Dragon's Dogma 2 Review 100+ Hours Played on PC, Playstation 5 & Xbox! NO SPOILERS!

Fextralife
20 Mar 202417:15

Summary

TLDRDragon's Dogma 2 offers a rich RPG experience with a medieval setting and a non-linear story. The game features over 80 unique quests with multiple outcomes, rewarding exploration, and a nuanced combat system. Despite occasional frustrations with its mechanics and performance issues across platforms, the game's depth, replayability, and unique pawn system make it a compelling adventure for fans of open-world RPGs.

Takeaways

  • 🎮 Extensive gameplay experience: The reviewer spent over 100 hours playing Dragon Dogma 2, showcasing the game's depth and replayability.
  • 💡 Cross-platform performance: The game was played on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, providing insights into its performance across different platforms.
  • 📚 Rich lore and setting: The medieval setting and cyclical approach of the game are appealing, with a wealth of lore enhancing the experience for players familiar with the Dragon's Dogma Universe.
  • 🔍 Non-linear questing: The game features over 80 unique quests with multiple endings and outcomes, influenced by player decisions and actions.
  • 🚀 Challenging start: The game begins with the protagonist escaping prison and finding their place in the world, setting up a complex and engaging journey.
  • 🛡️ Complex combat system: Combat is methodical and rewarding, with a focus on preparation and knowledge rather than just skill.
  • 🏕️ Camping mechanics: Campsites allow for character interaction, skill changes, and rest, adding depth to exploration and enhancing the sense of immersion.
  • 💰 Post-game content: The game offers substantial endgame content, including new currencies, shops, and equipment, encouraging further play after the credits.
  • 🌟 Unique vocations and upgrades: Dragon Dogma 2 introduces a variety of vocations and upgrade styles, allowing for extensive customization and strategic gameplay.
  • 🎵 Mixed musical score: While the game's soundtrack didn't reach the emotional heights of the first game, it still provided a fitting backdrop to the gameplay.
  • 📈 Performance issues: Despite being available on next-gen consoles, the game suffered from subpar FPS performance on all platforms, which may affect the player's experience.

Q & A

  • What is the reviewer's overall opinion on Dragon's Dogma 2's story and setting compared to its predecessor?

    -The reviewer believes that Dragon's Dogma 2's story is superior to its predecessor and that the medieval setting and cyclical approach are well-conceived, making it a worthy investment of time.

  • Is it necessary to play the first Dragon's Dogma game to enjoy the sequel?

    -No, it is not necessary to have played the first game to enjoy Dragon's Dogma 2, but knowing the lore of the Dragon's Dogma Universe can add to the experience.

  • How does the reviewer describe the gameplay of Dragon's Dogma 2?

    -The reviewer describes the gameplay as a stoic and nuanced action RPG that requires determination and patience, with a large world that can be both rewarding and frustrating due to occasional bugs and lack of streamlining.

  • What are some of the issues the reviewer faced with the game's questing system?

    -The reviewer found the questing system confusing initially due to the lack of a quest board or markers, and the quests mostly appearing from NPCs approaching the player or when talking to someone almost at random.

  • How does the reviewer feel about the game's travel and weight mechanics?

    -The reviewer finds the travel and weight mechanics more tedious than the first game, as the world is much larger and quest directions are often vague, leading to confusion and wasted time.

  • What new feature in Dragon's Dogma 2 does the reviewer particularly enjoy?

    -The reviewer particularly enjoys the addition of camping, which allows for setting up with companions, chatting around the fire, grilling food, changing skills, and resting to recover HP and clear blights.

  • How does combat in Dragon's Dogma 2 differ from the first game?

    -Combat in Dragon's Dogma 2 is methodical and rewarding, focusing more on preparation and knowledge rather than being skill-based. It involves optimizing equipment, party buffs, curatives, and damage capabilities before entering battles.

  • What improvements have been made to the pawn system in Dragon's Dogma 2?

    -The pawn system has been streamlined and improved in Dragon's Dogma 2, with the ability to select pawns with quest knowledge and direct them to act as guides, and the option to hire pawns who have discovered something nearby in another world.

