So what are the major differences between DD1 and DD2?

[Vakula]

On the surface they look almost identical. Having watched reviews for both I struggle to see what the major differences are. Could someone tell me the improvements that make this game worth getting?

[ABU JAFAR]

DD2 surely is harder than DA,
Stats Level up is different, DD2 is a lot better.
DD2 has less Vocations,
DD2 pawn system is better, they leads you treasure, quest.
DD2 doesn't have 1-5 item shortcut, instead Ctrl+t for consumable, Ctrl+R for lantern (which is less helpful).
DD2 Hybrid Vocations isn't unlocked by leveling up vocation rank but from talking to npc or doing quest.
DD2 has better combat.

[edelbrock443]

Honestly, this game feels very different from DD1. I will play this to completion, but I see no reason not to return to DD1 in the future if I feel like playing DD1.
They're just so different, it would be hard to make direct comparisons. But I would say that DD2 is like a simplified more casual friendly version of DD1.

NPC parties, the pawns, are way different this time around, needing items to learn, whereas they adapted to enemy and Arisen playstyles in DD1. I much prefer DD1 pawns.

Armor is so simplified it has removed the armor identity of DD1 from DD2. I prefer the armor system of DD1.

Crafting and items are more annoying, in DD1 for example, you could switch between two types of descriptions, one for flavor, the other for knowing everything about what an item does. While in DD2 there's only one of these descriptions which is like a hybrid of the two, so it barely shows anything worth noting other than how much health/stamina something gives. Goodluck figuring out what spoils.

Combat has been simplified to having less equipable spells and abilities, but with a dedicated button to what seems like the ability everyone would just equip in DD1, like healing for mages. It can ruin certain vocations you liked before, or make them feel better. I was definitely missing my bow for thief at the beginning, but when I got ensnare, I stopped caring as much. I can't imagine shield bashing with a fighter over using your sword. Mages essentially get 1 less spell, and sorcerers loose 2, while warrior is now better since it doesn't have the penalty it did last game.

My main complaint is the world seems unneccessarily a lot larger and packed shoulder to shoulder with monsters. But so far, I've only been through the top half of the map, but everything has been exactly the same. Forest with goblins, harpies, saurions and sometimes something else. Usually so compact that you could say you literally fight to your destination.
In DD1, I thought the enemies were plentiful, but if you stayed to the roads, you would only fight like 3 mobs on your way to your destination, and maybe a rogue miniboss if it was wandering nearby and you got in range while its patrol path was nearest the road. It only became a battle to your destination at night. But in DD2, there's no real difference, throw a stone in any direction, and you'd hit a goblin.

Again, I'm very early, and am looking forward to a lot of potential this game has and just today have faced some very interesting enemies and got a very interesting quest that DD1 has nothing similar to.
Also, DD1 didn't even truly shine until AFTER you killed the dragon, so I'm waiting for that. But so far, it seems like if I want to play DD1, I'd play DD1, if I want to play DD2, I'd play DD2. This game is not a direct upgrade, more like a sidegrade, but even then, the endgame will be where my final judgement comes down.

[FauxFurry]

Environmental traversal is closer to an Assassin's Creed game than Dragon's Dogma 1, interestingly enough. There is more auto-mantling while running and climbing up uneven surfaces rather than jumping over everything when it can not be ledge grappled to.

[Asphe]

Yeah, you need to play DD1 twice to see the 'real' ending and the mechanics seem a lot more simplified (but they left the jankiness in. The JANKINESS!) in DD2... and a few other things.

I'd still recommend someone play DD1 first before DD2 but it's not that big of a change and what changed in DD2 are almost all improvements. Even the storyline. And some mechanics that someone at Capcom was drunk when they approved it (and a good thing too, the devs sure had the guts to do stuff like this). They kept all those dialogues (and accented dialects) too.

A few negs though, the comparison views... and few other things. A few things are actually 'worse' but overall, I think DD2 is what DD1 should've been.

Aside from the in-game stuff, those RC DLCs ^_^ and whatever some players are complaining about. They missed an opportunity to put in some gacha-style loot boxes that give out a wakestone or 1000 RC if they 'win'. They had to know they'd be review bombed for it and just didn't care ^_^. Maybe Denuvo gave them a discount if they put in something to draw attention away?

[Asphe]

Originally posted by FauxFurry:

Environmental traversal is closer to an Assassin's Creed game than Dragon's Dogma 1, interestingly enough. There is more auto-mantling while running and climbing up uneven surfaces rather than jumping over everything when it can not be ledge grappled to.

There's a ledge near Batta... Bat.. the CAT CITY place where my pawn just launches herself to freedom. She sees a plant... goes near, auto-mantles a rock, sees another plant... and believes she can fly.

-----

Also just WHERE is my 'Wolves travel in packs!' or the need my DD1 pawns always had... to get wet

[edelbrock443]

Originally posted by Asphe:

Yeah, you need to play DD1 twice to see the 'real' ending and the mechanics seem a lot more simplified (but they left the jankiness in. The JANKINESS!) in DD2... and a few other things.

I'd still recommend someone play DD1 first before DD2 but it's not that big of a change and what changed in DD2 are almost all improvements. Even the storyline. And some mechanics that someone at Capcom was drunk when they approved it (and a good thing too, the devs sure had the guts to do stuff like this). They kept all those dialogues (and accented dialects) too.

A few negs though, the comparison views... and few other things. A few things are actually 'worse' but overall, I think DD2 is what DD1 should've been.

Aside from the in-game stuff, those RC DLCs ^_^ and whatever some players are complaining about. They missed an opportunity to put in some gacha-style loot boxes that give out a wakestone or 1000 RC if they 'win'. They had to know they'd be review bombed for it and just didn't care ^_^. Maybe Denuvo gave them a discount if they put in something to draw attention away?

The original had WAY worse DLC before Dark Arisen's release (Seeker tokens anyone?). Furthermore, everything on the store feels like you're getting scammed for spending real money to buy things you could EASILY get ingame. The only thing that I'm upset about is the portcrystal, but if you buy any of the other items, you must be doing it so early in the game you don't realize how easy you can get these items. In which case, you really only played yourself.
I'd discourage anyone from buying those though, because you REALLY don't need any of it.

Also, lol, I was thinking the traversal is like early Assassin's Creed, with my character giving me a heartattack jumping off every ledge he happens to be five feet from.

The jankiness I think is different, in DD1, it was classic videogame jank. Something you get from a mid budget videogame trying to get multiple systems to interact. In DD2, it's high budget videogame jank, something you get from a AAA game trying to mimic reality, but just missing the mark.

[Chaosolous]

DD1 launched with 4 DLC and slowly added others over time.

DD2 launched with 21 DLC MxT and didn't tell anyone.

[-=Cloud Windfoot Omega=-]

Originally posted by Chaosolous:

DD1 launched with 4 DLC and slowly added others over time.

DD2 launched with 21 DLC MxT and didn't tell anyone.

DD1 had 21 dlc and 6 mtx (which were more like MTX bundles)