History YMMV / DragonsDogmaII

--> [[spoiler:Dragonsplague has struck, leaving a trail of innocent lives in its wake.\
The Pawns who brought the illness to the world have now been returned beyond the rift. [[PlayerPunch If only you had been more observant, perhaps this tragedy could have been prevented]].]]

** Rest in an inn or your house while your Pawn is at the last stage of Dragonsplague, and you'll be treated to a special cutscene where [[spoiler:said Pawn grunts in pain as pitch-black darkness envelops their body except their [[RedEyesTakeWarning red, glowing eyes]], and turns them into an ink-like dragon that lets out a high-pitched roar as it takes flight, ending with a fade to black along with [[HellsThatNoise screams of people can be faintly heard]]. Upon waking up, a message shows, telling you what happened while you were asleep.]]
--> Game: [[spoiler:Dragonsplague has struck, leaving a trail of innocent lives in its wake.\

* NightmareFuel: Upon meeting the Sphinx, you can choose to take part in her riddles for a chance at the sealed chests behind her. However, when you return with your answer(s), she'll get right in your Arison's face with an ''extremely'' unnerving, almost SlasherSmile grin, and during this close-up can [[BodyHorror twist her head nearly 90 degrees without moving her body]]. Combined with other subtler details, such as her face taking on more scales during this close-up (yet returning to normal afterward) and her pupils expanding into almost BlackEyesOfEvil before shrinking again, people are lucky this being ''chooses'' to be peaceful.

* ParanoiaFuel: Once the risk of the Dragonsplague became known, some people started throwing their pawns into the brine for the smallest indications they might be infected with it. Straightforward pawns are often the first to be thrown into the brine due to their [[DeadpanSnarker Sarcastic]] personality, with people confusing their snark for a [[TookaLevelInJerkass sign of infection with the plague]] (it manifests in telling you off when you order them around), and pawns with red eyes not getting hired at all (the sign is ''glowing'' red eyes, with this becoming increasingly obvious over time).

** The first time you gain a Pawn infected with Dragonsplague, it notably warns you about the fact that they are stronger but also a disobedient {{Jerkass}} that may invite calamity. If you don't heed the warning thinking it's just a plot point later on, [[spoiler:the next time you rest at an inn or house in a town, the Dragonsplague Pawn will ''KillEmAll'', leaving only children and other Pawns alive. This includes not only vendors and the Vocation changers, but plot-and-quest-important characters, too, effectively destroying any quest progression you may have been doing and killing your game for anyone not interested in just speeding to the end.]] The only way to know this will happen is by having heard of it from other players, and with no "New Game" option, this is essentially a permanent consequence unless you go outside the game to delete your save by other means, have enough Wakestones to spend on important characters, or manage to get the [[spoiler:Eternal Wakestone to undo all the damages manually, but only once.]]

* DemonicSpiders: Harpies return from the first game, just as annoying as ever. The first variant can put you to sleep while staying out of range, but the game comes with two more variants that are just as annoying; the Gore Harpies and Succubi. These variants can potentially knock you unconscious while proceeding to carry you off to faceplant you into a wall for some damage or worse, off a cliff for a one hit kill for the unaware player. Most of the Harpies found in the latter portions of the game are always positioned near steep cliffs or inclines, making this very easy to happen.

** Just like in the first game, you can grab and throw virtually any non-giant creature as you wish.

** Look at that meat! [[labelnote:Explanation]]Rather than use CGI or in-game graphics for their cooking scenes, the developers went out and bought expensive portions of meat, and filmed them cooking in live-action before placing said footage in-game. As such, a player's typical first reaction when cooking is exclamations of surprise and/or shock at how good they look.[[/labelnote]]

* ThatOneSidequest: The Sphinx's A Game of Wits sidequest. The sidequest is a series of GuideDangIt riddles, ten in total, that give some good rewards. The issue being how obtuse some of them are, such as:
** Being required to find the first Seeker's Token you found in the game (among the over ''200'' of them scattered about the world) while only giving you seven in game days to find it. Hope you remember or had enough foresight to take a picture of the location you got your first.
** Bringing the Sphinx her parent, which requires the player to hunt down a pawn called [=SphinxFather=], [=SphinxMother=] or [=SphinxParent=]. This can be either an official Capcom pawn or a player owned one with the moniker. However if you've never interacted with the Riftstone of Fellowship, this is easier said than done.
** Bringing an incredibly fragile vase to a specific NPC in Bakbattahl. The intended solution is to bring the ''NPC'' to the vase, but if for some reason you don't have two Portcrystals at the right locations, you're out of luck.
** Similarly, the riddle that involves you bringing one of two [=NPCs=] to the Sphinx that look alike at first glance. If you didn't take a screenshot of the one that Sphinx wants you to bring, its easy to bring the wrong one by mistake.
** Killing the Sphinx in itself is a hurdle. She is incredibly finnicky about how she fights and will abandon the battle and [[PermanentlyMissableContent disappear from the current playthrough forever]] if you do something as simple as hit her front half too much [[spoiler:because the whole fight is a riddle in itself, playing on the classical RiddleOfTheSphinx, which can be very easily missed]]. The game nudges you to use the [[OneHitKill Unmaking Arrow]] on her, but the window to do so is strangely specific as well, constricts you into being an Archer, and doing it doesn't even give you the satisfaction of fighting a boss battle. To make matters worse, killing her is necessary for OneHundredPercentCompletion; an achievement is locked behind the item she is protecting, and there is a Pawn Badge for her (which counts up to 5, and given the fact she doesn't respawn, it means you either need to wait until ''NG+5'' or get seriously lucky with Pawn Quests to see it completed).

