GamesRPGDragon’s Dogma 2Baldur’s Gate 3 over-prepared me for Dragon’s Dogma 2, but it’s made me appreciate what makes both RPGs so uniqueWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesRPGDragon’s Dogma 2Baldur’s Gate 3 over-prepared me for Dragon’s Dogma 2, but it’s made me appreciate what makes both RPGs so uniqueWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Capcom)
Back-to-back RPGs can be daunting. I finishedBaldur’s Gate 3last year, and to date, I’ve played it to completion roughly six times (and counting). Off the back of such a behemoth experience, let alone one that I enjoyed so aggressively, approaching something likeDragon’s Dogma 2felt more than a little bit intimidating.
Having never played the first game, I went in blind. What I’d read about the game gave me a glimmer of hope since, at face value, it seemed to share a few similarities with my GOTY of 2023. I’m used to exploring and fighting alongside myBG3 companions, so Pawns sounded helpful in their essence. The core four Dragon’s Dogma 2 combat classes hold similarities to a few of those in Baldur’s Gate 3, making it easy enough to choose the rogue-like Thief vocation as my Arisen’s starting point. Hell, even the mind-wiped protagonist hinted at flavors of theBG3 Dark Urge. But after playingCapcom’s latest for roughly five hours, I’m starting to see the error in my judgment. These comparisons just served to give me unfair expectations of Dragon’s Dogma 2 from the get-go – though thankfully, I’m still having a blast.
My personal Everest
(Image credit: Capcom)
Divide and conquer(Image credit: Capcom)Dragon’s Dogma 2 goes all-in on the open-world RPG design trick that made me fall in love with Skyrim and Fallout: New Vegas
Divide and conquer
(Image credit: Capcom)Dragon’s Dogma 2 goes all-in on the open-world RPG design trick that made me fall in love with Skyrim and Fallout: New Vegas
(Image credit: Capcom)
Dragon’s Dogma 2 goes all-in on the open-world RPG design trick that made me fall in love with Skyrim and Fallout: New Vegas
Gritting my teeth and loading into Dragon’s Dogma 2 for the first time gave me mixed feelings. On one hand, I was excited to delve into another thriving fantasy world teeming with monsters, mystery, and mayhem. On the other, I was secretly hoping for another Baldur’s Gate 3.
Yes, I realize how silly that was in hindsight, but can you blame me? It’s only April, and I’ve rolled credits on six games already – and three of them were RPGs or open world games. If trudging through the Sword Coast for hundreds of hours wasn’t enough, I then finally got around to playingRed Dead Redemption 2, spent another 121 hours exploring Persona 3 Reload’s harrowing twists and turns, and followed that up immediately with Mass Effect 1 and 2. I certainly wasn’t going to let RPG burnout stop me, so to ensure I followed through with Dragon’s Dogma 2, I had to play a bit of carrot-and-stick. I’m on a roll when it comes to role-playing games and the like, I told myself. What’s one more?
While this method was effective at getting me in front of the screen, controller in hand, it didn’t serve me well in terms of expectations. The games mentioned above are some of thebest RPGsever, or in the case of RDR2, an action game that left me breathless from the sheer narrative impact of it. But Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an entirely different beast in that its story is perhaps the least interesting thing about it.
Unserious fun
(Image credit: Capcom)
That fact took some getting used to. As soon as the opening cutscene began, I was stifling giggles at the pompous, somewhat disjointed Ye Olde English monologue being performed before me, the words spilling from a mouth that was moving completely out of sync. It soon dawned on me that this is just how everyone speaks in Dragon’s Dogma 2, and for a brief moment, my heart sank. I pulled myself together, though; this is not a game to be taken seriously, despite all the flowery language, and that’s the way I chose to approach it.
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Mechanics like these are what makes Dragon’s Dogma 2 feel like a truly interactive, immersive experience – even if I can’t chat up my devoted Pawns as the Arisen. I’m still finding them somewhat of a nuisance at times, lauding praise upon me for offloading heavy camping kits unto them instead of tossing me an icy one-liner. These Pawns might not have the charisma and depth of Persona 3 or BG3’s party members, but they do love to high five you after each and every scuffle. That’s something I don’t see myself getting sick of anytime soon.
Check out some of thebest open world gamesto play after Dragon’s Dogma 2
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