Recent reviews by DRAGON'S DOGMA 2 APPRECIATOR

Game is excellent so far. Performance issues aside, Itsuno seems to have realized his vision. He's said that he wants DD2 to feel like an "isekai", or an "offline MMO", or an immersive simulator. It really feels that way when playing it. The detail is overflowing and overlapping and the game lives and breathes with you as part of its fabric. The combat is even more in-depth than in the first game, with tons of contextual actions. The worldbuilding is gorgeous and extends to every inch of the UI. The pawns have full back-and-forth conversations based on your actions. It's insane.

Regarding the current outrage, the MTX just exist to trick people into buying them. They shouldn't be sold in the first place, but the game isn't balanced around them. DMC5 and DD1 were the same and were filled with MTX for items that you could easily acquire in-game, or wouldn't want to use in the first place, like revives. In DD1, re-editing your character was similarly limited at the start, but upon NG+ you could get the ability to re-edit as often as you wanted. One save slot is restrictive, but intentional, as you're meant to have a persistent character and choices are meant to be consequential. These stumbling blocks aren't really what the game is about, and not something you'll worry about when actually playing.

So far, a dream come true for Dragon's Dogma fans, especially if the quality stays at this level or higher for the rest of the game. Excited to play more and hoping for performance patches.

Despite no prior experience with WH40k nor Tide games, I fell in love immediately, and have been playing it consistently since open beta. I play all classes, in order of Psyker>Zealot>Veteran>Ogryn.
Darktide appeals to players whose endgame is challenging themselves through expressive moment-to-moment gameplay. The core of the game is magnificent, and the gets better the higher in difficulty you go.
It may disappoint players who prefer external incentives and progression systems like a story-based campaign or leveling up and looting.
Combat is visceral and meaningful. Mechanical skill is your greatest asset. You have freedom of expression offset by high stakes. Music, art, voice acting, and dialogue writing are stellar. When everything hits it HITS and STAYS, and you ride the edge between flow state and chaos for minutes at a time, untensing only at the end.
To me, fun is the primary objective, and all the extraneous systems are excuses, not incentives. If I cared about in-game profit, I’d choose to win every time at lower difficulties. Instead, I love playing on the highest difficulty, and would prefer to have more fun despite failing. That’s my proof that the game is worth playing for its own sake.
Detailed review below:
I played the open beta as Psyker and fell in love. It’s my ultimate power fantasy: sword/gun/magic/agility all in once. Sword limb dismemberment, a meaty revolver with cylinder-dependent reload animations, crushing brains with your magic hands, dodging overheads and sliding under gunfire.
Leveling and gear score have hardcaps, so instead of running an endless treadmill of arbitrary scaling, the endgame is you tweaking your loadout and mastering your tools. You can cram tons of inputs into one moment. In one breath, you can use audio cues to dodge a pouncing hound without looking, slide away from a horde and towards an escape route, weave through your melee combo string to ready a specific heavy attack that you know will oneshot headshot the mutant that’s charging to grab you, and use an ability that will stagger the flamethrower in the enemy backline.
High skill floor, higher skill ceiling. A single of the lowliest enemy can wipe out a huge chunk of your healthbar if you let it hit you, so everything is dangerous. Yet, you can kill 100 enemies in a minute, and take 0 health damage between health stations, so you’re even more powerful than they are dangerous.
It’s less “simon says press X to not die” and more freestyle. There are multiple ways to successfully handle every situation.
The game invents problems for you to solve. The more chaotic it is, the more engaged you are. I usually play on the highest difficulty – Auric Maelstrom – and I love that I’m not guaranteed to win.
I hear that the toxicity of gamers scales with how negatively a teammate can affect your experience, and in Darktide, you can just clutch harder to pick up the slack. The Cutthroat Veteran says, “we are working as a team; just as individuals.” So when we wipe, people usually type in “lol gg”, because everyone had a good time and knows that even when the AI director takes a dump on the team, there’s always something you can improve upon – even if it’s as the result of a failure.
When you mix in all the variables, the moment-to-moment gameplay is always different. 4 players of any combination of 4 classes, each with 3 skill trees that you can weave between to mix-and-match, with a variety of weapon types and variants. These factors and the differences in human behavior set against a very dynamic AI director. If you’re still failing or there’s new builds you haven’t tried, then there’s still game left to play.
The music swells when hordes arrive. A gothic industrial church rave. You’re engulfed in the struggle of kill-or-be-killed, your brain and fingers are firing on all engines as you bring order to chaos by means of violence. Synths pound, organs reverberate, and choirs chant, and the moment you get a small respite, you realizing you’ve been tensing and holding your breath for the last few minutes.
The Loner Psyker speaks of hearing everyone else’s nasty thoughts about them, but also that they find combat soothing. Life is full of worries, but in Darktide, the enemies are the perfect canvas for your paintbrush. They’re just the right mix of human yet monstrous that it doesn’t matter if they’re unlucky or evil by choice. They have a simple judgement: for you to live, they need to die. The music transmutes this into a feeling of rapture: “life is hell, but against your enemies, you are righteous, and you are winning.”
The level design is incredible. Dense and grimy, yet enormous and sweeping. The maps look functional and habitable, yet every single room is exquisitely crafted to create memorable and unique combat encounters. Sets of maps take place in the same area and have a few common rooms, but they’re oriented differently. The level flow is linear room to room, but each room is like parkouring through an urban jungle gym.
The “story” is almost nonexistent, but every pore breathes with the worldbuilding. It’s “a day in the life”. EVERY SINGLE MATCH I hear NEW dialogue I haven’t heard before. From squad banter, to environmental comments, to narrations from the commanding officers. You build a clear picture of life in Hive Tertium, and the Imperium at large, but also see details like how one of the Ogryns counts his fingers in the dropship because he’s afraid they’ve disappeared, or how one of the Psykers believes there’s no improving society without hope. Over time, it’s become easier for me to use the in-universe technobabble than attempt to describe each area and concept.
The game has had its struggles, and still does. I have dozens of user mods that are simple QoL fixes and UI changes that increase usability. So many simple issues that bewilder you and hamper you from enjoying the game. Over time, they’ve massively increased performance and QoL changes, and have worked in lots of player demands, and they have a relatively open modding policy.
I don’t have much to say here because my play habits match what they encourage: checking the in-game shops frequently over long periods of time, and playing more than gambling on items. I admit it’s not great for creating the perfect weapon, but since mechanical skill matters so much more than a perfect weapon, I’ve always considered having one icing on the cake, and considered chasing the perfect weapon an excuse to play and not an incentive.
The update cycle for this game is slow but steady. The game keeps improving over time and has massively improved since its barebones launch. New missteps are small and usually course corrected. Questionable design choices are less impactful than the core gameplay. They keep trying out new things with the new content. The last patch added a level mechanic never seen before (breaching a wall) and 3 narrators at once. They aren’t big, but for me, as someone who is happy with the way the game already is, it’s promising that they keep on adding more. I’m looking forward to seeing the entire journey.

