean to say was they couldn't be Assassins, which is a hybrid vocation, which pawns are not allowed to be, although they can be advanced vocations.
2) Apparently the physical size of your Arisen and Pawn does not affect direct damage. I couldn't confirm or deny, that's just what I read in an article.
So there you go!
3) Grigori didn't randomly choose you as the Arisen. What I meant was that anyone of you on the beach could've become the Arisen, but even that doesn't account for WHY, as you were picked because of your will to defy him, which not everybody there had. So it's not an arbitrary or agnostic thing that Grigori resurrects you and sends you on this journey, but my word choice (despite not quite remembering the specifics so I still would've been imprecise) was to imply that this was a hero's journey in general, a more Nietzschean/Jungian type of archetype that abstracts the dragonslayer archetype into something more primal, more legendary that we should take into account for each of us in our personal journeys.
4) At two points I say 2017's Dark Arisen. Of course OG Dark Arisen came out in 2013. 2017 was the Xbox One version' date I had seen somewhere while writing and gotten that stuck in my head. Whoops! It's funny how much you forget from your youth and have to remind yourself of XD
unfortunately dragon's dogma 2 while being very good combat and open world wise, has nowhere near a story as a bit cringe and both funny as the one. I loved DD1's story very much while DD2's story is taking itself too seriously while being very bland.
@Tigerhearty im getting that exact same vibe. Its kinda innocent and dorky but nowhere near as unique
Master works all, can't go wrong.
Had to put him in the thumbnail! Caxton for president!
47:27 😊
Such an industrious king!
"When was the last time you could play on the moon"
this man has not Endwalked.
!!!! (Looks this up immediately). Yeah you got me, Ive only played FFXV
You go to the moon in FFIV (II in the West) as well. Let’s not forget the lunar battle in Yoshi’s Island either or that one side mission in Mass Effect
@proggz39 you got the references!!
@@proggz39tbf, FFIV and Yoshi's Island are WAY before Wolfenstein New Order, and even Mass Effect is quite a while before then lol.
Anyway I only brought up Endwalker because its whole thing was the fact we were going to the moon, and everyone went crazy about it haha
@lovelydumpling yeah before my gaming time
If I recall correctly, the reason you're allowed to serve the king after being let out of jail by his wife is because he literally doesn't remember. He wasn't just beating his wife because he saw her with you and got jealous, he was in a guilt fueled trance. He was calling her by another womans names, the beloved he sacrificed to Grigori when he was the current Arisen. So every now and then he just gets magic immortal Alzheimers.
No kidding. Hmm, could be!
Dragon's Dogma really captures the essence of Dungeons and Dragons (Or, more probably, Sword World 1.0) better than games with the official license. It just has that gritty old school fantasy vibe. It isn't trying to be anachronistic (At least in terms of the writing and cultural presentation) or have science-fantasy elements or reflect the current year. It's like if a designer from 1984 had access to tech from thirty years in the future. Eagerly awaiting a preload for DD2
Right? Its got charm out the tailpipe. Im gonna get this one physical since its one of the few that is still. I got a hundred dollars in Gamestop burning a hole in my pocket!
Better than games with official license? I mean, it doesn't do it better than BG3
If you really like Wotc's Theater kid edition, I guess. I'm really referring to the BX / AD&D era chad editions. It feels more like a Dragon Age sequel than something that happens after BG2. There was really no sexual content in the first two games, and the romances were actually centered on romance. Go figure.@@arturius9715
@arturius9715 it hits 5e D&D perfectly, But Dragons Dogma is 3.5 and earlier vibe
Good description! The developers were original in creating this and kept it as realistic as possible. I love the traveling in numbers and the ability to climb on monsters to fight them.
I would like to argue that Bitter Black Isle is indeed difficult until you have knowledge on the monsters. That's what I love about this game, while gear and level do matter, knowing each foes weakness is orders of magnitude more effective and powerful. Like, living armors aren't physically resistant. They are immune after a certain point. Making you carry a mixed weapon for backup. Knowing that you can hit a drsgons tail while they are in the air for a forced knockdown helps tremendously against lightning wyrms. Hitting Deaths lantern can stun and knock him down, obviously saurians' tails. It's all very intricate and makes me tackle each situation uniquely.
Youre right!
Agreed. BBI isn't really as difficult as he made it sound. It's more about game knowledge than actual skill.
I just recently started another playthrough to "prepare" for DD2 and I wanted to challenge myself. So I entered BBI with level 12 and killed Daimon yesterday with level 37. It was the first time I ever even dared to go there this early and I had a blast.
@teldarin7557 I also miss when RPGs let you wander into enemy territory that you may not be ready for, and you can still come out on top with game knowledge. All this level sync and equalization of difficulty kills the challenge.
BBI = ricochet hunter shooting gallery lol. I'm guessing that 2's MA will be heavily nerfed with the stat changes and the lack of daggers
Agreed. Speedrunners are beating BBI at super early levels. Just have to do a little research first
A little thing i think you missed, grigori doesnt pick you "at random", in the cutscene after he smacks you your sword is stuck in his hand, you were the only one of the people on that beach to actually wound him, even if it did literally nothing. Id say thats why he chose you, even if it was entirely luck that it happened
Ooooh, okay, that makes more sense
Yes, it’s because you had the will to fight. To stand up against him, that’s why you were chosen. That’s why “Will” is talked about so much throughout the game and DLC :)
(Edit: spelling mistake)
Yes! Cuz he lectures you later before the choice to sacrifice your Beloved about what makes people different from goblins or the animals is their will! Good catch, yall
I've seen a LOT of smaller RUclipsrs (actually smaller, like 5k or less) doing playthroughs of DD1 recently and coming away in love with the game and that makes me incredibly happy, especially so close to DD2.
Yes! Its great to see people coming together on this one, all in time for us to get caught up for the sequel!
So glad you pointed out all the Berserk inspirations lmao
All but the Selene/Schierke similarities!
Great video, but I don't like how you said the "Dragon sorta picks you at random". The whole crux of the story is that the Dragon exists as a test to find the one who is worthy of becoming the next Seneschal. He picks you as Arisen because you're the one person who had the will to stand and fight when faced with him while everyone else runs. That's an important aspect of the story and it leans into it a lot in how the pawns don't have a will of their own but the player character has a very strong will which is why they're Arisen. And on a meta level it mirrors the fact that the Arisen is the only one will true free will because the player is controlling them while the rest are npc's.
Excellent explanation. That was incorrect framing on my part
The only way I could be
Great video! What's interesting in my playthrough, Madeline was my romanced character, however after landing on the beach, Selene showed up and said something along the lines of "You're just like me aren't you?".
