Dragons Dogma 2... is a VERY Mixed Bag
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- Опубликовано: 26 мар 2024
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Dragons Dogma 2 (the long anticipated sequel) has garnered a lot of attention for its shoddy monetization and DRM decisions... but under the surface, there's a game here that offers a truly incredible experience.
One of the more Hardcore, un-guided experiences available... the level of cooperative play (without actual multiplayer) and unique encounters are well worth the money for anyone willing to endure the more quirky and inconvenient aspects of its design.
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UE is a pawn throw enjoyer confirmed.
so question maybe for a video why buy this when we have helldivers 2 just a thought
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I dig your work and have followed what you've done with the channel for years now. I'm not sure if a partnership with Filmora will be a productive one. Above is a link to a Louis Rossmann video he made about the company a year ago. I don't know much about Filmora but this is a massive red flag.
I don't like online multiplayer games. So helldivers is a no for me, although I have been hearing good things about it, it's just not for me cuz I don't I do not like online multiplayer games or MMOs, I'm a strict single player person.
However even though I'm a single player kind of person, I can't stand the microtransaction crap, I can't stand all the third party bullshit that a lot of these games put on offer, hell I can't stand games and make you go through the stupid giant loopholes of the launchers, I don't like games as a service or a live service, none of that crap I like, I will outright ignore games when they add these types of features, I don't want any part of that crap I just want a good game single player, without all the added on bull crap, is this too much to ask for? Apparently it is because of the direction that all games have been going lately.
What are the odds that the heavy cpu usage is because of the 2 drms in the game
Part of it is, but a lot is also due to all the post processing they are doing to make it look this good.
@@EnsignRedshirtRickythat and this is running on the resident evil engine not exactly an engine designed for big open world rpgs hence it's mostly lagging in cities because the engine can't keep up with the amount of dynamic npcs it has to calculate
but it looks like a 2010 game so its just wasted performance really@@EnsignRedshirtRicky
bro , get better glasses@@Supadrumma441
@@EnsignRedshirtRicky It doesn't even look that good man wtf
Agree with pretty much everything said here. Just some additions: With all the monsters they copy pasted from Dragons dogma 1 they skipped over quite a few: No hydra, no evil eye, no cocatrice.. havent met any gargoyles yet either, and basically all monsters from bitter black island are missing. But we got one more variation of goblins i guess... yay?
The world feels less open and more like a generic JRPG map with how locations are connected through narrow canyons, riverbeds and forest paths wich are all surrounded by impassible mountains.
One thing not mentioned is that big monsters tend to clip into the terrain if they follow you into these narrow pathways, the bigger monsters where clearly not made with those in mind yet you often run into these situations. Also the two warrior classes feel somewhat gimped in combat against flying enemies. They do not have the movement skills to catch a big monster in the air, nor do they have any ranged attacks for this situation, so all youre doing is standing on the ground waiting for the enemy to finish his air phase and come back down. Also be very carefull when climbing on flying enemies. They might take off all of a sudden and either you will run out of stamina and drop to your death, or they will fly over water wich might not be an instant kill for you (you will just be teleported back to shore) but deny you the reward of the battle since the monsters corpse will just vanish in the water.
Also the amount of active skill slots was slashed in half for most classes. In DD1 only the warrior class was limited to 4 slots.. so instead of bringing the warrior up to 8 like the other classes... they rather brought everyone down to 4. Wich in case of the fighter who uses sword and board for example, means that you only have 4 choices to split between offensive and defensive skills... making alot of abilities not worth using. Its a very "best in slot" situation that doesnt really lend itselfe to experimentation once you found a combo that works.
Theres over 12 active combat skills for the fighter class alone and you can only take 4 pics...
Overall i would say the entire game is somewhat of a step backwards from dragons dogma 1 wich is a shame.
Very well put and I agree with your points. For a "sequel" released 12 years after the fact with 5 years in development, they certainly did a lot of 2 steps forward and 3 steps back decisions. The lack monster variety was one of the biggest complaints in DD1 and DD2 looks like it has even less. Are there even different elemental drakes in this game? Every video only shows the fire one, base DD1 at least had the lighting and ice versions. It really feels like the Itsuno and the rest of the devs learned nothing from the critiques the first game had and still ended up removing features from a series that was already rushed. Frankly DD online would feel more like a sequel if it wasn't an MMO. I'm thinking about trying the Private servers the community managed to rebuild of the game.
@@neurosis51 Really the only criticism for DD1 where: Fast travel sucked.. wich they adressed with the unlimited ferry stone, and that the story delivery and main character integration in said story was.. very bad.
So what do we get in DD2? Less of everything XD
Also didnt mentioned that they also removed one layer of armor for your chest and leg slots.. so you can no longer mix and match clothing layer and armor layer for looks. Also for some reason they removed the reinforcing of cloaks, wich basically degrades them to nothing more then eye candy with very minimal stats (like giving you 1 or 2 % of resistance to being blinded isnt exactly gonna make a huge difference)
I mean the game is still fun.. only.. less fun then the original.. wich is bad
@@riptors9777 Fully agree. I played DD1 last year so there's no nostalgia involved, and I still would say DD1 is way better than DD2, even without Dark Arisen. The only thing DD2 has any edge over the first game is graphics, everything else is worse. Don't even want to list out all the details because that would take too long.
Maybe I'm unlucky cause I'm playing sorcerer in 2, and omg is it boring. Who could've thought the most fun and unique vocation from the original would be nerfed into the ground? Without a fun combat everything else in the game just falls apart completely. Dropped the game and would rather pick up DD1 again, tbh.
@@pkuvincentsu DD1 is one of my evergreens that i can allways return to. DD2 so far.. doesnt seem it will take the same place.
