Dragon's Dogma 2 has now been out for almost a week, and we're moving away from first impressions to more detailed thoughts. That can only mean it's time for our Big Review Bounty (look at all the capital letters)!
No need to rush on this one. You've got until 12am (00:00) on April 16 to play lots more of the game and then give us your comprehensive review of this massive RPG. You can enter anytime between now and then.
Remember that a good review should be honest, authoritative, and critical: focus on evaluating the game's features rather than describing them, and only do so once you've played enough to be confident in your opinions.
As this is a big bounty, we do ask for a minimum of 400 words or three minutes of video in your review, and reserve the right to withhold rewards from any submissions judged not to have given it a proper go, regardless of how many entries there are. You're very welcome to add screenshots, but do follow the image-submission guidelines below.
already paid
$60 / 100
Reward details
This reward closed to entries at 11:50am on April 19, 2024 but you can still reply, react, and join the conversation below! If you’d like to enter other rewards which are still open, click here.
Get ready to journey across brave new worlds, battle mythical beasts, and claim your place as the rightful ascendant to the throne in Dragon’s Dogma 2. With exploration, combat and quests at the heart of this RPG experience, there’s certainly plenty to get your teeth into.
But is Dragon’s Dogma 2 a legend for the ages? Or will it become a long-forgotten tale of time?
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Review
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an open world fantasy RPG set across the scenic regions of Vermund and Battahl. You’ll assume the role of the Arisen, a nominated dragon challenger and heir to the throne. Along your journey, you and your faithful recruits, known as pawns, will explore new regions, help people with their plights, and fight mighty monsters.
Battles can be tough at times, so each encounter needs to be treated with an air of caution. There are many different classes (vocations) to play as, each skilled in different combat abilities. Some are more suited to getting up close and personal, while other roles require you to attack from a distance. There are the usual magic wielding, sword swiping, and bow belting tropes, but no single vocation is necessarily the be all and end all of your success. The key to victory also lies in the balance of your party.
Pawns for thought
As you venture through Dragon’s Dogma 2, you’ll be accompanied by loyal pawns, computer controlled allies that fight alongside you in battle. Your first recruited pawn (in our case, the fearsome ‘Barry’) isn’t swappable, though their vocation is. The other two vacancies can be taken up by whoever you like. Bump into a pawn with a particular skill? Add them to your party. Like the cut of someone’s jib? Invite them along for the ride!
As you progress, swapping pawns every so often is important to maintaining a strong lineup. It also works at keeping your play-through feeling fresh as each character has their own personality and skills.
Their companionship is much appreciated as you traverse the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2. They can lead you to quest destinations or highlight rewards that might have otherwise been missed. And during quieter moments, they’ll also chat amongst themselves adding that little extra character to the presentation.
The world is vast, and hosts many different biomes. Each area is picturesque. And the weather effects add a sense of realism to your environment. In addition the score and sound design is well done. Dynamic music signify’s when enemies are nearby, which is always a welcome addition.
Most of the NPC voices are well performed and have a natural delivery. If you’re looking for a protagonist full of character though, keep looking. Your character is more of the silent type. Still, people seem to warm to you, so you’ll never be too far away from someone ready put their blind faith in you, giving you an important quest.
See a man about a Dogma
There’s a lot to contend with in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Beyond assuming the throne, you’ll be liberating mines, rescuing folk, delivering mail, infiltrating gatherings, and so on, and so on. There are rewards of course for all of these jobs, some more vital than others. Be mindful of time sensitive tasks though. Just like in real life, there’s only so much you can take on. But it’s certainly a game with plenty to do.
Exploring the world, encountering new enemies and seeing new places is quite interesting, though can be rather challenging too at times. Some may find it too punishing, others not enough. It certainly isn’t a pushover. It really depends on your experience and skill level.
There’s also a chunk of lore to get your head around but nothing too intense. And of course there’s all your typical character stats, levels, perks, etc. that characterises this genre of game. It’s nice. It provides flexibility for you to develop your arisen to suit your play style.
Every Dogma has its day
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has a lot to see and do, and some of the scenic vistas are just simply stunning. It controls well, and provides a decent challenge. The pawn mechanic is interesting adding a distinct element to the gameplay. The presentation is as a whole is fab too.
All in all, if you like your fantasy RPGs, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is certainly worth a play.
Dragon's Dogma 2: A Mixed Bag of Innovation and Frustration
I typically refrain from finalizing a review before completing a game. However, with over 30 hours under my belt and the bounty timer ticking, I feel equipped to offer some preliminary insights.
In cases like these, being a reviewer is bittersweet. I must share the hard truth about a game that, despite its greatness and innovative streak, fails to meet the quality standards expected of a seasoned developer like Capcom - especially one that celebrated its 40th anniversary last year.
