The incense advanced class looks amazing!
I still can't decide what vocation to use. So many look fun.
After watching all the gameplay, I'm going with Thief. I like the speed, agility, climbing ability and daggers. There's also supposedly a pickpocketing skill so looking forward to shenanigins with that.
The great thing here is that since the stat growth is going to shift automatically and be based on whatever class you currently are (not what you used to get there) this means you don't have to choose! You can bounce around and experiment.
I'm definitely going to start with an Archer and eye Magick Archer and Spearhand has my main destinations, but I can see myself messing around with Thief and doing some dips to pick up augments from every class.
Found a few interesting things to try.
Important Things To Know When Starting DRAGON’S DOGMA 2
Hunt deer, with deer.
The great thing here is that since the stat growth is going to shift automatically and be based on whatever class you currently are (not what you used to get there) this means you don't have to choose! You can bounce around and experiment.
I'm definitely going to start with an Archer and eye Magick Archer and Spearhand has my main destinations, but I can see myself messing around with Thief and doing some dips to pick up augments from every class.
I just found out about that and that's a very helpful feature. I wish Elden Ring had it. Can't wait to experiment.
Game looks amazing. I shall patiently wait
I didn’t love the lack of combat lock in the first one and that looks to carry over to the second one. Not sure I ever understood why Capcom decided this is a better option.
I wonder whether it might be to do with the number of additional inputs that 'lock on' would demand.
I'm currently playing Dragon's Dogma 1, and what stands out to me is how many button combinations there are for combat. There are the basic light and heavy attacks with the Primary weapon, then there are the 3 special attacks with the Primary when you hold R1. And then there is one standard attack with the Secondary weapon, plus 3(?) special attacks with the Secondary when you hold L1.
I wonder whether an additional 'lock on' button press - plus a button press to change the 'lock on' target - was just a bridge too far from a technical and a playability point of view? In my view, the control schemes of most action games and first person shooters are already too complicated.
I appreciated the Kotaku Review
Capcom's sequel doesn’t demand comparison; it merely shows up, works its magic, and takes a bow
The review focuses less on the combat and vocations and more on the environment and mechanics. Also appears I'm going to need a notebook. OLD SCHOOL!
I appreciated the Kotaku Review
Capcom's sequel doesn’t demand comparison; it merely shows up, works its magic, and takes a bowThe review focuses less on the combat and vocations and more on the environment and mechanics. Also appears I'm going to need a notebook. OLD SCHOOL!
Nice! I had already planned on using one just not for DD2 but other games also. Seems like every modern game is 50 hours+ and I'm finding it difficult to keep track of everything anymore.
Great piece from Austin Walker: Four Thoughts on Dragon's Dogma
The stuff I've read here and elsewhere about quest design sounds really exciting.
Well, here's my starting party. Just a few more hours until we can go out on an epic adventure!
Hot!
I got my pre-purchase code from GreenManGaming a few hours ago.
Downloads on Steam opened about an hour ago. I downloaded it but I'm too tired to launch it as I know it will suck me in. 
Already played a little. Got my self customized and accidentally made my a dnd character as a pawn. So far so good even it was a lot of waiting to get started. Was free most the day but couldnt finishing installing til 8. Like what I've done so far and performance has been okay except one crash. Hopefully not a trend.
I only had one real complaint with the first game, but it was a pretty big one- only being able to have one character file at a time.
This game has topped that by only having one character ever. There is no option to start over. If you, like I did, pick a starting class you decided you didn’t like after the tutorial and want to reroll, you can’t. There’s no “new game” or “delete save” option. The only option appears to be turning off cloud saves and then finding the save directory which is conveniently just a jumble of random numbers buried deep in a subfolder of a subfolder of a subfolder in the steam folder, and deleting it manually.
WTF?!
As someone who will restart a play through if they belatedly notice something they don’t like about the character they created (and who plays on PS5 where hunting down a save file won’t be an option) it feels like they are really going out of their way to eliminate a convenience that has no downside that I can think of. Very odd.
I’d also like to start several play throughs simultaneously before settling on which character I take forward, for similar reasons.
I guess I’ll just have to be 100% sure of the character I start with.
I’m the same way and how this game handles characters just confuses the hell out of me, it’s such a hostile design choice. I ended up making a shortcut to the save folder for future characters because it took forever to find the correct file to delete.
I never really played DD1 (bounced off of it pretty quickly but I don't remember why). However, DD2 is great! I'm running around, exploring, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. I know I can look at guides or YT videos to help out but that would ruin the fun for me. Not knowing and possibly making mistakes along the way is what makes this exciting. I'm not that far into the game yet, just beat what I would consider the first mini-boss and made it to a large town of which I forget the name of.
