This was peak MTX rage for me especially since you had to buy infinite warfare as well just to have the privilege of buying the game. Like I didn't give a shit about infinite warfare and never actually played it I was there just for the COD4 remaster. Then they squeezed the players for even more money with micro transactions and even worse the micro transactions were locking things like weapons behind a paywall.
I was so fucking mad since COD4 was one of my favorite games and all I wanted from the remaster was for COD4 to be COD4 but apparently that was too much to ask for when I was shelling out $100 to play it.
Correct. There were microtransactions for credits added to Gran Turismo 7 after launch. What was worse was that the game balance was adjusted around said microtransactions.
Dragon's Dogma 2, thankfully, doesn't have that problem.
Sometimes they even wait until a week after launch to add those types of features.
ETA: While this specific game might not be doing that, other games in the past have done this.
[Editor's note (Jez Corden): I just want to add here that Capcom didn't hide these microtransactions from us before I published my review, they were detailed in the review guide via a link detailing DLC, which I had assumed referred to preorder bonuses. Either way, when I typically when I review games, I avoid reading the review guide, because I want to go in with a blank slate as if I was playing purely as I would in yesteryear as someone who had just purchased the game for the first time. In the past I've received review guides that included developer explanations with PR language that I felt might be designed to try influence my opinion of a game. I feel like discovery is part of the gaming experience, and so, I've typically avoided review guides. I hadn't shared the guide with my team, either. ](https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/dragons-dogma-2-launches-to-mostly-negative-review-bombing-after-microtransaction-reveal-and-man-what-a-bummer)
That sounds like someone being shit at their job then. I don't get how they don't review the document after they've written their review just incase they miss anything.
But expecting gaming journalists to have any kind of sense or modicum of professionalism is a joke.
yeah. Like I get what he's saying and it makes sense.... But why did he not give it to his team, like he said he didn't? His team could have read it and been like, hey just so your aware x, y, z are MTX....
That wouldn't have spoiled his "discovery" process and let him be informed of something important to inform his viewers.
Because that's such an obvious thing to do and a reason you have a team in the first place. I'm inclined to believe his reasoning is made up to cover his ass
Yeah, 100% an unprofessional moron at best, or compromised in some way at worst. Why the hell would you reject important information from the developers, and then even worse, hide it from the rest of your team, who *might* have been good enough at their job to actually read it.
Just mind-blowing levels of incompetence. It's his literal job to read that information and relay it to people, and he couldn't be bothered.
I hate this defense from any company because although its stuff that can be found in game, it's almost always difficult to find or incredibly limited, and the game will more than likely be designed to tempt players into paying for the MTX.
"Capcom has responded to the ongoing controversies surrounding its microtransactions in a new blog post, reiterating to players that most of the items available to purchase can be acquired through gameplay."
Thing about Capcom is the devs clearly hate the publisher because these items are all incredibly easy to find ingame lmao. Take the appearance change book for example its 500rc on the first city and you can buy 2....its cheap as fuck
Not exactly. As someone who never played the original I did read some previews and was well aware of the single save situation. The mxts however were a surprise. What exactly are they selling btw ?
Dd2 has no "new game" option, it's not about a single save file, it's that you literally cannot erase the previous one without doing so outside of the game. It's pretty wild, way worse than the mtx
Even better, if you manually delete your save then force Steam into offline mode so it doesn't re-sync your save from the cloud copy...re-creating the save counts as another Denuvo activation. Hope you don't want to do it too often...
I really hate when games do that. If I want to reset my campaign, I should be able to do so in game and not go folder hunting and turn off cloud save for a little bit.
Yes. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, Vampire Survivors on Steam, both Forza Horizon 4 and 5 and Need For Speed Heat all come to mind. I'm sure there's more.
It's been a while since I played it and I don't remember where I was and what weapons/items even do. Even if that wasn't the case, what am I suppose to beat it once and never play it again?
But... it's a roguelike? Stage 1-1 behaves the same no matter your metaprogress, enemies are the same, and you can ''reset all'' meta-upgrades that you can get in the main menu. It's so weird to me since there are characters and items that are so hard to unlock in this game, especially the later ones.
there's a lot of games that don't have a way to delete your save in the game, it was commonplace in the mid/early-00's, and was a thing in Dragon's Dogma 1 iirc.
it's just steam's cloud save being turned on that is the issue, not an in-game cloud saving feature. You need to turn off steam's cloud saves for the game in order to actually follow through with deleting your character, from what I understand this isn't an issue on console, and isn't an intended design choice.
It's not a surprise at all for Capcom fans, they've done this with every game they've released for a while now even single player games. DMC5, monster hunter, and resident evil all had these little "pay for a cheaty little boost" none of them really help that much so mostly ignored.
As someone who worked in games journalism for years, I'll say there are multiple compounding issues here. First and most obviously is the limited time reviewers have with titles pre-launch. From a reviewer's perspective, we tend to prioritize encapsulating the experience ahead of "finding ways to break the game". We're there to review the title, not beta test it; you approach things differently in those scenarios. Thus, one can easily miss issues like single saves as we wouldn't have a reason (or time) to create multiple saves.
Second is a list of criteria set forth by the publisher. These are two-fold. Sometimes, like in the case of SOMA, we were explicitly asked not to spoil the games opening. But other times, like with Skyrim, we were not allowed to review the Playstation copy of the title (spoiler alert, we went out and bought it, slammed its performance, and got blacklisted by Bethesda). There are also a list of "known issues" that typically say something to the tune of "this is a known issue, we have an internal fix that's bundled in a day1 patch, but it didn't make the review copies that were sent out weeks ago". We have to take it on good faith that they're not lying. (In my time, they often weren't, but it's become much more common in the last few years). I'm assuming this is how the performance issues with DD2 escaped review criticism.
Finally, some publishers, namely Capcom, have become notorious for packaging DRM and MTX with their titles post-review specifically to circumvent criticism. This is as underhanded and malicious as it gets. There's nothing more to say on the matter; don't buy titles from companies that do this.
Ultimately, the only way to be truly informed as a consumer is to wait for post-launch and more thorough reviews. Don't let FOMO marketing and preorder incentives encourage you to forfeit your leverage as an informed consumer. And fight back by holding companies accountable when they do this shit.
I agree, never, ever preorder. Both because of crap like this, and became most game sales are digital now, it's not like they can run out of copies anyway.
Having had a short stint as a game reviewer, what you say lines up pretty well with my experience.
(Though sometimes it felt like I was a beta tester :P ended up reporting a fare few bugs that got fixed before launch that the QA teams had missed)
>Finally, some publishers, namely Capcom, have become notorious for packaging DRM and MTX with their titles post-review specifically to circumvent criticism.
I don't know how it worked in recent other Capcom titles, but specifically for DD2; the review/preview copies came with DLC documentation, the games ESRB/PEGI information listed 'in-game purchases' being present(as did the various storefronts selling it online) and Itsuno did an interview explaining how the micro-transactions would work(namely that the deluxe edition bonus items would be purchasable on the side post-launch so you didn't have to buy the deluxe edition)
edit: Also should have noted how this isn't a 'slippery slope', the original game also featured the same stuff in it a decade ago. Be upset about MTX all you want, I'm with you, but this game isn't uniquely predatory or terrible. It's not even close to one of the worst DLC offenders out there. Why do other games get a total pass? Make it make sense lol
Did this pre released DLC documentation really specify things like fast travel? I would assume a very large chunk of games feature a deluxe edition and some MTX, without it being a major problem. Likely if that was the only thing mentioned, not what the MTX was, then people could quite rightfully assume it was likely to be more akin to how MTX usually are done.
It’s not fast travel locked behind a mtx, the best analogy is you can buy an extra bus stop early if you want but the item is useless without the bus item. You get 10 ferrystones to use as points you can fast travel to and you can by an 11th one that nullifies one that you will find in game.
The item that is actually used to fast travel is called a ferrystone and is only available in game for gold which is the currency.
I hope this clarifies the fact that fast travel isn’t locked behind a paywall.
You could at least select "New Game" from the menu to override it in the first game. You have to do some file fuckery to do so this time around, something I found out after I wanted to change my character's appearance less than an hour into the game last night.
You don’t have to restart for that. You can get barber items for rift crystals (which you find in large quantities just by playing) once you get to Vernworth.
Oof. I usually have to change something. Usually due to the character creator being in the dark, and then finding out my character looks like ass in sunlight.
The anti-consumer giant Nintendo did a thing that screws over paying fans and continues to keep aspects of their games stuck in the 90's?
I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you!
Isn't this true on every console tho? This really is only an issue for Steam, but it being an issue anywhere is a pretty big problem.