Total romantic invader!
Selene was once a pawn. Your pawn wakes up on the beach, not the Arisen. She's talking about the pawn becoming human
@@okiemax I know. What I also figured out is that since I didn’t find Madeline (quest where she’s running from the guards) she either was killed or jailed. That’s probably why Selene showed up instead.
R.I.P Never forget "Fly into free" I love Dragon Dogma's original into theme song.
Tribute to the fallen!
in dd1 character height and weight aboslutely does NOT affect damage and magic damage. those things do affect carry weight,base stamina, stamina regen, (walk)jog speed, for the torso type also run(sprint) speed, and then encumbrance level affect quite a few things as well so thats indirect effect.
Ah, I see. Okay, I read otherwise but I certainly couldnt speak much to the differences as I make my characters how I want regardless of stat boosts in DD
@@MidnightMedium well the damage you deal is directly based of you character strenght and weapon strength, depending on the skill you use it just gets multiplied, and since you can see your charcter strength stat which is based off your class and levels its easy check it yourself. You may ask but what if its invisible boost, well the augments that actually boost your stregth do it by multipling your stregth stat so that you can actually see stat change when augment works. also one thing for sorcerers and mages that would benefit from short height is increased stamina regen, as those classes benefit more from high stamina than melee classes as they use skills more.
and in the end, there is no mention of stregth on wiki page regarding height nor weight. and dogma wiki is quite extensive on mechanics. you can even check all skills damage modifiers on page dogma skill multiplier data
The level cap is 200. Level 70 after 2 playthroughs AND in the depths is Bitterblack is... Pretty crazy
Might have been running higher level pawns. 25% decrease in exp cap iirc.
Yeah, it made no sense to me how he played through the game, not once, but TWICE and was still only lvl. 70. I was 85-90 before I even got to Bitterblack Isle. Which imo, BBI isn't THAT hard, especially if you're the right level, and you are at least somewhat aware of what you're doing. I will admit, it does have some obnoxious enemies though. (I'm looking at YOU Eliminators. 😡) But yeah, I genuinely adored BBI, and tbh I could fight anything and have a good time in DDDA, I just love the combat that fucking much. 💓
@Exalted-Beleth the most obnoxious enemy for melee, is definitely Magick golem. Can't shoot that one magic plate out of reach with a great sword.
@Exalted-Beleth I love BBI but one glaring issue with playing it so late in the life cycle is the rift crystal and purification system. It's so hard to get enough crystals now without modding or going online and begging someone to backpack your pawn 😂
@feircy yeah i was picking up everything and had maybe 10k. It was really weirdly off balance with how many stones they had out there to repair
It's worth noting that the reason why we know it's our pawn who is at the end of the true ending is because of the "Witch of the Forest" questline. It's often easily missed as both the start and mid-way point become closed off if you progress too quickly.
The story is of Selene, a witch who lived with her grandmother until she passed away recently. It's not until finishing her quest line that you realize that her grandma is actually another Arisen, Sofiah. It's Sofiah's ghostly shade that informs you of the process of "Bestowal of Spirit." This is when a Pawn takes on the form of their Arisen due to either time or their strengthening bond.
This is also why "The Fool," who is the pawn of the Dragonforged, looks like a younger version of himself. Granted, it seems the process is not complete until the Arisen's death, which is probably why "The Fool" doesn't seem to act human.
So I remember running into Selene back in 2013 but couldnt tell ya much. I actually totally forgot she was in the game because i didnt happen to go back to Cassardis and intitiate that Quina quest. I missed out on a refresher for all this stuff and its one of the coolest things in the game lore wise. Ive been getting a couple comments mentioning this connection over the past couple days but none so well explained as this one. Thanks!
Now I have to wait 10 years for your Dragon's Dogma 2 retrospective.
Hopefully only a month or so! Im not super far in so yet but once I get Alone in the Dark done this week, Ill get into DD2s production
Really well done video! Great information and funny editing 😊 Looking forward to see more of your work!
Thank you kindly! Glad to have you along :)
"Back to reality, oops there goes gravity" was amazing and so quick you could miss it. Im glad i didnt lol
Yeah Ive always liked that song and Gmanlives uses that gag a lot so figured Id have fun with it ;)
Dd1 was incredibly ambitious back in the ps3 days. I am so excited to see what they can do with more time and current gen magic. I loved the interactivity especially the idea of beign able to climb almost everything
Yeah! That one promo video where the guy is able to break open that rockface so it flooded the valley and killed that cyclopes was bonkers!
21 days to go! Fantastic retrospective
:))) thank you. So close after so long! It looks SO good!
16 days 9 hours 50 minutes till dragon's dogma 2
11 days left
@@MSDGAMEZ 10 days 10 hours 35 minutes 58 seconds
@@agent4239actually it’s 8 days
Dragon's Dogma Online in 3 lines:
"We really tried but there are not enough players to keep it going."
"Release it outside of Japan already! We want to play it!"
"There is just no demand for this game."
So sad! I left a link in the video description for the fan led DDO project but I havent seen anything about it since so i dont think it went anywhere
there is a massive demand for this TYPE of game as a MMO though
@@MidnightMedium It has. It seems to be in a mostly playable state now and is routinely getting updated.
@collenjets123 thats amazing! Really should go try it out myself!
I think you either misunderstood or forgot the real implications of the choice Madon gives you when it comes to killing that Salvation member in the Catacombs. The choice to kill him was fake, as he wouldn't be spared regardless, but you WERE making a choice with consequences, and that choice was whether or not you would be continuing Mason's questline. If you choose to kill the Salvation member, you get more quests from Mason later on, but you don't if you try to spare the cultist.
Yessir, he parts ways with you if you dont obey him, keeps you along if you do. I guess youre right tho, even if im musing that it seems sort of silly,, its still a choice with tangible consequences
@@MidnightMedium Yeah, this game does present you with choices that have consequences, they just aren't immediately obvious or straightforward. Like, that family you helped with the corrupt noble. Their house falls into the Everfall and they all die if you help them keep living there. But that's something you'll only find out if you kick them out because if you help Fournival, they'll tell you during the endgame that the house they were renting fell in and they'd all be dead if you had helped them before. Or the wizard who wants you to help him with the Grimoire. You can scam him (you usually learn this from your pawns) by giving him a fake duplicate of the Grimoire, and then he'll get himself killed when he tries to repay you by showing up during your battle with the Griffin as he's unaware that he's got a fake that won't actually do anything.
@MoostachedSaiyanPrince omg those are gloriously subtle
@@MidnightMediumThere is also the fact that you can either kill the cultist or let Mason kill them. Then, after Mason leaves, you can use a wakestone to revive him.
