Review for Dragon’s Dogma 2

The words “Take up arms, Arisen” in the first Dragon’s Dogma piqued my interest.

Initial release date: March 21, 2024

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, GeForce Now, Microsoft Windows

Engine: RE Engine

Genres: Action role-playing game, Fighting game, Nonlinear gameplay

Developer: Capcom

Mode: Single-player video game

Composer: Shusaku Uchiyama

Dragon’s Dogma 2, like the first, requires you to take on the mantle of Arisen. The Arisen is a person chosen to confront the Dragon, a massive beast feared as the herald of doom. Those who attempt to defy the Dragon are occasionally chosen to become Arisen, with the Dragon ripping out and devouring their heart. Once this occurs, they are bound by fate, and the Arisen cannot die, unless in conflict, and will live as long as the Dragon.

Many people in the world of Dragon’s Dogma are unaware of the Dragon’s ultimate purpose and what it means to be Arisen. The first entry delves into this relationship and exposes much about the interplay between Dragon and Arisen. However, the second game takes occur fully independently of the first.

How will your Dragon’s Dogma 2 experience unfold?

Having said that, the kingdoms you explore are reminiscent of the original. The first significant city you’ll come across is Vermund. A fortified metropolis with a bustling population divided into districts based on class. There are smaller communities dispersed across the forest and mountains, and Vermund isn’t the only big city you’ll see. And throughout the planet, all manner of man and beast will stand in your way.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 extends and expands on the Pawn system, which was a key aspect in the first game. Pawns are beings who help the Arisen in their journey by going across the “rift” to assist the Arisen of other worlds. They lack actual emotions and wills, and their sole purpose is to serve the Arisen.

It’s a brilliant technique that explains why I can hurl them at an ogre and they still follow me without question. However, some of their conversation might be pretty snarky. Their repeated dialogue lines might get a little annoying at times, thus a toggle to decrease the frequency of their talk would be useful.

However, their opinion can be extremely helpful; while they frequently identify chests or areas of interest in the world, they can also direct you to missions if you so desire. However, pawns do not automatically know where everything is or what to do. The more a Pawn travels with their Arisen, discovering the world, the more help they can provide.

As a gameplay mechanic, Pawns learn as you play. Every quest you accomplish allows your Pawn to aid you with another quest. Every chest you find is one that your Pawn will mention when an Arisen comes near it. The true reason this is important is because your Pawn is accessible to everyone else playing Dragon’s Dogma 2, and vice versa. A high level Pawn is not only powerful, but it is also likely to be quite useful when questing and exploring.

Pawns are front and centre.

And the more your Pawn is utilized, the bigger the advantage to you. When they travel independently of you, they acquire rift crystals, which can be used to purchase unique stuff. The better they perform, the more crystals you receive.

It’s a system that benefits everyone, and even if you don’t play online, “Capcom” Pawns can take the place of actual player Pawns.

You have your primary Pawn, which is completely configurable, and you can recruit two more for a total party size of four. Each Pawn can have a distinct specialty, although you can combine them if you prefer a greater focus on magic or combat. Some talents even enable you to perform special maneuvers or abilities that promote greater teamwork. The fighter class, for example, has an ability that allows them to act as a springboard for their allies to easily scale large adversaries. Mages and sorcerers, on the other hand, can aid one another in casting spells, allowing them to cast faster during combat.

I love the Pawn system, and the tiny interactions between them and the Arisen are amazing. I was overjoyed the first time I strolled past a Pawn immediately after fight, and we high-fived as they informed me I was wonderful. It was absolutely unexpected, because it’s the little nuances that elevate a good game to greatness.

While you can play without recruiting additional Pawns, they are quite useful in all situations, and if one Pawn is killed in battle, I’d be sure to acquire another as quickly as possible.

Back to customisation, it’s no news that Dragon’s Dogma 2 includes an excellent character builder. Your Pawn, like your character, is fully customisable. Another advantage of the character customizer is that you can obtain an item by swapping rift crystals to alter yourself or your Pawn at any barbershop. During your playthrough, you can easily modify your character’s eye color, face shape, and even voice.

The diversity of Dragon’s Dogma 2

All games should include this type of choice. After all, no one wants to spend thirty minutes in a character customizer, then walk through the tutorial and find they dislike how their character looks, forcing them to redo everything or put up with it. It’s a quality-of-life aspect that I heartily embrace.

However, as wonderful as the character customizer is, Dragon’s Dogma’s main strength is its fighting. There’s something fulfilling about climbing around on a beast ten times your size and stabbing them repeatedly. Dragon’s Dogma 2’s fighting follows the same concepts as the original game, which I am perfectly comfortable with.

I enjoy jumping at ogres and dragons, catching them, and climbing up to their heads to assault them repeatedly. This is what you could accomplish in the first game, and I’m delighted to have a modernized version of the fighting I fell in love with a decade ago.

