Dragon's Dogma 2 might be the first Remake that doesn't market itself as a remake, but a sequel instead.

This was a weird choice and the result is, well... a weird game. If I hadn't replayed Dark Arisen so much in the last decade I would say DD2 is the memory that my nostalgia creates of DD1. You know, how you're memory of something tend to make it seem a lot better than it was?

In some says, DD2 is a lot better than the first game, in others, not so much:

Starting with the combat, it's a lot better here. The fact that being on top of monsters now accounts for gravity physics is, in my opinion, the biggest upgrade in this game. In Dark Arisen climbing on monsters felt very exclusive to some classes or just something insanely non-optimal that you would do just for fun. And this is because of the stamina system. In DD1 you pretty much spent stamina to be on top of monsters the entire time but in DD2 you can just stop grabbing it and attack it with the same moveset as if you were on the ground. And that's HUGE. You can finally live the fantasy of being Legolas by climbing a monster, staying on top of it's head and use all your cool skills, even the ones with long cast time.

The world and exploration is also an improvement. The world is just bigger and more detailed but the exploration has some interesting nuances that I didn't felt in DD1. In some ways, going on journeys in DD2 reminds me of "slow paced/planning heavy" games like Death Stranding, Red Dead Redemption 2 and even Stalker with sandbox mods. Everywhere you go, you have to account for the fact that you have to walk there and then walk back. You have to consider the time it takes and the supplies you have, and that makes it a very immersive experience.

Side quests are great, some of them have cool, twisted stories, a lot of them embrace the "things are not as they seem" philosophy and surprise you a lot.

The main quest is... not good. I feel conflicted here because as a fan of the first game, for some reason I never expected it to be improved but judging the game as a sequel I gotta say that it's a big missed opportunity for DD to take the next step and become better.

Conclusion: I think everybody that played and loved the first game, perceive Dragon's Dogma as a "gameplay mechanics" kind of game instead of a true action RPG experience. Somehow, I never expected DD2 to become a game about it's story. To me it's a game about gameplay loops, about farming vocation levels, mixing and matching augments and equipment and all of that ties excellently with the combat system.

Now my two cents on "expectations". I think DD1's popularity and "cult classic" status was always a meme. Not a funny meme, but just something people started to replicate just to be part of it. I think few people truly like DD1 for what it was and decided to spread the word on it by calling it the "most underrated game ever" and while I do agree, I think a lot of people started echoing this sentiment without playing the game. When I saw videos titled "DD2 will be GOTY material", "DD2 is like Elden Ring mixed with Skyrim", I knew a huge wave of disappointment would come after. And most youtubers that loved the first game knew too, that's why they started pumping out videos telling people to keep their expectations in check and why "DD2 isn't what you think".

Final Thoughts: I think DD2 is a hell of a good time that it does feel like a lateral move from the first game. It feels as if this sequel came out a year later after the first game, instead of 12 years later. And that's a weird sentiment to have.