@dustgraystone9448 great detail!
Real bummer on how dd2 turned out overall, 1 step forward 3 steps back in so many aspects
Im right there with you. Ive played 20 hrs easy and have enjoyed like maybe 3 or 4
I can break Dragon's Dogma down to one word, chaos. It's incredibly fun and rewarding chaos, if you're in the right mindset, and if you're the kind of person that typically enjoys that type of game, but it's not for everyone. That was the case with the first game, and I expect that will be the case with DD2.
Exactly. Having no direct control over pawns and fights playing out differently is definitely chaotic
"The wind is pushing meeeee." I'll never forget the first time I heard "Into Free" when booting up the original Dragon's Dogma before Dark Arisen.
I keep forgetting this was the OG theme. Damn Dark Arisen making me think otherwise. I love the intro!
A tip for Defeating enemies in BBI(I read this on a forum some time ago, so please take this with a grain of salt): Look up the defenses of your enemies Daimon's physical defense is 720, while magic defense is 770. If you Fight Daimon a 2nd time, both defenses will be 1200. If your attack stat(accounting for weapon damage) is lower than the enemies defense, then you'll do heavily reduced damage(I heard it only does like 1 damage but that could be my memory failing me), If your attack stat is higher than the enemies defense, then you will do the correct amount of damage.
Also on a different note, Lvl 70 is very underleveled for BBI.
Thank you! I was thinking it felt insanely low to tackle it but had gotten no good info otherwise on it from internet searches and thought it sounded crazy to have to play the game 2 or 3 times to level up enough to tackle BBI. Yeah i encountered that type of damage threshold you have to break with the living armor I believe
@@MidnightMedium I also recommend leveling as other vocations, as in DDDA, It permanently affects stat growth(Only gonna mention the first 3 vocations in this comment for the sake of getting the point across, but I recommend just googling "DDDA Stat growths").
Focusing on Health, Stamina, Attack + Magic attack, each level as these vocations will give:
Fighter(lvl 10-100): 37hp, 15sta, 4atk, 2mag
Strider(lvl 10-100): 25hp, 25sta, 3atk, 3mag
Mage(lvl 10-100): 21hp, 10sta, 2atk, 4mag
After lvl 100, Stat growth slows down significantly.
This is something that I am extremely glad isn't staying in DD2.
41:47 so another thing to add in the which side quest its realize that pawns become their arisen after they die like a perfect copy which is why the dragon forged and his pawn look almost identical and the witch is a more direct case
and also on the next playthrough if you do it online the god is your last save which is a neat throwback
Yknow what? I totally never doubled back to unlock Selenes quest so i missed that lore this time around. Good catch!
>Assassin
>Carnation + Rusted Bow
>Powder Barrage, Clairvoyance, Intimate Strike
>Gossip's Mask with whatever other armor just looks coolest
Yep, it's gaming time.
Something I like about the escort quests is you can cheese them by having a portcryst out at the end point of it if you go there beforehand and just teleport straight there... Though it's not saying much that the coolest part of escorts is you can totally skip them.
Bitterblack is maybe one of my favorite areas in gaming lorewise and gameplaywise but I get not digging it- you're expected to go in at higher levels (though you can dash through upper levels for gear if you know where to go and get good rng) and yeah I do think you're expected to farm some early level bosses before you go in deeper. I won't spoil it (spoilers for something like a decade+ old game, what a tragedy) but getting to the lowest level for the first time is gonna stick with me for a while.
And yeah, the anime was a bizarre monkey's paw moment. Maybe they didn't want to spoil the game endings too much but the writing largely just wasn't there which is weird because the game itself has some great writing and subtext.
Like with the Wyrmhunt stuff, Duke Edmund is pretty clearly just making you do tasks that have nearly nothing to do with actually slaying the dragon because if the dragon dies or is even confronted then that's politically complicated for a guy who's whole claim to fame is "I killed the dragon you guys, have you seen my crest?"
I don't think he knows the direct consequences the dragon dying will have on him but he sacrificed his beloved Lenore for dukedom and is living in the ashes of that decision. Note that Feste even puts a little jester cap on your head before you come in after you present the Hydra head and Edmund mocks you in front of the court- it's a power move. No one can be cooler than the Duke, he must always be the main man because his rule is based on a lie and his ability to back that up through ego. Hell, when you enter his court you can see Mercedes look disappointed and Julien interestingly looks disgusted at your degradation at the hands of Feste and the Duke- a really fine little detail given his issues with Gransys. Or maybe I'm reading too much into a game I've been playing for like 12 years. Anyway, the writing chops were there to make something cool, they did it IN THE GAME but the anime just has nothing to say really and falls flat.
Thanks for Assassin tips. I want to try them and the Warrior types next. Thats actually great insight on why the Dukes got you doing weird shit all over the world. Thanks for your in-depth comment!
@@MidnightMedium Dire Gouge is the Assassin meta, I just got my way of doing things. And good luck if you go warrior- they're not as bad as people say but it can be a very dull class to build out if you're not into its playstyle. That being said, a lot of the one shot meme boss kills you'll find on youtube are warriors.
@@MidnightMediumand I should add: if you manage to Dragonforge a rusty weapon it gets the ability to inflict torpor which makes enemies move WAY slower. It can be cery worthwhile for an assassin or strider to have a rusty bow, slow an enemy, then get to work in melee.
@Bersafor2 yeah just trying to experience the game more fully
Eagle sight was my comfort tool. Acts as a binoculars feature from Dark souls and makes my bow powerful.
Aelinore isn't a child lmao she's 22. And the duke was choking her because his guilt over sacrificing his wife Lenore to the dragon was too great and it sent him into some sort of spiral. Plus, if you visit the castle at night, her handmaiden comes to yountelling you that aelinore has been taking to a fort in the north where shes going to be executed, and you have to sneak in in a guard uniform and break her out through the sewers.
She acts very much like one; thats my point. Your second observation about his guilt is a good one!
@@MidnightMediumdid you continue on her questline? Its a bit longer than this video suggests
Ive heard about it but I never had it pop up for me
Dragon's Dogma has been on my "to-try-out"-list for a while, and what else would push it to the top of said list if not a Medium retrospective! And the fact that you point out the Berzerk connections, because a Berzerk RPG, preferably without all the explicit rapey-stuff, sounds amazing!
Ha yeah its much more wholesome than Berserk but def has some nods. I forgot to mention Selina the witch and her house w grandma is just like Schierke (sp) from Berserk. Speaking of Berserk, there is one game on Steam called Berserk: Band of the Hawk that looks like a great adaptation
Ps2 berserk was fun
Was that the one with the super long title?