The augments were also more varied and fun, you had some cool stuff like pausing mid attack to change attack type, you had double jump to unlock and many other cooler stuff. Character movement is also too stiff
So some notes about Dragonplague:
1) Most but not all NPC's will be replaced with new ones in the city the pawn goes berserk in after a few in-game days. The rest can be revived manually if needed.
2) The system itself is cool, however it forcing an Inn Save AND Auto Save means you CAN effectively get absolutely bricked by it. This is mainly an issue because the hints your pawns give about the desease does not give you an accurate picture. You would not be wrong for thinking they'll just suddenly turn hostile and fight you, or leave you and take a bunch of consumables, so alot of people prolly took the risk in keeping them. The penalty is obsurd when tied in with the games wonky Save systems. Great idea, deeply missmatched implementation with other systems.
At least they tried to do something different but I agree it's a stupid mechanic. I spent 3 wakestones reviving Brant because he keeps getting ganked by random dragons landing in the city and this whole important npcs can die concept is so infuriating
@@MR-oy5yt Cope harder. XD
Thankfully Dragonplague is easy to spot and prevent once you know what to look out for, so it should only happen once. At least it presents a good excuse to do the Sphinx quest, the rewards of which are pretty crap unless you need to revive a whole town.
My real issue is that it's a boring screen note. How much cooler to actually have to fight your pawn in an epic battle and if you lose it TPKs the town...
@@naturallawgiver That requires actual effort, which clearly either the devs didn't have or Capcom rushed the game to the point they just couldn't do cool stuff like that, honestly feel like a lot points to that, like how only a single ending out of the three has an actual final boss, the good ending, True ending not having a final boss is insane, just walk on a dragon as the credits roll.
I find it super hard to hear when people say its $70. As a canadian, this is the first game whose price has jumped up to $95.99. Where the normal price in recent times has been $79.99.
Finally! Someone else that said it 😅. I hope this isn't the sign of a normal price hike to come.
It probably is. Althought Steam is now kind of respecting each country economy, Starfield for example is like 79 dls (MXN pesos equivalent) and Dragon's Dogma is 80 dls. Palworld was a steal at 14 dls and Helldivers 2 is 40dls.
I don't know how the pricing works, but is all over the place. It is helping USA inflation is skyrocketing, but I don't think it will last past this year.
@@arthurtwaDevelopers can set different values for their game in Steam for each country
That sucks
That just shows your country has a stellar economy and it would in fact be unfair if your game would cost the same as other less wealthy counties. I buy my games on the grey market, knowing perfectly well that I'm buying games intended for eastern europe where the minimum wage is 3 times lower than in my own country.
First day playing the game, chilling in a Ox cart doing a quest, goblins show up, no biggie, I stay in the cart, bandits show up, meh, the guards will handle it, but then I start hearing the flapping of wings, thinking it was Harpies I decide to help since I am a mage and there is no archer in the party and as soon as I step out of the cart it gets promptly smashed to shreds by a Griffin, not even a minute fighting the thing and a Ogre joins the scuffle and it's getting dark, it's moments like this that has me hooked on the game, it absolutely shines when this happens
Yeah I faced this too 😅, ogre throws us around, griffin throws ogre around 😂 good times
That's what everyone gets
This game has Denuvo in it. That's enough of a reason for me to not go anywhere near it.
Not just denuvo, TWO seperate forms of DRM!
@@Supadrumma441 👍🏻
only a matter of time before they add *Every DRM On the Market*
I was so looking forward to DD2. I am not installing Denuvo on my computer.
Denuvo is a deal breaker.
14:29 - Ferrystones are not a microtransaction, but there is one portcrystal available as a microtransaction.
Yup alot of people tend to get this wrong. Which is funny because it becomes so much worse with the perception that you can buy usages of fast travel which you cannot actually do.
You sir are doing God's work. I said it on other channel that even those who want to be fair to the game have fallen into missinformation limbo.
The first game had similar microtransactions and they were similarly pointless. It's a big nothingburger
@@HieuNguyen-lr3otFunny that they removed it later on in the life of the first game because it's a "nothingburger" just to add it on launch of the sequel.... Yup. Very smart move for them to sell a "nothingburger" that the whole industry knows attract negative attention, it did and for some reason fans are surprised...
wtf is the point of a DRM in a single player game? so the DRM exists because of the microtransactions? That is even more ridiculous. So not only did they try to monetize a 70 dollar single player game, but the addition of said monetization means that performance is affected because they wanted to put in a DRM to prevent people from using something like cheatengine to add resources as they wish.
That's not the case since you can literally mod the game, to have shops with all items for 1 gold. DRM exists to combat pirating.
@Zyrxne correct
@@Zyrxne Doubt it. There are many DRM free games that made a ton of money. No one is putting DRM in their games to prevent piracy, as pirating is just free advertising. You could put DRM to combat illegal modding for multiplayer games, which is why Vermintide has a list of approved mods and a beta-realm to test illegal ones out.
I mean look at DMC5. Released without DRM on accident, cracked on day one, and it's a 10th best selling Capcom game of all times.
Do you know what DRM is?
yup and that really shows how mtx ruins this game anyone saying "it doesn't affect it" is a liar, its really apparent how scummy this game was designed
will always be a skip and avoid this game cause of it
I just feel bad for anyone who pre ordered on PC, $70 for basically a digital rock you hope gets spun into a gem
You should never pre order in this day and age
I bought it, played it for a bit, performance was dogwater, refunded and bought the pc port of forbidden west instead. At least that game runs at 60fps with everything cranked out.
Serves one right for pre-ordering in 2024. Should've learnt their lesson years ago.
