games

Played the first on release, then again when DA dropped, and played this one on release. Let me preface this by acknowledging I have a ton of bias, I loved the first game, and ny tastes have changed in the 12 years it took for DD2 to be released.

Honestly, it's fun, but it is as shallow as the first one. Don't get me wrong, combat is very, very fun. Movement in general is weighty but not clunky, the weapons all feel great, and pretty much all skills are useful. But enemy variety suffers, I haven't the data but it sort of feels like it has less enemy variety than the first one. Wolves and goblins are as ubiquitous as in the first one, and they don't require much tactics to beat, trolls feel somewhat boring to fight for some reason, griffins are easily worn down, and dragons quickly become a bit of a joke. Undead enemies seem somewhat rare, and you'll very rarely encounter anything not a zombie or spirit. So, combat is a mixed bag, the tools you have are great, but the problems are repetitive.

The biggest downside are the quests and the story. Completely forgettable. I thought I'd get embroiled in some deadly political cloak and dagger but it was all tedium.

Also, mastery in a vocation means very little when you can use any weapon and nearly any skill with the wayfarer vocation.

The post-game is really interesting though. Not sure if I like it better than the first game, but it was a very interesting approach.

All in all, if you want cool gameplay, go for it. If you want a deeper experience, wait for a sale, you won't find it in DD2 (or DD1 for that matter). If a 5 is average, DD2 is a solid 6.5 for me. I enjoyed my first playthrough, but there wasn't much meat on those bones to go for seconds. I probably won't touch the game again until an expansion like BBI drops. Plus, performance was terrible.