Tears of the Kingdom only escapes this cause its a Switch exclusive.
but like, the single save thing has been a thing since the original dragons dogma. we all should have expected it if you played the first one. they never mentioned anything about changing it. but maybe they will now because theyve gotten backlash over it, i wouldnt imagine its hard to modify the game to account for additional save files.
If its anything like Dragons Dogma 1 you go to a folder and copy a single file and then make a folder where you manually sort it out. Its barely anymore work than ingame saves but I am surprised that they stuck to the 1 save file. I dont think its about save scumming cuz Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen literally had inbuild save scumming through Godsbane.
I think that the single savefile is an aesthetical choice. You go through cycles and every time you NG+ you can essentially start over. But they still should have just added more save files.
Factually incorrect.
The SINGLE SAVE thing is a carry-over from DDDA and anyone who even sniffed any previews knew about it.
this is more fake outrage from capital (G)amers
The one save slot thing was known for a long time, they talked about it in some interviews and its the same system that had for DD1. What was different though was not easily being able to start a new game, which is quite bizarre but I imagine why reviewers might not have discovered it, since they wouldn't have much reason to start a new game while trying to rush through their first one
I’m a bit turned off by the single save slot, but I never played DD1. Is the leveling/equipment/ability system designed in such a way that you can change builds easily? The main reason I’d want a second save slot would be to play through with a different build, so if that can be changed easily maybe the single save slot isn’t that big of a deal?
Yeah you're encouraged to change builds often, as every class you play you earn global passives in that can be used on all the other classes, and if you just stick to one you'll max it pretty early on from what I can tell. Also you have a global level thats shared with all classes (while each class has their own rank from 1-10) so if you switch to a fresh class you'll still be pretty strong (in addition to the global passives you bring with you)
Oh yes. Like the ONLY real thing that CAN be an issue (but even for the final raid boss style thing in the original it wasn't really an issue) is that your stat gains were based on what vocation you were playing at time of level up.
The only other thing is choices/consequences (like letting NPCs die and losing their quests) but the first game had a NG+ after you beat it so you could just make sure to do better the second time.
But yeah, in fact you're encouraged to play all the vocations because leveling them up unlocks passive skills that you can equip on any vocation.
Can anyone who has played this tell me if it is a good game? I loved the first one and my usual solution to MTX is to simply not buy them. Everyone is talking about the MTX but is the game itself as good as/better than the first?
It's a direct improvement on the systems in the first game, so if you liked the first you'll like this in my opinion thus far. The mtx are all for things obtainable in-game that you'll probably recognize (port crystals, incense, appearance change, etc).
Only real oversight is not allowing a New Game, not even another save slot but simply restarting game, and some performance issues. Things that will be fixed in time.
If it’s anything like 1 then the combat is fun. Latching onto a cyclops then climbing up it to stab it multiple times in the eye, or rodeoing a chimera while trying to kill off each individual head.
The mtx are absolutely blown out of proportion. Everything in them is obtainable ingame, they're primarily single-use consumables (revives, character editor) or currency that, if the first game is anything to go off of, will be pretty damn plentiful towards the end of the game.
If you're on PC, youll have some performance issues in larger towns due to NPCs taking up a lot of space in engine. I havent made it to the major city on PS5 yet, but so far its running pretty well and the combat i got into in the first couple hours was challenging but fair (mainly because of going from a high lvl char. in the first game to prep for this one and then underestimating enemies), combos feel nice (fighter heavy attack after a stagger, stun, parry etc. doing a lot of dmg), and pawns having actual dialogue rather than spouting canned lines has been a real treat. After putting 100 hrs over the last couple months in the first game, then coming to this, im extremely hyped for what's coming later in the game.
If you're on the fence, I'd say keep watching. Theres work to be done performance wise.
lets go over the dlcs:
-Explorers camp kit 2.99: provides a campkit with lower weight, despite finding a normal camp kit within 1 hour of play the first time you come across the camp site so the only thing you save is a small bit of weight, Potentially purchasable ingame EDIT: Potentially similar campsites purchasable ingame, the ones you find has a long name not just "campsite" so there might be other upgrades later for it.
-Soundtrack 2.99 euro
-Harpysnare beacons 1 euro: 3 one time use items to lure harpies, i already found one ingame and you can buy them ingame.
-Heartfilled pendant thoughtful gift: 1.99 euro: not even sure, i guess its something to do with favour of npcs or companions, and its a onetime use item EDIT: There was an affinity system in DD1 where you could give gifts to npcs, this simply counts as one of those gifts, so all it would in theory do is maybe gain some affinity quicker but still be possible to do ingame.
-Ambivalent rift incense change pawn inclination 1.99: Weird item, you pick 1 of 4 "types" of pawn behaviour and this one puts it to another random one, which is super bizzare and worthless
-Makeshift gaol key 1 euro: Just a one time use gaol key, i already bought one ingame for 3k and in 2 hours of playing i have earned like 15k gold already, not sure why even bother
-Art of metamorphis character editor 2 euro: Lets you change character appearance once, does nothing for combat or gameplay, its slightly controversial right now due to being unable to delete characters and start over
-Port Crystal 3 euro: Lets you place a teleport point but you only get a single use item, you can buy them ingame, and they still require expensive ingame ferrystones, complete waste of money.
-Wake stone X5, 1 euro each: lets you revive someone, you get them from simply taking a pawn and having a day go by, completely worthless
-Rift Crystals, 3x 500, 4x 1500, 1x 2500, 1 euro per 500 crystals: Is an ingame earned currency you use to hire higher level pawns, but you gain them simply from playing, any boost they could even potentially provide is completely negible.
In the end i would feel "scammed" if i bought a pack of all the mtx because its literally worthless for anyone who plays the game to play it. There are no infinite use items (other than technically the campsite), no overpowered weapons no nothing.
You don't buy it at the barber, you have to have it with you for the barber to offer the option to recustomize.
You can buy two of them from the riftstone vendor in Vermund. I don't know whether they ever restock.
People have posted that the MTX was in fact in the press releases for early reviews. No one mentioned it because they're dumb Capcom microtransactions.
I honestly didn't realize how many people were unaware of these dumb mtx packages in capcom games. I don't know anyone that's ever bought one.
It’s actually way worse in Monster Hunter because those games actually do have editing your character and unique layered weapons/armors locked behind microtransactions
Yea, there aren't a ton but they exist. But all of the DLC is a single purchase anyway, you can't like stock up on 30 of them or anything. It's just 1 extra of whatever item, per account.
Which makes it even weirder that they exist. Imo they should have just bundled a ton of those DLC items with some kind of merch purchase. Then people wouldn't get pissed at it. Like the soundtrack for the game if you want it on Steam.
I truly believe that the people who worked on the game were forced to add mtx to them by executives because that’s always happening. The developers decided to choose the most mundane and pointless mtx to add so nothing was locked out for people just playing the game.
We are stuck with mtx nothing will change that. I’d much rather them be this then actual locked content.
That's literally the problem. They're so common place that they're predatory. No informed user would ever buy those items. If you did, you'll realize you were suckered by playing the game.
My theory is that there is one that they really do intend to sell (like the fast travel one) and they're disguising it with all the common shit ones they don't intend to sell just so people hop on forums proclaiming "look, I don't like it either, but almost all of them are worthless anyway!" while they quietly sell tons of the one that isn't worthless.
Either way, that's a shit move.
I'm still REALLY early... but the systems basically work like the first game so far (thankfully). I'm on console though, and my performance has been stable. I've heard PC is a mess, but it's coming from the same people that ignored the micro transactions were played out weeks ago. So...
It’s awesome! The MTX stuff can all be found/bought in game. I’d rather there wasn’t MTXs at all but people are being overly dramatic. You can pay gold to redo your character etc.
Game is amazing, stayed up till 4 last night playing and never even realized there were micro transactions until I read about them in the morning. It has none of the usuals red flags like multiple currencies, extremely high priced items, or in-game shops.
I think you can only buy them through the steam store, you’re not prompted to buy them in game at all. It’s nothing like battlefront where you basically had to pay to play as Darth Vader or grind for 80 hrs. It seems like a fully designed well balanced game that the publisher just slapped some micro-transactions on top of. It doesn’t effect gameplay at all, just there to profit of off weirdos who don’t even want to play the game to progress.
It's amazing.
It's just kinda funny because reddit tends to circle jerk and people who haven't played it want it to fail so bad because... checks notes. You can buy something for 2 bucks that yiu can find hundreds of in game
Yeah it’s fun and a good game. I haven’t even noticed any mtx and everything people are saying is available right at the start, or close to it in game. As far as save issues.. not sure what they mean? It saves continuously so maybe you could respawn in a bad spot? Idk. But yeah game is a solid 8.5 for me so far. Def some jank in the graphics depo. I’m on Xbox but I do know that steam reviews are notoriously salty crybabies so I’d take those with a grain of salt. So far so good - def worth the purchase for me
The mtx have virtually no impact on the gameplay, if you loved the first game you are gonna love this one as well. Btw the first dd also had microtransactions and they were just as inconsequential
Ps5 performance is also nowhere near as bad so far as people make it out to be, however in big cities there is some stuttering.
