History VideoGame / DragonsDogmaII

* DeliciousDistraction: Discarding any piece of meat (including a [[TooDesperateToBePicky rotten one]])will cause all nearby [[SavageWolves wolves]] to stop what they are doing to move over and feed on said meat on the floor. This trick also works on Garms and Wargs.

* EndGameResultsScreen: [[spoiler:As the credits roll after the True Ending, the game will show three [=NPCs=] with whom you have the highest affinity, as well as three most hired Support Pawns. And after the credits finish, the results screen will appear, showing their playtime, number of enemies killed, number of times the player died and the number of Wakestones used to revive themselves/others.]]

* ShopFodder: The Onyx, Tiger's Eye and Jasper are uncommon valuable drops that serve no other purpose (save as ingredients for upgrading few equipments) than to be sold to merchants for gold. Selling them in Vermund, Battahl and Sacred Arbor respectively increases the selling price for that item.

* CompanyCrossReferences: Apart from nods to the ''Dragon's Dogma'' franchise, this game also has several references to other Creator/{{Capcom}} [=IPs=]. From the Character Creation system alone, there's a hairstyle that greatly resembles the iconic hair of [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Leon S. Kennedy]]. And just like the first game, the list of pre-set Monikers includes the names of Capcom characters such as [[Franchise/StreetFighter Zangief]] and [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Vergil]].

* LosingYourHead: Hitting the Golem's head hard enough will knock it off its body, rendering its BeamSpam near useless for the remainder of the fight. Its now-headless body will still try to smack you around, though.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: Pawns afflicted with dragonsplague gain glowing red eyes. On the one hand, they're stronger than your average pawn, [[spoiler:but on the other hand, they are a walking time bomb waiting to go off]].

* BilingualBonus: Items acquired from Elven vendors will usually have Welsh or Irish names that give some indication of their special property. For example: a staff named "Tintreach" (Irish for 'lightning') which boosts the wielder's electrical spells, or a heavy-duty metal bow named "Dinistrydd" (Welsh for 'destroyer').

* ShoutOut: There's an achievement/trophy named "Off with Its Head!" in reference to the Queen of Hearts' catchphrase from ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''.

* GrievousHarmWithABody: One of the Mystic Spearhand's spells allows them to psychically hurl objects at enemies, including enemies who have been stunned or slain.

* LizardFolk: Saurians are a returning enemy in this game, acting as they did in the original; tough and wielding fishing spears as weapons, but becoming weaker if you cut off their tails. The game introduces new relatives to them in the form of [[PoisonousPerson Asps]] and [[RockMonster Rattlers]].

** [[spoiler:{{Invoked|Trope}} for the Medusa. During its boss fight, attacking its head enough will behead her, killing her instantly and rewarding the player with a Medusa Head item, which allows you to equip it like a lantern. Beheading her while she has near-full health will instead award a "Preserved" Head which lasts significantly longer. You can use these Medusa Heads to instantly turn any target to stone (though you won't receive any item drops). However, the longer it is used or in your inventory overtime, the more it loses power until it becomes "decayed", rendering it useless.]]

* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: Goblins and Hobgoblins return as common enemies in this game, generally behaving as they did in the original ''Dragon's Dogma''. They are now accompanied by new relatives; Choppers are Goblins who camouflage in heavy green foliage to ambush the player, while Knackers are a stronger form of Hobgoblin who is prolific in Battahl.

** Both Garms and Wargs return from ''Dark Arisen'', albeit with significant adjustments. Garms have lost their BreathWeapon but can now chomp down and maul the player on the spot, and Wargs were changed from a poisonous version of wolves into an [[TookALevelInBadass alternate to the Garm]].

* VideoGameStealing: The Thief vocation has Pilfer, and its upgrade Plunder, that allows them to steal items from enemies and other characters.

