Recent reviews by St. Trina"s Sleepiest Warrior

I played during the Demo, found the game intriguing so wishlisted and bought when it was available. Am hopeful for the full release. It"s a pretty fun game (at least for me!) So will do a full review when it"s fully out.

It"s a very simplistic game at it"s core, but that doesn"t mean it"s not difficult, I found it pretty hard but I"m still trying to get a hang out of it. But it does feel like it"s worth the price that I paid for it.

The sense of awe you get when you come into this world is great, the first time I fought a Griffin it was amazing! They really nailed the combat for the most part, pulling you into that moment of an epic battle. Although I was a little bit bummed that we only got ten Vocations, what you can do with those vocations is pretty great! The majority of the vocations felt amazing to play, from Thief to Mystic Spearhand, they were all a breath of fresh air for the most part. A definite improvement over its predecessor and a very thrilling experience.

Most people are going to play for the combat, and they should, because it"s the probably the best thing the game has to offer. At a certain point though, you just become too strong and everything just seems like a chore to go through. Now this typically wouldn"t be a problem because that is the usual curve of such games like this. However, the problem is how quick it is to get to that plateau, at level 40 you"ve essentially peaked in combat and have access to weapons that easily destroy the majority of the limited enemy pool Capcom offers.

Moving on from combat onto the unique Pawn mechanic, it"s probably the main reason I"ve played for so long just to collect the badges. The Pawn AI can be jaunting at times, to downright abyssal but it gives you those moments to remember when you put the game down and think back on how funny that particular moment was. The dialogue and interactivity of the Pawns is a step up, making them feel more alive and great travelling companions.

There are also common issues with the gameplay that are brought up repeatedly from the lack of enemy variety and endgame gear which I entirely agree with as the endgame as a whole is lacking if I have to be honest. I felt like One change from the first game however that I utterly detest is the resetting of Portcrystals (and housing) in NG+, in my first play-through, it was amazing getting to explore everything! The second time in NG+ it was like, okay cool, this is nice, I know that goblin. the third time it had outlived its usefulness. The continuous running became somewhat of a dredge, the Ox Carts were a brilliant addition that mended alot of the tedious running but by the love of gods why is there not one for Harve Village, especially after you finish a certain NPC"s questline. All of these issues compound until it becomes quite apparent the longer you go into the game but it doesn"t detract from the gameplay and have this vivid enjoyment when you experience the game for the first time.

The gameplay plays to its strengths well and provides the player a great experience the first time through. But unfortunately issues are apparent and we shouldn"t be relying on DLC/expansions to fix said issues in the first place.




For a game described as "narrative driven", the story was one of, if not the most disappointing thing about it. It"s a short, incoherent mess that left me going "Oh, that"s it?". You will see a lot of veterans of the first game use the excuse of "Oh, it"s better than the first game" and to that I say yes, but how does the sequel hold up against the likes of its contemporaries like Baldur"s Gate 3? God of War: Ragnarok? Are these not the standards we should be comparing it to? And the reason is if because we do, we"re left even more disappointed. The NPC"s themselves are all but forgettable and horribly written, the main example of this being one of the main antagonists, Disa. Who you"d think as one of the main antagonists would have more direct involvement outside of one quest that is literally in the postgame, and it"s an attempt to redeem her. The story feels like an afterthought with the impact you have on it minimal and at a certain point you just wonder "Why am I doing this again?". It feels non-sensicial and is honestly a disappointing experience.

The side quests only add to the frustration, with the majority of them being tedious and essentially boiling down to "come back in a few days time". There"s a particular quest involving an Elf and Dwarf that essentially wettles down to "you"re going to use 4-6 Ferrystones, good luck" that"s especially annoying. None of them outside of Ulrika"s serve any purpose or feel like they impact the story in any way, this is really saddening for Nadinia, the Beastren on the COVER of the game who you"d feel would have an important questline but ends up having less quests than the amount of fingers on one"s hand with none them building on her character, her motives, and her role as Empress of Bakbattahl.