Now, let's delve into the positives
Pawn System: This feature is a breath of fresh air—innovative and engaging. While I find myself consistently hiring the same few pawns past a certain level, this system's mechanics and potential are commendable.
Vocation System: The game keeps things interesting with its variety of classes and the flexibility to switch frequently, adding a dynamic flavor to the experience. However, the itemization could benefit from RNG elements akin to looter systems found in titles like Destiny 2 or Borderlands, which could further enrich the gameplay.
Combat: The battles are where the game truly shines. Engaging in fights with multiple enemies and allies, climbing on giants, and experiencing fluent animations make for a truly immersive experience. Often chaotic with everyone attacking everyone - fills great.
On the flip side
PC Optimization: The performance issues are jarring, with combats often dropped below a 20 FPS mark even on lowest settings with everything OFF. Despite my fairly recent setup (RTX3070 and Gen 12 i7), achieving satisfactory performance required external mods and hour of experimentations - a disappointing start to the experience.
User Interface: The PC adaptation of the UI is frankly inadequate. It's a direct console port that ignores PC users' needs - a significant oversight from an in-house Capcom studio.
Monetization Strategy: The decision to charge for basic conveniences like fast travel and saves (rez stones) is shocking. While these can be earned in-game, the grind is excessive and I hope the backlash will deter such practices from becoming the norm for other game makers.
World Design: The game's world is misleadingly open; it's more akin to a series of narrow paths than a freeform environment, with minimal interaction and an inability to overcome seemingly minor obstacles. The design feels dated, trapped between the innovations of 2009 and 2012.
My score for this game stands at 5/10.
There's potential for improvement, particularly if Capcom addresses the optimization and UI issues. My advice is to keep the game on your wishlist and hold out for a summer sale when it may be better polished and priced more fittingly.
Let's start prefacing that I played a bit of the first Dragon's Dogma and while the game itself is named Dragon's Dogma 2, you can feel in the game's bones and in the starting menu that this is the Dragon's Dogma that the devs wanted to associate with the series.
So, I have been playing the game kinda non stop since the 25th of March and in all my time playing, I have only been exploring a portion of the big map that the game offers.
The game ties some of the progress with the progression of the Main Questline, like the ability to unlock Ox carts for travelling or the entry to the kingdom of Batthal but while the Ox Cart is unlocked quite early in the game, you can enter Battahl via sneaking in trough a tunnel near the border so the game gives you an alternative. The Kingdom of Vermund is gorgeous, with his mountain range and lush forests and it harbours some secrets in out of the way places that can surprise you.
So, let's start with the beginning, Character Creator.
The Character Creator offers you a wide offfers of tools to make your Arisen first and your Pawn truly special, with basic options ranging from rather realistic hair colours to various face morphs and eye colours. There is an hairdresser in game that let's you change your hair colours to something more dye adjecent like bright pink (I saw a pawn with that hair colour) but since this is something I have to yet experience, I cannot say for certain. What I can say for certain is that by using the Art of Methamorphosis to change the apperance of your Arisen and Pawn, you can change Height and Weight and switch bodies form but you can't change from Human to Beastren so that is something to keep in mind. Weight and height determin how fast you can move and how fast your stamina recovers, so it is always good to keep it in mind.
But now, here's one of the strongest features, gameplay wise, classes.
Classes in the game are called Vocations and unlike most RPGs, you can change the Vocation of your Arisen and your Pawn any time you want, provided you have reached a vocation guild or, in small towns, the inn. Each vocation plays differently, with gear and skills avaiable to a specific Vocation, but you can unlock perks for your Arisen and Pawn that you can use even with a different Vocation (The Archer's Explorer perk makes your lantern shine brighter and it reduces the amount of oil used) so the game does encourage you to switch and try new playstyles since it is free and it is not tied with your level progression. Ergo, you won't get back sent to level 1.
Now, to tackle onto a complex topic, gear enhancements.
So far, I have seen that different places (The Sacred Arbor / The Eleven city, The Kingdom of Vermun and The Kingdom of Battahl) focus their enhancements in different statistics, for example in Vermund everything will be upgraded in a more equilibrated way while The Sacred Arbor favours Magick. Unsure about Battahl but I reckon it will be focused on Strenght and physical resistance.
Now, we talked about some of the positives so let's talk about the negatives.
The performance on the Xbox series X is fairly okay but it has noticeable drops, especially in big cities and taverns, with NPCs spawning in that kinda ruin the immersion. The time sensitive quests are fun except one in the Game of Wits series that asks you to go back to the first place you found a Seeker token and take the newfound token which while the series of quest is rather hidden and well executed, that one in particular is a pain. The Logician specialization is not that great, constantly emptying your pack to craft stuff at any occasion and ruining your plans to make better Roburants. The spoiling food is just a personal gripe of mine and I hate it in every game so I have to mention that Dragon's Dogma 2 has it altough it is more lenient.
