Dragon's Dogma 2 - Released

[SirJames]

I'm now about 10 hours into the game, been all over the place by now, done a couple of caves, and many quests, and my performance isn't suffering from prolonged play, which works great for me.

As a side note, I seem to be finding Liftstones everywhere, I have 7 now in my inventory (they work as fast travel "charges" in DD2), so my initial skepticism about not being able to fast travel as often as I'd like is being quenched. Might become a problem later, so I won't get too feisty with their usage just yet.

I acknowledge this opinion with no objections.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Vaelith]

And now I am a sorceress, which is like a Mage, but more sorcerous.

 

[wolfgrimdark]

She looks nice but the male mage outfits look hideous, to the point I can't play a mage because of it. Shallow I know but when I plan on sinking 100+ hours into a game I want to enjoy the eye candy of a sexy character. The mage outfit is the antithesis of that Luckily I can have a mage pawn at least.

I suspect the game will be beyond challenging for me as right now I am playing in this armor (below) I also misread that it had difficulty settings. I thought it had three but turns out I was reading an old thread for DD1 not DD2. So, will see how things play out. I know I will have to get armor eventually but hopefully there is some nice thief stuff. I went thief since they seem to focus on hitting and not being hit so less dependent on heavy armor.

My main pawn is a fighter and my body guard. If I get supplemental ones, which I guess I will since I suck at this kind of combat (that isn't an exaggeration ... I have bad reflexes and when there is too much going on I panic, get flustered, hit the wrong keys, and often die from my own stupidity), then one will be a mage and the other an archer to have each archetype.

Anyhow even if I can't finish the game I am already having enough fun just exploring and enjoying my character. Looking at the mods already out, however, I suspect I may get some outfits and help from mods if I get desperate.

What I find amusing is the irony that I rant against turn-based combat games and yet I do the best at those as I can go at my own rate and don't have to worry about my 60 year old reflexes, bad eyes, and anxiety.

 

[Vaelith]

Sorceress is insanely fun. The spells are really fun to use and feel powerful and impactful, even from the base level. I was doubting a bit my choice when I got Mage as a base class, but ever since I promoted to Sorceress it's been a joy. I understand the aesthetic requirements, though!

A thing to note is that your global character level-ups are affected by the class you are at the moment of the level-up - for example, levelling up as Sorceress is giving me lots of Magic power and Magic Resistance stat boosts per level, but no Physical power, and very little health - those level ups, once you get them, they stick with you for the rest of your character's career. So while swapping Vocation is kind of easy, you will be a much less efficient Warrior if you got to level 40 as a Mage + Sorceress than as a Fighter.

That might address part of the concerns some people had about freely changing Vocation with no consequence. The consequence is clear, and it stacks more the higher level you are. If you want to reach the endgame being a proper melee warrior, better not be caught getting many level-ups as a spellcaster, and vice-versa.

 

[Zloth]

I think DD1 was that way, too, with respect to what stats level up as you gain power. I did a sorceress up until she hit max level, then switched to archer, then magic archer. (And then back to sorc again at some point. I missed my tornadoes.)

Though, there's something else to that. The DLC made the princess' dress available to female characters almost immediately, and that armor was pretty overpowered. I think I used it for the first two thirds of the game, and many of the female pawns used it as well. That might have made it a lot easier on me.

 

[wolfgrimdark]

Sorceress is insanely fun. The spells are really fun to use and feel powerful and impactful, even from the base level. I was doubting a bit my choice when I got Mage as a base class, but ever since I promoted to Sorceress it's been a joy. I understand the aesthetic requirements, though!

A thing to note is that your global character level-ups are affected by the class you are at the moment of the level-up - for example, levelling up as Sorceress is giving me lots of Magic power and Magic Resistance stat boosts per level, but no Physical power, and very little health - those level ups, once you get them, they stick with you for the rest of your character's career. So while swapping Vocation is kind of easy, you will be a much less efficient Warrior if you got to level 40 as a Mage + Sorceress than as a Fighter.

That might address part of the concerns some people had about freely changing Vocation with no consequence. The consequence is clear, and it stacks more the higher level you are. If you want to reach the endgame being a proper melee warrior, better not be caught getting many level-ups as a spellcaster, and vice-versa.

Thanks for the information. I dislike switching class for the same reason I don't like completely changing my chars looks. It feels odd. I never did it in BG3. Instead I try out a few things then settle on. If I get unhappy I restart even if I have a lot of hours into it. It is a nice option to have though - for others and I suppose if I end up in a real corner. But as you said once high level it becomes less efficient from the sounds of it.

I have my full team now. I wish I were really better at these games as I would love to do it with just me and my main pawn as I based them off Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser - about a giant barbarian fighter and his small rogue friend. I love the pair up of fighter and rogue. For now I have them and a mage for some healing and ranged. I'm only level 2 so not like I have done much so far.

Anyhow I will experiment. Who knows maybe I will get better at combat and can do some things with just two and call in other pawns if stuck.

My big fighter. One thing I love about this game is the impact of height - both visually and on mechanics.

 

[SirJames]

wolfgrimdark, are you gay or what? Just wondering, no judgement.​

All these hot guys for years. Whats the deal?

Like, I agree... hot guys are hot.... but why don't u ever make hot girls?

 

[Shagnak]

My big fighter. One thing I love about this game is the impact of height - both visually and on mechanics.

Either he's huuuuuuge or the other dude is tiny. Or a combo of both.

I give you the dynamic duo, Hyde and Tubbs. (does this make me a furry?)