@@MidnightMedium yes there is an English translation
@@MidnightMediumband of the hawk was decent.
By the way you can kill and then resurrect the guy in the catacombs with a wakestone, pleasing Mason because you killed him, but also allowing him to go free.
Very expensive choice but definitely what a lawful good paladin type would do.
Oml, that is such a cool detail!
A tip, Hard mode I believe is more for mid to late level players where the appeal is both you and the enemy can essentially kill each other in a matter of seconds. For lv 70 it's not recommended as that's fairly low.
Yeah i played the first 15 hrs or so on it and liked the extra XP but bats would halve your health bar and some random attacks would just zero you so had to turn it down to Normal to get it done anytime soon
Counter point. Wolves and goblins dropping 10k gold makes the game economy very forgiving and you quickly can buy gear to balance it out. The hardest part of HM is everything before gran soren. After that it's practically free. Plus you can start the file on normal, death run for discipline ring in BBI and then swap to hard to cheese double rings. Hoping 2 will have hard mode again.
Hard mode is kind of like playing Dragon's Dogma if the enemies were from Dark Souls. They're far more unforgiving and your positioning (or rolling/parrying) is much more important to survival. In Normal Mode you can pretty easily just tank hits and heal with a mage pawn or curatives until the enemy is knocked but Hard requires you to play correctly and manage your stamina constantly. The enemies die slightly slower due to less knocks but you're dealing the same amount of damage. It's a very OP vs OP situation in endgame.
This does mean Hard Mode is way easier as the vocations with daggers or shields available since their ability to avoid damage doesn't require managing your stamina, and is also largely the reason why Warrior is the weakest (hardest) class in Hard Mode endgame.
Melees quite the gambit!
I actually really like running draining stamina. If you’re not paying attention, you *should* get ganked by a group of goblins, a group of thieves, or a pack of wolves. It’s why despite loving the storytelling and world building of Baldur’s Gate 3, I need to be in the right mood to play it.
If a game would combine the storytelling of BG3 and the gameplay of DD better than Dragon Age Inquisition, I’d love it. I don’t dislike Inquisition, I just prefer DD’s gameplay and class system.
I just dont think its a meaningful choice and occuring over and over is an unnecessary hassle, an over simulation to me. The sequel still suffers from this too but you dont lose stamina as fast and you run faster by default so thats nice. Man, I really want to play BG3 but the Xbox version still has save file problems
Thoughtful and witty. Plus, a lot of background on development cycle and assorted reference material.
I can’t help but point to the RUclipsr Nihil.0, who made DD content, especially combat related, for years and years, and is a source of both information, inspiration, as well as evocative soundtracks (the song selection on his videos is sublime).
Speaking of which, the original DD main song was changed for the Dark Arisen release. It is a monster, a banging tune of Japanese pop rock. A must listen.
The one thing this video missed was a look at the way the game world itself after Gregori (spoiler) dies. The way the sky glows demonically. New, more powerful enemies. It’s a remarkable transformation, and incredibly fun to play in, and is my favorite part of the game.
I had a similar sad story as a Sorcerer, which seemed so slow. (Alliterate much?) Here’s the thing: There’s a mechanic called Spell Syncing, that shortens your cast time immensely. It does require that you have at least one other Sorcerer pawn. Essentially, while one of you is casting a spell, if the other starts casting one, your timer is shortened to however much time they have left. Go watch Nihil.0 battle with his Sorcerer and team of 3 Sorcerer pawns. It’s crazy. They fire off so many spells, as they can spell synch with each other.
Dragon’s Dogma is one of my favorite games, and because of that, lead to one of my worst disappointments. I was total stoked to go into ng+. I had struggled mightily through the menacing post-Gregori landscape, and descended many times into the labyrinth. But when I started ng+, I thought I had done something wrong, because apparently ng+ is the same difficulty as the regular game. After bulldozing through the first half an hour, I gave up, dejected. There’s always Bitter Black Isle, which will always be tough, but I was really looking forward to taking on the main game. If DD2 can do ng+ right, I’ll squeal like a little kid.
Great comment!
Yeah, that original menu theme was bumping! Playing Dark Arisen for first time in years meant i heard the different one which is beautiful but much different vibe. Lemme go fire up the old one right now!
Yes, Spell Syncing! I guess i was too conservative as i just had 2 sorcerers to try it out with but never really saw the difference. Perhaps the pawns disposition made their order of spellcasting too dissimilar to mine.
@@MidnightMedium The pawn tendencies aspect was, and still is, one of the best mechanics in all RPGs. And as incredible as it is, it’s just as obscure. Even with the online documents that explain it, it’s hard to grasp, much less implement.
Part of what drew me into loving it, was that you molded your pawns over time through giving them commands. Or fireside chats. I was an impatient sort, my first run, and spammed the command to follow me, as I’d forge ahead. Eventually, my pawns wouldn’t even leave my side during battle. That’s when i went online, and got acquainted with pawn inclinations, because i just knew that something had changed, but wasn’t sure how or what.
Definitely check out Nihil.0 ‘s Pawn Guide. He can show how to craft a pawn to act in very specific ways. It’s remarkable. And if that’s not enough, he shows how to make a team. With other characters, build pawns to your specifications, then hire them out with another character. That’s how Nihil.0 was able to do a 4 person Sorcerer team that work in Union.
@@ErosXCaosi was also in the dark on exactly what pawns were going to do in accordance with my Knowledge Chair settings. Wonder how different itll be in the sequel!
formulated in the year 2000, jeez! that is some legitimately mind-blowing information tbh
And that one Japanese I think it was Famitsu article Ive linked in description claims Itsunos had this idea since grade school, though what parts of it were fleshed out beyond "fantasy rpg" i dont know
@@MidnightMedium that's even cooler! I'm glad he eventually got to create his dream game (and now its sequel), must've been a dream come true.
@dotcomgamingd5564 yeah he seems extremely excited in press for the sequel!
You can save it yourself durring long journeys outside it's the autosave function that only happens when travelling through doors or riftstones
Right, which is what i meant by long stretches without being able to save. Very few places out in the world auto save for you (some gates do for instance) but its hardly something you can plan for unless you happen to go a place youve already been and know you can count on it
'We might find ought behind that bush there, Arisen!'
And that's how I met your mother
Hahahhahhhhaa
"a perversion of the father daughter from berserk"... ppl who read the manga: "...ermmm.."
Hahaha nooooooooooooo
"Back to reality, oops there goes gravity" so naunchulantly made me spit out my coffee😂😂😂
As a coffee drinker, i mourn the loss of your caffeinated beverage but glad i could give you a chuckle 😃
BBI is still difficult around level 150 as well. Personally I've never beaten awakened Daimon, but that's just down to me refusing to spam the archer cheese strat for it.
