Here is our Dragon’s Dogma 2 Review. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the long-awaited sequel to 2013’s Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen and 2012’s Dragon’s Dogma. The first entry was lauded as a game ahead of its time, with concepts and gameplay mechanics that could not be pulled off with the resource and technology back then. Now that a decade has passed, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is here to deliver the whole vision of Dragon’s Dogma director Hideaki Itsuno.
Tl;dr. Is Dragon’s Dogma 2 a good game?
Yes, but it has a sense of incompleteness to it.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a game like no other. Well, almost. No game in recent times has delivered a dynamic world like Dragon’s Dogma 2 and no other game has managed to seamlessly connect various gameplay mechanics to form a seemingly natural world provide emergent gameplay at Dragon’s Dogma 2’s level. Combat is fun, Adventure and Exploration are fun, and the World Design is well-thought-out and beautiful. The story, however, is very lacking and the world-building through environmental storytelling is nigh zero.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 also has gameplay features and mechanics that casual gamers might not like. The game does not hold your hand, and you will have to spend a lot of time walking and fighting monsters while traveling. It also has some glaring issues with its CPU optimization, dropping your game’s frame rates when traveling in populated cities.
Microtransactions are also present; albeit not shoved down to your throats in the game. Honestly, you can just ignore it and you most likely wouldn’t have noticed it if you didn’t scroll down in their Steam Store Page or looked at Dragon’s Dogma 2 content on social media. Of course, microtransactions are bad but blame Capcom and not the actual people who developed and designed the game. Nothing in Dragon’s Dogma 2 screams at me as being designed around microtransactions.
The make-or-break most people will have for Dragon’s Dogma 2 will undoubtedly be its limited fast travel system and optimization issues.
Overall, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an excellent game. A flawed masterpiece, if anything.
| If you want a more thorough Dragon’s Dogma 2 review, read the whole thing down below. Enjoy! |
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Review
As someone who has played Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen a lot and loved it very much, Dragon’s Dogma 2 feels like a step in the right direction for the most part. Veering right into the perfect action-adventure role-playing fantasy game, but missing just a bit to be considered as one.
Let’s start with the introduction, this is important because the first Dragon’s Dogma set the bar so high that it feels just right to compare it with the sequel.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 starts with a simple cinematic of the player character, who is the Arisen, celebrating with nobles as the Sovran in first-person view. It ends with the Arisen passing out after hearing a voice from nowhere, and then waking up in jail at a place called Excavation Site dungeon with other Pawns.
Why is the Arisen character jailed with Pawns? It will be explained later in the game but it’s easy to miss and is a bit confusing. Regardless, this is the setting of the introduction
Up ’til now, the player has no control over their character. The reigns are then handed over to the player after choosing, creating, or importing their character from the Dragon’s Dogma 2 Character Creator & Storage demo. The game then slowly teaches the basic controls concerning movement, camera, and interaction with NPCs and objects. The first fifteen minutes or so of the game does not involve any combat until a Medusa shows up and the player has to fight it.
The fight with the Medusa (or Gorgon, depending on what you want to call it) is when the basic combat controls are taught to the player. The combat is very brief, ending and players can also learn more about combat by looking at the how Pawns fight. This section ends after enough damage has been dealt to the Medusa, and the entire introduction quest ends as well, with the player character flying away on a Griffin with Rook, the same pawn in the first game.
Unlike the first Dragon’s Dogma, this was a step down in terms of spectacle for me.
The first game’s introduction quest, The End at the Beginning, was a great way to set high expectations on the level of combat and display of grandiosity the game was going to deliver, while teaching them the basic controls of the game. Story-wise, it was also a direct way of setting up the ties between the Arisen and the Dragon.
Still, this is more of my preference and I understand Dragon’s Dogma 2’s intent to cater to newer audiences with this slower-paced introduction.
From what I know, the first Dragon’s Dogma was made to “feel like a Western game” so it just feels right for this time that they try to make it more accessible.
