but…but…what did Dan Abnett mean by this?
A rollercoaster story involving time travel, multiverses, primarchs, probably an eldar of some kind that needs some lore entries, all to be revealed first in Darktide.
Obviously.
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I enjoyed your response, but I disagree with one of your comments!
Pawn chatter is significantly improved in DD2, previously in DD1, the pawns’ voices and manner of speaking were uncanny valley unsettling and robotic.
My Pawn, who is modeled after my wife, has a the “Straightforward” personality that sounds human rather than AI, as in the first game.
I love Dragon’s Dogma 2, but I really enjoy eurojank in general.
Spiders is one of my favorite game developers, disregarding the fact that Greedfall has moved Spiders beyond the eurojank realm.
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Just read it. Really good overall.
I could offer criticisms if you care for them?, otherwise I will just say that I really liked the dialogue between Hestia and Zola, really well done imo.
Ofc there is, its the floodlights used to illuminate your ascention in to servitorhood! 
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I respect your opinion on Pawn voices. I like grounded stuff, so to me it feels more natural. But as the kind-hearted inclination pawn says, “Each to their own!” (Alex standing up for me as the hired pawns bully me for hiring mostly woman)
I’m all for jank, but that’s not what I critisize about Dragon’s Dogma 2 really. The first game was way more janky tbh. I’m really just miffed about the streamlining and making it “accessible”.
I don’t mind eurojank at all by the way. And yes, Spider is amazing. All their games are unique, this weirdly Soulsy-like gameplay. Mars: War Logs was my first Spiders game and I loved the weirdness (and also hilarious combat). Adult men duking it out with various kinds of sticks, no knives, guns replaced with nailguns in some sandy land. It’s weird as heck, but I respect the absurdist vision.
Their bravery to tackle hot topics is also something else. That one mission about the conflicted relationship a mother has with her child, which was born from forced (not so) smexytime. Critics lambasted them for it, but this autistic boldness in storytelling has it’s charme.
The most important aspect - They did world building in a way I haven’t seen before. Rather than come out with some tropic baseline fantasy schtick, they build this entire dystopian universe from scratch about some dried up society stuck in Mars, battling it out over water. Then not to focussing on that aspect, but still telling a personal story about an ex-mercenary and his apprentice-like poor person he escorts.
Immediately picked up Technomancer when it released as a story sequel, was not one bit disappointed.
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Technomancer would have been one of my favorite games ever if they just hadn’t squandered the game with all the massive backtracking to extend the gameplay length and the final fight, which was simply awful.
But the story was fantastic, I really like the combat, and their take on the sci-fi setting was unique and interesting.
The entire Technomancer “cult” inspired me to develop a character, which I use in various RPGs, including Darktide where in my headcanon, my Psyker is a former hiver transformed into an artificial Psyker through forced experimentation.
Damn, I really have to play Technomancer again soon! I’ll see if I can make a “wizard” this time around.
The biggest issue is finding time between playing HD2, Darktide, Dogma2, BG3, and FFXIV, with Greedfall 2 also on the way.
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Those pawns in DD2. Honestly im on side where DD1 Pawn better.
In DD1 i adored my pawn and he never got annouying. I made him tall Sephorithlike dude, who sound as much annoyied and dissapointed in me and high and mighty to others as i could)) And that was really fun, and even after dosens of hours he didn’t stoped surprising me)) Yes, there was some repeating in phrases.
But DD2 pawn are absolutely mindless. And amound of phrases they have feel extremely low.
- Look, a chest! Or i know from my world treasure nearby
- My previous master had only Girls in his team or was runnin absolutely naked))
- Why our team consists only Fur…Beastmen!?
- I heard rumors about local guard…
- I have no information about current quest, maybe try hiring one who knows(MOST ANNOUYING!!)
And my pawn doesn’t say anything good and souns so joyfull it makes me sick. I feel if i trow her off the cliff or pour a bowl of soup on her head, she still be happy about that…
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Imagine having story in the actual game, instead of having to read it on a forum or blog post.
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This was a dumb system and I’m glad it got removed, if that’s the case.
Everything else I pretty much agree with you on.
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They do most of their games with backtracking. Same for Greedfall. Kinda oldschool.
They do this obviously to extend the length. The reality is that while what they think up is creative, they never get around to much enemy variety either.
What type of enemies does the Mars Franchise have? Some dog variants hunting in packs, some humanoid low-fi police with batons, some prisoners / bandits and some worm thingies. And it mostly ended there. Then the named boss enemies and that’s a wrap.
Normally something I definitely critisize studios for. I give Spiders leeway in so far that they’re not really all that big and the price is reasonably adjusted. They’ve never launched a game for more than 40 quids. In principle you’re right, though. They just don’t crank the variety out needed to fill the world and then they keep the world small, but make you retread it over and over. At least their worlds feel lively, though. For what little they work with, the cities you visit come off really believable.
That’s something few games manage.
That said, running through every area once you’d probably end up with half the game time, if not less.
And the 2nd the biggest downside of Spiders games is the somewhat lacking combat variety. I don’t think you can make that full on sorcerer character you are aiming for. Just someone who can cast spells a bit more.
It’s one of those weird games where the jack-of-all-trades playstyle pays off big time.
All those games you mentioned are way too much on your plate. Even if you weren’t employed, you couldn’t get all of that with dailies + weeklies + full completion run for each game done. It’s just too much. Gaming has become bloated and grindy.
They have a lot of flavor dialogue for each quest. But you rarely get to hear it because it only plays every so often with the quest tracked while you around without doing it.
For moment to moment gameplay they really don’t have much dialogue at all. Great oversight, considering that they only have 4 voices, too.
I can see it being upsetting having your pawn inclinations changed because you told them to “come here” a few times too many in combat. On the other hand secondary (and hidden third) inclinations also shaped them more.
A middle ground is needed or perhaps just more behavior types for pawns. The 4 we got feel a bit barebones after X hours.
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