It made me do another playthrough of dragons dogma 1 lol. I was waiting for release and feel very relieved that I did. Who needs this junk anyways when you can literally do ALL OF THE GOOD THINGS HE MENTIONED in the first game. The graphic improvements are laughable at best.
Let's assume you get the game running at 60fps start to finish, no bugs, no glitches, no DRM.... Somehow; it is still a lackluster copy and paste of the original dragons dogma. Yes, including that post-game environmental change.
dd2 is DOA.
i like how some creative director or something said "we don't have fast travel because you won't need it if the world is interesting enough" and now the limited fast travel is a problem because backtracking gets repetitive.
Yepp. Sick of running back and forth on the same 2 roads for everything. Routes are barely different even when you take detours. It is the same handful of enemies constantly.
You realise that game directors and publishers are two completely different entities, right?
i'm not sure who said it, but i'm pretty sure that person was 1. a bigwig and 2. involved in the creative side of the development process. point is, it's a perfect example of overconfidence. even if they make FT more accessible, they went out of their way to claim it's a symptom of a boring world so they either have to admit their world is boring or double down and risk pissing people off.
note that i think that the entire "FT is only necessary in a boring world" thing is just plain wrong: i can walk around in skyrim for hours, just having fun and appreciating the absolutely magnificent world, but i use the FT system a lot when i need to be somewhere for a quest cause i'm on a quest, not a walkabout. same for fallout and several other games.
Where's Talos or The Medusa at? I'm guessing late game 😡
Even the ox-carts, the secondary fast travel system. Has you regularly be interupted by either small fry, wich you have to get off the cart and deal with before getting on. Or a big monster that will most likely destroy the cart and have you stranded in the middle of nowhere. And ambushes like that happen 50% of the time you use a cart
Imagine if this game just released like any other normal video game,Like ya know ? Elden Ring or Balder's gate 3.
No Microtransaction store, No DRMs and No awful performance. (Granted Elden Ring did had questionable performance but i don't remember being this bad)
A game you just install, enjoy and play with no distractions which is only something you can get from Pirated AAA, Indie,AA and DRM free games nowadays which really speaks a lot about modern gaming.
Edit :- Okay,I get it...Elden Ring and Balder's Gate 3 aren't the best examples but my actual point still stands.
The games that you have listed are not the normal videogames these days - they are the unicorns. Sadly.
And tbf even Baldurs Gate 3 didnt release finished. Especially towards the end it had issues and bugs and they are still working on more Epilogue stuff to give the game and some characters a better conclusion. Elden Rings performance was ass as well, but not that bad and got fixed relatively fast as far as i know.
So... yeah, no shop, cut-content turned into DLCs and no DRM would be a good start for now to adapt for other studios. But i doubt that this will happen. :(
@@CallMeTeci Preach dude..I figured my examples aren't entirely the best because one is was a bit poorly optimized on release where as the other got a good excuse because it was started off as an early access but at least you understood the context i was trying to say.
I just wish games that are released nowadays just no nonsense products you can buy,install and play.
It seems most people are willing to excuse a game that has some problems as long as the core game is good and willing to give it a chance at least.
It's when a game releases in a buggy unfinished state that never gets fixed, filled with intrusive microtransactions, drm, and content ripped out of the game then sold back to you as dlc is when you have a problem.
Some people may exuse one of these and play the game anyway, but not all stacked on top of each other.
Idk about ER but BG3 was in EA for like 3 years. They have time to iron things out. At least for the early chapter.
Elden Ring had horrible performance and anti-cheat DRM. People were turning off the anti-cheat just to improve performance, it was so bad.
The ONLY thing DD2 has against it compared to those games is the MTX. And being a Capcom (AAA game).
The bias is obvious tbh
That pawn exchange system sounds like how guild cards used to work in Monster Hunter, being able to send your friends characters on missions to get materials for you
From what i've seen of the gameplay it is what if Monster Hunter became a pure medieval fantasy game. The positioning is there, the weakpoint focusing, the having to plan out your moves as you are stuck with the animation if you use it. Replace the weapons with vocations and you have Dragons Dogma.
The action is faster paced than monster hunter and not as punishing.
The hidden feature about pawns no one is talking about is that they learn how to act from the player. If you see one of them just jump to the sea know its master did the same. If you keep gathering items and no fighting they will do the same. If you keep grabbing onto monsters they will copy how you fight. Any clip that you see pawns doing some stupid shit know that it is learned behavior from their masters
@@KevinShmelvin yeah Nioh has the same thing, you can summon bots of other players that behave like them
Not really, but yes. Actyally Dragon's Dogma 1 does this, they just maintained the system.
In DD1 I found oretty wacky characters, and super OP pawns. I spent waaaay too much time looking at other peoples pawn to find the perfect one to fit my party.
Is one of those creative mechanics japanese games do, that everyone ends up copying, like phantasms in Dark souls.
Interesting to see you praising the story, because alot of people have been criticizing just that.
i mean for me the story was good af... especially the ending
@@UpperEchelon happy to hear, I really struggle with immersing myself in games that have bad stories; why would I spend hundreds of hours saving a world I don't care about, y'know? Def gonna pick this up once issues are fixed and Capcom removes Denuvo.
the story is boring lmao wtf
Story is probably the MOST subjective thing about a game my dude. Say its boring all you want, other people dont feel that way and you have absolutely no bearing or relevance in that equation.
@@UpperEchelon UE, can you give me a spoiler-free list of pointers about why you liked the story? Kind of skimmed over it in the review lol
14:35 Ferrystones cannot be bought with real money, only a single Portcrystal, which is the actual fast travel point, not the currency to teleport, which are Ferrystones. For almost five bucks lol, but still, no ferrystones.