  • How does the reviewer describe the game's art direction and graphical fidelity?

    -The reviewer praises the game's art direction, with interesting monsters, unique and fashionable armor and weapon concepts, and a stylized interface. However, they note that while the game is pretty, it lacks a graphical wow factor and has some stiff face animations and awkward movements.

  • What are the reviewer's thoughts on the game's performance across different platforms?

    -The reviewer played the game on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, and found that FPS performance was subpar on all platforms, with Xbox being the worst and PC running the best. Despite the low FPS, the reviewer did not feel it was ruining the game.

  • How long does the reviewer estimate the game's playtime to be?

    -The reviewer estimates that players can expect 50 hours of content and 100 hours for completionist content, plus additional time spent in endgame and doing specific hunts with pawns.

  • What unique aspect of Dragon's Dogma 2 does the reviewer find particularly engaging?

    -The reviewer finds the asynchronous online feature of the pawn system particularly engaging, as it allows for community optimization ideas and adds a unique charm to the single-player experience.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 Introduction and Game Overview

The review begins with an introduction to Dragon Dogma 2, highlighting the reviewer's extensive gameplay experience of over 100 hours. The discussion covers the game's performance on PC, Xbox, and Playstation, and addresses whether prior knowledge of the first game is necessary to enjoy the sequel. The medieval setting and the game's non-linear approach are praised, as well as the game's ability to adapt to player decisions, offering multiple quest outcomes and affecting the world dynamically.

05:00

🛡️ Gameplay and Mechanics

This paragraph delves into the gameplay elements of Dragon Dogma 2, emphasizing the need for determination and patience due to its complex mechanics and large world. The reviewer shares initial frustrations with the game's questing system, travel, and weight mechanics, but also notes the eventual 'click' that hooks the player into the game. The paragraph discusses the game's endgame content and the rewarding exploration and discovery aspects, as well as the nuanced combat system that requires preparation and strategy.

10:02

🏕️ Exploration and Combat

The review continues with an exploration of the game's open-world elements, including camping mechanics that offer stat bonuses and recovery, as well as the joy of discovering hidden items and challenging enemy encounters. Combat is described as methodical and rewarding, with a focus on preparation rather than skill-based actions. The variety of weapons, armor, and vocations available for customization is praised, as is the game's post-game content, which includes new currencies, shops, and equipment.

15:02

🎨 Visuals, Performance, and Sound

This paragraph critiques the game's visual and performance aspects, noting the beautiful yet unimpressive graphics and the lack of a 'wow' factor in the landscape design. The reviewer discusses the game's performance issues on all platforms, with Xbox suffering the most significant FPS dips. Despite these issues, the game's immersive qualities and the charm of its NPC characters are highlighted. The music and voice acting are deemed satisfactory, but not particularly memorable, with some limitations in the pawn voice selection.

🎮 Final Thoughts and Recommendation

The review concludes with an overall positive outlook on Dragon Dogma 2, despite its flaws. The game is described as a unique experience with a roller coaster of emotions, offering rewarding exploration, nuanced combat, and a strong community aspect through the pawn system. The reviewer acknowledges the game's shortcomings in design and performance but ultimately recommends it for its engaging content and the sense of discovery it provides.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Dragon's Dogma 2

Dragon's Dogma 2 is the sequel to the action role-playing game Dragon's Dogma, developed by Capcom. It is the central subject of the video, with the reviewer sharing their extensive experience after investing over 100 hours into the game. The game is noted for its unique setting, gameplay mechanics, and the exploration aspect.

💡RPG

RPG, or role-playing game, is a genre of games where players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. In the context of the video, Dragon's Dogma 2 is an RPG that emphasizes player choice and consequence, with a rich narrative and character development.

💡Performance

In the context of video games, performance refers to how smoothly and efficiently a game runs on various platforms. The reviewer discusses the performance of Dragon's Dogma 2 on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation, noting issues with frame rates and occasional dips.