** If the player manages to slay the Lesser Dragon before it can flee during the "Readvent of Calamity" questline, Sigurd will show up and reward them with the Mystic Spearhand maister skill earlier than it would have been obtained if the player refights the dragon at Dragonsbreath Tower. However Ulrika will still be accused of treason, this time for sending a "[[CassandraTruth false report]]" as well.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Sometimes when you recruit a pawn to your party early on, they'll talk about rumors they've heard of some sort of illness that affects pawns crossing the rift. The illness will initially just make them belligerent but eventually will make them ignore their master altogether. [[spoiler:After a certain point in the story, this illness will become a gameplay mechanic where pawns you hire can come infected with a virus that makes them ignore your orders. Though that is far from the worst part of the virus...]]
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: While many complain that a significant part of the game, including the battle with the dragon, seem too easy, [[spoiler: the reality is that the player was always meant to win it, as the Pathfinder intends to continue the cycle forever so they can rule the world for all eternity. Once the player has refused to perpetuate the cycle, the gloves come off and enemies that would normally be considered rare minibosses like Gorechimeras and Dullahans become extremely common. In the first half, you lived in a world that was locked into easy mode by default for the sake of the one in charge. In the Unmoored World, the world is fresh out of mercy and will absolutely decimate an unprepared player.]]

* JackOfAllTrades: The Warfarer is a new vocation that can use every weapon and can learn different skills from each vocation, at the cost of lower base stats. While using this vocation, all of your other unlocked vocations gain experience as well, regardless if you have their weapon. Although this leads to the pool of discipline points bring spread thin, resulting in slower leveling, it also means that the vocations you have yet to start using can level up equally, and allow you to unlock their skills, augments, and abilities without switching.

* RedSkyTakeWarning: [[spoiler:In the path of the true ending, choosing to use the Godsbane Blade on yourself rather than the dragon and defying the Pathfinder's will leads to the latter deciding to wipe the slate clean and use the Brine to destroy the world, infesting it with monsters and dragons. As a consequence of this, the skies turn red for the remainder of the game.]]

* ThereCanBeOnlyOne: The main story has you chosen as the next Arisen by the Dragon after it takes your heart, and that Arisen is the only one who can slay the dragon. The problem is that there is a pretender due to the machinations of Queen Regent Disa. Before your arrival, there have been reports of other "pretenders" executed. That said, it may also refer that only one ''active'' exists in a given world. Throughout your journey, you will find other people with scars on their chests. [[spoiler: Some claim to have more or less failed in defeating the dragon, causing another person to be chosen.]]

* DoomedHometown: {{Subverted|Trope}}, then {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Melve, a settlement the player visits early on, gets attacked not once but twice by two different dragons, but the Arisen repels them back. However, Ulrika gets accused of treason and leaves Melve, which then falls under occupation by soldiers whose mistreatment of the villagers forces Lennart to lead an escape with his people as they move to Harve where she fled to, leaving the village nearly empty by the end of the "Home Is Where the Hearth Is" side quest. [[spoiler:Played straight in the Unmoored World, where Melve and the rest of North Vermund were already consumed by the Brine fog during the Arisen's absence.]]

** If the player manages to slay the Lesser Dragon before it can flee during the "Readvent of Calamity" questline, Sigurd will show up and reward them with the Mystic Spearhand maister skill earlier than it would have been obtained if the player refights the dragon at Dragonsbreath Tower. However Ulrika will still be accused of treason, this time for sending a "[[CassandraTruth false report]" as well.

* DoomedHometown: {{Subverted|Trope}}, then {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Melve, a settlement the player visits early on, gets attacked not once but twice by two different dragons, but the Arisen repels them back. However, Ulrika gets accused of treason and leaves Melve, which then falls under occupation by soldiers whose mistreatment of the villagers forces Lennart to lead an escape with his people as they move to Harve where she fled to, leaving the village nearly empty. [[spoiler:Played straight in the Unmoored World, where Melve and the rest of North Vermund were already consumed by the Brine fog during the Arisen's absence.]]

* ExcaliburInTheRust: The Regalia Sword, wielded by the Sovran in Vermundian History, is given by Ser Roman to the Arisen in its dull form as a result of Disa's disdain towards tradition leaving it unmaintained. The Arisen is tasked with bringing it to the UltimateBlacksmith residing in Bakbattahl who can restore the blade to its former glory. Being a ceremonial weapon however, the sword itself cannot be wielded for combat.

* CitywideEvacuation: [[spoiler: Once the player enters the Unmoored World, they can take up quests to evacuate everyone from all remaining settlements that will eventually be destroyed and consumed by the red fog if the player does not fell the Purgeners in those areas. The people you evacuate will then move to Seafloor Shrine and remain there until the Arisen begins the last fight with the Pathfinder.]]