There"s no redeemable aspect to the story of this game besides the fact that speedrunners will probably rejoice at how short it is. It"s said this game took five years to make with twelve years worth of ideas being put into it. For the story however, it feels like they put all of that time into the gameplay and remembered that they actually had to have a story to go with it.




As soon as I entered the world, I was introduced to a Medusa, a Griffin and it was exhilarating! Seeing this world from the Elven homeland to the desert of Battahl was amazing. It was an amazing experience to see this world Capcom brought back after 12 years that really pull you into it. The wilderness was full of new sights and views while offering challenging foes such as Cyclopes and Ogre in the beginning.

The problem is, the immersion is hindered by the blaring issues with story progression, lack of reactivity, and just pure silliness at times and that is more often than not detrimental to the immersion. It wasn"t a problem in the first game because that jankiness added to it"s charm, it also had the excuse of being underfunded and rushed. But to me it was a little mood killing, although it might not be a problem to some, or even most, as it provides those fun little silly moments like kidnapping the queen and going out the front gate with no one caring.

Another was that exploration felt underwhelming in certain aspects, like for dungeons. It just didn"t feel rewarding exploring the majority of dungeons because the rewards were lacking or the dungeons themselves were generally just uneventful and boring. There are probably only two caves I could remember, and one of them was essentially mandatory due to it unlocking a means of fast travel between Checkpoint Rest and Bakbattahl. But the game offers some pretty views so it has that going for it.




For the most part the game runs fine for me (I"m used to sitting around 30-40 FPS) but yes, there is still an issue in highly populated areas. But for the most part it"s salvageable.

𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣

Dragon"s Dogma 2 is a great, even amazing experience for the first 40-60 hours, until you get to the realisation that you"ve essentially done all the game has to offer by then. Everything after that is just collecting all the badges and endgame gear then preparing to wait for the inevitable DLC that will fix a few of the game"s problems. If I had to sum up the game, it would be that it"s no Elden Ring or Baldur"s Gate 3, but it"ll do for the most part.

I wholeheartedly recommend this game while it"s on sale, it"s definitely not worth full price. I got it off Fanatical for $40 cheaper and am thankful I did.

Let me preface my review with the fact that there will be a bias given that I have been waiting for this game since the trailer first dropped in 2019. As someone who wasn"t familiar with DnD but loved Larian"s previous title Divinity Original Sin 2, this game has exceeded the majority of my expectations.


I would say the prominent issues of how easy the game was to get into (from people I"ve both played with and heard from) boiled down into two main categories:

1. Turn-based combat system
   
2. Larian"s implementation of the 5e system (action economy, spell slots, etc)

Personally, I love turn-based combat but I can understand how it"s slower-paced approach might be a deterrent to those who preferred the faster-paced Real-time combat (with pause) of Baldur"s Gate 3"s predecessor"s. This was probably the main deterrent/issue that came with people who said that they just could not get into the game. And you know what, that"s fine, it"s not for everybody.

Now, coming into Baldur"s Gate 3 with no prior experience of DnD, the whole action economy and spell slot stuff felt scary. Like what do you mean I only had an expendable amount of slots for spells and could only use certain actions one per short/long rest? It made me far too cautious with my abilities, consumable items, saving them for that grand battle that would never come (I"m looking at you Runepowder Barrel). The system feels intimidating and something you gradually get accustomed to the more you play.

Overall, I would say the main hurdle of the slower-paced Turn-based strategy combat with the need to methodically plan out your turn would be hard for some people to get into. But if you can get past that, the game itself is actually quite the immersive experience that draws people in with it"s amazingly story telling, world-building, and charm.


I think one of the main things that sets this game apart from other CRPG"s is just how good the character creation is. The amount of customisation for your character is phenomenal. Take Pathfinder for example, Owlcat does a great job, but I rarely ever find myself that invested in my character personally as they just don"t feel definitive to me and me alone. With Larian, they make me WANT to make the effort to push my character forward, to develop and invest in their story because of the effort I went through to make them. Larian just does a great job of letting me create the fantasy character I want to be.