💡Gameplay

Gameplay refers to the ways in which players interact with a game, including the rules, challenges, and mechanics that govern the player's experience. The reviewer delves into the gameplay of Dragon's Dogma 2, highlighting its action-oriented combat, exploration, and questing system.

💡Quests

Quests are tasks or missions that players must complete in order to progress in the game. In Dragon's Dogma 2, quests are a core component of the gameplay, offering multiple outcomes and ways to approach them, which affects the world and its characters.

💡Vocations

Vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2 refer to the various character classes or roles that players can choose for their characters. Each vocation has unique abilities and skills, allowing for diverse gameplay strategies and character customization.

💡Pawns

Pawns in Dragon's Dogma 2 are AI-controlled companions that assist the player in combat, exploration, and questing. They can also be hired from other players, introducing an asynchronous multiplayer element to the game.

💡Endgame

Endgame refers to the content and activities available to players after they have completed the main storyline of a game. In Dragon's Dogma 2, the endgame offers additional challenges, gear, and content for players to explore and enjoy.

💡Exploration

Exploration in video games involves the act of discovering new areas, secrets, and content within the game world. Dragon's Dogma 2 is noted for its vast open world that encourages exploration, with numerous hidden areas, collectibles, and dynamic encounters.

💡Combat

Combat in Dragon's Dogma 2 is the player's interaction with enemies through fighting, using a mix of strategy, skills, and equipment. The game's combat is described as methodical and rewarding, with a focus on preparation and knowledge rather than solely on player skill.

💡Graphics and Art Direction

Graphics and art direction refer to the visual aspects of a game, including character and environment design, lighting, and overall aesthetic. Dragon's Dogma 2 is praised for its good art direction, with unique and fashionable armor and weapon concepts, despite some graphical limitations.

Highlights

The reviewer spent over 100 hours playing Dragon Dogma 2, providing an in-depth analysis of the game across PC, Xbox, and Playstation platforms.

Dragon Dogma 2's story is independent of the first game, but the lore of the Dragon's Dogma Universe enhances the experience.

The game's medieval setting and cyclical approach are well-conceived, drawing comparisons to pillars of Eternity or Wheel of Time.

The reviewer found the character motivations and world exploration in Dragon Dogma 2 to be rewarding and engaging.

The game's quests have multiple endings and are affected by player decisions, leading to a dynamic and responsive world.

Dragon Dogma 2's gameplay requires determination and patience, with a large world that can lead to frustration due to bugs and lack of guidance.

The game's open-world exploration is vast but can be tedious due to vague quest directions and travel mechanics.

Camping is a new feature that allows players to rest, recover, and gain stat bonuses, enhancing the exploration experience.

Combat in Dragon Dogma 2 is methodical and rewarding, with a focus on preparation and knowledge rather than skill alone.

The game offers a variety of weapons, armor, and vocations, allowing for extensive customization and strategy in battles.

Dragon Dogma 2's endgame content is extensive, offering multiple endings and new challenges that encourage further exploration.

The game's art direction is praised for its interesting monsters and stylish equipment, though the graphics lack a 'wow' factor.

Performance issues are noted across all platforms, with Xbox suffering the most, but the reviewer found the gameplay enjoyable despite these issues.

The music score did not leave a memorable impact, and voice acting was good but with limited options for pawn voices.

Dragon Dogma 2 offers a massive playtime, with 50 hours for the main content and over 100 hours for completionists.

Replayability is high due to the variety of vocations and the New Game Plus mode, which allows for new solutions and outcomes.

The pawn system is a unique asynchronous feature that adds charm and community engagement to the single-player experience.

Despite some design choices and performance issues, Dragon Dogma 2 is recommended for its rewarding exploration and combat system.

The game is described as a roller coaster of emotions, with high points that outweigh the frustrations, making it a game of the year contender despite its flaws.

