Dragon’s Dogma – Review
Dragon’s Dogma is a new game in the franchise of CAPCOM. The game was released for the PS3 and XBOX 360 and is an open world adventure game. Let’s see how it competes against others of the genre.
Story:
The story of Dragon’s Dogma is simple yet a little complex. Your character starts out in your own small village, which gets raided by the dragon. You, the valiant fisherman, grab a sword and try to battle it. (We all know where this is going) The dragon hurts you yet gives you powers like no-one else has. This is where your adventure really starts. You soon find out your powers grant you the command over pawns which come out of the mysterious rift. (basically your party members from another ‘universe’) You slowly work up your way as the legendary Arisen by earning the peoples trust by defeating giant monsters etc. I realise this hardly tells you anything, but then again telling too much will simply ruin your game experience.
You will go after the dragon that cursed//blessed you with your current abilities. The good part is after you finish the game you are still allowed to play DLC and sidequests.
Note: You actually start out in a ‘tutorial’ level.
Graphics:
I can barge in by saying this directly, the world looks great. The monsters you fight look great (even though some get recycled in other colors), the menu’s look very manageable and you get the customize your character and pawn quite decently. There were actually a few jaw dropping moments when seeing special enemies for the first time. If you’re a fan of fantasy adventure games, you will drool a little every time you encounter one of those giant beasts. When playing through Dragon’s Dogma you will feel the urge to explore the world to actually see everything it has to offer.
The downside of this beautiful world is when you talk to people. You sometimes tend to have the feeling you’re talking to a wooden puppet. The cutscenes don’t really have this problem.
All I can say is, the game looks beautiful except for the buggy display of conversations.
Sound:
The music in Dragon’s Dogma is well chosen, even though the menu song was quite weird for this genre of games, it was still enjoyable. The music is quite timid during the game and lights up when it is supposed to. It really suits the game and you won’t get annoyed by the music. The voices are also well brought, going from the voices of the people you talk to to your own pawns. (They tend to talk too much sometimes!)
Gameplay:
Honestly after my first 20 minutes of playing my first impression was that the controls felt awkward, but then after the first hour of playing the game they grew on me and felt very natural. When in combat you have the option to switch between different skillsets: The first is simply by unsheathing your weapon and pressing the designated combat buttons, the others can be used when pressing a shoulder button and then using your combat buttons. You can always use 3 skill sets, each depending on your primary and secondary weapons.
The classes in Dragon’s Dogma are called ‘vocations’, at the beginning of the game your character has to pick one of the basic vocations the game has to offer, which basically means fighter, ranger or mage. You’ll have to do the same with your own personal pawn. If after several hours of gameplay you don’t feel happy with your current vocation or the one your pawn has, you can always change your vocation and try out different ones. As the game progresses you will also unlock new vocations which are more advanced than the ones you start with. Each vocation has their own leveling system and by leveling the vocation you chose for yourself or your pawn you will unlock more skills and abilties for you to try on your adventures. Keep in mind, switching vocations will always cost you some skillpoints by which you normally buy and unlock skills with.
Dragon’s Dogma offers you a pawn system. At the early beginnings of your adventure you get to create your own pawn (which is basically a party member who likes to call you master – who doesn’t like that?) and the other two pawns you choose are actually pawns that other players created. And with some luck other players will lend your pawn in combat aswell, this will earn yourself RC (Rift Crystals). With these RC you can hire pawns above your level if you are having difficulties with a certain quest or just feel safer having the company of experienced pawns. Every time you rest you will receive word about the actions of your personal pawn, at least if it has been used. If you use a pawn and decide to trade it in for another one you will get to chance the pawn by appearance, battle skills and overal helpfulness. An option which will probably not be used that decently but still it’s a nice extra.
The world of Dragon’s Dogma is quite vast and you can explore it freely. During your travels you will find a lot of plants to pick, loot to grab, monsters to kill and buildings//caves to explore. If you’re in to exploring you will enjoy yourself when looking for treasure! Looking around is always helpful for finding materials you can use for upgrading your weapons and armor, or simply curatives to heal yourself and your party. Buying or finding gear will also offer you enough chances to enhance the quality which results in even better gear. The game, like many others in the genre, also offer you the option to combine items you find on your travels to make potions, weapons, etc.
Scrolling through the menu’s is easy to do and very manageable, they are kept quite basic but great to work with. Nothing more, nothing less, period.
The quest system and the sometimes unclear map is the main thing that bothered me. You get the chance to do a lot of quests on the way, which is always great, but after a while you’ll have quite the amount in your quest list and main quests are indicated in the same way as the sidequests (ok, if you’re paying attention during the game you will probably realise which ones are story quests and which ones aren’t, still some indication of which was a main quest would have been nice) About the map I mentioned earlier, some roads on the grand map are simply not there when zooming in. Yes, I know, again a small detail but it can sometimes be annoying.
When playing through Dragon’s Dogma you will realise it is not the easiest game. Also an honorable feat in games nowadays to add a little difficulty to the game. You will learn to make a habit out of saving regularly and stocking up on healing and curing items. You will spend days alone to finish the main storyline, and if you regret skipping sidequests on the way to the finale, you get the chance to continue playing after the main storyline is over. A nifty bonus for those who want to explore the world of Dragon’s Dogma completely.
Conclusion:
Dragon’s Dogma was a delight to play through. (except dying after you forget to save can be quite annoying!) The game has only been out for a few days and I’m already looking forward to a 2nd installment of the game, and if they work out the little glitches that this one has in that one, I can honestly only drool at that thought. A game worth getting!
Dragon's Dogma - Review,
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