* MultipleEndings: There are four endings in total: the False Good Ending, the True Ending, and two bad endings.
** The bad endings are triggered [[spoiler: when you choose to flee from the Dragon and sacrifice your beloved to the dragon in exchange for the throne of Vernworth. The second bad ending is triggered if you die during the fight with the Pathfinder during the credits, with the Arisen awakening in a ruined world.]]

* RelationshipValues: The affinity system returns with changes made to it such that NPCs with whom you have high affinity will occasionally leave behind gifts at your homes. And as with the first game, [[spoiler:it also determines who the Dragon kidnaps at the end of the main questline.]] However, your main Pawn now has an affinity value that you can increase through different actions such as [[VideoGameCaringPotential talking with them, giving them a high-five after a fight or giving them a new haircut]]. High affinity changes the Pawn's gestures, has them give heartfelt comments to the Arisen [[spoiler:and even say a special dialogue to the Arisen during the TrueFinalBoss fight.]]

* NewGamePlus: Once the player completes the main questline, an option appears in the main menu to let start a new playthrough with their levels, equipment and items (barring quest items) carried over, as well as new weapons and armor becoming available at shops and the dragonforged, along with special buffs offered by the latter for the cost of Wyrmslife Crystals. [[spoiler:Trying to start a new game+ right after slaying the Dragon but before breaking the cycle will have the game [[AreYouSureYouWantToDoThat ask the player four times if they really want to do it]], to incentivize the player to explore the Unmoored World and achieve the GoldenEnding.]]

* PremiumCurrency: Wyrmlife Crystals, which are [[BodyToJewel crystalized blood]] obtained only from draconic creatures, are used as currency at the Dragonforged to upgrade fully enhanced gear, purchase special items and, later on, exceptionally powerful weapons and armor that cannot be found elsewhere. On NewGamePlus, the Dragonforged will also offer special buffs such as halving the stamina cost of one equipped skill and increasing experience/discipline gain for a day.

* BlackKnight: One of the game's new boss monsters is the dullahan, a creature resembling a ghostly knight in dark armor holding his own head like a lantern and wielding a [[SinisterScythe sickle]] as a weapon. He can be found as a rare overworld encounter during night time, as part of the "Till Death Do Us Part" quest, and [[spoiler:becomes more common once the player enters the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Unmoored World]].]]

* CitywideEvacuation: [[spoiler: Once the player enters the Unmoored World, they can take up quests to evacuate everyone from all remaining settlements that will eventually be consumed by the Brine fog if the player lets the time pass for long enough. The people you evacuate will then move to Seafloor Shrine and remain there until the Arisen begins the last fight with the Pathfinder.]]

** One of the Sphinx's first requests is to meet her parent. The solution is [[spoiler:you have to recruit an official Capcom pawn named either [=SphinxFather=] or [=SphinxMother=] or [=SphinxParent=] . They can only be recruited from the Riftstone of Fellowship which is relatively nearby. Player pawns named [=SphinxFather=] or [=SphinxMother=] or [=SphinxParent=] do count, but you must be certain the name is written absolutely the same way as official Capcom pawns.]]

* WeakButSkilled: The Warfarer vocations MO. It allows you to swap between 2-3 weapons. Naturally, this gives you a LOT of flexibility in terms of skill loadout. The tradeoff is that your base stats are lower than any other dedicated vocation, so your raw damage will be reduced. Also, if you add the Rearmament master skill, you'll be limited to 3 other skills, those only usable when you have the corresponding weapon equipped.

* WhamEpisode: The endgame in spades. [[spoiler:The Unmoored World occurs as a result of the Arisen defying the Pathfinder, who is none too happy that his "chosen" is going against "the script" and decides to wipe the slate clean, ordering the Brine to spawn monsters and destroy the world. As a result, all bodies of water dry up, creating new areas to explore...including the ruins of what looks to be Gran Soren, implying that the events of the first game transpired in this world as well, only it did ''not'' fair nearly as well...]]

* BlackKnight: One of the game's new boss monsters is the dullahan, a creature resembling a ghostly knight in dark armor holding his own head like a lantern and wielding a [[SinisterScythe sickle]] as a weapon. He can be found as a rare overworld encounter during night time, and as part of the "Till Death Do Us Part" quest.

* AlternateUniverse: Instead of taking place in the same world as the first game, ''II'' takes place in a parallel universe.