Transcripts

00:00

in this Dragon Dogma 2 review I'll be

00:01

sharing my experience following my

00:03

extensive time with a game after

00:04

completing it with over 100 hours of

00:06

gameplay time there's a lot of talk

00:08

online about the game's performance and

00:10

I have played the game on all three

00:12

platforms PC Xbox and Playstation so

00:14

we'll get into how it plays on all three

00:16

a bit later in this review if you want

00:18

to know what the game has to offer how

00:19

it measures up to its predecessor and

00:21

how it holds up against modern RPGs this

00:24

is the review that you need as always

00:26

I'll begin the review by covering story

00:28

and setting because your motivation can

00:30

really affect your enjoyment of an RPG a

00:32

common question that I get is whether

00:33

you must play the first title to enjoy

00:35

this one and the answer is no but

00:37

knowing some of the wealth of lore of

00:39

the Dragon's Dogma Universe certainly

00:40

adds to the experience the medieval

00:42

setting of the game is always very

00:44

appealing and its concept of cyclical

00:46

approach is well conceived and will feel

00:48

familiar to those of you who enjoy

00:49

pillars of Eternity or Wheel of Time the

00:52

books of course the show is horrible the

00:54

story of Dragon stma 2 seems to be the

00:56

typical RPG hero you start in a prison

00:58

make your Escape thanks to the help of

01:00

of a mysterious figure and set off to

01:02

find your place in the world eventually

01:03

involving yourself in all the possible

01:05

Troubles of the land in this regard I

01:07

feel the game is very well done with

01:08

over 80 unique quests that are by no

01:10

means go fetch 10 healing items and the

01:13

game shines in its capacity to adapt

01:14

your decisions and actions most quests

01:17

seem to have multiple endings or ways to

01:19

go about them and their progression

01:20

affects other quests NPCs and even store

01:22

inventories I found myself enjoying

01:25

discovering the characters and their

01:26

motivations and exploring the hidden

01:27

lore and Nuance of the World At Large

01:30

all in all without giving any spoilers

01:31

the story is superior to that of its

01:33

predecessor and a worthy investment of

01:34

your time now your time is something

01:36

very valuable and one thing that the

01:38

game doesn't always respect which brings

01:40

us to

01:41

gameplay as a stoic and nuanced action

01:44

RPG Dragons Dogma 2 is the kind of game

01:46

you must approach armed with

01:47

determination and patience this is by

01:50

now very familiar to me as I very much

01:52

enjoy Discovery and exploration of both

01:53

world and mechanics I'm no stranger to

01:56

obscure Quest objectives disappearing

01:58

NPCs and uncertain checkpoints

02:00

but if you are looking for a

02:01

straightforward and guided experience

02:03

Dragon's Dogma 2 is not the game for you

02:06

having completed in love the first game

02:08

I thought I was well prepared for

02:09

whatever challenge the new mechanics may

02:11

give me what I was not prepared for was

02:13

the fact that the world is so large that

02:14

a simple mistake or a small NPC bug

02:17

would mean my second hour of the game

02:18

would be spent tediously running a very

02:20

long way to a large town because the

02:22

intended Ox cart was lost to a bug you

02:25

may remember my humorous story about Jim

02:27

from the beware pre-launch video well it

02:29

was that all over again and that I was

02:31

very ill prepared for such a long

02:32

journey already feeling the stamina

02:34

exhaustion of all my stocked curatives

02:36

and of course it became night time and I

02:38

was promptly besieged by armies of

02:39

skeletons that I was in no way the

02:41

appropriate level to tackle welcome to

02:43

Dragon's Dogma 2 this set a rather

02:46

frustrating tone to the start of my

02:47

adventure but I made it to the objec of

02:48

determined to get back on track it took

02:51

me some time to get used to the new

02:52

questing system as there's no Quest

02:53

board or markers for quests and they

02:56

seem to mostly appear from NPCs

02:57

approaching you or when you talk to

02:59

someone almost at random this made me

03:01

feel like I was missing a lot of quests

03:03

but I soon realized the futility of

03:04

attempting to hit up a conversation with

03:06

over 1,000 NPCs in the game and accepted

03:09

that it would just work out if I just

03:11

let it happen from here the next step