Oml well that explains a lot
The point of the scene with Aelinore and Edmun is to show Edmund cracking due to his deal with Grigori. There was nothing fetishized about it. He went in there to kill Aelinore, not rape her or whatever the implication here is. The only awkward part about it is getting caught with another man's wife.
Def didnt think it was sexual assault. I only commented the child bride vibes of their general relationship were creepy. You make a good point that its to show somethings off about Edmun before we know why tho
@@MidnightMedium I'm not sure what you mean by child bride. Aelinore is 22
@knightgallade8431 she acts childish and shes quite small is what im reacting to. Where are you seeing her age btw?
The wiki for dragon's dogma, she isn't that much smaller than a female Arisen. like Mercedes story shows the culture of Gran Soren is misogynistic meaning Aleniore and Mercedes are just political pawns. I wouldn't be surprised if Aelinore is naïve.
I highly doubt the game devs would have s*x scene in the quest Duchess In Distress if she was a child.@@MidnightMedium
@knightgallade8431 youd hope but its not like Japanese media hasnt seen its fair share of sexualizing minors. Doesnt help either that Aelinore and Edmun mirror to the incestuous relationship of the king of Midland initiates with Princess Charlotte from Berserk, a comparison I made at first based on physical resemblance alone but another commenter pointed out it got worse. Just sayin.
My guy putting out quality content like he has big man boots to fill and I think he can get there.
Great analysis of what makes Dragon's Dogma so unique. The sequel might be the shake up in the industry for this year.
My boots are a little roomy, maybe Ill fit them one day ;) I appreciate ya! Yeah, i hope it blows the doors off the industry :) nobody else is doing anything quite like it it has personality, quirks, prob a low floor but high ceiling learning the best builds and pawn dispositions and stuff
@@MidnightMedium The previews just came out and we are seeing it making history. DD2 will be a GOTY contender for 2024.
@Nero_PR come on, baby, light my fire!
I wish you mentioned how much the world changed during post game. It honestly made me wonder if you didnt explore anything after killing the dragon aside from the giant hole
I'd be interested to see that, no lie! My only question would be, what would logically have compelled me to stop the momentum of the story at this point and wander around? After killing the dragon, the hole opens and its right there waiting for you to go down. It's not like you start outside the walls and are tempted to go see what lies over the horizon or something.
@@MidnightMediumI dont remember if theres any quests or anything that have you go back out into the world after killing the dragon because I havent played in a few years. But all enemy spawns are completely different in the open world i.e. theres a smaller dragon enemy where the griffons nest is. The road from cassardis has hell hounds instead of wolves, stuff like that
@thechadturion27 oh gosh, not hellhounds. What a nightmare
@@MidnightMedium lol
Lol the world actually changes alot, and there's alot more to do other than go down the hole. New quests for you to do, Bitterblack Isle with Dark Arisen. It turns into a different game. But okay...
you put out good quality content more than people who have millions of subs, good job
Thanks so much!
I bought this game on clearance in 2013. Played it since totally love it. Currently Magic Archer with Mage Camelot. Level 168 in NG+.😘🇬🇧
Love it! Magick Archer all the way. I cant remember if i got nervous about picking the right class and looked up which is best or just happened upon it but i usually dont play archer or rogue classea but i really leaned into with this game and have really not had this much fun with how a class has felt since
Bitterblack Isle was designed for high level players with optimized gear from Urdagon. Since the level cap was 200, Level 70 is way to low for that content
Fair enough!
Love the video, I do want to point out however that god isn’t dead. So, Savan pulls the godsbane blade from his chest and you then put it into yours. A point of commitment as god that you destroy the thing that you spent so long trying to get back. “Finish the cycle of eternal return” defies the reality of what happens, and subverts player expectation that you are breaking free from this cycle when you are simply continuing it. Making you no different from the pawns after all.
The arisen is needed for the world to go on, and when the god’s will depleted, they must find a new arisen to take their place.
The lore is pretty crazy and deep and I love it :)
Oh bugger, youre the 2nd person to say that. Im a dodo! Ill add that to the clarification post
Interestingly Hard mode makes BBI "easier" due to double XP. Sure you take double damage but the enemies hit hard enough as is that you can't really trade blows anyway.
Or it could be just me having played the game enough that hard mode straight to BBI on a new game feels like the best way to do it.
Yahhh. Actually went back in on Hard now that Im not crunched for time so i can get leveled up big time for bbi. Lets do this!
The music of DD1 was great and i really hope in DD2 they will use electric guitars but unfortunatelly i havent heard any trace of it in preview materials sadly
Right? Also the music in the character creators really subdued, chill classical stuff so no idea what that says about the expectation we should have of the rest of the soundtrack
@@MidnightMedium if the worst comes we can still mute the ingame music and use the original on youtube :')
@setchers12 now thats a gameplan!
@@MidnightMedium dont know if you noticed but the deluxe edition actually has the dd1 ost replacement
No kidding! Im in the US and ordered a copy online so mines not getting here for a couple days so ive not turned it on yet. Actually come to think of it, i didnt order deluxe anyway XD
"They're mostly masterwork all, you probably won't go wrong" just doesn't sound as good 😂.
For real though, I love this game, I have bought and played an arisen to max on 4 different platforms. DA was an improvement in basically every way except for the start menu theme song.
Here's hoping DD2 gets the respect the first one deserved. Though I think we will see a lot of people bounce right off of it sadly, I can already see it happening with these videos on "the best vocation"
Yeah, DD2s character creator going viral could be a great part of it becoming popular. One can hope. IGNs sure hyping it up too!
masterworks all! you cant go wrong!
Come again!
33:00 you get a creepy feeling from just talking but you can get a whole night terror if you complete her quest line, which is easilly missable.
Because at the end, she gets imprisoned by duke and you break her out ... right after banging her in her jailcell, essentially.
I finished (haha not funny) this quest for the first time just yesterday in my 100% achievements run and now I'm uncomfortable too.
Even worse is that i got out of my way to get Mercedes to be picked by dragon but now i've no clue what's coming.
The dragon is within a few fights, please, pray for me brothers.
Godspeed! Have fun!
@@MidnightMedium the dragon is dead and he took my hopes and dreams with him
Naw, theres more! Keep going!
@@MidnightMedium i know. I never actually played bitterblack at all when dd came to steam all those years ago. Though i did use a certain famous glitch to get some gear to smooth out the road ahead )
@SharkPivo so naughty. I meant the endgame, not bitterblack isle tho.
