Review In Progress: Dragon’s Dogma 2

The original Dragon’s Dogma is a game I really like and appreciate, but I’ll admit, it took me a while to “get”. The janky movement and seemingly standard plot flattened most of my motivation to continue, with sessions with the title being few and far between. However, after I got past what I, at the time, thought was the final boss, my view on the game changed.

I’ll not go into the plot here, but it is safe to say the latter half of the story had me hooked and ended up with me playing through it with every Vocation possible! Due to this appreciation, let’s not call it an obsession (please), I was both excited and scared to try out the long-awaited sequel, Dragon’s Dogma 2: could the proverbial lightning strike twice, or would I be left disappointed? As fans of the series know, these are not short games, so I have detailed my first impressions here before the actual release. A full review is in the works and will be coming soon!

As with its predecessor, the beginning of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s plot is deceptively simple: in the kingdom of Vermund, the Arisen — a person chosen by a Dragon to be their nemesis — is considered to be the rightful heir to the throne, the Sovran. At the start of the game, it has been some years since the throne has been filled with the land being ruled by the previous Sovran's consort, Queen Disa. As the arrival of a new Dragon-marked individual would mean the end of her family's reign, her dislike for any news on the subject is understandable. This is doubly noteworthy, as she suddenly shows her support for the freshly found Sovran, an Arisen! Problem is, it’s not you.

You, whomever it is you decide to make in the impressively expansive character creator — you can even decide which teeth you’ve lost, find yourself in a labourer camp far from the city, complete with no memory of who you are and what this nasty scar on your chest is. Things unfold as one may expect, with you ending up hearing a voice proclaiming you as the Arisen (for there can be only one… at least that's how it usually goes) and finding yourself making a stylish exit. So, in short: A seemingly false ruler sits on the throne, a conniving Queen vies for power, and an amnesiac hero is in chains. While this may sound like a pretty generic setting, Dragon’s Dogma has a knack for throwing a curveball or two, and it seems to be the case here if I’m reading the signs right; there are a lot of questions unanswered and more seem to be popping up as we play, but I’ll save that for the review proper! Suffice it to say, there is more to this plot than it seems.

The game has a nifty Photo mode too, as is to be expected from modern games

The world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 is absolutely littered with loot to find, areas to explore, and monsters to run into, and the way you are able to clamber around the rocky terrain makes exploration so satisfying! I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said I spent about two or three in-game days just looking around the starting area, spelunking in caves, climbing mountains, and getting stomped by the odd giant monster that was way too strong for me!

The way the world seems to react to your travelling is always such a pleasure, with small bands of monsters trying to ambush you, fellow adventurers greeting you on your journey, and the leftovers of previous battles (yours or otherwise) to be found. The mechanics for exploration are mostly the same as before, though I do feel the climbing is slightly better, and the stamina gauge is slightly more forgiving. Grabbing and throwing things is much more viable now too! Watching the day slowly fade into night is also done well, as the slowly dwindling light acts as a constant reminder of how little time you have before the powerful creatures of the night start appearing; better find a campsite quickly.

Camping is both important and fun!

As an Arisen, you command the loyalty of beings known as Pawns. These emotionless humanoids gain power and skills alongside you and help you on your mission, which is basically to vanquish the dragon. When you start Dragon’s Dogma 2, you get to pick one of four classes, or Vocations, which define your skills and roles in combat. The Fighter hits things with swords and uses a shield for protection, but is useless at range, the Archer utilises ranged attacks and tools to take out enemies from afar but is weak in melee, the Mage can offer both support and offence with magick but is generally feeble, and the fast and agile Thief can dash in and out of combat, dealing massive damage, but being somewhat frail as well. You can hire up to two Pawns in addition to your Main Pawn, making for a team of four warriors of respective Vocations.

Combat is where the biggest changes in Dragon’s Dogma are visible: a lot of effort has been put into making it more dynamic and “epic” while making the experience more streamlined to control. Like before, combat can be divided into two types: normal combat and giant enemy combat. In normal combat, you’ll be faced with a group of enemies and take them out in hack-and-slash combat. While “standard”, the fights still evolve and change organically as the enemy may call in reinforcements, wandering pawns and guards may join in, or the terrain itself may hinder or aid in the fight! Though not as demanding as the giant enemy battles, these standard encounters are nothing to scoff at and require some tactical thinking: smarter enemies, like bandits or the devious choppers, will build traps and set up ambushes, all while keeping the ranged fighters far from the action. If you don’t pick your targets well, you may be in for a rough time. Some enemies may also need specific weapons or elements to defeat, so it pays to prepare.

Sometimes you just run into absolute gold

Fights with giant enemies differ from the standard fare in a few key ways: first off, the giant enemies usually have a large health bar visible on the top of the screen. They also come complete with their own theme music. These fights act as boss encounters of sorts, focusing on battling with one large beast instead of multiple little enemies! One of the main selling points and unique features of the Dragon’s Dogma series is the ability to hop onto these large dangers and climb upon their frame to reach key weak points, such as cutting off bits of armour or smacking them in the face.