03:13

was readjusting to the lack of

03:14

streamlining on travel and weight

03:15

mechanics I must report they are not

03:17

just like the first game but perhaps

03:19

they're even now more tedious as the

03:21

world is so much larger adding to this

03:24

Quest directions are very vague that I

03:25

often got confused or lost on what to do

03:27

or where to go and ended up doing

03:29

pointless round trips to farway

03:31

locations and wasting hours of my time I

03:34

felt that some of this was my fault for

03:35

not thinking things through but there is

03:37

also some blame to be assigned to poor

03:39

design choices that do in the end take

03:41

your time for granted regardless I

03:43

learned my lesson and pressed on until

03:45

Dragon Dogma 2 clicked at a point

03:47

somewhere around the 20 to 30 hour mark

03:49

riding this momentum I started tackling

03:51

harder fles venturing to undiscovered

03:53

zones found new vendors with exciting

03:54

and expensive gear and uncovered more

03:56

Insidious plots this is the point where

03:59

the game really hooked me and somehow

04:00

made me forget that I just spent 20

04:02

hours killing goblins harpies and Sans

04:04

while out of stamina it would take

04:06

another 20 hours or so to reach endgame

04:08

and find the true Dragon Dogma 2 the

04:10

feeling you get when the credits roll

04:12

but you know there's more to discover

04:13

and find the developers put a very fun

04:15

end game for you to stick around

04:17

needless to say much like my original

04:18

experience the game won me over with its

04:20

end game of course that's a rather High

04:23

number of hours for something to click

04:24

or reach its full potential and many

04:26

people would not want to spend the time

04:27

or effort when they are uncertain they

04:29

will enjoy that as much as I do so let's

04:31

delve into the specifics of gameplay

04:33

Dragon's Dogma 2's quests are well done

04:35

and I found them very enjoyable due to

04:37

the multiple scenarios and approaches

04:38

that can happen that said they were also

04:40

very confusing at times and you may end

04:42

up relying on pawns to tell you where to

04:44

go or what to do next fortunately there

04:46

is a system for you to select pawns who

04:48

have Quest knowledge and direct them to

04:49

act as your guide this also applies to

04:52

exploration where the pawns you have

04:53

hired will mention that they've

04:54

discovered something nearby when in

04:55

another world and offer to show you this

04:58

is a fantastic mechanic because it's

05:00

optional for those who rather not use it

05:02

but can be a huge timesaver given the

05:04

scope of the world vastness can be very

05:06

appealing in an open world game but it

05:08

does get very tedious when exploration

05:10

is interrupted every 2 minutes by yet

05:13

another band of goblins that you're

05:14

going to face roll anyway and have no

05:16

good loot to give you and the lower

05:18

levels of the game have honestly four

05:19

daytime enemy types goblins Sans harpies

05:23

and wolves it got boring very fast and I

05:25

was just so glad on the reare occasion a

05:27

cyclops would attack me instead

05:29

rejoicing while it bashed my brains up

05:31

something that really offset some

05:33

annoyance and helped make me feel

05:34

immersed though was the addition of

05:35

camping you'll find many campsites

05:37

around the world and they allow you to

05:38

set up with your companions and chitchat

05:40

around the fire while you grill some

05:41

food Provisions that you've gathered

05:43

you'll get bonuses to your stats and

05:44

regeneration based on the type of steak

05:46

that you use just be careful to stay

05:48

away from rotted meat or you'll get

05:49

blight for the entire party the camp

05:52

also allows you to change skills which

05:53

is very convenient if you're planning on

05:54

tackling a nearby monster and must swap

05:56

some Elemental Buffs and of course

05:59

camping lets you rest and recover all

06:00

your HP and clear all bights with the

06:03

assistance of camping I was able to

06:04

truly lose myself in Exploration and it

06:06

became almost a different game and

06:08

allowed me to feel the reward of

06:09

exploring I searched around bushes to

06:11

find rare items discovered cleverly

06:13

hidden Collectibles climbed steep Cliffs

06:15

to reach unuk chests and delve deep into

06:17

caves filled with monsters While most

06:19

gear seems to be bought in shops there

06:21