 

[wolfgrimdark]

Either he's huuuuuuge or the other dude is tiny. Or a combo of both.

I give you the dynamic duo, Hyde and Tubbs. (does this make me a furry?)

View attachment 5133

I 'm a fan, the human one looks mean and deadly. Is Tubbs the feline?

I also found some armor for my rogue and had just enough gold for it. I can live with this as it befits a rogue.

Oh and Keth has the games max height and Grim the minimum so it really stands out between them. I didn't think it would be so extreme, as other wise I would have made Grim another foot taller. But it is what it is now.

I'm also seeing certain things in-game I didn't notice in the CC. I'm on my spare PC so when I get my main one back I might restart. For now I am still trying to get a feel for the game and taking notes. On the other hand I might keep them as sometimes its fun to just go with what you have.

PS - Grim has a touch of the supernatural in his bloodline, so pointed ears, red eyes, unusual brows. I wanted someone a bit different.

 

[SirJames]

I give you the dynamic duo, Hyde and Tubbs. (does this make me a furry?)

Fark, I don't know. I guess it depends how autistic you are. Furrys almost always have autism. People think furry is a kink thing but it's actually an autism thing.

 

[SirJames]

"PS - Grim has a touch of the supernatural in his bloodline, so pointed ears, red eyes, unusual brows. I wanted someone a bit different."

MMMMMM. Yeah, man. I love it. Just imagine that guy grabbing me by the hips and going to town. Fucking lush, bro.

No one makes characters like you do.

 

[Shagnak]

I 'm a fan, the human one looks mean and deadly. Is Tubbs the feline?

Yep. He's my main pawn tank. He holds the enemy back while my archer turns them into pin cushions.

 

[JDR13]

Something tells me SirJames is hitting the sauce extra hard this week...

 

[SirJames]

Yep. He's my main pawn tank. He holds the enemy back while my archer turns them into pin cushions.

Yeah, bro. Pin cusions! So full of pricks it's unreal!

 

[SirJames]

Something tells me SirJames is hitting the sauce extra hard this week...

You're not wrong, man. You're not wrong.

 

[SirJames]

I think I've got a problem. Since the covid lockdowns....

Like, I used to keep a solid shelf. Now I have no shelf and drink what I buy. I dunno.

It's pretty funny tho, right? They do all look like gay bears.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

I do, but then Danutz was saying that the frame rate was all over the place on his decent PC, so I dunno. I'm still playing Rebirth for now. Maybe a patch or two will improve it in the near future.

To be fair, I only played for about 30m to 1h. I did notice drops in framerate from 80/90 (which is where I capped my monitor refresh rate) to 40. It was probably 1-5% of the whole time I played that I noticed drops.
So very little mathematically, but it's still kind of "unacceptable" to have that on a 4090 and a ryzen 9 5950x, on a game that honestly doesn't look as good as CP2077. But just to keep it in perspective, I had plenty of considerable frame drops in CP2077 as well. But that game was way more impressive, so I'll be more forgiving.

Also to be fair, I wasn't writin the game off completely. I will be trying it again, in some time after they've patched it some more and released all of their extra content. And most probably after I've also gone through DD1. I don't want to just jump into the second one, since I fear it will make enjoying the first one harder to do.

 

[Clawler5]

I know I want to play this with a controller, but I'm also leery of the reports of crappy performance on the PS5. I have a computer that would run this at the highest settings, but this isn't the sort of game I generally play on PC. So not sure what to do. I know this isn't a console site, but if anyone happens to know a good source of performance reporting on the PS5 version of the game, kindly point me in that direction.

15 hours in and no perfomance at all .Looks great on a 70" T.V. I also like using PS5 for these type of games.

 

[Vaelith]

Another of the parts I adore about this game, my pawn aided another player, and got 2 commendations, 205 Rift Crystals and a piece of equipment out of it.

In DD2 you can even set quests for your pawn to do while travelling with others, and the reward they will get for completing it. It's just genius.

I think it's impossible for me to consider any game other than Dragon's Dogma 2 to be RPG of the Year for 2024, and we're only in March.

 

[Clawler5]

She looks nice but the male mage outfits look hideous, to the point I can't play a mage because of it. Shallow I know but when I plan on sinking 100+ hours into a game I want to enjoy the eye candy of a sexy character. The mage outfit is the antithesis of that Luckily I can have a mage pawn at least.

I suspect the game will be beyond challenging for me as right now I am playing in this armor (below) I also misread that it had difficulty settings. I thought it had three but turns out I was reading an old thread for DD1 not DD2. So, will see how things play out. I know I will have to get armor eventually but hopefully there is some nice thief stuff. I went thief since they seem to focus on hitting and not being hit so less dependent on heavy armor.

My main pawn is a fighter and my body guard. If I get supplemental ones, which I guess I will since I suck at this kind of combat (that isn't an exaggeration ... I have bad reflexes and when there is too much going on I panic, get flustered, hit the wrong keys, and often die from my own stupidity), then one will be a mage and the other an archer to have each archetype.

Anyhow even if I can't finish the game I am already having enough fun just exploring and enjoying my character. Looking at the mods already out, however, I suspect I may get some outfits and help from mods if I get desperate.

What I find amusing is the irony that I rant against turn-based combat games and yet I do the best at those as I can go at my own rate and don't have to worry about my 60 year old reflexes, bad eyes, and anxiety.

I do the same thing, get flusterd and always end up hitting wrong buttons. That is why i suck at elden ring.