Dragons Dogma Dork Arisen

I did the same and just ended up giving up after reloading an inn save multiple times to try to find it. You'll miss out on a trophy/cheevo, but can still finish the overall quest if you fail that bit.

Fucking awful bit of design!

Did you at least try the first place such as the fountain in the square?

I confess I have had a bit of a break to play other games, but got back into this earlier in the week. The main story seems to practically disappear when you cross the border, and I’ve half forgotten what I’m meant to be doing… heading through the magic door to the south of Battahl is my next quest marker.

The combat remains good fun (apart from the Trickster which I simply don’t get) but mopping up side quests has felt a bit of a chore due to the constant back tracking. And I have opened up most of the shortcuts too. I burned through a fair few Ferrystones doing the Sphinx quests and definitely hope there’s an Eternal one somewhere going into the end game (or maybe NG+)

I’m keen to see the end (and the proper end too) but less sure I will launch straight into NG+ (which I did do almost immediately in the first DD).

Certainly no regrets- 60 hours played and I’ve definitely enjoyed it a lot. But I definitely think I’ll play something else next.

That's what I thought too. Was quite disappointing to get up there and find it wasn't, then spend 5+ hours faffing about following videos and guides and still not finding the bastard thing.

Sorry man. Wasn't trying to be a dick.

A simple answer: no.

I put a port crystal down on the volcanic island but I can’t travel to it. Seems I need to progress the story more. Which is a bit stupid.

Got a couple of areas in battahl to explore and the rest of the island. Then I’m done. Great game overall but ready for the end now.

I finally completed the main story after about 74 hours of playtime! I made a point of finishing every quest in my quest log before heading up to Moonglint Tower, so there was quite a bit of backtracking to do, but overall I would say I thoroughly enjoyed the game for all the same reasons I loved the first Dragon’s Dogma.

(I am now in the post-game stage of the Unmoored World, but as its early days, I will hold fire commenting on that for now!)

Overall, I thought it was both better and worse than the first game. Definitely better in terms of visuals and performance (the occasional slow down in PS5 never really bothered me) and with the exception of the Trickster (which just never clicked) the changes to the classes were great. Every other one was fun to play, and I haven’t yet exhausted the skill trees of every class, nor really put much time j to the Warfarer… there’s definitely a good NG+ game here for me one day.

If anything let it down a bit, it was the main story. Some nice side quests helped, but the game definitely fell into the trap of having totally under-developed villains and failed to really ratchet up the stakes in narrative terms as you head towards the second half of the game.

Perhaps the post-game quests will change my mind on that, but I felt the first game’s Duke Edmun and Elysion were much more interesting characters. The supporting cast was also a bit underused, with only Ulrika really offering much plot development.

But then perhaps playing for the story isn’t the point. Much as I love a good narrative RPG, I do t think many game have nailed the systems and combat aspects as well as this. It’s not quite Elden Ring deep, but it’s a lot more accessible and the combat lets you just have fun with some ludicrously overpowered moves.

Of course, the highlight is the Pawns. I enjoyed crafting and upgrading my own companion, and always enjoyed the process of selecting the rest of my party to compliment my chose roles. The chatter and hilarity and chaos that Pawns create was always brilliant. (And it’s been great to take a few of your lot out on adventures with me!)

So while I have more (possibly much more?) to play, the game has already delivered almost all I was hoping for, and I’m still not tiring of the gameplay loop. Any DLC would be a day one.

Oh, apparently there’s a new patch today - right after I finish 🙄 - which improved inventory management and performance (a bit).

I finished it the other week, it came surprisingly suddenly, thought there would be another location chapter after the end. (Though I did have the so called "bad" ending) I wasn't into doing what it was about to ask me to do.

Excellent though, loved the world they created, and the mechanics they introduced, but I am done with it, the 60-70 hours I put in was enough, more than my money's worth, even though I am sure there was loads I missed.

Which reminds me that I need to get back to this!

Same! Just a couple of bits I need to do before pushing on to the end.

I’ve definitely got my money’s worth out of it but I would say it’s just a bit too big and lacking in variety.

www.eurogamer.net/dragons-dogma-2-update-adds-options-to-change-console-graphics-settings

Interesting. Their way of getting better frame rates on a fixed platform...is to offer a switch between low/high settings.

I'll end up agreeing with you no doubt later on but I'll probably still finish it. It's the only dungeon crawler I've got on the go at the minute