My hope is they focus on performance first and foremost. Doubt they'd just chuck the DRM off a cliff like a dragonplagued pawn, but we can dream. :P
The funniest part is, EU put half million € into research of piracy's influence on financial revenue of software (games in particular).. and research went silent. When German representative in EU parliament requested to disclose results, turna out, piracy has absolutely zero influence on the financial success of games.
The why the fuck we need all that DRM? Just to cripple PCs?
P.S: Research is on the first page of Google, go check for yourself.
Of course piracy doesn't influence it. People who pirate
1. Were never customers to begin with
2. Were too poor to buy the game
In most cases I am number 1. Pirated versions of older games, for example, tend to be better than the "emulated" versions they make of them so I'm still just gonna pirate them instead, especially since I used to own most of these games anyway and am not willing to purchase them a second time, oh and because I'm using an emulator, I can increase their graphics too.
In some other cases I just wanted to try it out to see if I would like it. These are RARE but as an example I had no interest in the NDS so I went ahead to try out some of their games years later and it turns out there were some originals that I DID like such as Project X Zone so I Purchased a 3DS. If not for pirating I would NEVER have given Nintendo that and then some. And then they proceeded to slap me in the face by closing the nintendo store for it, because reasons.
It looks decent, but between the malware, the performance issues for PC and the insulting microtransactions I'll be waiting for a big sale a few years down the line.
The microtransactions have zero effect on the game.. You will ignore them and the game never makes you feel like you need them.. The other issues are pretty bad though
@@johnnyflannigan136if that was true there wouldn't be items that effect gameplay. There are, therefore what you said inherently is not true.
@@johnnyflannigan136 to me it doesn't really matter, micro transactions don't belong in a full priced game in any shape or form, especially not ones with a gameplay benefit.
You described almost exactly how I feel about this game. So many good things but those bad things are just inexcusable at this point.Just two points, you can get rid of pawn with Dragonsplague, that is basically the only way to save yourself from consequences. If it is your pawn, brine it is. And gifts are not mandatory. Personally I also do not think the story is that amazing for fantasy RPG but it is definitely not bad.
To be fair about the shops, you can make every cheaper by giving them gifts, funnily enough food, flowers and ores do a very good job in doing so.
And to add to that, after you gifted them atleast 3 times they will leave gifts for you in your own house by the door. At one time i needed Gold ore for an upgrade and somehow someone gave left a gift by the door lol
Pirate a drm free copy then if you like the game buy it when its discounted
And wait until denuvo is removed. I’m literally reinstalling dishonored 2 because I was to experience it without that atrocious micro stutter
Empress is MIA and no-one else is cracking Denuvo atm, so good luck waiting for a pirate version
They can't tell me that the AI is so much more advanced than DD1 that the game even struggles on an i7-14700k. The first game runs flawlessly at 4K/120 on my i7-8700k, no upscaling or anything. This is obviously down to the double-layer DRM rootkits of Denuvo and Enigma. IF it ever gets cracked (Empress has been MIA for a while so who knows if someone else will pick up the slack), I'll bet anything the pirate version would run buttery smooth.
I remember buying dragon's dogma 1 for console because people online were pretty positive about it, and literally a week later the expanded, improved and updated version dark arisen came out with no way for me to upgrade. if I wanted the improvements, I'd have to buy the game all over again.
which soured me greatly on the whole thing.
if I ever play dragon's dogma 2, it's only after the inevitable dlc bundle version comes out. maybe by that point they'll have removed denuvo too.
NO 70$+ SINGLE-PLAYER GAME SHOULD HAVE MICROTRANSACTIONS IN THE FIRST PLACE.PERIOD.If we give them leeway with no resistance, you can bet single player games will become filled with MTX in the not so distant future.
The problem is you need normies to join in a boycott (or outcry), and that’s hard, if not impossible unless it’s something as egregious as Battlefront 2. Otherwise, they simply don’t care. They’ll gladly pre-order to spend $70 on a game they’re not sure is even fun or works properly, just so they can talk about it while it’s trendy on Twitter or in their office. And they won’t even bother finishing them either. That and the braindead “let people enjoy things” mentality which in most cases just means “stop levying criticism, my enjoyment is based on consensus rather than individual experience”.
The only upside for no,w is that Capcom has been putting MTX in single-player games for a decade or whatever, and they’ve all been worthless. So if they were planning on nickel-and-diming, it likely would’ve happened by now. It comes off like “corporate told us we need to shove in MTX, so here’s one’s that don’t really affect anything”. Kind of like those “pre-order bonuses” that are just unlocking costumes/XP early. You would get them by playing normally anyway.
"You can bet single player games will become filled with MTX in the not so distant future." They already are my dude. MH World has like $500 worth of MTX.
People should have started saying something when Capcom started doing it over a decade ago.
You're a decade late.
Not that the sentiment is wrong, but they already are full of mtx, have been for a long time
Denuvo really hurts my reasons for giving it a try. After so long the game should be playable at 60fps, 40fps if they were to be truly slacking, but not barely at 30. No dev can explain why this is a thing, but the usual culprit is them having Denuvo in the game and they never mention it. Waiting a year until they remove it and on discount makes more sense, especially when all of the issues will be gone. Buying games day one is truly something only RUclipsrs/streamers do and/or people with FOMO.
