Just cleared DD2. Here are some short thoughts:
- The early game is easily the strongest portion of the game. Sticking up on curatives, preparing the party composition for a quest, and managing money spent on in rests vs camping and upgrading your gear (and your pawns!) is a great cycle.
- getting into Battahl is rough. The game feels very wide and the main quest is super short here. This is a good point to just do everything until you’re bored and get ready to clear things out. This midpoint is where I think a lot of people stopped playing.
- which is a shame because the third act is alright. It does some good video game stuff. The map changes and the basic enemies mostly disappear.
Reflecting on the moments I enjoyed about DD2, they’re the elements of old D&D that fascinate me. Needing to prepare or problem solve is a lot of fun. The game struggles when the power level increases and you have the resources to just carve through everything. Which is the same breaking point for those older dungeon crawlers that I face too. Pretty neat overall!