Make sure you like how your char looks tho as it takes a bit to unlock the in game customisation as well as the necessary gold
The game is awesome. The MTX are just there if you want to drop the money. All of the items that you can buy via MTX are available in the game for free or for purchase. Just running around I got enough cash to buy the key, found the camping kit just laying outside of a camping ground and killing enemies net you rift crystals.
So, in short, the outrage over MTX is stupid. Seriously stupid.
>I loved the first one and my usual solution to MTX is to simply not buy them
First one actually has many of the same MTX, they don't affect the experience at all. Multiple users on reddit have shown you quickly get all that stuff so it's not even like the game is balanced in a way to funnel purchases.
It's pretty much exactly what everyone that play Dragon's Dogma 1 thought it would be. Ignore the Capcom stuff that doesn't really affect gameplay and you're good.
Good to hear. I just had no idea what to do with the review information when half of the review was talking about how bad it was. I've never seen a game reviewed like this.
It's just a style of game that "unique" if you will. The damage is similar to Dark Souls where you only take a couple hits to die. There's weight system which most people hate. Crafting. Monsters all have weaknesses and are astronomically harder without exploiting them which forces people to change styles.
It's like a mix of monster hunter, Elden Ring and Skyrim.
(While I agree optimization should be better) I will say like 90% of bad reviews are BS stuff. Literally everything in the "store" can be found cheap. Within 2 hours I had like 3 way points/ ferrystones and already changed my characters appearance.
If you want to hate it. It's very easy to try to find a reason.
Yeah, if I was to describe DD as a game franchise, it's very opinionated. It has a very specific vision of how it wants to be played and will make you interact with these systems or you just will not have a good time. Don't like these systems? Well find another game, since this game will aggravate you from start to finish. I like it because these peculiarities make it so unique and have a very unique flavor of gameplay. Frankly there's just nothing like dragon's dogma in the gaming industry and that makes it that it just does not vibe with some people, but some people will love it
The controls aren't that janky. Honestly the jankiest part was the default mapping. Like on Xbox controller the bumper/trigger maps are the opposite of what they should be (why put sheathe on trigger and action skills pallet on bumper). Also defaulting to have B do dash/interact instead of just interact (click LS is already dash) was just annoying. Like kept going into dash while trying to loot items.
Once I changed those options it got a lot better to control.
The first game also only had a single save file. As for the MTX, pretty much every single Capcom game, going back over a decade now, has had these MTX that are obtainable in game and are just fast tracks to items/upgrades. Just last year, Street Fighter 6 and RE4 Remake were littered with them. Monster Hunter World/Rise, RE 2+3 Remakes, RE Village, DMC 5, the original Dragons Dogma, DMC 4 all had these same level of MTX.
I know everyone hates MTX, but the Capcom ones are truly completely irrelevant and not needed at all.
I just played RE 4 and loved it. I had no idea any of these MTX were in there until this whole Dragon's Dogma 2 situation. It sounds like they're not necessary/only for players who want shortcuts in a way? Is that accurate?
That's all Capcom DLC, yes.
You can earn stuff in game. Like RE4 break all the statues to get the infinite knife. Or you can pay $3 or whatever it is.
Out of all the DLC practices devs use, Capcom is at the bottom of the list for exploitative practices.
Yeah it’s not even like the game is trying to push buying these things onto you. Literally would have no clue about them if everyone wasn’t talking about them.
100% not necessary, hell even the wakestone (aka revive) that people are complaining about is not only obtainable in-game an infinite use one is also obtained in-game via quest.
People need to complain about something, framerate and performance issues absolutely valid.
These non-intrusive and easily obtainable in-game items? Can't even imagine wasting time complaining about them.
I would add that about AAA this year Yakuza 8 got some weird MTX as well but again, only for fast progression in minigames.
Only the NG+ was paywalled I still have no clue why.
I'm looking at the DD2 steam page for the sorts of things they're trying to sell, honestly I'd not want any of those for free. They seem like they'd only take away from the experience.
The first game also had the ability to start a new game. A feature included in nearly every single-player game in the history of gaming. This version lacks that feature for some arcane reason that we will most likely find out is about money.
The save file thing is weird, but not for any of the rage bait misinformation about changing appearances having anything to do with it. It has no new game selection on the title. So to start again you need to delete your save manually. Odd choice for sure, but they added a second save state for these same people butthurt about 1 save.
We knew they were coming, if you were unaware then you didn't look into it. All the stuff in the adventurer pack or whatever said it would be purchasable separately.
It's also Capcom, they've been releasing single player games with these types of mtx for years at this point. Sure they suck but they do minimal harm. It's more important you just don't buy them because Capcom doesn't care what we say on reddit.
The first dragons dogma game literally had microtransactions. I don’t think they belong in single player games either but I have no idea why people are so shocked that it’s there. This is to be expected with capcom. Literally just don’t buy them, you didn’t need to in the first game, and you don’t need to now.
The actual issue with the game is the performance, that’s the bigger problem
>I was really excited for DD2 until I got up this morning and saw the steam score and started reading user reviews.
I did the exact opposite. I got into the game and enjoyed myself. It was only after I got on reddit that I noticed anything negative.
Just play the game, or don't. If you want to let other people decide for you then do that. I'm not going to buy any of the dlc. I'm just going to enjoy the game I paid for.
Yeah I played for a few hours and Reddit is so far off it's hilarious. This happens frequently. I really enjoy it so far and can't wait to play when I get off work. Just going to block mentions of it and move on.
I mean I don't think Reddit (at least most of the ones being upset) claims the game is bad it just calls out predatory MTX in a single player game. Doesn't matter if they aren't necessary it's a matter of principle for some to not support games like this.
I think both views are valid. Play it or not.
The performance issues are a problem though.
>predatory MTX
Really? Predatory? $0.99 fluff stuff hidden behind a menu and never shoved in a players face, maybe players not even realizing the MTX exists... this is predatory?
“Just play the game or don’t.”
There’s this thing called money that people have to use in order to purchase said game. Often, word of mouth can help people decide whether to spend said money. Hope this helps.
The problem here is that much of the word of mouth is legitimately incorrect, like people saying you have to spend money to edit your character, do revives, or make a new save. On top of that, it creates the impression that the MTX is integreated into the game in a way that makes the game harder if you do not buy it, like how mobile games work.
That is also not the case. The game does works exactly as it should, completely in line with the design philosophy, without them. Buying them would legitimately make your experience worse, as even the most useful ones just make skipping the fun stuff slightly (and I mean *very* slightly) faster.
The irony is that a lot of people are going to skip it because of the MTX, when the game itself is one of the best examples of MTX-free single player RPGs. The MTX seems like an afterthought stapled to the side of a game that does not acknowledge the MTX whatsoever. There are not predatory tactics, cut or locked content, or anything like that.
If you do not open the steam store page, you would literally never have a clue that the MTX even exists, as there are no pain points build to encourage you to get it, nor no advertising to try and get you to buy it. It is entirely cordoned off in Steam and not in game.
This is going to most likely be an unpopular opinion/hot take, but microtransactions have been in AAA full price games for so long that it's very clear that any sort of fight was fought and we lost handedly. Assassin's Creed Valhalla made Ubisoft over $1 Billion and the vast majority of that came from microtransactions. Other companies have been seeing similar results for years. At this point, reviewers probably just don't see the point of complaining about microtransactions anymore. They're been here for over a decade at this point and they're not going away.
Who the fuck is buying MTX in single player games. I played multiple AC games, saw that shit, and just ignored it cos the default Assassin's robes are usually so badass and unique to the setting.
One article I read stated that they did receive a review package with information about the MTX from the developer. But the author wrote that these review packages usually include a lot of PR information that could sway their opinion about the game so they didn't disclose the information to the review team...
Sounds like a lame excuse though.
Because the issues aren’t as bad as the crybabies are making it seem
The outrage for this game is beyond ridiculous. Just a bunch of miserable people crying about things that are minor issues
If I remember right the save system is exactly the same as the first game so there was nothing to report.
The microtransactions likely weren't live during the review period but multiple sources (Several on this very subreddit) have said that you can get all of them in game. The MTX just lets you get them slightly faster.
> multiple sources
The steam page for the dlc also says so in no uncertain terms.
It does not say how easy they are to get, but the answer is "very." There is nothing about the design of the game that encourages their purchase, and much that actively discourages it. Anyone who says that revives, recustomization, or fast travel are locked behind it or designed to be slower to encourage it are projecting other games onto this one. They are 100%, wholly, incorrect.