Gonna wait on a steep sale sometime next year. That’s what you get for adding unnecessary microtransactions (in this case, very unnecessary, but it’s the principle of the thing)
Same! Ill let all the beta testers help fix the bugs and performance issues first
I got a feeling : " Why pay 70USD for DD2, where we already has same game DD:DA at Home for 5USD on Sale with expansion+endgame. "
Played on ps5, it played very well. Honestly biggest issue with the game is actually its too expensive. Like the first it feels like a unique and original game but not as fleshed out or polished like top tier games. So the price could be lower. Hence waiting on a sale seems to be the move and the game will be 100% worth a feel better.
Them limiting the skills you can use to 4 is what kills it for me.
One of the only valid complaints I’ve actually seen
There's actually 6 including core abilities, and this problem would exist in literally almost all action RPGs.
@@Evanz111Someone needs to Git Gud 😂
Absolutely zero reason for them to that.
I agree and it's CLEARLY a controller/console limitation which is why I still firmly believe that consoles should die off already.
small correction, ferry stones are not purchasable as DLC/MTXes, just the one port crystal.
You don't need to give pawns gifts when you dismiss them. You can just cancel the gift giving.
Never go for that, only villains do that.
"You can just cancel the gift-giving."
*"He's a no-good, lousy, **_SONUVABITCH! THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE IS!"_*
@@donradkos6655I am the Dark Arisen
@@donradkos6655 i do that or give them rotten flowers
@@HPLovesCraftsCatso you’re a prick. Good to know
the journey to 50% sale continues...
It's a waste of time.
This game slowly got on my nerves after 30 hours and I just quit. Selling it. Done with it.
Can't believe this was such a disappointment
I like the game quite a bit. My biggest gripe besides pc performance, only having a single character, is the lack of a targeting system for ranged characters. It is ridiculous. I love to play mage or sorc. That fool attacks everything and everyone except for what I'm looking at! 😂😂😂 The DRM is straight bull💩 too!
Yeah DRM is shit for pirates.
@collapsiblechair9112 , it's shit for an already poorly optimized game too.
@@collapsiblechair9112 It's shit for everyone buying this game. I only buy games without DRM (like on GOG), because I want to own my game, and not let it be ripped out of my hands some time later. Buying a game on GOG give me the off-line install files that I can store anywhere. That way I can install and play those games even years and years later. Try that with Denuvo. Big chance you have an inert blob of data doing noting, because the Denuvo kill switch is already activated years ago. Good luck getting your money back or run that game... Ever again...
I can't believe they kept the crappy save system from the first game. I enjoyed playing Dragon's Dogma 1, but then it crashed and broke my save game effectively erasing 60+ hours of progress. Unsurprisingly, I never touched it again.
So because they don't want people reloading an older save, to avoid something they might not have known to look for, that can nuke entire towns; They add 2 DRMs that ruin the game's performance. Makes complete sense.... Riiiiiight.
Considering capcoms stance on modding their games.. i think thats just the beginning for capcom games from this point
@@riptors9777,
Well, I have long since had them on my blacklist for adding DRM to old RE games. Them taking an 'anti-mod support' stance is 'yet (not) another reason' (inside joke about a Civ5 'Earth map pack' mod), that they deserve a place, and can just stay on that blacklist.
@@buckrodgers1162 I just hope that crapcom leaves the monster hunter team alone to cook.. thats one of the few franchises that make me want to buy a crapcom games after DD2
I’ll wait til the goty edition in 12 months time.
Um, one small point: Where did you find that ferrystones are microtransactions? As far as I see, you can buy one port crystal (which is a fast travel point) but not ferrystones.
I will say I love DD2 though, I loved the first one as well. But I definitely agree that the map needs to be populated dynamically with bigger/harder enemies as you level up.
@15:54, they did, probably not in all places/routes, but every now and then i bump into a minotaur or cyclops where before there were no enemy or it was a pack o goblins/wolves
DD2 was a game that I was very excited about. Dark Arisen was a lot of fun, and I basically just wanted Dark Arisen, but bigger with more monsters and gear.
I think the game did accomplish that somewhat. I kind of wish they'd kept the armor system from Dark Arisen, because it allowed players to really put their own personal flair into your gear. I absolutely love the more expressive and communicative pawns, though. My main pawn got chastised by the support pawns for tripping over for no reason, and it was cool that they have so many different things to say.
DD2 isn't terrible, but it is disappointing. The monetization is unfortunately very on point for Capcom, and Monster Hunter fans are just sort of going 'first time?' Fix the performance on PC, give us Eternal Ferrystones, and I think a lot of people will start to really get into the game.
i love how i dont even consider looking at "AAA" titles anymore. anything above 25 bucks needs to be stellar in the first place. everything over 50 needs to be peak gaming (like terraria or rimworld). otherwise its not even worth wasting traffic to illegally download.
this game: its not even worth wasting traffic to look at the store page. period.
Good overall video, i agree with alot of it, but minor correction that does make a difference. They do not sell Ferrystones as a Micro transaction they are ONLY found in game, the thing that IS in the Micro shop is 1 (And only 1 cant buy more than that with real $$) Portcrystal (The spots you teleport to). So yeah still not ideal but not the big deal that it would have been if they allowed you to buy Ferrystones with real money. No worries though alot of people make this mistake but it is a pretty big difference in importance, just trying to cut off potential misinformation.
Im loving the game but it also has the typical RPG problem of: "there's going to be a better game next year".
Some odd QoL issues like not being able to hide your helmet or pawn specializations being single use items that overwright each other.
And of course the slowdowns that hit like a truck every session that last 20 odd seconds sometimes.
If people are having issues with beast rigs then it makes me quite leery playing this game with my 6700XT Ryzen 5600X.
I had no issues at 1080p with a 6700XT and a Ryzen 5 3600. Frames in big towns were a little jittery but stayed around 60.
one of the only things i don't like about this game is there's a lot of quests that are like "walk across the map to fight 5 wolves, and then walk back" and there's not fast travel so you actually have to walk or take the ox carts
I can't wait to play this!...
