Dragon’s Dogma 2 review: Days of High Adventure

❘ Updated: 2024-03-20T15:00:00

Dragon's Dogma 2 screenshot looking at the open world at a mountain range

Capcom

Timed quests are marked with a flashing hourglass symbol on the quest log.

Dragon’s Dogma 2, on its surface, is an open-world fantasy action RPG from Capcom. But, something deeper lies beneath this veneer. It’s a game that has to be experienced to be truly understood.

Every generation, a game comes along that smashes preconceived notions about what to expect from their given genre. Capcom’s 2012 release, Dragon’s Dogma sought to do this, but fell short in several areas, doomed to become a cult classic, which left its promise unfulfilled for many. Twelve years later, director Hideaki Itsuno is back at the helm to deliver a bold vision of what a fantasy RPG can really be.

Seeking to strengthen the weaknesses of the previous title, Dragon’s Dogma 2 fulfills the promise of the original by creating a deeply engrossing fantasy adventure that forces you to think differently about how to approach its quests, combat, and beyond.

Dragon’s Dogma 2: Key details

Price: $69.99 / £59.99 / €64.99
Developer: Capcom
Release date: March 22 2024
Platforms: PS5, Xbox, PC

Buy Dragon’s Dogma 2 at Amazon

Destiny is all

An image of keyart from Dragon's Dogma 2.

Dragon’s Dogma 2’s basic setup is that you are chosen to be an Arisen, a once-in-a-generation figurehead that is destined to fell an ancient dragon, with the power to command a legion of beings known only as Pawns.

Within this basic plot structure, parties seek to topple you, or don’t acknowledge you as the sole way to save their world from the peril of the wisened and old dragon. So, you set out on your adventure through the kingdoms of Vermund, Battahl, and beyond to fulfill your destiny.

Along the way, you will eventually run into some of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s side content. These side quests begin with fairly low stakes but can mesh together with additional, tangentially related quests to progress them in tandem.

A questline that kicks off after an NPC asks for money slowly simmers into a plot that could turn the fate of entire kingdoms, with different threads to follow presented in multiple (entirely optional) side quests.

Dragon's Dogma 2 warrior with weapon in hand

While the game will nudge you toward some of them, you’re often left to your own devices to complete quests in whichever way you see fit. I gave a merchant a sacred tome, whose recitation resulted in disastrous consequences, locking me out from using that shopkeeper ever again.

However, the game will never tell you to not give him the book, and it’s hinted that it might not be the best idea to give it to them in the first place. I could have also created a forgery of the book, and our NPC would have been none-the-wiser, potentially averting disaster.

In that sense, it is an uncompromising experience, which forces the player to keep their own eyes out for diegetic clues from other NPCs, the quest’s significance to the larger plot, or relation to other side content. Not every side quest is a tear-jerking masterpiece, but Dragon’s Dogma 2’s quests are sophisticated beasts.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 also has a sense of textual humor that often comes out unintentionally. Failing a quest to save a child resulted in their mother slapping me, followed by her untimely death after my pawns first froze her, picked her up, and threw her from a great height.

We very rarely see games put this much trust into the player to “play by the rules” that the game lays out, but the results are incredibly worthwhile, culminating in a single moment that will forever be carved into my memory. If you put in the effort, you will be rewarded handsomely. But, to find these quests at all, you’ll need to pack your bags and venture into Dragon’s Dogma 2’s expansive world.

Initiative check

Between scarcely populated hamlets and several major cities, Dragon’s Dogma 2 peppers its world with a dizzying number of areas to explore, monsters to kill and dungeons to be delved into. But, before heading out, you’ll need to ready yourself with the right number of curatives, camping kits, and items to see you through to your destination.

Prepare poorly, and you will be punished. Running out of curatives, or not bringing a lantern oil will quickly spell death, as you’ll not be able to fend off the foes you and your party might encounter when on a lengthy journey to a distant location.

These jaunts between key locations can last hours, inviting exploration that’s cut with nail-biting combat encounters, especially when unexpected larger beasts enter the fray. To survive them, you’ll not only need your pre-prepped items but also a balanced party of pawns.

Beyond the rift

Dragon’s Dogma 2 invites a form of asynchronous multiplayer by using pawns. You create a main pawn at the beginning of your journey, and they accompany you at every step. They’re also available for other players to summon into their worlds, too. You’ll never have another player in your party directly, but their pawns carry the knowledge of their completed quests, viewpoints, and even languages not understood by your party.

Dragon's Dogma 2 pawns in the rift in darkness

Each pawn has a different specialization, inclination, and vocation: You can acquire pawns with knowledge of quests to guide you if you’re stuck, and they even have friendly banter with each other too. The pawn’s dialogue is deliberately hammed up, with one even sounding suspiciously similar to What We Do in the Shadows’ Matt Berry. They do talk often, and more often than not, it’s genuinely helpful.