(distant screaming)
(panicked laughter)

Dragon's Dogma is a flawed masterpiece. It's an unfinished, mediocre version of its own potential - that's still one of my favorite games of all time and one of the best I've ever played.

I tried to write a longer review a while ago, but I can't do it justice within the character limit. I've come to realize Itsuno's games both raise the bar for gaming and leave me in a state of transcendent bliss and excitement, but also often leave me to ask "is that all?" in bewilderment.

For example, Devil May Cry 5 was full of love and attention to detail, but I expected them to do more with co-op. Despite them having good groundwork for some kind of infinitely replayable co-op random arena mode, it was only used in two missions in the main game, one of which was kind of bland and monotone. In Dragon's Dogma, hearing NPC's talk about the world of monsters and environmental hazards and happenings in other villages, I thought it would span multiple continents with vastly different biomes, more similar to how Elden Ring turned out. Then I ended up facing a map that has two towns that are each mostly empty that only takes a while to traverse because of stamina limits and the lack of a horse, and not for any bevy of pathways and hidden corners.

But when it's good, it's GOOD . It's hard to describe how good it feels without describing other games as bad. The combat is punchy, weighty, and feels straightforward and impactful. Things that are "weak to fire" don't just take more damage from it; harpies will have their feathers burn off and become grounded. Damaging chimera heads will change the behavior of the body based on what heads are left alive. Hitting things in the face hard enough staggers and fells them, and you can climb up a cyclops's body and gouge its eye. The pawn system is innovative and memorable, and having a good party of pawns makes every fight feel like you're fulfilling your destiny. The story does a good job of living its philosophy rooted in French existentialism. The original title song (which you can and should mod back into the game) sets the tone properly: this is an adventure that's made to get your blood pumping, and you're supposed to enjoy it. It's also a love letter to Berserk, which is my favorite piece of any media, and I'm thankful to this game and FromSoft's games for leading me to it years ago.

It's a very polarizing experience. I've seen someone say that you'll either have no idea why everyone is making such a big deal of it, or want to inject it directly into your veins as soon as you start playing it.
By the time I finished the tutorial, I was firmly in the latter camp.

