I did not see anyone else talk about this, but Dark Arisen is on this site so I figured it was worth bringing up.

Pretty decent announcement trailer (they announced the game earlier than this, but this is the first trailer). The graphics look like the first game just cranked up to eleven. It uses RE engine but the character models do not look awkward like some of the RE games have lately (Well, lately if you're like me and you don't buy the RE3 or 2 remakes). Gameplay looks pretty much the same but more, which is what I want.

No GOG announcement yet, doubt it anytime before release (or even soon after), but Steam release at least means PC support on day one. I'll probably grab the game on Xbox near launch, assuming the game is playable (which it may not be).

Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDtYyE3s2dw

Saw the trailer yesterday...

... and although Dragon's Dogma is my favorite video game...

... just didn't see anything that excited me about the sequel. IMHO it looked like a modest remake of the first game.

I kept thinking "Is this the culmination of a decade of progress?"

I'm sure Itsuno will come out with a good game, but for me this trailer didn't so much excite as confuse... or underwhelm.

As for GOG...

... I wish I could say it DD2 will come to GOG...

... but...

... with how publishers have been lately -- even ones with prior releases on GOG -- I can't say with any certainty it will release here. But... it almost certainly won't release day 1. Anyway... fingers crossed.

Capcom has been doing well for a while. They certainly are the best with boss combat. If they can put a decent story together to give incentive to play thru the game, add fast travel, make the pawns keep quiet, and not have enemies spawn in the exact same places over and over it could be great.

But Capcom has not release games on GOG in years.

I played the first game for like an hour or two. Does it get better? I got to the part where I made my first pawn (based on Shaq, well, as much as it can be since Shaq is still bigger if the numbers are meant to be in metric), and so far it feels more like a single player MMO from the outset.

As for if 2 is coming to GOG, lol, isn't the GOG version behind on patches? Capcom also only has like two games here when there could be more. Konami has a better track record of publishing games on GOG.

Hard to tell yet but the game does look good and it is Capcom.

Once you've unlocked a couple combat maneuvers, it gets way more fun. Combat in the beginning is a bit dull. The game world sadly stays/feels empty the whole time though. There is a couple hubs, but aside from a handful of NPCs to interact with that have more than a handful of lines of dialogue, there isn't a lot to them, it feels a bit MMO-ish as you said.

If combat is the main thing you want out of this game, keep at it I'd say. There's a lot of fun to be had climbing and killing giant dragons and manticores.
If you want a gripping story with likeable characters that aren't paper thin, I don't think this game is for you. The story and some characters are interesting (at least on first glance), but besides a couple intriguing concepts there isn't enough meat on them so to speak.

Looks great, let's see if it comes to GOG! ^_^

Having played through DD multiple times, I agree wholeheartedly with NuffCatnip.

As to your other point regarding updates on the GOG version...

... while the GOG version does seem to be limited (I believe asynchronous MP is unavailable... so no trading of pawns and items with other players), the game can still be completed -- albeit with more individual effort and no direct community interaction.

DDDA is one of my all time favourite games. I have like 700h on steam version alone... anyway, it's about combat and that oldschool AD&D adventure vibe from 90s (and somewhat a spiritual successor to Capcom's arcade games like King of Dragons, DND Tower of Doom, DND Shadows over Mystara, etc). For me the dungeoneering at Bitterblack isle (Dark Arisen expansion part) is the replayable part and it is kinda like DorkSoulz of Dragon's Dogma of sorts. Pawn hiring / gifting / persistent boss fight etc are maybe not the most important things in this game, though the game was built around this concept and I find it cool to hire your friends pawns, see what kind of waifus and husbandos they made, how useful are they and what kind of behaviour they show. That feature being semi-broken on gog doesn't allow for much confidence in DD2 gog release imo.

As for DD2, I'm not expecting much though it was nice to see the gameplay trailer. To me it looks like it is made with modern audience in mind despite Japanese devs being rather traditional, so I wonder how much of that oldschool vibe it manages to retain. I believe in Itsuno et al, but I can hardly feel any hype nowadays for new games in general.

I don't understand the pessimism. I can't recall a bad Capcom game in recent memory.

I wouldn't call it pessimism, more like not feeling any hype in general. I see it in a kinda neutral way until release and then we will really get to see what's what. I don't buy games just because they share the brand/franchise name or the marketing campaign behind it. Even stuff like RE or DMC are pretty wide in terms of quality/enjoyment. Nothing against Capcom in particular, lord knows I love most of their games anyway.

Unless you meant the potential DD2 release on gog? Because I'm pessimistic about that one indeed.

OK. I'm not saying it has proven itself yet. But when you say DD was one of you all time favorite games and the sequel gets announced after years of improved hardware, engines, and combat refining via Monster Hunter titles I find it odd to not be expecting much from it.

IMO it's very wishful thinking, that won't ever be happening in actual reality, to think that more Capcom games will be coming here.

I'd like to be wrong about that, but I doubt that statement is wrong.

Capcom's very long history of pretending that GOG doesn't exist supports the principle that they will most likely continue to be consistent in continuing to do exactly that, just like they already have been doing for eons.

Dragon's Dogma 1 being here will have no relevance whatsoever to changing that.

Same.

I've played untold hours of this game over multiple systems... and have a framed Dragon's Dogma poster over my desk... if that says anything.

But hype?

None. I saw the trailer and look forward to the game, but nothing looked so new or inventive or mind-blowing that I'm anxiously awaiting release. In fact the trailer looked like a remaster to me. I look forward to playing the game when it's done and hope it's good...

... but...

... no hype (at least not yet)