Recent reviews by Ron

This game caught me by surprise. I daresay it's the best roguelike deckbuilder out there, and a very engaging story to go with it. Mechanically it's very deep and balanced as well, with a lot of choices to make the game easier or more challenging to your preference.

Dragon's Dogma 2 lets you explore a somewhat obscure, outdated and yet intricate tapestry of breathtaking visuals, immersive challenges, reminiscent of old RPGs. I personally am a sucker for hardcore RPGs in a high fantasy setting. Now the game does hook you into a curious journey of a high fantasy world, where you can be whatever you want, and play your own imagination of your power fantasy. Classes in this game are full of flavor and felt powerful. You would also experience random interactions with other players through the "pawns" they create and the experiences they share, setting up a supposedly infinite possibilities of playthroughs. On paper this appears to be a recipe for a GOTY contender, filled with randomness, whimsical adventures, and unforgettable role-playing moments. Until... Until it doesn't.

While the game's singular save game is a step back from modern conventions, and the MTX is deserving of its hate, and the performance is... crap, I really think it's the least of the game's issues.

Once the illusion fades, you really see the game for what it is. Crafting is meaningless, because most healing items are useless. Food are just decorations. Ailments are just an afterthought. Your journey from point A and B pretty much ends up being the same, with random conversations or interactions between your pawn breaking the tedium, which also after 10 or so hours, become another tedium.

Enemy variety is really lacking, and most battles quickly devolves into button mashing. At some point, everyone is so powerful by default, that even the strongest enemy is nothing but an epic spectacle, and a one-and-done experience. You might die once in a while, but it's typically because you don't really care about mechanics and charge headlong into combat to break the boredom. The telegraphing of enemy attacks are very hard to see due to bad camera and FOV, combined with how the controls just feels clunky at times, it does not ever feel that you are mastering any game mechanics to overcome difficult fights.

Build variety is also one dimensional: just level the vocation, learn new skills, get stronger and more expensive gear. Considering this game took years to develop, and Monster Hunter offer so much more variety and armor skills, I don't understand why CAPCOM can't implement some systems that they have learned as a true and tested formula from other games.

Exploration is also not rewarding once you see it for what it is. Every side adventure off the beaten path is just button-mashing through a group of goblins to discover a token hidden in some seemingly clever corners (there are 240 in the world mind you...) and some hard earned worthless amount of gold for clearing another cavern and dungeons filled with the same copy-pasted monsters.

And story... Was there a story? And don't get me started about the horrible camera throughout all the game's dialogs and the clunky interactions. It really felt like Dragon's Dogma is one of those early access title.

Learning curve in this game is really just dispelling the illusion of what initially seemed to be an amazing epic, devolving into a repetitive button-mashing, goblin-stomping adventure, forgettable characters, littered with sporadic moments of glory with 9 parts imagination 1 part actual depth. If you lack imagination, this game will probably bore you even faster. For the price, I don't recommend.

Enjoyed the game for sure, has so much potential.

But being lied to... with scummy developer practices, and promises that are just not being kept after marketing the game as "released." Just can't recommend it. Wait another half a year maybe, then maybe...?

Developers went radio silent for a month after trickling content and making empty talks. Then came back with a month's late blog post of an apology. What a clown.

"Hesitation Is Defeat."

The game rewards aggression, timing, and mastery of the game mechanics like no other action games I've played. Simple and polished to an almost perfect balance between combat, world-building, and immersion. This is a game that will grow on you, if you let it. Once you understand the risk-reward aspects of the game mechanics, mastering your enemy is just a matter of time and practice. Don't play this game if you like to play it safe.