Monster Hunter RPG story mode. Morrowind emergent exploration but with actually good combat. Amazing game, got that characteristic Dragon's Dogma jank and quality in spades. Your pawns are adorable idiot toddlers who won't shut the ♥♥♥♥ up AND they're actually useful now. There's a bit of that DD1 magic missing, but it more than makes up for it with the flaws that made DD1 a pain to play being ironed out. The dungeons are just as fun and interesting to traverse and with an actual budget, there's far more than 5 this time with most of them not being tied to quests so you're free to explore to your heart's content.

I might go back and give a proper review once I'm done with the game. But yeah the whole stuff about "MTX RUINED THE GAME" (actually 0 impact thanks to the devs who included the bare minimum because some idiot executive told them to, just like the last several Capcom games but only now the nerds rally at this one, still predatory but completely irrelevant otherwise) or "GAME HAS TERRIBLE PERFORMANCE" (slight framerate loss just in the main town, only on PC and they're working on a fix right now; my toaster PC runs the game completely fine everywhere else, turn your settings down) is completely overblown.

It's honestly kinda characteristic of DD2 to be an underdog that gets lambasted by people who didn't even play the game. It's always been a niche title that appeals to a specific audience and most people (esp for those who hyped themselves into a froth expecting Skyrim but with waifus) aren't going to have the patience for it. It's sad that the few real flaws that the game have amount to "game needs more time and money put into it" but when the Average Gamer™️ complains about easily disprovable rumours they're never going to be happy with how the game expects you to just sit there and play it. No gimmicks, no jingling keys it's just a game that's unashamed to be itself. And so Capcom is in a way right to never give this series the budget it deserves.

It's too bad Capcom has idiot execs who forced the inclusion of MTX in the first place. Ah well, maybe the execs will wisen up to the devs chicanery and put in some actually game ruining stuff in their next release.

Monster Hunter RPG story mode. Morrowind emergent exploration but with actually good combat. Amazing game, got that characteristic Dragon's Dogma jank and quality in spades. Your pawns are adorable idiot toddlers who won't shut the fuck up AND they're actually useful now. There's a bit of that DD1 magic missing, but it more than makes up for it with the flaws that made DD1 a pain to play being ironed out. The dungeons are just as fun and interesting to traverse and with an actual budget, there's far more than 5 this time with most of them not being tied to quests so you're free to explore to your heart's content. I might go back and give a proper review once I'm done with the game. But yeah the whole stuff about "MTX RUINED THE GAME" (actually 0 impact thanks to the devs who included the bare minimum because some idiot executive told them to, just like the last several Capcom games but only now the nerds rally at this one, still predatory but completely irrelevant otherwise) or "GAME HAS TERRIBLE PERFORMANCE" (slight framerate loss just in the main town, only on PC and they're working on a fix right now; my toaster PC runs the game completely fine everywhere else, turn your settings down) is completely overblown. It's honestly kinda characteristic of DD2 to be an underdog that gets lambasted by people who didn't even play the game. It's always been a niche title that appeals to a specific audience and most people (esp for those who hyped themselves into a froth expecting Skyrim but with waifus) aren't going to have the patience for it. It's sad that the few real flaws that the game have amount to "game needs more time and money put into it" but when the Average Gamer™️ complains about easily disprovable rumours they're never going to be happy with how the game expects you to just sit there and play it. No gimmicks, no jingling keys it's just a game that's unashamed to be itself. And so Capcom is in a way right to never give this series the budget it deserves. It's too bad Capcom has idiot execs who forced the inclusion of MTX in the first place. Ah well, maybe the execs will wisen up to the devs chicanery and put in some actually game ruining stuff in their next release.