Hopefully, one day, we get Dragon's Dogma 2, and it gets to be the game Dragon's Dogma tried its best to be.

It's OK.

My experience with this game can be summed as thus: every update I found myself testing the changes, nodding in satisfaction, then quitting the game to await the next update.

Arkane knows how to make a good game. No question. But if you film an Oscar-worthy movie and the lens is smudged while filming, you can't judge what's underneath without acknowledging what's been marring your experience the entire time.

=============================
PERFORANCE
Everyone is aware of the performance issues, and these still persist to this day. It runs much better than at launch, where it was literally unplayable, but that's because the game looks worse than before - the most noticeable change being the extremely aggressive LOD scaling. Out of the corner of your eye you notice the shapes of window frames and posters on distant buildings morphing in shape, or the furniture at the opposite end of a long hallway suddenly blinking into existence. FPS dropped to 15 when stabbing a gravehound, so they simply removed the inky visual effect that was causing the problem instead of optimizing it.
Also, Denuvo authentication is one of the longest "loading screens" of the game. Around half a minute to a full minute or more every startup.

=============================
GAMEPLAY
For the most part, gameplay is excellent and is Dishonored's strongest suit.

• Dark Vision was changed to a blurry short range sonar so unlike Dishonored 1 you aren't constantly seeing blue and yellow because you had no reason not to
  
• AI is much smarter
  
• Nonlethal combat options are a blast
  
• Bonecharm crafting system allows for player flexibility and "builds"
  
• Each level feels lived-in while maintaining the duality of directive flow and open options that made the first game so good.
  
• Emily and Corvo have distinct animations and final weapon upgrades. The animations are supremely cool.
  
• Each level is fairly distinct, some with extremely interesting central "gimmicks." I do, however, wish the game relied less on them and had more "regular" areas.

However, under the hood lie other problems. Most of them are quality-of-life issues:

• Gone are the hotkeys for journal, inventory, bonecharms, powers. Only one "journal" exists now, despite still having separate subsections.
  
• It took months for the power wheel to be fixed. It took almost a full second after activating to pop up and be usable, breaking flow so badly I almost never used it in the first place. It's finally fixed now, but this issue was glaring and it took so long to be addressed most of us played through without it fixed.
  
• Thrown objects don't always go exactly where your crosshair is. While this adds a layer of difficulty, it feels noticeably more clunky than in the first game.
  
• Mana regen is pitifully slow. From using a power to fully regenerating, Dishonored 1's time is 4.7 seconds -> 3.1 seconds with Spiritual Pool. Dishonored 2's time with 4x Spiritual Pool is 6.3s -> 5.5s. The devs said they fixed this effect, but it was only made worse.
  
• Bugs. Street speakers not playing. Dying after possessing gravehounds. An arc pylon never shutting down after pulling out its power, leaving it to either be dangerous to you to dangerous to your nonlethal playthrough. Some of these still aren't fixed.

=============================
STORY AND ATMOSPHERE

Reactivity
Great. My favorite part of Dishonored. You need to hide from a gang member to access a certain black market shop, and there are different scenarios and dialogue for if you hide, if you run into him outside, kill him outside, or kill him inside.

Emily and Corvo
Emily and Corvo are voiced. And... they don't talk enough. It's good that they're silent for most of the game, but there are times when you come across a portrait or photograph with an "Inspect" prompt. I'd love to hear Emily's thoughts on the High Overseer as see how that compares to Corvo's, or if it changes based on whether or not you accept the Outsider's Mark. Instead, all I get is the protagonist muttering the name of the person pictured. What's the point? Might as well keep them silent.

It made sense to me to play Emily first, but her story felt lackluster, like people at every turn were saying "check your royal privilege" despite my efforts to resolve everyone's problems without drawing blood. Corvo's is MUCH more interesting as a veteran of Dishonored 1.

The Outsider and The Void
I hate the new Outsider and his new voice. He felt threatening and malicious in the first game due to how calm and composed he was, and the Void felt like a strange and otherworldly place. The vignettes of Dunwall made it feel both unnatural and unnerving yet fundamentally woven into the universe. In Dishonored 2, it's just smoky blackness and sharp rocks. The Outsider is much jollier and moves around erratically, making grandiose hand gestures. They actually had a plot plot that could explain this change, but it was never addressed, so it just seems like a pointless retcon to me.

Main Plot
Dishonored's worldbuilding was always one of its appeals, and that remains true in Dishonored 2. However, the villains felt lackluster. Only the main villain has a real presence throughout the game, whereas everyone else feels introduced abruptly only to fall by your hand, all within the same mission. In Dishonored 1 everything felt personal and real. Perhaps it was because of the long intro where you interacted with most of them, or the Hound Pits's cast of characters all having different connections to your targets.