Whilst not recommended for every class, having a combatant keep a cyclops busy by stabbing it in the eye repeatedly sure makes life easier for everyone else. These fights are usually epic in both scale and challenge, with the monster in question dealing massive damage and having unique skills and moves to consider. I absolutely loved these fights in the first game, and they are just as good here, if not better! With the added processing power and detail of a newer engine, the detail on these beasts is stunning, in addition to them having much more “personality”. The fact that the behemoths’ bodies don’t disappear right away adds to the feeling of accomplishment in bringing one down.

Sometimes it's good to know when to let go

In either case, the skills you can learn and use are phenomenally fun, though having the limit of four skills per character is always constricting; I wanna play with all of them! It seems a focus on independence has been the focus for skills this time around, as it feels each class has something they can do to make up for a missing element in the party. For example, a Mage can use a spell to imbue their teammate’s weapons with an element, making said weapons deal the attributed damage. This is important, as some enemies are severely weak to, say, fire. If, however, you are missing a Mage from the party, you’d be in trouble in the original title. Here, you have a small subset of skills that can emulate the same thing. A Thief can set their daggers on fire for a short time, an Archer can use bombs, and so on. These skills do not replace the absolute utility of a Mage, but you are free to experiment much more with your team composition, which I appreciate immensely.

Speaking of unique selling points, the Pawns are possibly the mechanic that is completely unique to Dragon’s Dogma. These stalwart companions join you on your journey, learning and growing alongside you: when you find out a monster’s weakness, find something hidden, or simply finish a quest, the Pawn logs this into their travel log for future reference. While this may not be very useful to you, the Pawns are a mobile bunch. Though each Arisen has only one Main Pawn, they can still hire others to aid them.

Sometimes the Pawns seem... familar

These others are not just random hangers-ons, but are, in fact, the Pawns of other Arisen from other worlds! Even your loyal friend is simultaneously aiding someone somewhere else, using everything you’ve taught them. As such, your hired hands may know secrets and information you have not yet discovered, with which they can help you finish a quest, discover a hidden stash, or take out a powerful enemy. While annoying at times — Pawns really like to spout out everything they know, regardless of how often you’ve heard it — the interactions are usually either harmless or fun.

Where the sequel goes a step further is in the actual intelligence of these subordinate sweethearts: either I’m imagining it, or the Pawns seem to be much smarter about their tactics and decisions in combat than before. Ranged fighters will work to keep their distance, melee fighters will try to keep many enemies busy, and the more agile sort will grapple enemies or clamber onto and around larger foes to buy you time. They are even smart enough to carry fallen fighters to you if you don’t go to them quickly enough, allowing ranged Arisen to stay out of range while helping their allies up. It all seems to work well, even though there are the occasional weirdnesses, which we’ll get into later.

Another facet about the Pawns I love is seeing all the funny and bizarre creations other players have unleashed: I ran into multiple Shadowhearts, House M.D., a beastren called Catman John, as well as all kinds of people both hilarious and stunningly accurate! Being able to share in these expressions of creativity is a joy, especially when a friend of yours is playing as well, and their Pawn keeps turning up in the world asking to be hired.

Regretfully, with the addition of complexity and detail comes jank. Don’t get me wrong, Dragon’s Dogma has always been a janky game, and the jank is an irreplaceable part of its charm, but here it’s a bit more prevalent than before. More often than not, I ran into minor graphical hiccups, some pathfinding nonsense — my Pawn danced in circles because I walked too slow, the impatient silly — and other minor things that I can forgive and expect. However, what I cannot forgive so easily are the many cases where quests seemed to be in a weird state of flux.

Thankfully, quests outside the city walls are simple. Find goblin, punt goblin.

For example, I was tasked with going into a jail and letting someone out. Since the jail, or gaol in ye olde speak, was in an area off-limits during the night, I decided to go scout it out during the day! Brilliant, right? Well, it went great: I passed a few guards on my way down to the cells, said good morning, and all was fine. Then suddenly, they just attacked me out of nowhere! I ran outside out of a side door, only to find my Pawns in deep combat with the city guard?! I ended up getting my head kicked in and thrown in jail. Into a cell I had managed to open during the kerfuffle. So, I walked out of the cell, said good morning to the guard, and walked out. I then went back in, opened the correct door and completed my quest, all under the watching eyes of Sir Not-My-Jobbington. In another quest, I was investigating a dungeon, only to realise I needed resources. When I left, the game let me know my Pawn had apparently died of shame, as he was now gone and I needed to resummon him.

While not too prevalent, these weird hiccups and issues always pulled me out of the otherwise engrossing experience and while funny so far, I am in constant dread of something soft locking and being ruined for the whole run. I do look forward to the eventual release of the game, however, as these stories of Pawn tomfoolery and mechanical mishaps make for great watercooler conversation.

Despite the aforementioned Jank, I am enjoying my time with Dragon’s Dogma 2 immensely. Once I was used to the controls and lack of lock-on, I was dashing through combat with the best of them. The sense of exploration and discovery is so much fun, and the very real threat of monsters too hard to handle makes the experience engrossing and tactical. The little touches here and there add a layer of organic narrative and world-building that I find absolutely fascinating: something so small as you giving your pawn a fist bump after a tough battle just melts my icy heart.

The game is not for everyone as it requires a certain degree of patience, forgiveness (or love) for jank, and a love for exploration not suited to those wanting to play through via the most optimal path. But if you liked the original, this is more of that and, in my humble opinion, better. I am very excited to see where this story goes and how the new Vocations work. Stay tuned for the full review to come!