This story sucks (Spoilers)

[Arc]

So I loved DD1 and admittedly yes, the story was not the strength of the game. However, this story is just bad. It feels like a bunch of disjointed plot points that never see any real resolution and get forgotten immediately.

The Dragon - Okay so the dragon comes down and steals our heart. Then what? Completely disappears for the entire game until he randomly pops out of the portal in Moonglint Tower to crush Phaesus' dragon and then is like "Oh so you came here to challenge me?" Uh, I guess so we're both here now. Were you looking for the dragon any time ever? Not even a little bit.

Vernworth Royalty - Okay so we're the Arisen and should be king so we're going to prove the false Arisen is a fake. We do a bunch of quests to build our case, go to the coronation, chicken out because of the Godsway and then never do anything about this ever again.

The Arisen - Through the entire game EVERYONE knows you're the Arisen, you go to a random town and people just know. But wasn't the entire point of the Vernworth quest that we weren't supposed to reveal that fact and nobody should know? Why does literally everyone know now?

Lord Phaesus - So this guy shows up, we're told he made the Godsway, we then help his apprentice restore the Godsbane Blade and then a jedi ghost shows up and tells him to just give it to us to take to him. At this point we don't know his plan or really anything about him. And then we just decide yeah we'll go follow him, for some reason.

The Gigantus - So this thing is awakened when you receive the Godsbane Blade and chooses to chase Phaesus. Who made it? Why is it chasing Phaesus? What is it's function?

The Dragonforged - Who? You talk to him one time and he's like nah I don't know what the Godsway is.

The Elves - WHO?

Saving Everyone in the Unmoored World - So we gather everyone into the shrine and activate the last red light. Then what? Did we save them? How? What happened to them at all? Why did Luz think bringing everyone here would save them?

I dunno. Just feels like every part of this story is a half-baked mess than doesn't make any coherent sense. Am I missing something here?

[TNX.]

I honestly can't argue with some of these statements. Keeping us being Arisen a secret in Vernworth, like everyone should know the "Sovran" wouldn't just be walking out and about from town to town and especially should know what they look like but everyone knows WE are the Arisen?

[Ponyeater]

DD1's story was definitely more coherent and also more engaging. Escaping the castle in DD1 was great.

[Mad Max]

As controversial as it is, I actually liked the Post-Game of this game more than the first one.

It has a finality to it and a more satisfying ending with more closure.

The ending of DD1 kind of left me feeling empty, but DD2 feels like a good proper ending.

[Arc]

Originally posted by Mad Max:

As controversial as it is, I actually liked the Post-Game of this game more than the first one.

It has a finality to it and a more satisfying ending with more closure.

The ending of DD1 kind of left me feeling empty, but DD2 feels like a good proper ending.

The Unmoored World in general and the true ending were the only half-decent parts of the entire story and still felt somewhat half-baked and unsatisfying.

[Mad Max]

Originally posted by Arc:

Saving Everyone in the Unmoored World - So we gather everyone into the shrine and activate the last red light. Then what? Did we save them? How? What happened to them at all? Why did Luz think bringing everyone here would save them?

By saving everyone in the Unmoored World and finally killing the Dragon you break the Cycle of the Arisen and free the world from it's chains.

This is shown in the post credits scene where the old man is taking the boat out. This was not possible before because of The Brine. Now people can actually travel and are not held prisoner by the ocean.

[Arc]

Originally posted by Mad Max:

Originally posted by Arc:

Saving Everyone in the Unmoored World - So we gather everyone into the shrine and activate the last red light. Then what? Did we save them? How? What happened to them at all? Why did Luz think bringing everyone here would save them?

By saving everyone in the Unmoored World and finally killing the Dragon you break the Cycle of the Arisen and free the world from it's chains.

This is shown in the post credits scene where the old man is taking the boat out. This was not possible before because of The Brine. Now people can actually travel and are not held prisoner by the ocean.

Which is another thing that's not completely explained, in this game. What is the Brine? Aside from murderous ocean tentacles. Why doesn't it kill us when we fall in at the start of the true ending? I guess because the Worldbuilders didn't want us to die. Why is it gone now? There's some hints of it being tied to the dragons and the cycle in the unmoored world but nothing concrete.

[Mad Max]

Originally posted by Arc:

Originally posted by Mad Max:

By saving everyone in the Unmoored World and finally killing the Dragon you break the Cycle of the Arisen and free the world from it's chains.

This is shown in the post credits scene where the old man is taking the boat out. This was not possible before because of The Brine. Now people can actually travel and are not held prisoner by the ocean.

Which is another thing that's not completely explained, in this game. What is the Brine? Aside from murderous ocean tentacles. Why doesn't it kill us when we fall in at the start of the true ending? I guess because the Worldbuilders didn't want us to die. Why is it gone now? There's some hints of it being tied to the dragons and the cycle in the unmoored world but nothing concrete.

Correct, it's never explained but it's heavily implied The Brine is part of the cycle and was created to keep people trapped on the continent. This is why the Arisen is never killed by it, just sent back to the shore so he can't escape.

[Arc]

So we have a few people that ask us to break the cycle and a few that tell us that the cycle is the only thing keeping this world from ending. That the dragon exists to keep the cycle going so that the world doesn't end. And when we break the cycle the world is just fine. So was the dragon/jedi ghost mistaken or were they just lying to you to keep the cycle going for no reason?

