I really did not think DD1 would ever get a sequel, there was the mmorpg that was only in japan but outside Dark Arisen and a bad netflix anime not much with the series, but here we are in 2024 with Dragon's Dogma 2.

Honestly its a little hard to talk about this without gushing like a fanboy. I've sunk a lot of hours in the first game and honestly I don't see this game as a replacement as I can see myself going back, even with a possible DA-like expansion. A few of my gripes with the sequel have to include how some vocations are handled, mostly just the magic vocations.

Every vocation now has 4 skills and a vocation action and Sorcerer while pretty powerful its very limited due the lack of options. The overall lack of the dark element and even some of its defensive options like Necromancy are missing. Missing skills aren't too much a big deal but it is a little sad.

Mage got a upgrade in general and I can't say im too sad about Mystic Knight being gone and replaced by Spearhand, as Spearhand is quite fun. Magick Archer's lack of daggers however are bit sad but this just something DD2 wanted to do with its vocations as sub weapons aren't really a thing per say which in a sense gimps magic vocations as they don't just get to have 6 spells.

In a sense this game is DD1 realized to an extent however there's a reason when you first boot this game up it says Dragon's Dogma and not Dragon's Dogma 2. The beastren are finally used and an Elven Area is here but obviously nothing about the Moon, and some story beats are similar but not the same. However the game's plot is definitely different.

One core aspect is that The Dragon in 2 is generally very passive only really making the Arisen and basically leaving to them to their own devices. This is very different from Grigori in 1 who very much lives up to his role, it makes Grigori a very personal villain to the Arisen in 1 but that can't be said in 2. The Dragon in 2 isn't even named nor does he actually tell this, in a lot ways this Dragon hardly even wants to be here and that leads into the unmoored world.

The unmoored world is where this game starts to be a sequel, its even got a title drop when you first boot it up. This is the post-game of DD2 and like DD1 you'll be here for a bit to slay certain bosses but no collecting 20 wakestones here. In the unmoored world we get a better glimpse of the Seafloor Shrine, a shrine that we see around the half way point of the game and turns it out that its the ruins of Gran Soren. Meaning that we did not break the cycle in the events of DD1, instead our Pawn lived out their life and eventually just like DD1 Gran Soren and apparently all of Gransys is nothing more than ruins deep below the sea of this new world.

Another thing I love about DD2 are the Pawns. I loved Pawns in 1 and never really tired of them saying the same lines of "wolves hunt in packs" "tis weak to fire" and what not. That's still here and well with lines such as "The early griffin gets the worm." "There's a ladder here" but generally I love how much more emotional pawns are at the start of the game. In DD1 Pawns aren't too human in the start only ever becoming more personable the longer you play. In 2 there is a lot more to them personality wise and there's even a hidden pawn affinity stat that changes the true ending slightly.

Overall I think i could sit here and type out almost all my thoughts about DD2 but for the sake brevity I think I'll stop here. This review is a mess but generally I just really like Dragon's Dogma 2 as much i like the first game. While yes the performance should've been better on launch and yes there was a gross amount of misinformation on the mtx that really shouldn't exist, There wasn't a whole lot the damper my experience of this game. All i hope for is that the expansion is about impactful as Dark Arisen and that a hard mode gets added.