You're meant to go slow and be punished if you sprint too much if you're low level.
Its not an interesting or fun tradeoff, its obnoxious. Theres so much dead space you need to get across anyway so why bore the player with all the run sprint rest rest run sprint. Its not the same as Soulslike stamina lets say because those games encourage you to tread slowly and be cautious, plus they dont have empty space to traverse on the regular. Here in DD its just boring filler
On PS3 I had a pawn that was top ten in the world at the release of dark arisen.
Thats awesome! Think it was the effectiveness or the look or both that made the pawn popular?
Dragons Dogma has the best final boss fight of any game
Just overall one of the best endings. Such a great marriage of gameplay and scripted storytelling
@@MidnightMediumfighting the dragon is just so much fun, the dragon fight in dragons dogma 2 is almost as good but just doesn’t have the charm of the first games right, though I think overall dragons dogma 2 is a better game than the first
Well, Ive got a DD2 video as well. I dont think anything about its any better excepg ox cart travel. And DD2s dragon fight is completely straightforward, no ballista, doesnt have the fun taunts, and has almost no context for what this battle even means. Thought it was really weak
@@MidnightMediumI like both games almost equally, I love dragons dogma 1 because it’s one of the greatest rpgs ever made, and I love its sequel because it really improves on the gameplay, yes dragons dogma 2 has a weaker story but it gets the gameplay right, and I don’t think dragons dogma 1 has that much of a story either since both games are more about world building and other stuff than telling a detailed story
Im glad you enjoyed both. Wish id liked 2 more myself but i never hit my stride with it
7:44 It's one of my favorite things about this game. I really hope DD2 kept that.
I learned a bunch of words from it by playing it in full english recently. (I think my first playthrough when it came out on PC was in french)
I love it! Its so charming. Amazed the anime went away from it entirely. Heres to hoping DD2 does. I think its a little more toned down based on promos but still quite British English at least
@@MidnightMedium I didn't watch the anime.
It looked awful from the trailers, and from what I heard of it, it sounds even worse.
Yeah its completely missable. Truly heinous
Listened all the way home! So happy to. I really want to go check this game out
Do it, do it!
This game is a true cult classic and a top 3 RPG of all time for me
It is indeed! What are your other two?
@@MidnightMedium Skyrim and Dark Souls I’d have to say
@SkunkFarmer420 ride on! Dark Souls is such a standout game. I find myself referencing it all the time. Just for shigs, some of my fav RPGs are Morrowind, Dragon Age Origins, Fallout New Vegas, and Mass Effect 2
@@MidnightMedium I haven’t played any of the Dragon Age games but I will at some point. All those other picks are dope asf!
I think the devs could have made pawns much better in DD 2 by using AI for generating dialogue. AI's proven to possess the ability to have more realistic conversation when compared to using recorded lines.
AI probably could have solved the problems with pawns repeating things players heard numerous times, or at least make it seem more believable by having them say the same thing differently. AI can also help pawns generate new dialogue based on situations and events.
I mean its pretty much gonna be the same idea governing how they choose what to say. AIs not magic, its still has to have decision trees accounted for. Obviously now its clear that some responses like "thats a thought" get applied to 10 different opening lines from another pawn, but is that worth doing? Its gonna be jarring until its not and not requires a lot of prob unnecessary tinkering to make incidental chatter almost as crafted as quest dialogue
Can't wait for DD2 "Master-Works" edition.
Squeeeeeeeeeee
I played the heck out of the dark arisen dlc. Just put the game on hard mode and watch the lvls stack up like crazy.
Yeah if i wasnt pressed for time and could deal with having to grind through some of those sections where you get killed out pf nowhere, Id leave it on Hard. Def do so if i ever have the urge to go back
@HighFunctioningMedium do not forget to use the consumable items either. They stack up to 8 times. Magic archer spell buff stacks 4 times. Free pro tip, my guy. Have fun one or two shooting big monsters.
Yeah, upon researching kinda "what went wrong" with BBI, I realized that the curatives you can stack up with bonuses (which are a bit cryptic up front as to what they affect) are the key, kinda like how Magick Rebalancer is super important but you may not realize why its good based on its kind of misleading description. That BBI becomes a bit of either a huge grind or just dumping 5 potions at a time to do silly things isnt the most exciting outcome I couldve hoped for
46:00 you can save any time you want except in combat...
So you know whats wild? Because death always makes you start at last checkpoint, I assumed that the manual save only saved there too!
Great video! I recently picked up the game to prepare for the sequal, enjoying it so far but the stamina does suck
Yeah keep pushing thru. It sucks mightily but there is fun to be had
Good video, I do have one piece of criticism though: bringing up Berserk periodically just to bring to attention possible visual inspirations without estrapolating any kind of thematic similarity or larger point really felt like a waste of time
Just thought it was cool!
Fair enough @@MidnightMedium
They literally made one of the default male selects Guts 😃
@arturius9715 it's a fair piece of criticism, but let's not forget there was actual berserk representation in the form of armor sets in the original release. Including guts' armor, and griffith's. They weren't in the re-release due to licensing. I think it's fair to note though there is some ties in it's dark fantasy theming.
There's a lot of points here, like you could argue Dark souls is more inspired, but I'd say only really in it's character design, and obvious homages like rhe greatsword throughout the franchise, as well as something like the sword hills in elden ring. I'd argue that dragons dogma feels more inspired in its combat feel, and its world feel.
Deserves more views, great video!
Thanks so much! Im gonna be honest, this is already my fourth or fifth best performing video in its first two weeks so this above and beyond what I imagined was gonna happen!
Yet another great retrospective from you. Love the part, where ur talking about the initial pitch cause i never really delved into this part of DD (even though I love the game).
PS: Plus points for mentioning The first Witchergame, my darling. :)
Thanks, pal! I didnt know until very recently how much cool backstory it had either.
Yes, Witcher 1 gets dumped on way too much. I have a big soft spot for it.
Still playing in 24.04.2024 ;) lvl 97 still not fully ended bitter black isle . :(
Madlad! Im so tempted to go back and grind it out so i can beat Bitterblack Isle someday. Dragons Dogma 2 didnt do much for me so Im even more hyped to go back and take advantage of all my progress in the original
Dark arisen is something you just have to experience.
That's what I usually tell people
Even if it kills ya!
I just found your channel. Just hit subscribe. That intro was hilarious
Thanks, David! I appreciate you. Im glad it hit for you!
That same “undercookness” in the story kinda reflects the story in the anime version too. I shit you not, I ONLY watched the first and last episode (as a test) of the show and missed NOTHING for it. Protag-kun meets his pawn and sets off to meet the dragon in episode 1. Last episode he fights the dragon- with no mention of anything in between the season (no people he met or places he’s seen).