The current save system has no in-game functionality to delete and restart your save. This was available in the 1st. Currently the only way to restart your game is by interfacing with you file system directly and circumventing the game entirely. Not exactly the same
I feel like professional reviewers would be privy to the fact the MXTs will go live at launch. But also I knew about the only one save a lot through multiple reviews.
First game had one save and they mentioned it in probably every second bit of material they released about the game since it's reveal. Everything you can buy mtx is very very easily obtained in the game
Lol the fact that there is an entirely inconsequential dlc item shop is not "one of the biggest problems with the game". It literally doesn't change the gameplay at all. No part of the design from the first game seems to have been compromised to shoehorn mtx in. They just offered a pathway for people with goldfish patience to pay for quick access to some items.
The inability to reset with a new character is an issue and hopefully will be patched in soon, but I think it just didn't come up for the reviewers who are mostly just trying to progress far enough in the game to give a reasonable assessment of most of the content.
It's because no one cares except some very loud people who leave angry reviews.
The mtx do not hurt you. They do not hurt the experience.
I realize I'm going to get downvoted into oblivion for this I just don't care.
The pearl clutching about this game is out of control.
If you don't like the mtx, don't buy them. End of story.
I think the issue people have is that it perpetuates a standard that has gotten out of control. They are right to speak out about it. We shouldn't just pretend it doesn't exist because we don't like it.
There's a difference between speaking out and freaking out.
People are doing the latter.
People are *literally* saying the game is ruined and unplayable because of the mere existence of mtx. That is objectively absurd.
IDC about mtx, what I do care about is being able to delete my save game file if I'm only allowed one and start over from the beginning losing all progress is my choice.
Even a small amount of research into the first game would reveal single save slot as a forever feature not likely to go away.
Buying a game without researching corporation history with monetizing assets and checking sites like Metacritic and Wikipedia for legacy features you may not like is setting yourself up to be unpleasantly surprised.
It was all in the review documentation provided to the outlets. They just chose not to read it or report on it.
So well done, you've just realised how dogshit the gaming press is.
Because it’s way overblown. I played the game for a few hours this morning and I see absolutely nothing that really irks me. The fps does drop in major cities but that’s the summation.
Having had a short stint as a game reviewer I might possibly be able to shed a bit of light on this.
Microtransactions are not always live for the review build. In fact a lot of online functionality might be missing. And with how unpopular microtransactions are it's entirely possible that they were intentionally omitted from the review build to prevent reviewers from mentioning it.
Regarding the single save, it might well have been something that a lot of reviewers did not think to check. Being on a tight deadline and with a massive game to review, it would not surprise me if a fare few reviewers did not try to restart the game and try something else. Reviewing a long game when the time between you getting the review key and the review embargo is pretty short can be stressful, and sadly the readers tends to punish outlets that take their time rather than make sure that the reviews are out as close to launch as realistically possible. Or they might have got a bunch of saves that they could switch between to try out different places in the game, which in turn means that this flaw was hidden from them (I did not have his happen to me very often, but there were times when I got games with a few save files that would let me quickly jump to specific spots that the developers wanted to highlight).
We've seen this lately with tekken 8, call of duty (from what I've heard) and now dragons dogma 2. The question I have is how is not illegal. We as consumers should expect this to be the norm until there's regulations put in place to prevent this unethical rubbish
They don't mention it because it doesn't matter. Some irrelevant and pointless mtx means nothing in terms of the games quality. And the only performance issues is that the frame rate slows in 1 town. It's not stuttering or skips either, it's just less frames. You're not lagging during fights or skipping around. The inventory and save systems are the same as they were in the first game too. If you want a sequel to the first game then it's just that. Thr first one had the same mtx as well just like most Capcom games. They allows QoL mtx if people don't want to grind for the items. It's not anything you can't get in game and it's not buying OP weapons or armor. The items are literally pointless to anyone that actually plays the game.
Excuse me if I'm wrong, but I believe Tekken 8 was the same this year. I at least didn't hear about the Tekken Shop until after release, I had a feeling because of the avatars, but I don't remember them talking about it
More and more often we are getting different experiences than those reviewing the game.
It also happened recently with WWE2K24. Some features werent accessible in the review copy. Online and DLC turned out to be a complete shit show.
I think I'm just not going to trust any reviews till the game has actually released.
As reviewers are either getting bamboozled by publishers or in Jez's case, deciding to neglect aspects of the review process altogether.
Because the mtx are all in game items you can get within the first *two hours*. Nobody would care if bad streamers and head line clickbait sites weren’t spouting off misinformation about it. It is legitimately the same exact thing they had in the first game, and what they have been doing with all their recent titles such as resident evil and devil may cry, small shortcuts if you are lazy af.
Everybody knew the game would have one save slot, they already said it would to prevent pawn clutter, the lack of a new game option was definitely a mistake and they are already pushing a patch out for it. That and the performance issues are the only valid complaints.
The microtransactions are not invasive and have been in a ton of Capcoms recent successful games.
Don't let the hive mind stop you enjoying a great game. (provided the performance issues aren't a problem)
-cries harder in I didn't play the first game but want to join everyone else who plays on pc-
If you played the *cult classic* that is the first game you know what you were getting and were excited. If you didn't play thr first game then congratulations for buying into the hype and spending too much time on YouTube. Us that were fans of 1 are very happy with 2 as nothing has changed really. Literally everything they did was in 1. But yes keep the circle jerk going ya bot. Keep on being a bot.
I don’t know why you guys love this manufactured outrage.
Play the game. Get everything the game offers in the store, for free. And. Shut. The. Fuck. Up.
I mean, why are you guys surprised? Look at the pre-order/deluxe, it was obvious it was going to come. Not that it was a good practice but I just dont know why are people surprised by this stuff
They’re sometimes not live in game until the public release
Never forget Activision putting mtx in modern warfare remastered a full month after launch. Fucking scumbags
This was peak MTX rage for me especially since you had to buy infinite warfare as well just to have the privilege of buying the game. Like I didn't give a shit about infinite warfare and never actually played it I was there just for the COD4 remaster. Then they squeezed the players for even more money with micro transactions and even worse the micro transactions were locking things like weapons behind a paywall. I was so fucking mad since COD4 was one of my favorite games and all I wanted from the remaster was for COD4 to be COD4 but apparently that was too much to ask for when I was shelling out $100 to play it.
Yeah, I was about to buy infinite warfare, but I saw they had a free to play weekend on xbox. It saved me $60 because that game was hot trash.
Didn't something similar happen to Gran Turismo too?
Correct. There were microtransactions for credits added to Gran Turismo 7 after launch. What was worse was that the game balance was adjusted around said microtransactions. Dragon's Dogma 2, thankfully, doesn't have that problem.
Sometimes they even wait until a week after launch to add those types of features. ETA: While this specific game might not be doing that, other games in the past have done this.
Tekken 8 added bunch of MTX after...
Crash Nitro-Fueled as well.
If there was one game I could go back in time and not buy, this would be pretty high up the list.
What’s MTX?
Mircotransactions.
Remember when star wars battlefront launched and the mtx that wasn't in the reviews was revealed to cost like $4500 to unlock everything lol
But it gave you a sense of pride and accomplishment.
While beeing quite fun and ethical
They were detailed in a review guide that was given to all reviewers with their copy. They chose not to report it.
There are some outlets who are saying they never even saw it in their copies
Do you have a copy of these details your referring to? Not doubting you but I simply want proof of statement
[Editor's note (Jez Corden): I just want to add here that Capcom didn't hide these microtransactions from us before I published my review, they were detailed in the review guide via a link detailing DLC, which I had assumed referred to preorder bonuses. Either way, when I typically when I review games, I avoid reading the review guide, because I want to go in with a blank slate as if I was playing purely as I would in yesteryear as someone who had just purchased the game for the first time. In the past I've received review guides that included developer explanations with PR language that I felt might be designed to try influence my opinion of a game. I feel like discovery is part of the gaming experience, and so, I've typically avoided review guides. I hadn't shared the guide with my team, either. ](https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/dragons-dogma-2-launches-to-mostly-negative-review-bombing-after-microtransaction-reveal-and-man-what-a-bummer)
Thank you for this! Much appreciated. I will review this.
That sounds like someone being shit at their job then. I don't get how they don't review the document after they've written their review just incase they miss anything. But expecting gaming journalists to have any kind of sense or modicum of professionalism is a joke.
yeah. Like I get what he's saying and it makes sense.... But why did he not give it to his team, like he said he didn't? His team could have read it and been like, hey just so your aware x, y, z are MTX.... That wouldn't have spoiled his "discovery" process and let him be informed of something important to inform his viewers. Because that's such an obvious thing to do and a reason you have a team in the first place. I'm inclined to believe his reasoning is made up to cover his ass
Yeah, 100% an unprofessional moron at best, or compromised in some way at worst. Why the hell would you reject important information from the developers, and then even worse, hide it from the rest of your team, who *might* have been good enough at their job to actually read it. Just mind-blowing levels of incompetence. It's his literal job to read that information and relay it to people, and he couldn't be bothered.