The vocation system, sometimes known as the character class system, makes a return. At the start of the game, you get to choose your first vocation: warrior, archer, or magician. Each has a distinct focus, and as you play, you gain additional skills for that vocation. Certain quests will unlock additional vocations, and you can readily switch between them at any tavern.

I’ve changed careers multiple times and have enjoyed each one. I don’t want to spoil any of them, so I’ll keep the late game ones a surprise.

The real combat has been expanded as well. Instead than simply climbing on adversaries, there are new ways to engage with both enemies and their surrounds during combat. The cyclops is a classic monster from the original game who appears shortly in Dragon’s Dogma 2, so it will be my punching bag for a while.

Attack!

The gigantic foes strewn about the environment, on the other hand, are a distinguishing component of Dragon’s Dogma’s fighting. Traditionally, the approach to combat them was to climb on and strike weak points. Cyclops have a huge eye that is ideal for stabbing, therefore it is what you want to target.

However, you do not have to approach each combat in the same way. Even the most powerful dragon can be staggered, thus a cyclops cannot withstand a sustained assault of strikes. After wailing on one for too long, they may start to lose their balance. This is the indication to increase the intensity of your attacks until you knock them over and bring them down to your level.

If you’re a more passive fighter, you can wait until they try to stomp on you before racing up to their planted foot, grabbing it, and pulling it out from under them, which achieves a similar result. However, the most clever fighters may choose to lure the cyclops to a shaky bridge before chopping away at the supports, sending their adversaries plunging.

Enemies frequently have unique fighting styles, and the enemy AI, as well as the environment, provide a number of innovative ways to weaken your foes. Destroying a bridge with a horde of foes on it is quite rewarding. And, no matter how many signs I see about how difficult it is to build a bridge, I will keep doing it. In fact, I once managed to knock a cyclops off the edge of a damaged bridge, and to my amazement, he grasped the other side in an attempt to save himself. Of course, all that did was provide a path for me and my crew to traverse before I hurled a boulder at him, causing him to fall to his death.

The attention to detail in Dragon’s Dogma 2’s fighting and interactions is fantastic, and I’m sure there will be many new things to uncover even on a new game plus replay.

Even basic opponents, such as slimes, can be engaged with in unique ways. I was set on fire by a goblin while exploring a cave and came upon slime. I thought nothing of it until I noticed the slime begin to boil. The cave was suddenly filled with a blazing explosion as the slime perished, and I gained the ability to fly extremely rapidly into walls.

Dragon’s Dogma II is amazing.

The unique grappling combat, the several interconnected systems, and the joy of defeating a large monster all combine to create an amazing experience. In fact, it works so well that Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the pinnacle of action RPG fighting.

The quest system and gaming cycle are another distinguishing aspect. Many of the quests have varying ends. NPCs can die, quests can change depending on your choices, and you can even miss goals entirely if you advance the main story too much.

Don’t worry if you make a mistake or fail to complete a quest. Without going into detail, Dragon’s Dogma 2 has a new game plus loop, and there is a lot of content to miss if you only focus on the main quests. But take in runs you will – it took me just over 24 hours to complete my first playtime of the game, and I am currently several hours into another.

Despite all of my admiration for Dragon’s Dogma 2, it does have a few flaws. Dropped frames are most common in major cities or when multiple animations are playing at the same time; this is especially noticeable while running multiple mages and sorcerers. Overall, performance is solid, however I did crash the game for the first time after around 27 hours of play, when fighting a dragon with a group full of sorcerers. Fortunately, the autosave is rather generous, and I loaded back a stone’s throw from the combat. All that meant was having to participate in that war from the start.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a game that focuses on the trip rather than the destination.

That’s a dragon!

The quick travel mechanism is confined to ox carts with predetermined locations and the use of ferry stones, which are also limited items capable of teleporting you to very few predefined spots. Port crystals can be put to create custom travel places, but they are extremely rare and require travel to the spot.

However, exploration is strongly emphasized in Dragon’s Dogma 2. The globe is full of caves to explore, monsters to defeat, and seeker’s stones buried around the world for you to acquire and display your adventurous spirit.

After tens of hours of gameplay, you may still find yourself unwilling to put Dragon’s Dogma 2 down: one more mission, one more fight, and an hour or two has passed. If you enjoyed the original game and are searching for an action RPG with epic battles, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a must-have.

Review Overview

Gameplay: 90%

Story: 82%

Aesthetics: 88%

Content: 87%

Accessibility: 84%

Value: 89%

Overall Rating: 87%

Excellent

Summary: Dragon’s Dogma 2 impresses with its refined gameplay mechanics, offering fluid combat and a deeply engaging open world that encourages exploration. The story, while solid, doesn’t break new ground but provides a satisfying narrative that complements the gameplay. Visually, the game is stunning, with detailed environments and character designs that bring the world to life. There’s a wealth of content to dive into, with plenty of quests and activities to keep players engaged for hours. Accessibility is good, with intuitive controls, though some complex mechanics may take time to master. Overall, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a fantastic sequel that builds on its predecessor’s strengths and delivers a rewarding experience.