In 10 years when the problems are mostly fixed, the DRM is removed, all the dlc is released, all the microtransaction items are free and the game costs $15.
I haven't seen any videos comparing DD1 to DD2. In my mind you can get the same experience in DD1 for the low price of 5 dollars, compare to 100 dollars in Canada. To me, that is a no brainer.
I'm 71 hours in and i agree with you but one thing that really sadden me the most is the lack of quests after a certain point in the game, you get to the second big part of the map and it as litterally less quests than the first half , it's like they cut out content from it when is the second most important City in the Game. Another thing that is lacking is the armor slots compared to dd1. You could mis match many pieces , now your stuck with 3 pieces for armor and is not great.
The more I play the less I like the game. Started off as a 9/10, but 102 hours in and I’m at a 6/10.
I’m just tired of running around. Oxcarts will be attacked possibly destroyed, ferry stones are finite as are port crystals. And fighting the same boss monsters over and over is just getting tiresome.
Everything is just a brown cave with loot worse than what I got or better yet exactly what I just bought. Every time I explore a place an NPC will want me to go there a little later or even worse escort them there. Elves want me to rescue someone from the cave I just left….no thanks I believe in you keep the master archer skill, sucks anyway!
It’s a bit baffling that the majority of people hate escort missions and this game put so many in.
Gonna take a break from the game and hopefully come back feeling refreshed a bit. But ya, being bored before the game is completed isn’t a good look.
Agreed. The combat has become a chore and so has traveling.
The main thing about the micro transactions that rubs me the wrong way here isnt so much they are there. Fine i dont like that either but it is that me as a gamer was unaware of it before buying the game. If you want that shit in your game fine Capcom but why feel the need to do the whole pandoras box routine after launch.
Weren't reviewers aware of them?
@@LuciusVulpes yes that is correct Lucius but as far as i understand it they didnt mention it in the reviews before it was released.
@@LuciusVulpesyes they were exposed that capcom sent them a store sheet of mtx that would launch after the launch day and they said NOTHING. its extremely scummy and disingenuous.
The reviewers were aware of them but didnt think they'd need to mention them because they were so minuscule in the grand scheme of things.
The reviewers all got a media pack with a list and description of all the microtransactions. None of them thought it was a big enough deal to mention. Especially since Capcom has done this in all their big AAA stuff for years and nobody cared until DD2
Weird design decision to make inns rather expensive for resting but not being able to buy a meal to get the same buffs from cooking at a camp.
It finally is everything that was imagined in 2013. And that is part of the problem. The game retains old mechanics that would get a free pass in 2013 but it's totally unacceptable today. There are plenty related to quality of life improvements. I will just talk about one, so you get the idea: the quests that ask you to wait without providing a quick way to do so besides "busy work " of walking a long distance to find a seat to doze off, repeat the whole process of "standing up, sitting again, dozing off" while watching slow animations in each action to finally pass enough time. The game is riddled with little annoyances like that, which again would be ok in a 2013 game with that scope but it's just infuriating in 2024. The traversal is also a huge issue. I get, the idea is to explore the world but it gets pretty repetitive and boring when you have to do the same "get to point B and back to A" pretty much all the time. By the time you approach 50% of the game, you already know even where enemies will spawn, like Saurians in caves. Halfway through I wasn't having fun anymore killing the same enemy for the 30th time. It's a 6/10 game that could've been easily a 7.5 or 8 if they fixed those "quality of life" issues.
In Canada its about 15$ more then standard AAA price
I have an unhealthy obsession with this game and the combat currently. Keep finding great combinations of vocations
I heard a rumour that the MTXs added was a requirement from Capcom’s upper management when the devs didn’t want that in the game. So they made the MTXs as useless as possible to satisfy upper management, knowing they all could be earned in game. Just a rumour though. Not sure if there’s any truth to it.
I’m having a blast and even my 8 year old nephew is having a lot of fun playing it and I didn’t think he would like it.
3:56 Spanish speaker here. That sounded like nonsense and overall awful ngl.
After all AI is really far from replicating a human voice.
I'm really excited to check this game out... in a year after they remove Denuvo. I recently just started playing Lies of P as I saw that had it removed (and was on sale) and still waiting on Armored Core 6.
Yep - Same here...
I always smirk when a pawn I hire outs their Arisen.
Arisen out here running around nude and their pawn confides in me😂
Fair and balanced review, thanks UEG. The amount of people defending the egregious MTX options for this game is fucking wild. Never seen so many random Andy’s going to bat for a huge corporation at the same time. Crazy!
This is the most thourough/comprehensive review of this game that I have seen. Congratulations, on a job well done!
One thing you didn't mentioned is the oxcart transit system that would have been a good way to get around and save time if it weren't for how frequent you get ambushed mid transit. (for me it happens about 98% of the time)
The way I handle it is by saving before I pay for the ride and keep reloading until I get to the destination ambush free or the when the ambush happen close enough to the destination that I can just run the rest of the way without wasting more time that it will take to reload.
Glad to see you getting back to reviewing Games..
I tried to play Dragon's Dogma 1. I stopped for the exact same reasons you highlighted here.
Fast travel was basically non-existent, forcing me to run back and forth numerous times since I like to finish all the quests possible in an area.
Half the combat mechanics were not explained (and btw; this was me in Act 1, I'm not quite sure how many combat mechanic fundamentals there are!).
Enemy respawns are EXHAUSTING with their spamming.
Mobility in general was non-existent.
Structurally the game is great. Lore-wise, it's amazing. The Pawn system is awesome.