The escape from the Excavation Site is followed by a long cutscene showing the lands of the 2 nations in Dragon’s Dogma 2: Vermund and Battahl.
Vermund is a nation filled with lush green lands both high and low, with rivers and waterfalls coursing around the steep paths and slopes. Both humans and monsters have settled down in Vermund, and the player will find them. If the player doesn’t they will find the player instead. Capcom has made Vermund such an amazing place to explore that you will often get lost and sidetracked while traveling. Various monsters will also keep you on your toes in journey, and your trusty Pawns are supposed to be there to help you get by.
Other parts of the world in Dragon’s Dogma 2 are revealed later such as when the player is tasked to go to the nation of Battahl to reveal a mystery surrounding the Arisen. Battahl is very similar to the Grand Canyon in that it is mostly an arid land with high mountains, but littered with creatures more beastly than those found in Vermund. Further south of Battahl is the Agamen Volcanic Island where a Volcano lies and the ruins of a tower where the Dragon is said to reside can be found.
The whole world of Dragon’s Dogma 2, from Vermund to Battahl, is extremely beautiful and fun to explore. I would even dare to say that it has a very similar feel to the world of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and The Witcher 3: Wildhunt.
Exploration, however, is something people may find tiring. The world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 feels a little bit too real and immersive at times.
The lands of Vermund and Battahl are so rich and dynamic that they have lives of their own, ones which the player has no control over.
Unlike most open-world games where everyone and everything follows the players’ whims and wishes, Dragon’s Dogma 2 whips the players down by pitting them against bandits, monsters, and even larger monsters regularly.
There is almost no way of telling what to expect whenever the player around a corner or looks over tall grass.
During exploration, NPCs will also ask the Arisen for help when they are attacked, and traveling Pawns will hail at the Arisen sometimes, introducing themselves in hopes of joining their travels. If the player tires of walking, riding via oxcarts is an option, but it isn’t any safer as monsters or bandits can raid you anytime.
Oxcarts are one of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s ways of Fast Traveling, and Fast Traveling in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is extremely limited. Aside from oxcarts, players can use Ferrystones to teleport to select locations with Port Crystals. Ferrystones, however, are very rare items found in loot or bought in extremely scarce amounts from vendors.
Oxcarts are also not perfect fast travel options, as they can only be found in human and beastren settlements and act like buses that go to-and-fro specific stops. They also have a schedule so the player can’t use it anytime at all.
We can talk about fast traveling all day, but it will take up a lot more space in this writing if we do so.
Just keep in mind, Fast Traveling in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is extremely limited, and the developers intended exploration by foot to be the main way of traveling.
The lack of fast travel and design of forced exploration by foot can be the dealbreaker for a lot of gamers.
I, for one, love it as the world design of Dragon’s Dogma 2 is made to be looked at and appreciated.
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s world was designed to encourage player awareness so they can use their environment cleverly when forced into combat, think carefully when deciding the shortest route, or fulfill their curiosity when they want to explore more.
At its core, I think adventure and exploration in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is top-tier and it is up to the players’ preference whether or not they are up to par with it.
Extra thoughts on Fast Traveling in Dragon’s Dogma 2
Limited fast traveling Dragon’s Dogma 2 is something I love very much and I often compare it to how Kingdom Come: Deliverance fast traveling system. Fast traveling in Kingdom Come: Deliverance is very similar to the traveling via oxcart in Dragon’s Dogma 2 wherein random encounters will occasionally interrupt your journey. We can even go deeper and say that this borrows the charm of the Oregon Trail where players are challenged in their quick thinking, preparation, and sense of urgency for every encounter they have. The constant need for awareness and an unknown future keep the experience fresh; at least for some time.
However, the entire design of exploration in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is also where the negative criticisms on microtransaction are grounded on.
Many believe that the scarcity of fast traveling systems (or faster ways of traveling) is designed to encourage players to engage in microtransaction. I could rant a whole lot about this but to cut it short: I don’t think Dragon’s Dogma 2 has a problem with microtransactions
The original Dragon’s Dogma and Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen were designed to engage players in active exploration, as opposed to heavily relying on Fast Travel systems, because they believe more on organic exploration being fun and a core aspect of an Action-Adventure RPG.