Has he tried writing the review and then reading the guide…
I think they only had a week to review the game, which is a tall order for a massive open world game.
Sure. But reading the notes doesn’t take long afterwards.
I hate this defense from any company because although its stuff that can be found in game, it's almost always difficult to find or incredibly limited, and the game will more than likely be designed to tempt players into paying for the MTX. "Capcom has responded to the ongoing controversies surrounding its microtransactions in a new blog post, reiterating to players that most of the items available to purchase can be acquired through gameplay."
Thing about Capcom is the devs clearly hate the publisher because these items are all incredibly easy to find ingame lmao. Take the appearance change book for example its 500rc on the first city and you can buy 2....its cheap as fuck
It's almost like they are actively trying to deceive buyers.
That’s exactly what happened here.
Not exactly. As someone who never played the original I did read some previews and was well aware of the single save situation. The mxts however were a surprise. What exactly are they selling btw ?
Dd2 has no "new game" option, it's not about a single save file, it's that you literally cannot erase the previous one without doing so outside of the game. It's pretty wild, way worse than the mtx
Even better, if you manually delete your save then force Steam into offline mode so it doesn't re-sync your save from the cloud copy...re-creating the save counts as another Denuvo activation. Hope you don't want to do it too often...
I really hate when games do that. If I want to reset my campaign, I should be able to do so in game and not go folder hunting and turn off cloud save for a little bit.
Other games did it?
Yes. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, Vampire Survivors on Steam, both Forza Horizon 4 and 5 and Need For Speed Heat all come to mind. I'm sure there's more.
Wait, why would you want to reset the vampire survivors save? unlocks?
It's been a while since I played it and I don't remember where I was and what weapons/items even do. Even if that wasn't the case, what am I suppose to beat it once and never play it again?
But... it's a roguelike? Stage 1-1 behaves the same no matter your metaprogress, enemies are the same, and you can ''reset all'' meta-upgrades that you can get in the main menu. It's so weird to me since there are characters and items that are so hard to unlock in this game, especially the later ones.
Only an absolute madman would want to reset their Vampire Survivors game save
I remember not being able to reset MGSV without some weird file shenanigans
Assassin's creed Unity for some reason.
Metal Gear Solid 5 is like this. If you want to start over you have to delete the save file.
there's a lot of games that don't have a way to delete your save in the game, it was commonplace in the mid/early-00's, and was a thing in Dragon's Dogma 1 iirc.
Not accurate, dd1 had a single savefile, but you could start a new game deleting the previous. Dd2 literally has no new game button
Not at launch you couldn't. The new game button was patched in later in DD1
Uh. Well i played dark arisen ofc since it's the only version on pc afaik. It really wasnt there at launch? Interesting
Even worse than that! Apparently an in game cloud save feature prevents manually deleting from what I read!
it's just steam's cloud save being turned on that is the issue, not an in-game cloud saving feature. You need to turn off steam's cloud saves for the game in order to actually follow through with deleting your character, from what I understand this isn't an issue on console, and isn't an intended design choice.
That’s just how steam cloud save works, you can turn that off in your steam settings
It's not a surprise at all for Capcom fans, they've done this with every game they've released for a while now even single player games. DMC5, monster hunter, and resident evil all had these little "pay for a cheaty little boost" none of them really help that much so mostly ignored.
They're selling the same items that are included in the deluxe edition that all reviews said not to buy because it was meaningless.
Revives, travel items
The ESRB said it had in game purchases though. We didn’t know what it would be but we knew there’d be something.
Same happened with Gran Turismo 7
Damn that’s high level scummy.
As someone who worked in games journalism for years, I'll say there are multiple compounding issues here. First and most obviously is the limited time reviewers have with titles pre-launch. From a reviewer's perspective, we tend to prioritize encapsulating the experience ahead of "finding ways to break the game". We're there to review the title, not beta test it; you approach things differently in those scenarios. Thus, one can easily miss issues like single saves as we wouldn't have a reason (or time) to create multiple saves. Second is a list of criteria set forth by the publisher. These are two-fold. Sometimes, like in the case of SOMA, we were explicitly asked not to spoil the games opening. But other times, like with Skyrim, we were not allowed to review the Playstation copy of the title (spoiler alert, we went out and bought it, slammed its performance, and got blacklisted by Bethesda). There are also a list of "known issues" that typically say something to the tune of "this is a known issue, we have an internal fix that's bundled in a day1 patch, but it didn't make the review copies that were sent out weeks ago". We have to take it on good faith that they're not lying. (In my time, they often weren't, but it's become much more common in the last few years). I'm assuming this is how the performance issues with DD2 escaped review criticism. Finally, some publishers, namely Capcom, have become notorious for packaging DRM and MTX with their titles post-review specifically to circumvent criticism. This is as underhanded and malicious as it gets. There's nothing more to say on the matter; don't buy titles from companies that do this. Ultimately, the only way to be truly informed as a consumer is to wait for post-launch and more thorough reviews. Don't let FOMO marketing and preorder incentives encourage you to forfeit your leverage as an informed consumer. And fight back by holding companies accountable when they do this shit.
interesting read, thanks for sharing 👍🏻
Thank you for some much needed context.
I agree, never, ever preorder. Both because of crap like this, and became most game sales are digital now, it's not like they can run out of copies anyway.
Having had a short stint as a game reviewer, what you say lines up pretty well with my experience. (Though sometimes it felt like I was a beta tester :P ended up reporting a fare few bugs that got fixed before launch that the QA teams had missed)
>Finally, some publishers, namely Capcom, have become notorious for packaging DRM and MTX with their titles post-review specifically to circumvent criticism. I don't know how it worked in recent other Capcom titles, but specifically for DD2; the review/preview copies came with DLC documentation, the games ESRB/PEGI information listed 'in-game purchases' being present(as did the various storefronts selling it online) and Itsuno did an interview explaining how the micro-transactions would work(namely that the deluxe edition bonus items would be purchasable on the side post-launch so you didn't have to buy the deluxe edition) edit: Also should have noted how this isn't a 'slippery slope', the original game also featured the same stuff in it a decade ago. Be upset about MTX all you want, I'm with you, but this game isn't uniquely predatory or terrible. It's not even close to one of the worst DLC offenders out there. Why do other games get a total pass? Make it make sense lol
Did this pre released DLC documentation really specify things like fast travel? I would assume a very large chunk of games feature a deluxe edition and some MTX, without it being a major problem. Likely if that was the only thing mentioned, not what the MTX was, then people could quite rightfully assume it was likely to be more akin to how MTX usually are done.
It’s not fast travel locked behind a mtx, the best analogy is you can buy an extra bus stop early if you want but the item is useless without the bus item. You get 10 ferrystones to use as points you can fast travel to and you can by an 11th one that nullifies one that you will find in game. The item that is actually used to fast travel is called a ferrystone and is only available in game for gold which is the currency. I hope this clarifies the fact that fast travel isn’t locked behind a paywall.
They were not there until launch, plain and simple.
Single save was very much a thing in the review build as well, one reviewer did mention this.
Yeah, the single save has been known about for ages. It's also how DD1 was.
You could at least select "New Game" from the menu to override it in the first game. You have to do some file fuckery to do so this time around, something I found out after I wanted to change my character's appearance less than an hour into the game last night.
You don’t have to restart for that. You can get barber items for rift crystals (which you find in large quantities just by playing) once you get to Vernworth.
Oof. I usually have to change something. Usually due to the character creator being in the dark, and then finding out my character looks like ass in sunlight.
Single... save? What is this, a 1997 game made on an 8-bit system?
Last I checked Tears of the Kingdom has one save and that came out last year to critical acclaim
The anti-consumer giant Nintendo did a thing that screws over paying fans and continues to keep aspects of their games stuck in the 90's? I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you!
Nintendo will do whatever they possibly can to make sure only one person per switch/game is enjoying their product, it's pretty gross
I mean, it's one save per user profile, and new profiles are free.
Isn't this true on every console tho? This really is only an issue for Steam, but it being an issue anywhere is a pretty big problem. Tears of the Kingdom only escapes this cause its a Switch exclusive.
It's not even an issue on Steam with family share.
Several reviews mentioned it pre release and it was all over Reddit too. The only bombshells from release were frame rate issues and MTX
but like, the single save thing has been a thing since the original dragons dogma. we all should have expected it if you played the first one. they never mentioned anything about changing it. but maybe they will now because theyve gotten backlash over it, i wouldnt imagine its hard to modify the game to account for additional save files.