But the downsides just made me go "nope" on a game I'd have loved to play because it felt I'd need to devote so much time to the most menial of tasks, compared to payoff for those tasks.
Not touching it until they fix, make qol improvements and put the game on sale.
Thank you for actually pointing out the issues this game has, because it has quite a lot. They really didn't improve on the first game much besides making the map more explorable and verticle.
Soooooo many youtubers/influencers are just borderline shilling the game and refuse to discuss the actual issues this game has, which is a shame because it has so much potential to be an actual 10/10 game
Tldr - its Dragons Dogma with some new features, and actually missing some monsters from the first game. If you are waiting for improvements, Dark Arisen is a good alternative.
Does this game have any interesting areas? I keep seeing just grass and rocks.
Right? The premise sound interesting, animations look dope but the overall look of the game is so... bland? I mentioned it to some friends and they didn't see it but damn, it has a "default assets" look to it, like it lacks any sort of art direction. Even the enemies are the same weird monochromatic color scheme.
So... earth. It looks like a planet that hasn't been tampered with. There will be people that like that, and people that don't. I personally don't mind it, since it adds to the feel of the game. It's medieval, not everything is going to be developed or insanely interesting. But I'm also someone that'll happily slow walk my way to a far away destination, so it's all up to one's opinion.
Someone might also say that the color scheme is bland, but I think that's fine as well. Not everything is neon colored, and it fits the feeling from the first game.
Pawn knowledge about the world and quests is a direct carryover of the same mechanic from the first game. The amount of pawn knowledge available to pawns is increased, but the fundamental systems are the same. If a pawn knows something about your current area or the current quest, they'll pipe up. Pawns gain knowledge not only from what they've seen with their own Arisen, but also from anything they've seen while adventuring with other Arisen as well. As a result, if your pawn was summoned by another Arisen, and taken through a quest you haven't done yet, then released back to the Rift, they can have quest knowledge on it, which they will share with you when you get around to doing it.
Fair review, overall. Honestly, those complaining about the lack of hand-holding apparently never played the first game, as it was similarly obtuse. Maybe a bit less so, since all the vocations were in one place as were all the skills, but you could easily get unintended results on quests or fail them or miss a flag and screw up your world-state. The fast travel system does suck a bit, but it's basically the same as the first game, at least before the Dark Arisen DLC granted everyone a permanent, reusable ferrystone. You're kinda meant to retread areas on foot if you want to get around quickly without relying on fast travel, or look for alternate paths to your destination if you want variety when traveling.
I agree that monetizing fast travel and other mechanics, even if they're nothing you can't get in-game, on a game that's already $70, is absolutely a stupid decision, as is the doubled-up DRM, featuring Denuvo. Personally, I'll be waiting for a sale to happen and a crack for the DRM to exist before I buy - that should give the game time to shake itself out and stabilize, and any post-release shenanigans to rear their ugly heads so that I can make a truly informed decision. In the meantime, I'm still content playing the first game.
I absolutely loved the first game, and 2 is like the first with some good improvements. The best way to describe it would be "Its more of Dragon's Dogma 1" which isn't a bad thing, its what I was hoping for. Its really good, and fun most of all. And once they hash out the performance issues and get in a Bitterblack Isle style DLC it'll get even better.
And on the topic of the ending. *Spoilers obviously*
I thought it was fine, its maybe not *as* batshit as DD1's, but it was still crazy and well done. I also appreciate the separation of the Good ending and True ending. Of the 4 in DD1, the True ending was the only one portrayed as "good." Though the "Peace" ending isn't really bad per-se, so long as you're fine with the Seneschal essentially calling you a coward for taking it.
Honestly compared to DD2's Arisen, DD1's Arisen kinda got a raw deal lol.
Also I really like the Sphinx. No, not in *that* way. Its just that answering her riddles made me feel like a real smarty-pants.
Awesome! I love your game content!
Im with you. I completely respect the balls it takes to make a huge AAA game that has features that are so divisive. The last game i remember that did that was Death Stranding. AAA stuff has become very homogenous, and risk averse. Also, i didnt even know it had MTX until i saw it online
With the whole mtx stuff going on with dd2 Ive been super frustrated with the fact that we have other capcom titles with microtransactions like monster hunter world where if you get them all you will pay around 500 euro. But since its cosmetic nobody seems to care. I loved the original dragons dogma and the sequal is all I wanted from it even if performance on cpu can bottleneck. Ive seen two videos so far that I think paint a truely good picture of what is actually going on with dragons dogma 2 and giving it a fair review and not just to farm views on the mtx hate and this is one of them. Good job UE love your stuff continue the good work.
Monster Hunter before World didn't have MTX , don't talk as if MH only have World . The thing in Monster Hunter community is that they prefer fashion hunting , Monster Hunter World provided many cosmetic layer as hard event quest reward while MTX was limited to room decor , pedal and the handler cosmetic , basically something that other player rarely notice , nor they gonna visit each other personal room , so people kinda tolerated it , plus MHW was really a major upgrade that Monster Hunter needed to have modern graphic . Now come Rise when people start to get upset cus Capcom dumb down event quest reward to Sticker which no one use while selling a lot more exotic and unique cosmetic / layer . It was an outrage but community keep it to themselves .
DD1 had meaningful shortcut! Quest based shortcuts that actually made traveling fun!
Thanks for the review UE
Never played the first one but I’m absolutely loving DD2.
I'll just play Dragons And Dogma #1 and call it a day. The performance, save files, and software that makes their game run like hot trash for me to stay away. IF they fix the performance issues, I'll think about purchasing the game.
Thanks for the video. Cheers!