This philosophy remains true in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Furthermore, nothing in the game shows you that Ferrystones and other items can be bought with real money. This should also be one of the telltale signs that the game wasn’t designed with microtransactions in mind.
Simply put, blame Capcom and don’t buy the DLC items. Also, keep in mind that all of the items found in the microtransactions can be obtained in the game with just enough time and patience.
Now, let us move forward a bit to around the quarter mark of the Dragon’s Dogma 2 Main Story to… well, look at its story. To put things very mildly, much of the main story didn’t make sense to me. The story at this point is that a Fake Arisen has been propped up as the “true Arisen” and is now set to be the ruler of Vermund. This is all thanks to someone called the Queen Regent, who was also the one that sent the Arisen off to jail. I skipped a lot of details but that’s pretty much the gist.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Story Summary in Vermund (before reaching Battahl)
From the time when you were in the Excavation up ’til your journey to a village called Melve, you had no memories of who you are. You remember that you saved a woman named Ulrika when the dragon attacked Melve. This act of heroism made the Dragon mark you as an Arisen, stealing your heart in the process. After some time, Vermundian knights escort you to Vernworth, the capital city of Vermund, to confirm your identity as an Arisen. This is because there have been fake Arisens showing up.
Arisens in the kingdom of Vermund are granted the status of Sovran, and tasked to become the ruler of it. You go to Vernworth and find out that a fake Arisen has been adorned with the title of Sovran.
As for the reason why you were in jail, you were thrown into jail by the Queen and a fake Arisen was put in place by her so she could keep her power over Vermund.
However, you eventually learn that the Fake Arisen can control Pawns like the true Arisen. This in turn changes your focus on how he could do this, which is caused by an item he wears that comes from a nation outside of Vermund: the kingdom of Beastren, Battahl.
All of these are well and fine if everything and everyone that was involved in the Main Story actually had any semblance of significance to the Arisen. What I mean by significance is that I expected their presence to help shape the story further down the road, or affect the Arisen with what they do later on.
However, almost everyone and everything in the Main Story taking place in Vermund is thrown out of the window once we get to Battahl.
This comes when the Arisen realizes that the Fake Arisen also has the power to command Pawns.
The Main Story’s focus then shifts toward finding out how the Fake Arisen does this, and throws away everything set up in Vermund.
From the background lore and characters that built up the corruption in Vernworth, the Capital City of Vermund, all of them are gone!
A few inconsequential sidequests here and there made use of what were introduced such as Wilhelmina’s and Roman’s quests, but they just bear no weight to the state of the world and Vermund.
This lack of cohesion and sense of underdevelopment in the Dragon’s Dogma 2’s main story and characters persists until the very end. It is a constant bane for players who want a strong and meaningful story to accompany its rich and dynamic world. Aside from the story between the Arisen and the Dragon, there is little to no significance present in Dragon’s Dogma 2’s characters, races, and locations.
My Case for Dragon’s Dogma 2 Races Being Underdeveloped
There are four races in Dragon’s Dogma 2 that don’t seem to add anything other than flavor: Humans, Beastrens, Dwarves, and Elves. Only the Beastrens are involved in the Main Story, for they are the ones who are engaged in creating the item that can emulate the same power the Arisens have over Pawns. Dwarves and Elves are characters in the sideline that the world barely touches on and their existence or nonexistence leaves no effect on the main story or lore of the world.
Dwarves and Elves also cannot be created as Pawns, and there seems to be no explanation as to why Beastrens can be Pawns but Elves and Dwarves cannot. If there’s anything to call this, it is pointless filler.
The endings also felt like they tried to tie all loose ends, and provide a definite finish to the Arisen and the Dragon. However, it only seemingly finished the story of the Arisen. What of the world and its other inhabitants? I am not so sure. I am not even sure if they even mattered, or if the Arisen truly mattered to them. It felt like the story’s lack of cohesion is a part of a bigger problem in Dragon’s Dogma 2: the existence of underdeveloped content.