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The threat of the Dragon pretty much ceases to loom after the Arisen's recollection of themselves at Melve, which is within an hour's playtime. While Grigori was an OrcusOnHisThrone as well, his presence was felt through a doomsday cult galvanized by his appearance and what it portends; ''2's'' denizens seem FantasticallyIndifferent.

* NightmareFuel: Upon meeting the Sphinx, you can choose to take part in her riddles for a chance at the sealed chests behind her. However, when you return with your answer(s), she'll get right in your Arison's face with an ''extremely'' unnerving, almost SlasherSmile grin, and during this close-up can [[BodyHorror twist her head nearly 90 degrees without moving her body]]. Combined with other subtler details, such as her face taking on more scales during this close-up (yet returning to normal afterward) and her pupils expanding into almost BlackEyesOfEvil before shrinking again, people are lucky this being ''chooses'' to give you a chance in the first place.

** There exists some confusion among the gaming public as to what exactly the game's notorious MicroTransactions do, and it isn't uncommon to see videos or comments claiming that core features such as fast travel, pawn customization, or respawning after death are locked behind a paywall.[[note]]Like most Capcom games since ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4: Special Edition'', most of the items available to buy with real cash are easily attainable in-game.[[/note]]

** Bringing the Sphinx her parent, which requires the player to hunt down an official Capcom pawn called [=SphinxFather=], [=SphinxMother=] or [=SphinxParent=]. If you've never interacted with the Riftstone of Fellowship, this is easier said than done.

** Bringing the Sphinx her parent, which requires the player to hunt down an official Capcom pawn called [=SphinxFather=], [=SphinxMother=] or [=SphinxParent=]. If you've never interacted with the Riftstone of Fellowship, this is easier said than done.

** Bringing an incredibly fragile vase to a specific NPC in Bakbattahl. You can bring the NPC to the vase, but this requires the use of two Portcrystals at the Shrine and Bakbattahl to get done quickly. Similarly, the riddle that involves you bringing one of two [=NPCs=] to the Sphinx that look alike at first glance. If you didn't take a screenshot of the one that Sphinx wants you to bring, its easy to bring the wrong one by mistake.

* NightmareFuel: Upon meeting the Sphinx, you can choose to take part in her riddles for a chance at the sealed chests behind her. However, when you return with your answer(s), she'll get right in your Arison's face with an ''extremely'' unnerving, almost SlasherSmile grin, and during this close-up can [[BodyHorror twist her head nearly 90 degrees without moving her body]]. Combined with other subtler details, such as her face taking on more spots/scales(?) during this close-up (yet returning to normal afterward) and her pupils expanding into almost BlackEyesOfEvil before shrinking again, people are lucky this being ''chooses'' to be give you a chance in the first place.

* NightmareFuel: Upon meeting the Sphinx, you can choose to take part in her riddles for a chance at the sealed chests behind her. However, when you return with your answer(s), she'll get right in your Arison's face with an ''extremely'' unnerving, almost SlasherSmile grin, and during this close-up can [[BodyHorror twist her head nearly 90 degrees without moving her body]]. Combined with other subtler details, such as her face taking on more spots/scales(?) during this close-up (yet returning to normal afterward) and her pupils expanding into almost BlackEyesOfEvil before shrinking again, people are lucky this being ''chooses'' to be peaceful. If you give her a reason to hurt you, you're earned what happens next.

* NightmareFuel: Upon meeting the Sphinx, you can choose to take part in her riddles for a chance at the sealed chests behind her. However, when you return with your answer(s), she'll get right in your Arison's face with an ''extremely'' unnerving, almost SlasherSmile grin, and during this close-up can [[BodyHorror twist her head nearly 90 degrees without moving her body]].

** Bringing an incredibly fragile vase to a specific NPC in Bakbatthal. You can bring the NPC to the vase, but this requires the use of two Portcrystals at the Shrine and Bakbatthal to get done quickly. Similarly, the riddle that involves you bringing one of two [=NPCs=] to the Sphinx that look alike at first glance. If you didn't take a screenshot of the one that Sphinx wants you to bring, its easy to bring the wrong one by mistake.