I understand the microtransactions are souring some people but for now, I'm going to enjoy the game for what it is and hope the adventure continues to amaze!
Quick observations after ~10 minutes
Very pretty!
It's medieval times meets Resident Evil. They really lay into the language, a lot... "Pray good sir!" I'm waiting to see characters eating a turkey leg.
Tutorial is silly, they cold have simply incorporated it into the true beginning of the game and been fine.
Do not like having to press a button to continue the NPC speaking. Ruins immersion and I never know if they're done speaking or just a pause.
When I started DD1, I too found the restriction to a single game file odd and annoying. (I too wanted to change my starting class after a couple of hours.) However, I soon came to respect - if not like - the choice.
First, there isn't really a starting class in any meaningful sense. Very early in the game, players are given the ability to switch class at will. No one is locked in to a class that they don't like or 'can't play'. It's not like a Souls game.
Second, the game forces you to live with the consequences of your actions or inactions. If you decide not to do a quest, because - say - it sounds a bit boring. Then that's on you. There's no rolling back a save when you discover that actually it offers an amazing rewards. You just have to plough on, sadder but wiser.
Third, I did wonder whether something like the pawn system might have impose some technical limitations on the number of saves.
As for the microtransactions, provided I can still earn my way to features that can also be bought... then I don't care. They don't affect my game.
Also, at launch PS5 games were £65 (rising to £70). Four years later, and after inflation has been above 5% for two years, I was able to buy Dragon's Dogma 2 for £59. Given the parlous state of the industry currently, I'm not going to begrudge them charging players to unlock some features early.
I’m about 3 hours into it.
Pro: the story is a lot more cogent.
Con: the starting vocations and combat seem almost entirely unchanged. Odd choice.
Had a long post talking about the criticism the game is getting but realized not worth the energy. Looking forward to getting off work to get back in. The start so far has been a better and faster version of the original game. And I'm liking it quite a bit. Maybe have died a bit cause I've been picking gear based on style more then anything else. that and not dodging as a thief.
Rather disappointed to see the microtransaction BS. I don't recall any mention of it during the previews, etc. which is disappointing in itself because they obviously knew it was going to be in the game but didn't want to talk about it.
I doubt it will effect me much but it leaves a stain on the game that is sad.
It appears to simply be convenience items in a strictly single player game. The whinging over it seems to be based on philosophical objection rather than any actual harm to one’s experience with the game.
I liked that fast travel was limited in the first game, so I wouldn’t be buying more fast travel spots than the game gives you during the course of the adventure. If someone else chooses to use them, that has zero impact on my enjoyment. Thus, if it is staining or tainting anyone’s experience with the game, it is on them.
It appears to simply be convenience items in a strictly single player game. The whinging over it seems to be based on philosophical objection rather than any actual harm to one’s experience with the game.
I liked that fast travel was limited in the first game, so I wouldn’t be buying more fast travel spots than the game gives you during the course of the adventure. If someone else chooses to use them, that has zero impact on my enjoyment. Thus, if it is staining or tainting anyone’s experience with the game, it is on them.
As this image points out - they sold it as a design philosophy to not have fast travel but it seems like more of a financial choice.
It appears to simply be convenience items in a strictly single player game. The whinging over it seems to be based on philosophical objection rather than any actual harm to one’s experience with the game.
I liked that fast travel was limited in the first game, so I wouldn’t be buying more fast travel spots than the game gives you during the course of the adventure. If someone else chooses to use them, that has zero impact on my enjoyment. Thus, if it is staining or tainting anyone’s experience with the game, it is on them.
I take the same view.
The reason not to fast travel in the first game was the fact that it helped with levelling Vocations. The most efficient way to earn Discipline Points was to dispatch lower level enemies as you travelled.
On a related matter, do enemies work the same way in DD2? In DD1, their level never changed and they respawned after a few days. Are they more dynamic in this game? That is, levelling with the player, and respawning in a general vicinity rather than in the exact same spot.
EDIT - The first game had Fast Travel, but it was deliberately resource limited. This forced players to make choices about where and when to Fast Travel. It also forced players to be caught out travelling at night, which is when the world was at its most hazardous.
If I understand the camping system correctly, players now have the option of camping at night if they haven't reached their destination. This still comes with risks of being attacked, but these seem much lower than the risks of remaining on the road, travelling.
The presence of a microtransaction does not imply the mechanics were designed with monetization in mind. The whole point of limited fast travel in Dragon's Dogma is to force you to really engage in the world, to emphasize the danger of travel, to help level your vocations, and to give a certain general feel to the player. It's an easily ignored MTX. Don't buy it, and play the game as intended.
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