Going deeper into the feeling of underdeveloped content, the player can notice more of this by looking at the amount of areas that served little to no purpose in any main or side quest such as most of the interior of Vernworth Palace, Bakbatthal’s Forbidden Magick Research Lab, most of the Agamen Volcanic Island, and many more.
Another contributing factor to this assumption of mine is that there is also little environmental storytelling to pique your interest in the Dragon’s Dogma 2’s greater lore.
Finally, I think the best examples of underdeveloped content in Dragon’s Dogma 2 that I can think of are the post-game content and affinity system.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 fails to fully make use of the post-game world to add more to the lore, story, and characters. The new environment of the post-game world does not even affect the behavior of NPCs aside from scripted cutscenes. All it does is add more enemies.
While the post-game content world is important to the greater lore of the story, its relevance to the characters of Dragon’s Dogma 2 can hardly be seen or felt.
The affinity system is also seemingly inconsequential as well, aside from showing different variations of a cutscene in one of the endings and the Arisen’s confrontation with the Dragon.
For the past ten or so paragraphs, it may seem like I hate Dragon’s Dogma 2. Yet that is far from the truth, I love Dragon’s Dogma 2; particularly for its combat and exploration. The seamlessness of the enemies and Pawns’ AI that adapts to the player and other Arisen’s experiences are extremely enjoyable and innovative. Details in exploration such as camping, cooking, and interactivity with the environment are also things players should take note off.
The ability to play around with the environment to defeat enemies is one of big improvements made in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Things such as using rope bridges as fall traps, unclogging waterways to sweep away enemies, and exploiting gaps for Cyclopes to fall into and create makeshift bridges bring a refreshing twist to both combat and exploration. These features also encourage players to think creatively, and reward them for trying to do so.
Aspects of realism like camping, cooking monster meat, and mini-celebrations with the player’s Pawns after combat make the player feel more connected to the world and their Pawns.
Of course, a Dragon’s Dogma 2 review is not complete if we don’t talk about the Pawn System. The Pawn system in Dragon’s Dogma is also a one-of-a-kind game feature, and if the player has played the first Dragon’s Dogma, then they’d already know that. It is so unique that it will most likely surprise new players with how smart and interactive they are in the game.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 developers improved the Pawns in many ways like adding random chatter between Pawns, more reactions between the Pawn and the environment such as pointing out points of interest, and better interactions with the players like suggesting leading the player to a quest or assisting the player in combat with clever tactics.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 combat is simple but very effective. The way AI of NPCs in Dragon’s Dogma 2 has become much more intelligent in their ways of going about combat such as enemies flanking the Arisen or focusing on more vulnerable party members. Each class, which is called Vocations in the game, also offers varying experiences in combat. A player using a Mage Vocation will have a vastly different experience with combat than a player who uses a Thief Vocation.
While some Vocations were changed and removed, there are also new Vocations that are unique to Dragon’s Dogma 2 such as the Magick Spearhand and Trickster. These new Vocations are also enjoyable, and offer a very different playstyle that will surely find its players.
Of course, the best thing about Dragon’s Dogma 2 that is vital to its identity is the mounting mechanic. While I am still unsure if Dragon’s Dogma was the first to introduce the mounting mechanic on dynamic enemies, not like the boss fights with titans in the classic God of War entries, Dragon’s Dogma 2 still makes the player feel the same excitement and enjoyment when clinging on the enemies.
The climbing mechanic is one of the main game features of the Dragon’s Dogma franchise, and I am not even sure if I want others to adopt it because a large part of me wants it to stay special to Dragon’s Dogma.
As for the enemies in Dragon’s Dogma 2, I guess they could add more. I believe there are a lot of enemies in the game already but they can get repetitive since they share some moves and abilities. It’s not that big of a deal unless the player wants an extremely large bestiary to be present in a game.