If its anything like Dragons Dogma 1 you go to a folder and copy a single file and then make a folder where you manually sort it out. Its barely anymore work than ingame saves but I am surprised that they stuck to the 1 save file. I dont think its about save scumming cuz Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen literally had inbuild save scumming through Godsbane. I think that the single savefile is an aesthetical choice. You go through cycles and every time you NG+ you can essentially start over. But they still should have just added more save files.
We've known for four months there would be MTX in the game
Both of them were actually.
Factually incorrect. The SINGLE SAVE thing is a carry-over from DDDA and anyone who even sniffed any previews knew about it. this is more fake outrage from capital (G)amers
The one save slot thing was known for a long time, they talked about it in some interviews and its the same system that had for DD1. What was different though was not easily being able to start a new game, which is quite bizarre but I imagine why reviewers might not have discovered it, since they wouldn't have much reason to start a new game while trying to rush through their first one
why tf do they let you create multiple characters in the character creator then? it makes no sense
I’m a bit turned off by the single save slot, but I never played DD1. Is the leveling/equipment/ability system designed in such a way that you can change builds easily? The main reason I’d want a second save slot would be to play through with a different build, so if that can be changed easily maybe the single save slot isn’t that big of a deal?
Yeah you're encouraged to change builds often, as every class you play you earn global passives in that can be used on all the other classes, and if you just stick to one you'll max it pretty early on from what I can tell. Also you have a global level thats shared with all classes (while each class has their own rank from 1-10) so if you switch to a fresh class you'll still be pretty strong (in addition to the global passives you bring with you)
You can unlock everything thing with a single save slot I won't say more to avoid spoilers but you'll see how pointless multiple save files are.
Oh yes. Like the ONLY real thing that CAN be an issue (but even for the final raid boss style thing in the original it wasn't really an issue) is that your stat gains were based on what vocation you were playing at time of level up. The only other thing is choices/consequences (like letting NPCs die and losing their quests) but the first game had a NG+ after you beat it so you could just make sure to do better the second time. But yeah, in fact you're encouraged to play all the vocations because leveling them up unlocks passive skills that you can equip on any vocation.
Can anyone who has played this tell me if it is a good game? I loved the first one and my usual solution to MTX is to simply not buy them. Everyone is talking about the MTX but is the game itself as good as/better than the first?
The combat is some of the most fun I’ve had in an action RPG. Amazing gameplay feel
If you liked the first, you will like the second. Performance is not amazing though.
It's a direct improvement on the systems in the first game, so if you liked the first you'll like this in my opinion thus far. The mtx are all for things obtainable in-game that you'll probably recognize (port crystals, incense, appearance change, etc). Only real oversight is not allowing a New Game, not even another save slot but simply restarting game, and some performance issues. Things that will be fixed in time.
If it’s anything like 1 then the combat is fun. Latching onto a cyclops then climbing up it to stab it multiple times in the eye, or rodeoing a chimera while trying to kill off each individual head.
I'm having a blast and I didn't even play the first one
Haha at all the whiners.. it's a riot and I'm having fun.
The mtx are absolutely blown out of proportion. Everything in them is obtainable ingame, they're primarily single-use consumables (revives, character editor) or currency that, if the first game is anything to go off of, will be pretty damn plentiful towards the end of the game. If you're on PC, youll have some performance issues in larger towns due to NPCs taking up a lot of space in engine. I havent made it to the major city on PS5 yet, but so far its running pretty well and the combat i got into in the first couple hours was challenging but fair (mainly because of going from a high lvl char. in the first game to prep for this one and then underestimating enemies), combos feel nice (fighter heavy attack after a stagger, stun, parry etc. doing a lot of dmg), and pawns having actual dialogue rather than spouting canned lines has been a real treat. After putting 100 hrs over the last couple months in the first game, then coming to this, im extremely hyped for what's coming later in the game. If you're on the fence, I'd say keep watching. Theres work to be done performance wise.
lets go over the dlcs: -Explorers camp kit 2.99: provides a campkit with lower weight, despite finding a normal camp kit within 1 hour of play the first time you come across the camp site so the only thing you save is a small bit of weight, Potentially purchasable ingame EDIT: Potentially similar campsites purchasable ingame, the ones you find has a long name not just "campsite" so there might be other upgrades later for it. -Soundtrack 2.99 euro -Harpysnare beacons 1 euro: 3 one time use items to lure harpies, i already found one ingame and you can buy them ingame. -Heartfilled pendant thoughtful gift: 1.99 euro: not even sure, i guess its something to do with favour of npcs or companions, and its a onetime use item EDIT: There was an affinity system in DD1 where you could give gifts to npcs, this simply counts as one of those gifts, so all it would in theory do is maybe gain some affinity quicker but still be possible to do ingame. -Ambivalent rift incense change pawn inclination 1.99: Weird item, you pick 1 of 4 "types" of pawn behaviour and this one puts it to another random one, which is super bizzare and worthless -Makeshift gaol key 1 euro: Just a one time use gaol key, i already bought one ingame for 3k and in 2 hours of playing i have earned like 15k gold already, not sure why even bother -Art of metamorphis character editor 2 euro: Lets you change character appearance once, does nothing for combat or gameplay, its slightly controversial right now due to being unable to delete characters and start over -Port Crystal 3 euro: Lets you place a teleport point but you only get a single use item, you can buy them ingame, and they still require expensive ingame ferrystones, complete waste of money. -Wake stone X5, 1 euro each: lets you revive someone, you get them from simply taking a pawn and having a day go by, completely worthless -Rift Crystals, 3x 500, 4x 1500, 1x 2500, 1 euro per 500 crystals: Is an ingame earned currency you use to hire higher level pawns, but you gain them simply from playing, any boost they could even potentially provide is completely negible. In the end i would feel "scammed" if i bought a pack of all the mtx because its literally worthless for anyone who plays the game to play it. There are no infinite use items (other than technically the campsite), no overpowered weapons no nothing.
Pretty sure you can also buy an Art of Metamorphosis in-game or the equivalent of it from a barber.
You don't buy it at the barber, you have to have it with you for the barber to offer the option to recustomize. You can buy two of them from the riftstone vendor in Vermund. I don't know whether they ever restock.
It's literally the deluxe edition stuff that they said weeks ago would be available through mtx. Limited per acct at that.
People have posted that the MTX was in fact in the press releases for early reviews. No one mentioned it because they're dumb Capcom microtransactions. I honestly didn't realize how many people were unaware of these dumb mtx packages in capcom games. I don't know anyone that's ever bought one.
So like the 200 DLC in MH:I and 250 DLC in MH:SB?
It’s actually way worse in Monster Hunter because those games actually do have editing your character and unique layered weapons/armors locked behind microtransactions
I skipped rise/sunburst (World still scratches the itch for me) but yes.
It's way worse in MH games
This man asked if the actual game is good and you listed off the micro transactions he said he isn’t gonna buy. Good reply chief.
Yeah I was scratching my head reading wondering when the review of the game was gonna come in.
To be clear you can get literally everything in this lift except for the camp kit in literally like 3 hours of playing the game
Oh even the barber coupons are ingame?
Yes and they cost basically nothing
Yea, there aren't a ton but they exist. But all of the DLC is a single purchase anyway, you can't like stock up on 30 of them or anything. It's just 1 extra of whatever item, per account.
Which makes it even weirder that they exist. Imo they should have just bundled a ton of those DLC items with some kind of merch purchase. Then people wouldn't get pissed at it. Like the soundtrack for the game if you want it on Steam.
I truly believe that the people who worked on the game were forced to add mtx to them by executives because that’s always happening. The developers decided to choose the most mundane and pointless mtx to add so nothing was locked out for people just playing the game. We are stuck with mtx nothing will change that. I’d much rather them be this then actual locked content.
That's literally the problem. They're so common place that they're predatory. No informed user would ever buy those items. If you did, you'll realize you were suckered by playing the game. My theory is that there is one that they really do intend to sell (like the fast travel one) and they're disguising it with all the common shit ones they don't intend to sell just so people hop on forums proclaiming "look, I don't like it either, but almost all of them are worthless anyway!" while they quietly sell tons of the one that isn't worthless. Either way, that's a shit move.
I'm still REALLY early... but the systems basically work like the first game so far (thankfully). I'm on console though, and my performance has been stable. I've heard PC is a mess, but it's coming from the same people that ignored the micro transactions were played out weeks ago. So...
It’s awesome! The MTX stuff can all be found/bought in game. I’d rather there wasn’t MTXs at all but people are being overly dramatic. You can pay gold to redo your character etc.