The graphics throughout the game are just amazing and gorgeous, I did notice that there is a noticeable fall in quality during the cut-scenes though. Especially during Act III where some scenes honestly look cheap and unfinished. But besides that, the game is beautiful, with each act feeling aesthetically distinct and unique. From the vibrant florescent Underdark to the Temple of Lathander, each part is distinct and lends itself a glimpse into the wonderful world of the Forgotten Realms.


Borislav Slavov does a great job, if you"ve played Divinity Original Sin 2, you would be familiar with his work (as some of the music from DOS2 has been transposed into BG3). The Soundtrack for Baldur"s Gate 3 is great! Tell me true, where you expecting

A few of my favourite moments where the music really adds to the experience is the transitions between the Harpy Song and Lead Your Fight in Act I. Where if you break the Harpy"s concentration the music just transitions from this slow alluring ethereal song to this fast heavy hitting trumpets that just gets you hyped. It"s a brilliant moment showing how much the music of a game can add to your experience.

Overall, the music for the game is perfection and as someone who usually mutes the music in games so I can play songs over it. I just couldn"t do it for this game, every piece added to the moment, it helped shape the scenes and gives me shivers. Hats off to you Borislav Slavov, you did amazing! Also it was funny watching my friend progressively get more annoyed by "DOWN, DOWN, DOWN BY THE RIVER~" when we making our characters for an hour.


As someone who has finished honour mode and gotten all the achievements, let me tell me you. The game gets progressively easier the longer you play and find out what works and what doesn"t. Unfortunately, I think this is where the game falls off, at a certain point the game just becomes too easy and everything becomes trivial. Larian"s previous title DOS2 is honestly much harder, especially in the later acts of the game. I don"t think it"s fully Larian"s fault given that they have to work within the 5e system that is more beginner friendly I"ve read. But still, I wish there were more challenging aspects to the game later on. I do hope that if there is a definitive edition/goodie-bag drops updates that they took a look at revising the boss battles (especially for honour mode).

But yeah, it can be overwhelming at first but as you play once you get an understanding of the how the game works it becomes easier to the point it"s trivial.


On release, the game had a few immersion breaking bugs. But the devs have been working hard to fix them. Although there is a prominent bug as of patch 5 that includes the recruitment of a certain companion that makes it annoying to recruit them. Most of the bugs that I"ve been aware of have been fixed though thankfully and Larian have been working diligently to fix them alongside adding much-requested content. There"s still bugs to fix but Larian have shown themselves capable and I have faith in their capability.



Reactivity is something that is often brought up among the praise of Baldur"s Gate 3, and it is often there for good reason. Your choices matter, what race, class, subclass, background, and choices you make can all make your experience unique with additional dialogues. It"s honestly amazing.

Something about Baldur"s Gate 3 that I adore is the ability to reward creativity and innovation to clearing obstacles. A clear example of this being Using Arcane Lock on Ethel"s escape so she can"t leave the teahouse like that"s genius! Why didn"t I think of that?

Combat too is incredibly fun once you find out what synergies there are, you can feel like a god at times, especially when you find that one item or hit that level that just makes you god.

Overall, the gameplay is just stellar and great with how Larian has implemented various ways to clear obstacles.


The story and world-building Larian have created with Baldur"s Gate 3 is impressive, it pulls you straight into it from the moment you step out of your pod. As you collect and form bonds with your party you feel yourself drawn into this world. That said, it"s not within it"s problems. I found the interactivity between companions lacking at times (most especially at camp, the banter while out an about is just fantastic! Loved every moment of it). The most jarring problem for me with the story is the final battle as it just feels like it"s missing that finale factor, the grandeur, the accumulation of our epic for this last battle, the climax of our story.

The ending on release was bad, I"ll be honest, but Larian have made improvements and the epilogue gave me shivers just hearing the stories and lives my former companions had without me.

This is one of those games where you wish you had the opportunity to just experience the game for the first time again. A defining game of it"s genre and I can"t wait to see what Larian does moving forward.

It"s a really fun game, but the content is somewhat limited and has an unfinished feeling to it unfortunately.