** Killing the Sphinx in itself is a hurdle. She is incredibly finnicky about how she fights and will abandon the battle and [[PermanentlyMissableContent disappear from the current playthrough forever]] if you do something as simple as hit her front half too much. The game nudges you to use the [[OneHitKill Unmaking Arrow]] on her, but the window to do so is strangely specific as well, constricts you into being an Archer, and doing it doesn't even give you the satisfaction of fighting a boss battle. To make matters worse, killing her is necessary for OneHundredPercentCompletion; an achievement is locked behind the item she is protecting, and there is a Pawn Badge for her (which counts up to 5, and given the fact she doesn't respawn, it means you either need to wait until ''NG+5'' or get seriously lucky with Pawn Quests to see it completed).

** Empress Nadinia gets hit hardest with this. She is an AdvertisedExtra who barely has a role in the plot. She can even ''die'' before the player even gets the chance to formerly meet her, and most of her appearances after the fact are entirely optional. Her PraetorianGuard, Menella, arguably has more of a spotlight than Nadinia does.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: More of a Company Original Sin. When the game was released, one criticism that quickly spread like wildfire was the game's micro-transactions, which angered many people (and quickly lead to the spread of misinformation such as that Capcom was selling the ability to fast travel and deliberately "broke" their game to incentivize buying the Port Crystal, though as fans of the first game will note, the Port Crystal alone doesn't let you fast travel). As fans of previous Capcom games will note, Capcom has attached micro-transactions to every single one of their major releases for ages. And generally speaking, the games are never balanced around said transactions, usually just getting you certain currencies in single player games or unlocking in-game unlocks faster. While few would fully defend their inclusion, many long term Capcom fans would at least argue they are rather inoffensive compared to some other games on the market.

** Did you know that different materials result in different creations? [[labelnote:Explanation]]Much like the ladder mentioned above, pawns seem to love pointing out how you can combine materials to create other items whenever you pick one up.[[/labelnote]]
** Do your part, wash your Pawns [[labelnote:Explanation]]Dragonsplague, one of the new mechanics introduced in the game, is a disease that Pawns have a chance of carrying from across the rift, and is infamous among the playerbase for killing off many [=NPCs=] including important ones should they rest at the inn or house while one of them infected. The only way to cure this is to either dismiss the Pawn or (if the infected is the Main Pawn) toss them into the Brine. Comparisons have been humorously made to the measures taken during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic and [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DragonsDogma/comments/1bngiew/drew_this_little_psa_poster/ one Reddit user went so far as to draw up this PSA poster]] to help other players with spotting symptoms of Dragonsplague.[[/labelnote]]

** Do your part, wash your Pawns [[labelnote:Explanation]]Dragonsplague, one of the new mechanics introduced in the game, is a disease that Pawns have a chance of carrying from across the rift, and is [[ScrappyMechanic infamous]] among the playerbase for killing off many [=NPCs=] including important ones should they rest at the inn or house while one of them infected. The only way to cure this is to either dismiss the Pawn or (if the infected is the Main Pawn) [[SuperDrowningSkills toss them into the Brine]]. Comparisons have been humorously made to the measures taken during the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic and [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DragonsDogma/comments/1bngiew/drew_this_little_psa_poster/ one Reddit user went so far as to draw up this PSA poster]] to help other players with spotting symptoms of Dragonsplague.[[/labelnote]]

* GoodBadBugs: Sometimes when you get struck by an attack from a large monster, it sends your Arisen [[RagdollPhysics ragdolling]] across the place you were fighting it in. However, there are few clips such as [[https://www.reddit.com/r/DragonsDogma/comments/1bp0ozk/wtf/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button this Reddit post]] where the Arisen's body ends up flying upwards into the sky and across both Battahl and Vermund at high speed. Jokes have spawned from this glitch about it being another form of fast travel, or how the Arisen is flying all the way back to Gran Soren from the first game.

* LowTierLetdown: Out of all the vocations, many have found themselves disliking the Trickster. The Trickster is a vocation that [[SupportPartyMember sacrifices damage entirely for support and tanking.]] While this isn't entirely the problem, the issue is the vocation relies heavily on the inconsistent pawn AI to get anything done. The illusions the Trickster can create can be dispelled in a few hits if you aren't careful, and while watching enemies throw themselves off cliffs or kill each other can be funny at first, it can quickly lose its luster after a while when there's nothing else you can do. As a result, Trickster feels out of place in an action RPG, or would have been better as a pawn exclusive vocation instead of being locked to the player.
** That said, the vocation does get a weapon from the Sphinx sidequest that makes enemies drop gold ''on hit'', and enemies have been reported to drop as much as 50k gold. Combine this with the fact the vocation does no damage, you can turn every enemy into a money piñata if you are patient enough.

* LowTierLetdown: Out of all the vocations new and returning, many have found themselves disliking the Trickster. The Trickster is a vocation that sacrifices damage entirely for support and oddly enough for a mage job, tanking. While this isn't entirely the problem, the issue is the vocation relies heavily on the pawn AI to get anything done. The illusions the Trickster can create can easily be dispelled in a few hits if you aren't careful, and while watching enemies throw themselves off cliffs can be funny at first, it can quickly lose its luster after a while. Many have come to the conclusion that Trickster just feels out of place in an action RPG, or would have been better as a pawn exclusive vocation instead of being locked to the player.