Holy shit, that anime was bad. Watching more Berserk since, its like theyre going for deep/edgy/sexy and even that weird 3d animation style its had over the years. Rough stuff
I skipped the story section as I don't want to be spoiled in case I return to it, but I did kinda bounce off this too. The amount of my time that was wasted by running to and from opposite corners of the map with the irritating stamina system really put me off it. Who knows, maybe I'll give it another go in the future. Great video, dude! I learned a lot about the game and series!
Totally relatable! Thanks, bud. I hope you get through it one day
There's literally infinite ferry stones to use
He might have played the OG which only had single use ones? The eternal ferrystones came out in Dark Arisen a year later
@@MidnightMedium okay, that's fair.
I found assassin only worked well for me if I treated it like a fighter class anyways the arrows more so became a utility solver tough enemy slow them down, enemy focused on me stagger then arrow fold spam, enemy focused on pawns then just jump him
I did however find it kinda neat having elemental damage between daggers and swords because it basically had me cover everything but holy and dark
But the best part is being able to just turn on double jump if you ever need it
Yeah i loveeee the double jump
Good review analysis. Understandable why you bounced off of the Dark Arisen content, you're intended to go through methodically and repeatedly to get stronger to face the new challenges, AND use other players and online resources to get the advantage, a la Monster Hunter. I think it works and it's one of my favorite expansions of all time, but it's not gonna be for everyone and especially doesn't work for someone that's playing through to make a RUclips video.
Thanks! Yeahh, im not a grinder much at all. Its why i dont play MMOs. Im off work because of an injury so ive much more time but its just not worth the squeeze for me.
I find that most peoples criticisms of this game are strawmen arguments at best and that the people who usually criticize games LIKE dragons dogma don't really understand the things they are critiquing. Always makes me highly excited whenever someone uploads a video essay about DD cause I can easily debunk it from an understanding of what makes games like this tick. If you like Dragon's Dogma, play Outward. Less monster climbing, but in return you get a lot of what makes DD great and a niche, and more of what could've made it even better.
Outward! Ill look this up! Playing Dogma 2 i presume? Im hyped to go back into it for real tonight myself
Just to correct dragons dogma came out in 2012 and dark arisen in 2013 not 6 years after dark souls 1
Yup, I instinctively know that as I played them on release but got distracted by seeing 2017 as the Xbox One release date while researching and kept saying it in my head. Whoopsie!
Great documentary, will you do DD2?
Im working on it! Im working on unfogging the map now!
Bruh. They said Assassin is the worst class. I play exclusively sorc, but Assassins trivialize the game
This is journalism-levels of skill issue, yo
No need to be condescending. Hes just a player saying he didnt jive with it; hes not making any big claims. And like most things in DD, the nuance of what makes classes good is not very face up, like Magick Rebalancer for Magick Archers
@@MidnightMedium I just finished watching the entire thing. Height/weight affecting magic damage? Not using the Athleticism augment to minimize stam drain when sprinting? And, by Cor, attempting BBI at level 70 AFTER going through 2 PLAYTHROUGHS.
Please, brother, play the game more before posting a video of this length.
And, hey, sorry for the vitriol. But holy fuck, dude
Ill get right on that
its my favorite singleplayer game, now beaten by DD2.
Yeah 2 is finally starting to click and get fun. Thief over mage any day unfortunately. Tho i may go play some sorcerer here before i seek out spearhand, the one ive wanted to play since the beginning
33:12 My brother in Christ, this statement alone tells me you haven’t read the manga. It wasn’t included in the anime for a reason. Believe me. It is FAR more explicit than Dragon’s Dogma.
Yeah havent made it that far
Your voice really reminds me of MrBtongue. Great video.
Thanks! Ive had one other person say that. I usually get Mandalore ;)
While I understood what it meant DDO got me confused every single time when mentioned due to having played Dungeons & Dragons Online for years back in the day. :-D
the "other" DDO i mean XD
I just got to know about Dragons Dogma after the launch of the second title, I've been a Ubisoft Andy through the years and why haven't I heard about it before? It's awesome. I feel robbed by not being informed about the first game all these years. I'm having so much fun that I only just got to Battahl after 80 hours in the game.
Is it perfect? The hell do I know, I've been enjoying internet's most hated games, so the conclusion should be that it's also "bad". I think it's amazing though.
Yeah, Im not enjoying the 2nd game nearly as much but Im glad Itsuno and company are having banger sales and getting the first game exposure which 12 years has buried. I never understood how the game could sell so many copies but still never be a topic of conversation in anything but dedicated fan rabbit holes
@@MidnightMedium Yes, it's actually crazy. The game has so little handholding that you don't even hear about it. That's great dedication from the developers right there.
Yup, its sometimes its own worst enemy, but man, when it hits, boy does it hit
Yup, its sometimes its own worst enemy, but man, when it hits, boy does it hit
BBI really doesn't pull any punches, and without properly min-maxxing your levelling process it's very easy to gimp yourself to not do any good damage to the higher end enemies inside. It's intended to be the hardest content with the idea you grinded out UR-dragons and every optimal thing to run BBI. You just weren't properly set up for that content because of your character stats/builds.
Exactly. But i was also given the impression you didnt have to basically be 130 levels higher to start either. But im not a grinder like that anyway so oh well
i am a warrior class all the way, idgaf what people say. the game makes greatsword use feel incredibly satisfying. i appreciate a class that encourages more careful timing and stamina use, makes combat feel more rewarding for me. All the vocations have their perfect player! I encourage anyone to give all a good try, give them some time, check out other peoples builds, because a vocation later on can really surprise you!
The eternal ferrystone was a save data transfer bonus items from playing vanilla dragons dogma to dark arisen on ps3 and xbox 360 and wasnt an exclusive item for the later ports as well as 100 thousand rift crystals and 6 armor sets outfits.
Good catch!
The Voldoan Armor and the Queens Clothes Armor are also part of the the 6 armor set from the save transfer bonus.
I did enjoy watching your video all the way through. It is interesting to watch videos on how people experienced the game either when it came out or in the re releases.
Yeah i played it all on release back in the day so replaying recently and trying to get farther was a bit of a trial by fire but im glad i returned :) xbox 360 holds so many of my best memories
when it comes to the world, i wouldn't say Mediterranean, i'd say it's closer to the rolling hills of Wales, the location in britain they visited, it resembles the coasts and brecon beacons especially
It certainly looks Sicily as Id showed on screen which is what they were going for but im def seeing the Welsh here too now that you mention it
Last time I played an RPG that had you go to the moon was FFIV haha
So im hearing!
