This is double uncharted territory for me. Not only have I finished a video game but now I’m reviewing one too. Though this is more like a personal blogpost outlining my thoughts about this game. I want to start off by saying I have no writing background and I’m a bit of a rambler so apologies in advance…
Back when I played Dragon's Dogma 1 I was an inexperienced and impatient gamer to the point where I took a lot of the game’s, let’s say unique, approach to gameplay as a personal slight and simply was not having it. But after the long-awaited announcement of a sequel I decided to take the plunge (again). What I eventually found was a clunky yet delightful traditional RPG that focused almost entirely on the G. I ultimately dropped it after about 6 hours but I left with a new appreciation for the game and was fully onboard for DD2. A few months later it was finally time. Here are my thoughts after roughly 65 hours of playtime.
At the start of DD2 you pick one of four vocations, Fighter, Archer, Thief and Mage. Fighter and Mage can be “upgraded” to Warrior and Sorcerer but you lose your parry and healing respectively. I ultimately landed on fighter as a reintroduction to DD’s combat. Simple sword and shield stuff like parrying and thrust attacks. A few swings into the first encounter I remembered where I was… no dodge roll and no camera lock on. Two action game mechanical mainstays as far as post souls-era RPGs are concerned. Not here though. We’re not in Lothric anymore. This may seem like a big deal but you get used to it. The game employs an auto-lock mechanic which targets the closest enemy with your attacks and if there are none then welcome to whiff city. The thief class comes with a dodge move I should add.
After each encounter I began to realize what may be the true nature of DD2’s design choices. Trusting the player’s abilities. Or at least our willingness to adapt. I didn’t need to lock on after a while and I didn’t need to dodge, I mean, I have a god damn shield. Thieves need to dodge because of their up close and unguarded fighting style. Mages and Archers should be far enough away from whatever they’re shooting at. And it’s not like you’re alone since you have three pawns with you. Oh, by the way pawns are a sort of subservient race that follows you around and if that gives any of you gamers escort mission PTSD let me just say; these guys are useful. My player character and pawn are both beastren (a cat person) modeled after my cats, Leon and Sumi. Sumi was always a spellcaster throughout my game while Leon was whatever I felt like playing. Though I eventually landed on the Mystic Spearhand class which is a sort of polearm wielding battlemage.
The nature of the pawns…I’ll admit I don’t really know what their deal is and I chose not to read to much into it. They are your party members, they live in the rift and are created by other players. There are some official Capcom Pawns as well if you don't want to try your luck in the rift. Your main pawn will be available in another players’ Rift for them to use, without taking them away from your party of course. These guys are chatty and comment on almost everything which I found pretty charming. They’re realm walkers and they’re as eager to share tales from other rifts as they are to serve their master. Really though I was out on the road and a pawn said to me “Master, in my travels with another I found a cave that’s nearby. Shall I lead the way?” Yes, Dimbley, you may. They will point things out to you, scavenge useful items, some can be given special skills that enable them to organize your pack and sell unnecessary items for you as well as guide you to your objectives. If I can have a hot take real quick: pawns > palicoes.
It’s fair to mention that while DD2 does what it does with its gameplay choices to entrust the players to take this journey on their own and be shaped by it; the overarching story through its quests with many steps and somehow no direction at the same time almost entrusts players to make their own stories as well. The plot seems almost intentionally mid to give players’ experiences center stage but I actually think that’s one of the games strengths. I’m not going to my friends every day like “And then this character betrayed this guy to steal the magic dagger to reverse the curse put on his wife!” Instead we all swap stories of our wacky adventures. Like the time I couldn’t pass through the border without a permit so I took the side path and was attacked by goblins in a pitch black cave and upon exiting the cave I had to fight two Minotaurs AND a Chimera at the same time. True story. These moments derived from pure gameplay and exploration have given me more enjoyment than any cutscene in my entire 50 hour journey. Frankly, the lack of a real fast travel system which is another open world gaming staple, actually makes all of these moments possible.
I should talk about THAT whole thing even though I really don’t want to. DD2 had some bad vibes at launch and it was mostly deserved. There was some negative discussion around the inclusion of micro transactions in the game. Essentially you could spend real life money to buy a bunch of consumable items and in game currency which can already be obtained by simply playing the video game. Much of the discourse I saw was around buying portcrystals, a warp point that can be placed anywhere on the map to allow fast travel. Fast travel being a mechanic that DD2 by design seems to be staunchly against. Based on how convoluted a process it is. The debate was loud and blotted out any other criticism against the games’ performance issues and frame rate. One side believes that micro transactions don’t belong in single player games and will refuse to play games that have them. The other side also believes MTX has no place in single player games but also believes you can still find a lot to love about DD and play the entire thing without paying an extra dime and still experience everything it has to offer. As with most arguments both sides shouted over twitter and somehow failed to hear what the other side was saying. My personal opinion on this whole debacle is: If I see MTX in single player games, I just ignore them. It’s actually pretty easy to do and from there I just go through and enjoy myself. However MTX are kind of a bummer and making their way into single player $70 games is a huge red flag we can’t ignore. It is a conversation worth having. It will shape the way games are monetized for years to come.
Anyways let’s get to something that actually pisses me off. No it's not invisible walls. It's point of no return endings in open world RPGs. I knew I didn’t like this sort of thing already but DD2’s ending really had me feeling insulted. Without spoiling I’ll say this, there is a point in the game where you will be locked into completing the story and that will be it. Good ending, bad ending. Doesn’t matter you’re done.
The wound is still fresh, I finished the game hours ago, but having spent all this time doing these “go here, find this guy, collect this artifact, talk to another guy…” story quests, fulfilling my destiny as The Arisen, and then having the game say “Okay you’re done thanks for playing!” It all just stings even more. Why can’t I bask in the beauty of the world I nearly gave my life for? Not to mention I never even got to finish all the Sphinx riddles! This outcome IS avoidable by loading your last save but doing so completely kills the momentum of the ending. A final climactic battle, the literal moment the whole game was building to, ruined by having to load all the way back at the inn. I wouldn’t mind have as much if there were a little bit of a warning. Admittedly the only warning I received was from Gorp the guard or whatever saying “Hey you should go rest at the inn okay? Trust me.” I guess I should have, Gorp.
Of course it wouldn't be an RPG without the inclusion of a True Ending. And compared to the other two endings it's actually a nice little bow to put on the end of it. Again, no spoilers, but the True Ending actually belays the anticipated final fight completely and gives the Arisen a chance to return to the world and really tie up loose ends and secure the safety and prosperity of the people. Real hero stuff. Depending on your affinity with your main pawn, you can apparently have a different outcome with additional cutscenes and dialogue. I was not max affinity so I assume my ending scenes were standard. Going back through and experiencing this ending actually changed my thoughts on the games' story drastically. It's still more or less ignorable and just there to shepherd the player to various points of interest but coming to Dragon's Dogma for the story is like going to Denny's and ordering the lobster.
When all is said and done, I absolutely enjoyed my time with Dragons Dogma 2 and I do highly recommend it if you wanna smack around some nasty goblins with a massive sword, ride on the back of a griffin before it takes flight and stab it in the neck while it plummets into the ground. Explore some caves and camp out on the open road. Experiment with every class and I mean EVERY one. Just save the final story quest til the very VERY end.
Dragons Dogma II
8/10