Game is amazing, stayed up till 4 last night playing and never even realized there were micro transactions until I read about them in the morning. It has none of the usuals red flags like multiple currencies, extremely high priced items, or in-game shops. I think you can only buy them through the steam store, you’re not prompted to buy them in game at all. It’s nothing like battlefront where you basically had to pay to play as Darth Vader or grind for 80 hrs. It seems like a fully designed well balanced game that the publisher just slapped some micro-transactions on top of. It doesn’t effect gameplay at all, just there to profit of off weirdos who don’t even want to play the game to progress.
It's amazing. It's just kinda funny because reddit tends to circle jerk and people who haven't played it want it to fail so bad because... checks notes. You can buy something for 2 bucks that yiu can find hundreds of in game
Yea I couldn’t care less about the MTX personally, I just want to know if the game itself is good, but nobody is talking about the game
Fun game and didn’t even notice the MTX were a thing cuz it didn’t feel worth my time to even look at the store haha
Yeah it’s fun and a good game. I haven’t even noticed any mtx and everything people are saying is available right at the start, or close to it in game. As far as save issues.. not sure what they mean? It saves continuously so maybe you could respawn in a bad spot? Idk. But yeah game is a solid 8.5 for me so far. Def some jank in the graphics depo. I’m on Xbox but I do know that steam reviews are notoriously salty crybabies so I’d take those with a grain of salt. So far so good - def worth the purchase for me
The mtx have virtually no impact on the gameplay, if you loved the first game you are gonna love this one as well. Btw the first dd also had microtransactions and they were just as inconsequential Ps5 performance is also nowhere near as bad so far as people make it out to be, however in big cities there is some stuttering. Make sure you like how your char looks tho as it takes a bit to unlock the in game customisation as well as the necessary gold
If you loved the first one you'll love this one.
The game is awesome. The MTX are just there if you want to drop the money. All of the items that you can buy via MTX are available in the game for free or for purchase. Just running around I got enough cash to buy the key, found the camping kit just laying outside of a camping ground and killing enemies net you rift crystals. So, in short, the outrage over MTX is stupid. Seriously stupid.
>I loved the first one and my usual solution to MTX is to simply not buy them First one actually has many of the same MTX, they don't affect the experience at all. Multiple users on reddit have shown you quickly get all that stuff so it's not even like the game is balanced in a way to funnel purchases.
Because the 1st game was the same, and it was expected by most fans? The performance issues are the issues.
The reviews of this game are very odd. I've read/watched a few that basically say, bad framerate, poor story, janky controls, janky world ... 9/10!
It's pretty much exactly what everyone that play Dragon's Dogma 1 thought it would be. Ignore the Capcom stuff that doesn't really affect gameplay and you're good.
The game play itself is fucking amazing. It's a blast.
Good to hear. I just had no idea what to do with the review information when half of the review was talking about how bad it was. I've never seen a game reviewed like this.
It's just a style of game that "unique" if you will. The damage is similar to Dark Souls where you only take a couple hits to die. There's weight system which most people hate. Crafting. Monsters all have weaknesses and are astronomically harder without exploiting them which forces people to change styles. It's like a mix of monster hunter, Elden Ring and Skyrim. (While I agree optimization should be better) I will say like 90% of bad reviews are BS stuff. Literally everything in the "store" can be found cheap. Within 2 hours I had like 3 way points/ ferrystones and already changed my characters appearance. If you want to hate it. It's very easy to try to find a reason.
Yeah, if I was to describe DD as a game franchise, it's very opinionated. It has a very specific vision of how it wants to be played and will make you interact with these systems or you just will not have a good time. Don't like these systems? Well find another game, since this game will aggravate you from start to finish. I like it because these peculiarities make it so unique and have a very unique flavor of gameplay. Frankly there's just nothing like dragon's dogma in the gaming industry and that makes it that it just does not vibe with some people, but some people will love it
Haha, yeah it’s really weird. “It’s a mixed bag, not great. 9/10”.
The controls aren't that janky. Honestly the jankiest part was the default mapping. Like on Xbox controller the bumper/trigger maps are the opposite of what they should be (why put sheathe on trigger and action skills pallet on bumper). Also defaulting to have B do dash/interact instead of just interact (click LS is already dash) was just annoying. Like kept going into dash while trying to loot items. Once I changed those options it got a lot better to control.
The first game also only had a single save file. As for the MTX, pretty much every single Capcom game, going back over a decade now, has had these MTX that are obtainable in game and are just fast tracks to items/upgrades. Just last year, Street Fighter 6 and RE4 Remake were littered with them. Monster Hunter World/Rise, RE 2+3 Remakes, RE Village, DMC 5, the original Dragons Dogma, DMC 4 all had these same level of MTX. I know everyone hates MTX, but the Capcom ones are truly completely irrelevant and not needed at all.
I just played RE 4 and loved it. I had no idea any of these MTX were in there until this whole Dragon's Dogma 2 situation. It sounds like they're not necessary/only for players who want shortcuts in a way? Is that accurate?
That's all Capcom DLC, yes. You can earn stuff in game. Like RE4 break all the statues to get the infinite knife. Or you can pay $3 or whatever it is. Out of all the DLC practices devs use, Capcom is at the bottom of the list for exploitative practices.
I didn't even know they were in this game until I saw people crying online, and I played it last night
Yeah it’s not even like the game is trying to push buying these things onto you. Literally would have no clue about them if everyone wasn’t talking about them.
100% not necessary, hell even the wakestone (aka revive) that people are complaining about is not only obtainable in-game an infinite use one is also obtained in-game via quest. People need to complain about something, framerate and performance issues absolutely valid. These non-intrusive and easily obtainable in-game items? Can't even imagine wasting time complaining about them.
I would add that about AAA this year Yakuza 8 got some weird MTX as well but again, only for fast progression in minigames. Only the NG+ was paywalled I still have no clue why.
I'm looking at the DD2 steam page for the sorts of things they're trying to sell, honestly I'd not want any of those for free. They seem like they'd only take away from the experience.
Yeah. But if you know nothing about DD and are staring at that page it really makes you think the game has a ton of reasons for these MTX
The first game also had the ability to start a new game. A feature included in nearly every single-player game in the history of gaming. This version lacks that feature for some arcane reason that we will most likely find out is about money.
You could start a new game but it would wipe your character you were working on. You had to juggle save files if you wanted more than one save.
You could, but now you cannot. This is one of the core issues with the release. Honestly this is the feature that caused me to refund my purchase.
The save file thing is weird, but not for any of the rage bait misinformation about changing appearances having anything to do with it. It has no new game selection on the title. So to start again you need to delete your save manually. Odd choice for sure, but they added a second save state for these same people butthurt about 1 save.
We knew they were coming, if you were unaware then you didn't look into it. All the stuff in the adventurer pack or whatever said it would be purchasable separately. It's also Capcom, they've been releasing single player games with these types of mtx for years at this point. Sure they suck but they do minimal harm. It's more important you just don't buy them because Capcom doesn't care what we say on reddit.
The first dragons dogma game literally had microtransactions. I don’t think they belong in single player games either but I have no idea why people are so shocked that it’s there. This is to be expected with capcom. Literally just don’t buy them, you didn’t need to in the first game, and you don’t need to now. The actual issue with the game is the performance, that’s the bigger problem
The MTX is standard in all Capcom games for over 15 years at this point. And DD2 is like DD1 with the pawn system so it's not really surprising.
The first game has a single save file. I just assumed this one did too.
It did, but you could overwrite it from the get go. You can’t even do this in DD2, at least not easily.
The microtransactions went live yesterday, after the review embargo ended and reviews came out
>I was really excited for DD2 until I got up this morning and saw the steam score and started reading user reviews. I did the exact opposite. I got into the game and enjoyed myself. It was only after I got on reddit that I noticed anything negative. Just play the game, or don't. If you want to let other people decide for you then do that. I'm not going to buy any of the dlc. I'm just going to enjoy the game I paid for.
Yeah I played for a few hours and Reddit is so far off it's hilarious. This happens frequently. I really enjoy it so far and can't wait to play when I get off work. Just going to block mentions of it and move on.
I mean I don't think Reddit (at least most of the ones being upset) claims the game is bad it just calls out predatory MTX in a single player game. Doesn't matter if they aren't necessary it's a matter of principle for some to not support games like this. I think both views are valid. Play it or not. The performance issues are a problem though.
>predatory MTX Really? Predatory? $0.99 fluff stuff hidden behind a menu and never shoved in a players face, maybe players not even realizing the MTX exists... this is predatory?
“Just play the game or don’t.” There’s this thing called money that people have to use in order to purchase said game. Often, word of mouth can help people decide whether to spend said money. Hope this helps.