The biggest complaint for me related to the Dragon’s Dogma 2 enemies is honestly their presence in Battahl. Traveling in Battahl is annoying at times and there is little to no room to breathe as opposed to traveling in Vermund. Stunlocking is also an issue. But you know what? Probably just a skill issue.
All in all, the mounting mechanics, all other combat features, the interactivity present in the environment, and the smart NPC AI all create a gameplay experience that is seamless, emergent, and extremely enjoyable. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is at its peak with its combat mechanics combined with all other features and elements.
Yet before I cap things off, I think it should also be addressed that Dragon’s Dogma 2 is poorly optimized in certain areas which specifically affects the CPU of most hardware. Complaints about poor optimization causing FPS drops from high CPU usage are fair, and Capcom should do something about it. There are also some terrain where the player can clip through and get stuck in, which sucks. Fortunately, this only happened to me twice in my 100 hours of playtime.
If you look at the game as a whole, you can see where the developers of Dragon’s Dogma 2 put more effort and time into: Combat and Exploration. However, it lacked very much in the story, storytelling, and world-building aspects. In essence, Dragon’s Dogma 2 delivers a masterful gameplay loop focused on combat and exploration like no other, but it fails to be a well-rounded game that fills the appetite of most RPG fans looking for a good and well-told story.
Other Criticisms for my Dragon’s Dogma 2 Review
The Save system can be a hit-or-miss. It seems intuitive but it can be confusing. I think the problem lies more in the autosave feature which I have no clue how its works exactly, and when it triggers.
I think there’s alsot not enough side quests, and I hope they bring back the quest board.
Please bring back Mystic Knight, that was pretty cool.
Free Camera photo mode or the ability to remove the Arisen and Pawns in the party during photo mode would be nice.
I wish there were more options in the Graphics setting I can adjust.
There are some areas that players can climb up to and people mistake them as further areas to explore only to be met by an invisible wall.
Dragons Dogma 2 Game Elements
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Gameplay
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is most enjoyed when the player focuses more on its combat and exploration. However, the game can be dauntingly unforgiving and may drive away gamers who want an easy time exploring its world. The make-or-break for most who will play and have played Dragon’s Dogma 2 will definitely be the limited fast travel, the constant back-and-forth travel, and difficulty jump in Battahl.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Story
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s story is very weak be it from storytelling and story quality to its characters and world-building. The main story seems halfbaked and almost all the characters involved are inconsequential to the Arisen’s path to the true ending. There is also almost no environmental storytelling or tidbits of lore that pique the interest of the player. I also wonder where the whole moon concept from the first Dragon’s Dogma comes in. I hope they add that in the DLC and expansion.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Design
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s world is beautiful and intricate. While it lacked the details to supplement the story, they are well-thought-out in terms of exploration and accommodating combat. I love how rich and lively Vermund looks, and how Battahl is the same despite its harsher environment.
> Dragon’s Dogma 2 Graphics
Dragon’s Dogma 2 graphics are excellent. It’s not hyper-realistic like Red Dead Redemption 2 or Horizon Zero: Dawn or the Last of Us but it’s realistic enough to the point where everything is believable. The level of realism used in Dragon’s Dogma 2’s graphics also helps make the environment extremely beautiful and immersive.
> Dragon’s Dogma 2 Audio
Dragon’s Dogma 2 audio is nothing too special. It doesn’t have the greatest ambient sounds for when exploring but you can hear everything you need when things start to go rough such as in combat, dialogue, or cutscenes. Music is nice but nothing that can match Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen’s music which had Eternal Return by Aubrey Ashburn. Fortunately, I purchased the pre-order Deluxe Edition which contains the Dragon’s Dogma Music & Sound Collection that lets me change some of the music to that of Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen. Eternal Return by Aubrey Ashburn is included.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Performance
The game runs fine at 30 FPS on a low-to-mid PC rig. My computer is not top-notch nor is it anywhere close to it, but I can run it just fine at 30 to 60 FPS without the performance suffering too much. The CPU usage is high, so my recommendation is to set the CPU priority of Dragon’s Dogma 2 to Highest in the Task Manager. Also, my Processor is below the minimum recommended but it runs fine aside from populated locations such as Vernworth and Bakbattahl where the frame rate may drop. Speaking on stream or in Discord while playing the game may also be a bit buggy, but that’s just on my Processor. Other players have reported that they experience bad performance in other areas but that’s pretty much it for me.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 FAQs
Is Dragon’s Dogma 2 Worth It?