My pawn, Marcille, is sassy, bold, and is never afraid to rush to the front lines, even though she’s a mage, kitted out with healing spells. Throughout your journey, you become attached to your main pawn, and hearing their tales beyond the rift can offer you unique benefits too.

The unconventional mechanic is a fun way to interact with other players, and leaving a gift for other pawns is a small way of cross-player interaction that works, and makes sense within the ruleset of the world that Capcom has created. It would have been nice to see some form of direct multiplayer, but I cannot say that its absence meaningfully impacted how I experienced or enjoyed the game.

Pawns will also be skilled in all manner of combat techniques, with different jobs, all culminating in a balanced party: So, assemble your fellowship wisely.

Swing of the axe

You can choose one of 10 vocations, ranging from melee tanks, magick-casting sorcerers, to an incense-wielding warrior that uses illusion as a weapon. Action is presented in a similar vein to the likes of character-action combat titles like Devil May Cry and Monster Hunter, with a greater focus on balanced party composition between vocations and strategy, rather than perfectly-timed dodging, or spamming a single button to counter foes.

You can also climb on large enemies to attack weak spots.

With “Maisters” peppered across the land to teach you each vocation’s ultimate technique, it becomes a treat to explore different jobs, though some are notably better than others. For example, the Mystic Spearhand gives you access to a partywide shield, in addition to fantastic traversal skills with a horizontal thrust. The sorcerer’s ultimate technique summons a hail of meteors from the sky in spectacular fashion, which has to be seen to be believed.

However, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is not quite as technical as Devil May Cry or Monster Hunter. But, it’s still deep, satisfying, and a joy to play, thanks to level-based unlocks, which give you access to new skills up for purchase.

Despite their aesthetic similarities, it doesn’t feel anything close to the now-familiar “soulslike” style of methodical combat. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is fast, chaotic and can result in fantastic moments against the game’s larger monsters.

A bout with a Griffin encountered early on in my playthrough resulted in me riding atop its back, as it returned to its nest. Separated from my pawns, I was left to my own devices to finish the creature off. I didn’t win, but I gained the knowledge that the nest exists and houses an incredibly rare item that can unlock a new fast-travel location.

There are no free rides

One major point of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s world design is how you traverse it. The towns and cities are spread far apart, and fast travel is a limited resource in the form of ferrystones and portscrystals, which are very scarcely found, or expensive to purchase. This forces you to engage with its world, rather than simply following your map point-to-point, as you would with many other games.

Ropeways are perilous but can shorten travel time down significantly.

You can also travel by Oxcart for a small fee, and these routes run between several major areas in the game. You can also travel via an interconnected web of ropeways in several areas, too. Faster travel than merely making your way on foot is present, but the privilege of teleportation is costly.

This approach makes you reckon with the ferocity of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s creative vision. It’s not about getting quick thrills from turning in quests immediately after you complete them: You can wait a while, explore some more, or complete more quests to be turned into a given area before venturing there. It balances this on a knife’s edge, and for many players, it will simply be too much to handle.

This “thorny” open-world design once again commits to the rules and logic that Dragon’s Dogma 2’s world abides by. You have to think about planning and careful management of resources available to you to make it all work. For many, it might not feel as though Dragon’s Dogma 2 respects its players. But, the game instead makes the inverse argument: Dragon’s Dogma 2 demands your respect.

Bold, uncompromising & beautiful

Dragon’s Dogma 2’s systems of NPC interaction, questing, combat, and open-world design are a masterclass in creating a captivating adventure fantasy game. These all result in a deeply engrossing and enigmatic experience that few games can seek to match.

But, it does all of this while betraying existing conventions and expectations: Many of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s most memorable moments are when these systems mesh together spectacularly. A dangerous venture into unknown territory to smuggle myself across a border resulted in my entire party having been decimated, and running for my life as multiple days passed before I reached my destination, where I was able to pick up yet more plot threads to tug at, as well as access to powerful weaponry and armor, clearly not intended for me to use so early into my playthrough.

The visual design of Dragon’s Dogma 2 is evocative, taking clear inspiration from fantasy book covers from artists like Michael Whelan and Jun Suemi, making for a great-looking game. However, it cannot hide the somewhat rocky performance of the title, even when playing it on a high-end PC.

The Verdict – 5/5

Dragon’s Dogma 2 boldly stands as a giant of the open-world genre that dares to defy existing conventions and expectations. It’s a courageous effort that is as rewarding as it is deep. 80 hours in, I still feel as though I have barely scratched the surface of what’s on offer.

Its abrasive player experience demands you abide by its rules of engagement. Comply, and you will be rewarded with one of the most engaging fantasy RPGs ever created. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a masterpiece. It is an unmissable title that not only asks for your respect, but demands it.

Reviewed on PC.

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