@@MidnightMedium the DS version is apparently the toughest 👌🏽
Oh thats just not nice. I don't play the cute little DS to get smooshed
Fantastic retroperspective on an fantastic game. Thanks for your hard work and all the informations you've gathered. 🤗 I've first tested the demo on the gamescom 2011 and wasn't that fascinated back then. When it came out 2012 I've got it on release on the XBox 360 and finished the game several times beacause it was so good. Bought it again later on PC and finished it again several times. For me DD is one of the best games ever made. When they've announced part 2, it was one of the best news for me and soon it's time to jump in that fantastic world again. 💪
Unreal excited for it. Looks like a much greater fulfillment of their og vision
@@MidnightMedium Totally. Thought the same after their first footage 😁
@Predator1981Gaming man, did you get to see the Mystic Spearhand that came a day or two ago? Holy moly!
@@MidnightMedium Not yet. Just seen the older footage a few months ago. The last thing was about the story mode.
@Predator1981Gaming this close out you can probably leave it to the game to show you but def impressive
0:25 in, and I'm hooked on the rest, thank you Hyfunc, this is excellent!
Yeah my intros analytics are really good on this one!
Played this but was given Pablo, the inkeeper as my love interest. My character is man, now I don't know if I can proceed playing this. Going to my house in Cassardis and findind Pablo laying on the floor gives me the creeps. I should have just opted to sacrifice him when Grigori asked me to choose.
Hey, Pablos got a lot of love to give, just give him a chance XD technically the game shows you a brief cutscene if you sacrifice your homie (as shown in the video) and then fails the game, making you reload anyway
Huh, i never looked at it like that. I also really struggled through bitterblack isle and i wouldn't have ever made it Daimon had the wiki never carried me. I would've given up at the Dark Bishop had i not looked up how to beat him. Like, who would've guessed that an UNDEAD enemy would be weak to dark magic, hell who even would've guessed the best means of killing him, being the maelstrom spell, was dark magic? I still really enjoyed the dlc tho despite the frustrations.
Yeah, the Dark Bishop or whatever hes called is fairly specific, isnt he? It makes sense in retrospect but not in what youve been learning. Kinda why i didnt really care after a certain point. Games that take away the sort of suck me out of the game to statcrunch or whatever lose me
@HighFunctioningMedium i hope in dd2 they actually give us enemy info in-game so i don't spend 80% of the game spamming bolide or using the wiki.
Holy shit, right? Only so much backstory the pawns can give. Tbh the pawns so far dont really call out enemy weaknesses much
Interesting that he used Neverending story as inspiration. I wonder what all he took from it. The main character remakes the world similar to the seneschal. When i first seen the sphinx from dd2 i instantly thought of the Neverending story. Gmork and grigori are both heralds of destruction and slaves to godlike entities.
I havent seen it yet but nows as good a time as any, huh? :)
beat bitter black before dd2 we challenge you
*shudders*
Unfortunateky the Elenor(or whatever her name is) questline pretty much locks her in as your spouse. Which is kinda unfortunate, then again the whole romance subplot is unfortunate. I think the new(ish) My Time at Sandrock does romance so much better, having you go on actual dates with the characters (granted it gets a little tedious and repetitive when you'd only doing it to rack up points)
Yeah whole thing seems rushed. You show up and Aelinores just madly in love with you despite not knowing you at all
I need you to cover the accidental romance
Oh you mean like Caxton and a couple others XD isn't that wild
Great video, I love dragons dogma like no other. The only thing I've got to point out, BBI is indeed difficult no doubt and I almost entirely agree with your points of spongy enemies that deal lots of damage.
But to counter your point, Dragons Dogma's systems heavily favor equipment over levels. Your gear when entering BBI was frankly weak, the queens set and other dlc outfits are not particularly good outside of the absolute beginning of the game and your weapons given to you after you beat Grigori are only just good enough to do endgame content but are meant as stepping stones to the best equipment in the game.
The Everfall has the best pre BBI equipment in the game and is meant to upgrade you over time before entering BBI. While it only helps initially the Everfall gear is meant to ease you into BBI until you progress and upgrade accordingly. While I'm sure you did as you progressed through BBI, your initial entry seemed quite harder than intended.
Are you expected to know that? Not really, so I'm not trying to rag on you or anything.
I just had a chuckle when you said you were getting thrown around and then said the gear you were using. Love your video and I agreed with pretty much the entire video. Keep it up!!
The reason i point out my gear is i never found anything better!!
33:14 well funny thing about that….The relationship in berserk is far worse
I hadnt gotten that far in the manga, only the anime, and someone in the comments pointed that out! I was like nooooooooo
Funnily enough, BitterBlack Isle is where I spend most of my time. The normal game after a second playthrough doesnt hold much interest for me, especially if you've done all the quests... 'properly'. BBI feels like a rogue like or something. The loot is randomised and certain rooms are randomised as well. The sort of nonsense it can throw at you can be fun.
Also I found most of the fun in assassin was in having a leveled up rusted bow and masterful kill, with a whole lot of blast arrows.
Yeah BBI you cant just adventure thru, you gotta play by its rules, which can be tough. But i get it, it has its own little ecosystem
I agree
it's a great game. one of my favorites ❤. I love the emersion of the dark also in this game, it's the best of any game I've played 😊
Its nice! Im even missing some things about it as i play the sequel
I'm a level 22 Archer in DD2...
...Are moves like Tenfold Arrow, and the attack at 36:28 where the Ranger in DD1 fires about 15~20 arrows into the air and rains them down still in the game?
...Maybe they are higher level abilities? 😗
So Tenfold Flurry unlocks at lvl 5 of the Ranger vocation according to the wiki. When you say Archer what do you mean? Cuz Ranger, Strider, and Magick Archer are the bow classes
@@MidnightMedium
From what I understand, the 'Ranger' which was a specialist version of the 'Strider' class in DD1 allowing you to use the Longbow weapon type, has simply been replaced by the 'Archer' starting class in DD2 (Which you can use Longbows with).
My DD2 Archer character DOES have a 'Tenfold Arrows' ability, but it's not the shotgun blast we had in DD1, but instead x2 arrows fired simultaneously, but in 3 burst (total of 6 arrows being fired), so it's substantially less impressive.
I was commenting the other day elsewhere that I could have sworn the Ranger in DD1 was way more powerful than its Archer counterpart we have in DD2! 😭 -Maybe they changed it for balancing reasons.
@GunterThePenguinHatesHugs oh hell im sorry. I totally read too fast and didnt realize you said DD2. Couldnt tell ya there. Only pawned a lil mage, some thief, and now mostly spearhand so far in 2