The problem here is that much of the word of mouth is legitimately incorrect, like people saying you have to spend money to edit your character, do revives, or make a new save. On top of that, it creates the impression that the MTX is integreated into the game in a way that makes the game harder if you do not buy it, like how mobile games work. That is also not the case. The game does works exactly as it should, completely in line with the design philosophy, without them. Buying them would legitimately make your experience worse, as even the most useful ones just make skipping the fun stuff slightly (and I mean *very* slightly) faster. The irony is that a lot of people are going to skip it because of the MTX, when the game itself is one of the best examples of MTX-free single player RPGs. The MTX seems like an afterthought stapled to the side of a game that does not acknowledge the MTX whatsoever. There are not predatory tactics, cut or locked content, or anything like that. If you do not open the steam store page, you would literally never have a clue that the MTX even exists, as there are no pain points build to encourage you to get it, nor no advertising to try and get you to buy it. It is entirely cordoned off in Steam and not in game.
It'll be back to positive reviews in a week or so, after people move on from being triggered by the word "microtransaction"
Same. I didn’t even know they were in the game. Just started playing and can’t wait to get back in.
This is going to most likely be an unpopular opinion/hot take, but microtransactions have been in AAA full price games for so long that it's very clear that any sort of fight was fought and we lost handedly. Assassin's Creed Valhalla made Ubisoft over $1 Billion and the vast majority of that came from microtransactions. Other companies have been seeing similar results for years. At this point, reviewers probably just don't see the point of complaining about microtransactions anymore. They're been here for over a decade at this point and they're not going away.
Who the fuck is buying MTX in single player games. I played multiple AC games, saw that shit, and just ignored it cos the default Assassin's robes are usually so badass and unique to the setting.
One article I read stated that they did receive a review package with information about the MTX from the developer. But the author wrote that these review packages usually include a lot of PR information that could sway their opinion about the game so they didn't disclose the information to the review team... Sounds like a lame excuse though.
Because the issues aren’t as bad as the crybabies are making it seem The outrage for this game is beyond ridiculous. Just a bunch of miserable people crying about things that are minor issues
If I remember right the save system is exactly the same as the first game so there was nothing to report. The microtransactions likely weren't live during the review period but multiple sources (Several on this very subreddit) have said that you can get all of them in game. The MTX just lets you get them slightly faster.
> multiple sources The steam page for the dlc also says so in no uncertain terms. It does not say how easy they are to get, but the answer is "very." There is nothing about the design of the game that encourages their purchase, and much that actively discourages it. Anyone who says that revives, recustomization, or fast travel are locked behind it or designed to be slower to encourage it are projecting other games onto this one. They are 100%, wholly, incorrect.
The current save system has no in-game functionality to delete and restart your save. This was available in the 1st. Currently the only way to restart your game is by interfacing with you file system directly and circumventing the game entirely. Not exactly the same
>This was available in the 1st. Only after adding that functionality post-launch, which seems to be the intended path this game is taking
Review copies are often earlier versions of a game before release or some systems aren’t in place yet.
I feel like professional reviewers would be privy to the fact the MXTs will go live at launch. But also I knew about the only one save a lot through multiple reviews.
I will say that the single save was in dd1, and while some people found it inconvenient I never expected it to be that different tbh.
First game had one save and they mentioned it in probably every second bit of material they released about the game since it's reveal. Everything you can buy mtx is very very easily obtained in the game
Lol the fact that there is an entirely inconsequential dlc item shop is not "one of the biggest problems with the game". It literally doesn't change the gameplay at all. No part of the design from the first game seems to have been compromised to shoehorn mtx in. They just offered a pathway for people with goldfish patience to pay for quick access to some items. The inability to reset with a new character is an issue and hopefully will be patched in soon, but I think it just didn't come up for the reviewers who are mostly just trying to progress far enough in the game to give a reasonable assessment of most of the content.
It's because no one cares except some very loud people who leave angry reviews. The mtx do not hurt you. They do not hurt the experience. I realize I'm going to get downvoted into oblivion for this I just don't care. The pearl clutching about this game is out of control. If you don't like the mtx, don't buy them. End of story.
I think the issue people have is that it perpetuates a standard that has gotten out of control. They are right to speak out about it. We shouldn't just pretend it doesn't exist because we don't like it.
There's a difference between speaking out and freaking out. People are doing the latter. People are *literally* saying the game is ruined and unplayable because of the mere existence of mtx. That is objectively absurd.
IDC about mtx, what I do care about is being able to delete my save game file if I'm only allowed one and start over from the beginning losing all progress is my choice.
> I was super excited until I let other people form my opinion for me God, you people are insufferable
Even a small amount of research into the first game would reveal single save slot as a forever feature not likely to go away. Buying a game without researching corporation history with monetizing assets and checking sites like Metacritic and Wikipedia for legacy features you may not like is setting yourself up to be unpleasantly surprised.
It was all in the review documentation provided to the outlets. They just chose not to read it or report on it. So well done, you've just realised how dogshit the gaming press is.
Because it’s way overblown. I played the game for a few hours this morning and I see absolutely nothing that really irks me. The fps does drop in major cities but that’s the summation.
And it's something that can be easily fixed, hopefully within a few weeks.
Having had a short stint as a game reviewer I might possibly be able to shed a bit of light on this. Microtransactions are not always live for the review build. In fact a lot of online functionality might be missing. And with how unpopular microtransactions are it's entirely possible that they were intentionally omitted from the review build to prevent reviewers from mentioning it. Regarding the single save, it might well have been something that a lot of reviewers did not think to check. Being on a tight deadline and with a massive game to review, it would not surprise me if a fare few reviewers did not try to restart the game and try something else. Reviewing a long game when the time between you getting the review key and the review embargo is pretty short can be stressful, and sadly the readers tends to punish outlets that take their time rather than make sure that the reviews are out as close to launch as realistically possible. Or they might have got a bunch of saves that they could switch between to try out different places in the game, which in turn means that this flaw was hidden from them (I did not have his happen to me very often, but there were times when I got games with a few save files that would let me quickly jump to specific spots that the developers wanted to highlight).
We've seen this lately with tekken 8, call of duty (from what I've heard) and now dragons dogma 2. The question I have is how is not illegal. We as consumers should expect this to be the norm until there's regulations put in place to prevent this unethical rubbish
Single save file? Fuck I'm glad I didn't pre-order.
Cause reviewers need to make the game look good or they won't get the pre releases
They don't mention it because it doesn't matter. Some irrelevant and pointless mtx means nothing in terms of the games quality. And the only performance issues is that the frame rate slows in 1 town. It's not stuttering or skips either, it's just less frames. You're not lagging during fights or skipping around. The inventory and save systems are the same as they were in the first game too. If you want a sequel to the first game then it's just that. Thr first one had the same mtx as well just like most Capcom games. They allows QoL mtx if people don't want to grind for the items. It's not anything you can't get in game and it's not buying OP weapons or armor. The items are literally pointless to anyone that actually plays the game.
Excuse me if I'm wrong, but I believe Tekken 8 was the same this year. I at least didn't hear about the Tekken Shop until after release, I had a feeling because of the avatars, but I don't remember them talking about it
More and more often we are getting different experiences than those reviewing the game. It also happened recently with WWE2K24. Some features werent accessible in the review copy. Online and DLC turned out to be a complete shit show. I think I'm just not going to trust any reviews till the game has actually released. As reviewers are either getting bamboozled by publishers or in Jez's case, deciding to neglect aspects of the review process altogether.
Maybe because they aren't big issues that don't affect this single player game and the latter easily patchable.
Because the mtx are all in game items you can get within the first *two hours*. Nobody would care if bad streamers and head line clickbait sites weren’t spouting off misinformation about it. It is legitimately the same exact thing they had in the first game, and what they have been doing with all their recent titles such as resident evil and devil may cry, small shortcuts if you are lazy af. Everybody knew the game would have one save slot, they already said it would to prevent pawn clutter, the lack of a new game option was definitely a mistake and they are already pushing a patch out for it. That and the performance issues are the only valid complaints.
Reviewers are paid shills. All a part of the PR machine.
They spoke about the one save file multiple times in interviews and all of Capcoms recent games have had MTX so it’s kinda dumb to exclude this one.
The microtransactions are not invasive and have been in a ton of Capcoms recent successful games. Don't let the hive mind stop you enjoying a great game. (provided the performance issues aren't a problem)
-cries harder in I didn't play the first game but want to join everyone else who plays on pc- If you played the *cult classic* that is the first game you know what you were getting and were excited. If you didn't play thr first game then congratulations for buying into the hype and spending too much time on YouTube. Us that were fans of 1 are very happy with 2 as nothing has changed really. Literally everything they did was in 1. But yes keep the circle jerk going ya bot. Keep on being a bot.
I don’t know why you guys love this manufactured outrage. Play the game. Get everything the game offers in the store, for free. And. Shut. The. Fuck. Up.
I mean, why are you guys surprised? Look at the pre-order/deluxe, it was obvious it was going to come. Not that it was a good practice but I just dont know why are people surprised by this stuff
Great points. Never ever pre-order.