[Arc]

This game's story makes the first look like an absolute masterpiece. At least you knew SOME of the NPCs and were given some reason to care a little bit, you actually pursued the dragon, the story bits were actually connected and received some kind of resolution or at least had a point.

The only things that matter in DD2 are: Getting the godsbane blade, restoring it, taking it to moonglint where phaesus is, using it while you're on the dragon, killing all the red light bosses so you can see the true ending. Literally everything else is completely irrelevant to the story and is forgotten immediately.

[Galenmereth]

The story seems like they've ripped out a bunch of quests and scenes to the point where you often have quests with scenes that make no sense whatsoever.

SPOILERS below:

* Everyone knows you're the arisen, but the oracle is special in that she can sense you're the arisen!?
* The guy transporting pawns in the phantom oxcart does not know you're arisen and thinks you're a pawn until you draw a weapon.
* Escort this guy from Batthal who's a proponent of pawns, get interrupted by mercenary chum who you automatically side with (?) if you by mistake hit one of the guards. But either way you then chase him down into a mineshaft and you're suddenly chums because it turns out you were being lied to. This entire sequence feels like someone skipped ahead in a movie.
* Your quest is to give the godsbane to Phaesus who's the man behind creating the godsway that literally has your main pawn reeling and feeling ill. Why would we do that?
* There's a gigantic construct chasing Phaesus across the volcanic island, so while we're chasing Phaesus we're supposed to... kill what's chasing him so that he can get to control a dragon..? WHY!?
* No wait Phaesus is actuall good now (?)
* Told to tell all the nations to evacuate to save them, yet it doesn't matter; you can just defeat the bosses at each location and the final cutscene is exactly the same anyway..?

I could go on and on but both the delivery of and plot itself past the opening act is utterly nonsensical. Something clearly has gone very wrong during development to the point where they just stitched it together and went "let's just get it out there".

[GrandTickler]

The story in dd1 was just as garbage really and felt like snippets out of the Berserk manga in various quests. Then again most of Capcom's games have less convincing storylines than a toddler could tell you

[Ponyeater]

Originally posted by Arc:

This game's story makes the first look like an absolute masterpiece. At least you knew SOME of the NPCs and were given some reason to care a little bit, you actually pursued the dragon, the story bits were actually connected and received some kind of resolution or at least had a point.

The only things that matter in DD2 are: Getting the godsbane blade, restoring it, taking it to moonglint where phaesus is, using it while you're on the dragon, killing all the red light bosses so you can see the true ending. Literally everything else is completely irrelevant to the story and is forgotten immediately.

Yes I agree it's quite a let down. Good thing I always make my own story in my head for this type of game.

Originally posted by Galenmereth:

The story seems like they've ripped out a bunch of quests and scenes to the point where you often have quests with scenes that make no sense whatsoever.

SPOILERS below:

* Everyone knows you're the arisen, but the oracle is special in that she can sense you're the arisen!?
* The guy transporting pawns in the phantom oxcart does not know you're arisen and thinks you're a pawn until you draw a weapon.
* Your quest is to give the godsbane to Phaesus who's the man behind creating the godsway that literally has your main pawn reeling and feeling ill. Why would we do that?
* There's a gigantic construct chasing Phaesus across the volcanic island, so while we're chasing Phaesus we're supposed to... kill what's chasing him so that he can get to control a dragon..? WHY!?
* No wait Phaesus is actuall good now (?)
* Told to tell all the nations to evacuate to save them, yet it doesn't matter; you can just defeat the bosses at each location and the final cutscene is exactly the same anyway..?

I could go on and on but both the delivery of and plot itself past the opening act is utterly nonsensical. Something clearly has gone very wrong during development to the point where they just stitched it together and went "let's just get it out there".

Would be exactly like the first, also unfinished. Clearly DD2 is also unfinished. Where are the unique dungeons? Underground fortresses, extended dungeons and the like. DD2 has more than DD1, but it's almost exclusively caves and cellars.

[upuaut2]

i wanted to know what happened to Disa.

[Galenmereth]

Originally posted by GrandTickler:

The story in dd1 was just as garbage really and felt like snippets out of the Berserk manga in various quests. Then again most of Capcom's games have less convincing storylines than a toddler could tell you

It was still more internally consistent however. And the final act is a hell of a lot more engrossing.

Originally posted by Ponyeater:

Would be exactly like the first, also unfinished. Clearly DD2 is also unfinished. Where are the unique dungeons? Underground fortresses, extended dungeons and the like. DD2 has more than DD1, but it's almost exclusively caves and cellars.

This is what really got to me. It's the fact that they've managed to repeat the problems of the first game while -- except for the visuals -- haven't really improved anything else. Many aspects I personally consider downgrades. Vocations feel less involved. Sorceress, for example, is absolutely neutered. There's no memorable dungeons. I personally also think characters of the first game, while often goofy, had more personality despite being just as stereotypical. Madeleine is actually funny. The witch in the woods and her "granddaughter" are genuinely interesting. There's humor in the first game, whilst often dark. DD2 feels flatter.

If the game had been wholly bad, I would've moved on. But it just gnaws on me after completing the true ending how rushed and unfinished it feels past the opening act. What is the point of a sequel if you're just going to do the same things again, but arguably worse..?

[Edelgris]

Had to skim most of OP's post because spoilers. But yeah, the story as well as some other aspects of the game feels rushed and lacking in coherence.

I hope this is not because they're speculating in holding back content for future DLC. I really hope there will be some free DLC improving the content. The game does feel a bit thin in some places.