The hate toward pawns with the forager specialization was unreasonable. Sure, they're likely grab a bunch of items, but at least that'll save your main character from being overburdened with heavy weight. Besides, most players make pawns carry items for them anyway. Keep in mind that pawns with this behavior won't loot during battle either. They'll focus on the battle depending on their inclination and loot afterwards.
As for the complaints about "sluggishness" if you run out of stamina? No shit you'll be sluggish. You're out of stamina. It should serve as a lesson learned to manage your stamina carefully. I think it's stupid how so many games have no real consequences to characters running out of stamina. Elden Ring made stamina far more plentiful than the Souls games and players spam dodge rolls like crazy.
Plus there are about 10 different consumables that you can take to instantly recover your stamina. They are meant to be used so you can keep on spamming those skills. This complaint really made me smh.
Upper Echelon, how many hours to finishing the game?
The ending was very disappointing.
the ending I got... was fucking amazing.
Ya know there's more than one ending right?
Was it the true ending. That was a letdown. No boss fight, just a cinematic scene you controlled for a few minutes.
You still get a bossfight in the "true" ending and then... you get so much more after that. I dont want to just put spoilers here... but i was very happy with the ending I got when I realized the full scope of what it was.
I mean the boss fights in the True End Game were fine but... They weren't on par with fighting Grigori by a decent margin, honestly everything but the Worm one was almost disappointing.
The True End Game itself is a mixed bag since some people (myself included) dislike the time pressure, and just want to see everything it has to offer.
Sure, if you are decently prepared, have Port Crystals in the right places, and did certain side quests you can knock the final Main Quest out in one in-game day (I Did), which gives you about 6+ days left in-game, which certainly isn't enough time to really sink your into the experience, personally speaking.
I'm playing this the same time I'm playing Rise of the Ronin, switching back and forth between those 2 games and I find myself liking Rise of the Ronin a lot more than Dragons Dogma 2.
World stagnation from DD1 was my biggest worry.
I would like to say that having 64GB of DDR5 RAM for the CPU to throw things at does seem to fix the frame problems. It seems to be the only major difference between my rig and everyone else I know.
Also, and I don't have it infront of me right now, I'm pretty sure Ferrystones aren't a mtx. A single Portcrystal is, but that's buying a car without any gas.
Thanks for Review. I got a feeling : " Why pay 70USD for DD2, where we already has same game DD:DA at Home for 5USD on Sale with expansion+endgame. "
Just a small correction: Ferrystones are not a micro transaction though the portcrystal is (limited to 1) which is the "placeable teleport crystal" mentioned in the video.
Good review. Cheers! 🙂
Me giving it a chance for 110 bucks Canadian is different than a reviewer giving it a chance. Which sucks because i cant make up my mind
Honestly, even if you fully ignore the mtxs and performance problems.... its really just a visual upgrade of DD1 vs a real sequel.
Much more reasonable rating then most others. I know they won't remove the mtx and when we're not looking pile more in like RE but maybe the can patch it to where the drm isn't hurting it so bad. I doubt it though.
I see what they were trying to do with the ferrystones, day and nights actually feel like time gone by with some quests, using a ox cart takes time probably a day or so in game. With ferrystones its instant so you can kinda clutch a timed quest if you are running late. I like the idea but they could have just said that a normal fast travel without using ferrystones is going to take a certain amount of time and actually implement a normal fast travel system along that. Love the game but i can only love it for so long when im fighting the same enemies to my destination and back.
Capcom has been really spot on with their games since Devil may cry 5 and the remakes of resident evil (even 3 is good in some ways) but their microtransactions have ALWAYS been shite, no exception. Those do not make their games bad at all.
How did you shoot so many arrows so quickly? 16:57
I miss the dancing crabs randomly inserted in your videos.
The game is pretty damn good. Some things need to be fixed, but it is great game.
Yes. The depth of combat looks great. That’s why it’s so depressing for people like me who can’t force themselves to enjoy the purposefully archaic gameplay. Just because the game looks good, doesn’t mean it’s game of the year.
I still love the combat. I was slightly upset about the changes to the vocations (strider gets seperated into thief and archer, Magick archer no longer carries daggers, no more longbow) but as I carried on, started to notice just busted a vocation can be after a few skill unlocks.
Ohhhh boy been waiting for this one
I'm waiting for Dragon's Dogma II: Re-Dark Re-Arisen
@Upperechelon: is there any way to reach you by mail?
For what purpose? I do have a PO box
Finally!!! This is the only review I've seen that mentions backtracking with fighting the same enemies in fixed locations. This is a big no for me. Because of that i stopped playing first D'sD after around 30h. I hoped they changed this specific design choice. Well knowing that I'm now sure to wait for sale and not buying it full price even if they fix performance on pc
My personal score for DD2: 6/10
My score playing DD2 with an open mind and as if I didn't play DD1/DA: 8/10
I'm still playing, so I hope my personal score in the end goes up. Right now I'm disappointed, but willingly to give DD2 a chance to change my mind.
From my understanding, after watching other videos, the game leans heavily on the CPU. Which is odd because after GPUs took off in the nineties companies made that the priority for rendering things. CPUs can only be taxed so much before their heat generation and limits causes issues, and heat generation can cause a massive drop in performance because it limits how hard the CPU can work. What should have happened is the game relies heavily on the GPU and leans on the CPU when necessary to bolster the GPU so it doesn't get overloaded to the point that it's so hot its ability drops and the game itself begins to stutter and have issues. There's reports of people with top of the line systems having dog shit performance. It's just very, very, poorly optimized and coded.
The NPCs use the CPU for physics calculations. That's why all of the complaints about performance are centered around towns.
Did the musicians whose music is used to train the Filmora's music generation model consent to their work being used?