The nonlethal way to deal with Delilah is incredibly stupid. Not only is it an asspull that exists solely to give you the option, but it also takes an extremely sympathetic slant to her, giving her a false world of bliss to live in despite the fact that she's the one responsible for murdering countless people and yet her underlings got much worse nonlethal fates. Also, you can keep Corvo/Emily frozen in stone if you play high chaos, which is super cool, but there's absolutely no explanation for how they unfreeze. Not knowing how to deal with Delilah OR save the other family member is brought up at the start of the final mission and only the former is explained by the aforementioned asspull.

=============================

As you can see, I've played this game a LOT and have put a lot of thought into it. It was definitely worth all those hours and all that money, but the condition it was at launch and the sluggish drip-feed of support we barely get now is unacceptable. To set a precedent for future games, I can't recommend buying this unless they manage to fix all the performance issues and bugs, which doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

Cute, charming, fun. Great music. A little short, since I got 100% of the collectibles in 7 hours, but I can't remember the last time a game made me smile so much.

Samuel Hayden did nothing wrong.

It took me 20 hours to leisurely 100% this game, but I think $2 is a pretty good deal for 20 hours where I was continuously loving the experience.

Gameplay : solid, and is what warrants buying the game. You gunsling through levels with revolvers and rifles and face off against the game's versions of famous outlaws in a little duel mini-game, which is thought out to the point where it doesn't come off as a gimmick, even becoming more complicated and more difficult as you face down tougher opponents.

Story : engaging and has a satisfying conclusion. What caught me off guard was the storytelling device: your character is sitting in a bar recounting his only-slightly-embellished adventures, and you play as him within his version of the story. It has some reactivity to your own actions and is fantastically well done, and is why I wasn't bothered by the linearity of the game that others noted.

Aesthetics : decent graphics which hold up better due to being stylized. UI and sound is nice. I recommend a tweak you can look up that removes the black borders and grainy filter. They're neat and add to the "story within a story" facet, but since you spend the overwhelming majority of the game within this story, the novelty wears off fast.

Extra features : arcade mode is fun for challenge / score attack junkies.

Only downside: game becomes too easy when you get too many upgrades.

A̽ͩ͊̈́̾ͦ̂̇̒҉͉̰͈͖̮́͘̕E̢̘͇̟̲̥͓̜͔̻̯ͤ̓̔͑ͦͦ́ͮ̔ͥ̄ͣͣ̓ͤ͘̕Î̧͙̹̬̮̥̩̻̖̪̦̬͎̳̬͊̈͊̇͆̒͆͋̽̂̾́͛̒ͥ̐̌̀O̡̮̠͚̝̣̙͙͛̿̃͆ͪͯ̆͑ͦ͒̑̋́́̚Ȗ̸̡͎̟̲̺̪̣̜͕̘̩̳̞̖̹̝̮̣͑̌̍̉̈ͤ̍̆ͦ̐̄̔͘͘ͅ
̶̍ͪ̇̎̾͡҉͏͍̗͕ͅA̸̙͉͙̹̣͇͎̳͕ͣ̏ͧͧͫͤ͝ͅE̵̹̘̭̫͈̱̜͔͔̰̣̲ͯ̔͛̓͊̓̕I̢ͯ̒̂ͯ̑ͬ̆̇ͤ̽͛ͫ͒ͭ̿̏͞҉͖̗̟̥̭͍̲̟̖̼͉͢O̸̧͑̿ͤ͊̍̾͐̒ͤ̋͛́҉̰̲͈̫̼͖̮̬̩U̴̹̯̙͕͙̦̺̹̲̮͙̰͊̎͑̽̊̓̄̅ͥ̏ͪ͋͝
ͩ̀ͭ̑ͣ̑̿͑̓̆ͬͩ͏̬͉̺̩͍͈̗͍̜̗̜̯̠̝̦͢Ḁ̷̛͕̲͔̭̘̬̻̭͈̦͂͒̐ͫ̎Ȅ̸͎͎̺̞̭͔͔͖̝͖̣ͭͮ́̈́̒ͫ́͜Ī̞͚͍̬̝̟͙̟͎̙̪͖͈̲͎͚̟̘̟̒̋̾̈́́͜͟Ô̷̢̫̹͓̣̰͇̘͉̻ͪ̀͊ͨU̢͛ͩͮ͐̐ͤ̓̽̾̈́̚͏̺̦̱̞̗̳ͅ