is still a lot to be found including

06:22

Rings armor and weapons and some enemies

06:25

even dropped me some equipment adding to

06:26

the joy of Discovery since so much of

06:28

the exploration ends being enemy

06:30

encounters combat is a huge part of

06:32

Dragon Dogma 2 right away you don't

06:34

really have big epic battles for the

06:35

first part of the game so you weren't

06:37

focused too much on optimizing your

06:38

equipment or party this can mislead

06:41

people into thinking the combat is too

06:42

simple but the reality is that it's

06:44

actually very methodical and rewarding

06:46

this is not a skill-based game for the

06:48

most part it's a preparation and

06:49

knowledge game so when you play you'll

06:51

spend a lot of time checking shops for

06:53

gear for yourself and pawns optimizing

06:55

your curatives and spells and checking

06:57

hired pawns for desired traits and

06:58

skills

07:00

this means by the time you enter a

07:01

battle you're rolling the dice in a

07:02

board game and seeing your efforts

07:04

preparing played out sometimes you may

07:06

do skillful actions and apply your

07:08

strategies as in combat tactics but most

07:10

of the time the win or lose of a battle

07:12

is decided before it starts by things

07:14

like your party Buffs curatives and

07:15

damage capabilities it's also noteworthy

07:18

that the debilitation and Elemental

07:19

damage systems are deep and fun to

07:21

Tinker with in a way few games manage to

07:24

many players enjoyed using toer to

07:25

overwhelm even the hardest enemies in

07:27

the first game and I'm very much looking

07:29

forward to to seeing what crazy

07:30

approaches the community will come up

07:31

with in this one adding to the Fantastic

07:34

feel of customization Dragon's Dogma 2

07:36

has upgrade Styles and each style is

07:37

found in a different location so you can

07:39

only use the balanced ones first until

07:41

you've traveled far and found the rest

07:43

to make your life easier I have taken

07:44

the time and effort so you'll be able to

07:46

find every weapon armor and ring in the

07:48

game on the wiki with its full upgrade

07:50

paths and material requirements on day

07:52

one fortunately there is a good variety

07:54

of weapons and very fashionable armor to

07:56

be bought and tried out and the basic

07:58

upgrades are very affordable so you can

07:59

Tinker with your gear and your party as

08:01

much as you like leveling up is quite

08:03

quick and smooth changing vocations was

08:05

simple and ranking up pretty fast I

08:07

maxed out two vocations for myself in my

08:09

Pawn before I got to endgame but you

08:10

could easily do more your level ups are

08:13

not tied specifically to one vocation

08:15

either so you can freely come and go as

08:16

you wish and retake a vocation Midway

08:18

later without losing any progress in

08:21

this regard combat can remain fresh as

08:23

you can swap to completely different

08:24

classes and have medium level gear or

08:26

even high-end skills ready for that new

08:28

vocation however the most unique classes

08:30

are unlocked rather late in the game so

08:32

you'll probably cycle through the basic

08:33

ones first this is well worth doing as

08:35

the passive skills called augments are

08:37

unlocked on one vocation that can then

08:39

be used on any other so you can use a

08:41

fighter passive on your sorcerer after

08:43

unlocking it for example anyone who

08:45

loves Dragon Dogma knows the payoff was

08:47

very late in the game Dragon's Dogma 2

08:49

has the same approach with more classes

08:50

and Equipment opening up as you reach

08:52

the late stages enemy variety difficulty

08:54

and drops increase Creeks populate the

08:56

landscape and your experience becomes

08:58

all in all all a lot more rewarding this

09:01

carries on after the credits roll with

09:02

multiple endings and postgame content to

09:04

explore and complete including new

09:06

currencies and shops that feature really

09:08

awesome equipment here is where the game

09:10

truly grabbed me as I started wanting to

09:12

really optimize my party and had set off

09:13

to hunt specific and challenging foes to

09:16

gather the materials for the gear and

09:17

upgrades I wanted there's something very

09:19

satisfying about those hunts and about

09:21

sending off your pawn and seeing it come

09:23

back with gifts and thanks from other

09:24

players I became addicted to exploring I

09:27

developed a hatred of the dams and I

09:29