Update as of 29/12/2021:

It"s good to see that they"re adding a bit more free content and I hope that they continue to do so alongside DLC. Keep up the good work! I just bought the hippo DLC so hope it"s good.

When I got this game off Humble Bundle(? either that or one of those mystery key things) I didn"t really expect much. But after a playthrough I"m pleasantly surprised at how good this game is, it"s very creative and does what it needs to do very well. It requires the player to think outside the box and to look for the small details!

Cute game!

𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗚𝗔𝗠𝗘
𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺:
★★★★☆

[This is based on how easy it is to get into the game. The game is super simple in that regard, it"s similar enough to its predecessors to get into it if you are familiar with the AoW series.

And even if you"re new, it isn"t really that hard to get into. ]

𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘴:
★★★☆☆

[This is based on how good the graphics are. This game has some breathtakingly beautiful graphics, however [SPOILER: Personal opinion], the faction designs range from mediocre to dreadful. The Amazons and Assembly are at the forefront of this, it"s not that the Amazons themselves are terribly designed, it"s just... why do they not wear shoes? The Assembly are just... well look at them, I can get behind the grotesque and decrepit when it"s done well but they are just so unappealing. There"s just not enough variety in customisation choices to make unique individual characters. Essentially, it looks good but the severe lacking of customisation that works together (WHY can"t I have hair and a hood for my Syndicate commander!) leaves a lot to be desired.]

𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤:
★★★☆☆

[This is based on how good the music is. The music is alright, Oddly enough however, I feel like it"s not loud enough for me whenever I"m in game to hear it. Even with settings at max for audio]

𝘋𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘺:
★★☆☆☆

[This is based on how difficult the game is. This game is difficult in the sense that it can be really slow, I constantly have to right click to speed up movements of the enemy and of my troops. Besides that, it typically follows the same formula of its predecessors in the franchise. So if you"re familiar with the other Age of Wonder"s games. Then this shouldn"t really be a challenge for you.

The AI is decent, but good luck trying to rely on them if you"re in an alliance. I find them extremely lacking and doing the majority of, if not all the hard work when it comes to wars.]

𝘉𝘶𝘨𝘴:
★★★★★

[This is based on how well the dev team has dealt with game-breaking bugs. The devs are working as hard as I honestly haven"t encountered any bugs as of recently. I do like going to the Paradox forum and reading the bugs people have found and would like to comment on how fast and efficient the devs are in getting back to them! Well done!]

𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺:
★★★☆☆

[This is based on the gameplay of the game. As noted above, this game follows the same formula of its TBS-predecessors but at the same time innovates it in some respects too. This is done with the introduction of sectors and terrain creation/modification and more. So it"s pretty standard for what you"d expect from the AoW series.

The factions are unique enough both aesthetically and technically that they don"t verge into the pit where everything is the same. The secret technologies also give uniqueness and a diverse array of gameplay (Xenoplague for life!).

With all respect to the devs however, the campaign could have definitely have been better and it is definitely one of the more disappointing aspects of the game. ]

𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦:𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺:
★★★☆☆

[This is based on the price:quality ratio of the game. Eh, I would definitely wait for this to go on sale, and if you"re wanting it cheap, as of 22/07/2020, it"s on Humble Bundle for around $12USD.

But this is relative to how you perceive the value of things, and I"m a cheap ♥♥♥♥♥.]

𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭:
★★★☆☆

[It"s a decent game, AoW gone sci-fi was what I thought I needed, but the end result had me wanting more! Thoughtful and hardworking dev team and hope to buy the newest expansion soon!]

Nostalgia got me good

The game is very bare-boned at this point, but that only leaves room for improvement so I"m interested in seeing where the game goes from this point.

For the price it is, I"d recommend it if you want a fun, but limited experience.

Definitely not worth the price, I recommend picking it up only when there"s a sale.

It"s a decent game, but nowhere near worth this price, would only recommend getting it while it"s on sale.

It"s very gorgeous, but the park-creation aspect of the game is very bareboned and needs something akin to what Genesis had. I loved looking at individuals and seeing who they were, and everything, it made the game feel alive.

Pretty but could definitely use improvement.