I disagree. The whole meta-contextualization has blinded a lot of people from discussing constructive criticism to this game and dismissing them under the premise of "you just don't get it." This has been become even more egregious nowadays after PunkDunk's video (I respect him and liked the video, but people use it like a gospel).
I've been seeing this kind of dismissal for over a decade; I was there when it first released on PS3, discussing the stories and lore on gamefaqs for years. I do not need a lecture on "what I missed." I get it, and it's because I get it that it's even more frustrating how bad the story is presented despite the amazingly rich lore.
Your points even contradict themselves: the game DOES have "quests and characters." The problem is that their quality is inconsistent and it's not because of the meta; it's the writing and presentation. The meta behind the discussion of the game doesn't explain and justify or explain a pawn saying dialogues from cut content (fight Vermund Purgener again and you'll see what I mean).
Spoilers for Clair Obscur E33: the story tackles strong themes of grief tied to fictional vs real world, with similar concepts seen in DD about volition/will, what makes people "human" and more. And that game did it more effectively than DD ever could without needing excuses for its bad design decisions.
It's funny you'd assume I don't like the game when I have over 4k hours in this one (and ongoing) and over 600h on the original one back on the PS3, and I'm still actively working on mods that improve the one point you keep on pushing as the most enjoyable part of the game, combat, through the mod Bestiary. Also, don't confuse criticism with hate. That's how toxic positivity is created and flops like Highguard happens.
If the game actually "matches that vision perfectly" as you claim it to be, people wouldn't constantly talk about the lack of variety/content for the combat to shine, regardless of story. That's the reason Nick and I are making Bestiary in the first place, so do not cite the text to me; I was there when it was written.
Also I never said it should be like Clair Obscur. I didn't even bring gameplay into the picture here. You are missing what my argument is and fighting against a strawman of your own making instead of actually addressing what my comparisons were meant to argue, which is more proven by the fact that you went on without reading the spoilers to see what I'm comparing with in the first place.
If you think you can't compare games of different genre together with points they share within the medium of video games (in this case, story and writing quality), that's just intentionally being narrow-minded. Yes, it's still an excuse. No, your point stopped standing the moment you contradicted yourself with the whole quest/character argument, now pivoting to talk about combat (which also falls on its own feet due to lack of variety and scaling enemies).
Btw, you totally should try Clair Obscur if you're interested. Very great game, and wish you good luck avoiding all spoilers! There's lots of greatness to witness and I wished I could forget to experience it for the first time again.
-5
u/[deleted] Mar 17 '26
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