became a true pro at slang Drakes I

09:31

certainly feel like I can stay in the

09:33

endgame for a long time and it has

09:35

recolored my entire experience much like

09:37

high rank of Monster Hunter a big part

09:39

of open world RPGs is the experience you

09:42

get from the world that experience is

09:43

heavily affected by the world design and

09:46

graphical Fidelity and musical score

09:48

Dragon's Dogma 2 has very good art

09:50

Direction with interesting monsters

09:51

unique and fashionable armor and weapon

09:53

Concepts and a stylized interface that

09:55

gives it more of a tabletop RPG feel

09:58

there were some you misses in the design

10:00

of menus and the lack of front-end

10:01

visualization of important mechanics but

10:04

overall it's quite well done graphically

10:06

the game is pretty but not very

10:07

impressive there are some really nice

10:09

touches such as light sources like your

10:11

lamp and distant torches or enemies with

10:12

ghostly effects are very distinguishable

10:15

at night and it really adds to the

10:17

overall immersion I also found some

10:19

ancient ruines and structures that took

10:20

me to breathtaking Vistas and found the

10:22

density of forest paths to be very well

10:24

done I was also very glad to see that

10:26

there weren't obvious copy pastes in the

10:28

landscape which is which is a very real

10:30

problem for most large open world games

10:32

that said and while monster models in

10:34

some environments are gorgeous there was

10:36

no graphical wow factor for me in the

10:38

landscape at large if you're looking for

10:40

eye candy you are more likely to be

10:41

enticed by the flashy effects and

10:43

animations for certain vocations and

10:45

spellcasting as well as the detailed

10:46

move sets and effects from some of the

10:48

larger monsters NPC models are okay but

10:51

you'll encounter stiff face animations

10:52

and awkward movements more often than

10:54

not which can be forgivable if you

10:55

consider they actually customized a huge

10:58

number of those characters you weren't

10:59

always looking at the same person in

11:01

different clothes but graphical Fidelity

11:03

is only a portion of the equation and

11:04

there has been a lot of talk about

11:06

performance in this point we have had a

11:08

lot of discussions amongst ourselves

11:10

about how to explain how this works we

11:12

played the game on all three platforms

11:14

on an Xbox series X PlayStation 5 and a

11:17

relatively high-end PC with a 3090

11:19

graphics card FPS performance was subpar

11:22

on all of them Xbox seems to be the

11:24

worst of the lot with some dips under 30

11:26

FPS PlayStation looks somewhat smoother

11:28

hovering around look to be 40 to 50 FPS

11:30

most of the time and PC ran the best

11:33

with about 80 FPS at 1440p on Max

11:35

settings in most areas with some

11:37

slowdown when entering the large towns

11:39

that dropped into the 40 FPS range the

11:42

game also has some faint Popp in which

11:43

means things appear and disappear

11:44

translucently rather than just

11:46

completely pop into existence so it's

11:48

not as noticeable as in other games now

11:51

many people will hear about the FPS and

11:53

immediately cancel their pre-order and

11:54

go leave a review of zero on meta critic

11:57

never having played the game I feel like

11:59

there are some disclaimers that need to

12:01

be brought alongside those low numbers

12:03

yes it's unacceptable for a modern game

12:05

on nextg consoles to have that low of

12:07

FPS and it's really hard to understand

12:09

why when the game has been in

12:10

development for so long but if the proof

12:13

is in the pudding the reality is even

12:15

with that low FPS I just kept playing

12:18

and I didn't notice it all that much we

12:20

shared the game amongst ourselves to

12:21

test our reactions and overall we

12:23

arrived at the same conclusion well it

12:25

sucks but it's not ruining the game so

12:28

while this is going to heavily impact

12:29

the score of the game it will eventually

12:31

be your decision whether this is

12:32

something that stops you from playing I

12:34

don't know if this is something they can

12:36

fix as I don't quite understand why the

12:37

performance is so lame but for me

12:39

personally if I heard they will never

12:41

fix this I would still buy and play the

12:43

game because it didn't bother me as much

12:44

as I thought it would on the music score

12:46

side I was a bit disappointed as I have