Short answer, yes if you have the money. Long answer, still yes. However, you need to be informed of what you’re getting and set the right expectations. Dragon’s Dogma 2 shares similarities with souls-like games such as Elden Ring or Dark Souls in its challenging gameplay and lack of handholding, yet it offers the same level of enjoyment as open-world adventures like Red Dead Redemption 2 or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with its expansive open world and immersive exploration.
According to the official Capcom description of Dragon’s Dogma 2, it is set in a parallel world. However, most of the first game’s mechanics and features are in the sequel. Some changes have been made, and most are done with the aim of improving the experience.
All things considered, Dragon’s Dogma 2 builds upon its predecessor and aims to capture the hearts of many.
It’s not a lie when we say that the community was truly looking forward to Dragon’s Dogma 2 becoming a huge hit in the year 2024, maybe even as far as an industry changer.
On March 22, 2024, Capcom released Dragon’s Dogma 2 and was met with mixed criticisms and emotions. A lot of gamers enjoyed Dragon’s Dogma 2‘s combat and exploration mechanics, but many were disheartened by the lack of fast traveling, inconsistent performance, and microtransactions. A lot of these revolved around Dragon’s Dogma 2’s general game design, the director’s vision, and Capcom’s way of doing business.
How long ago is Dragon’s Dogma 2 from 1?
More than ten years have come to pass since the first Dragon’s Dogma, and now its sequel has been released. A lot of gamers who played the first Dragon’s Dogma are eager to find out what’s new, and how the vision that was cut down by more than 60% due to technical and practical limitations has now been realized in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Newer audiences who have only heard of Dragon’s Dogma 2 in recent months or year are intrigued by the gameplay and visuals promised and shown in the various gameplay teasers and showcase reveals done by Capcom prior to its release.
All things considered, Dragon’s Dogma 2 builds upon its predecessor and aims to capture the hearts of many.
It’s not a lie when we say that the community was truly looking forward to Dragon’s Dogma 2 becoming a huge hit in the year 2024, maybe even as far as an industry changer.
On March 22, 2024, Capcom released Dragon’s Dogma 2 and was met with mixed criticisms and emotions. A lot of gamers enjoyed Dragon’s Dogma 2‘s combat and exploration mechanics, but many were disheartened by the lack of fast traveling, inconsistent performance, and microtransactions. A lot of these revolved around Dragon’s Dogma 2’s general game design, the director’s vision, and Capcom’s way of doing business.
How long is Dragon’s Dogma 2?
The main story can be completed in under 40 hours, but a completionist run can last up to 90 or 100 hours. It all depends on how fast you can pick up the mechanics and your dedication to not getting sidetracked in your travels.
What game is Dragon’s Dogma 2 like?
You must have heard comparisons of Dragon’s Dogma 2 with other open world exploration games. Questions like “Is Dragon’s Dogma 2 like Elden Ring?” or “Is Dragon Dogma 2 like Skyrim?” must have come across your mind.
Conceptually, they are similar in that they have an open world and allows for free exploration. The feel can be similar to Skyrim at times and the “groundedness” is a bit like Elden Ring as well. However, Dragon’s Dogma 2 offers a very unique experience with how its enemy and ally AI create emergent gameplay and dynamic experience.
How long is Dragon’s Dogma 2?
The main story can be completed in under 40 hours, but a completionist run can last up to 90 or 100 hours. It all depends on how fast you can pick up the mechanics and your dedication to not getting sidetracked in your travels.
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