So much of this game is basically the same as the first one, one of the most similar sequels separated by 10 years ever made. But I love the first game, so that's okay. There's not really anything like these two games. The most interesting thing about them to me is that they seem to be part old-school dungeon crawlers where you explore the dungeon while managing your party's resources/health and making decisions about how far you want to go before turning back, but here the dungeon is a big open world. I love the atmosphere of this game, and of course the combat system. I agree with the common criticismthat better enemy variety would be a huge improvement, but the combat is strong enough that I still always had fun just tearing through the enemies they gave me. And it's a shame the graphical performance isn't better. But the other common criticisms are virtually all incorrect, the story is neat and also minimal because this game isn't mainly about story, it's about exploration and combat. The obtuse systems are fun and interesting. The fast travel system makes the game more deliberately paced, and makes journeys more considered and rewarding. Dragon's Dogma 2 isn't for everyone, but I had a wonderful experience playing it.

This game is really neat! The story is compelling and fun, the art style is unique, and the puzzles are interesting. I know this is a visual novel and with that comes a somewhat slower pace than other things, but sometimes I became impatient watching the character animations, I just wanted to be able to move around. But it's not a major problem by any means, and the cartoony animations give the game a lot of its charm so I'm not sure I would change that aspect even if I could. Anyway, it's a fun time, glad to have finally gotten around to playing it