The night of Dragon’s Dogma 2 is dangerous. It’s something I learned on one of my first nighttime excursions through the medieval fantasy world of this video game. He had to reach the capital of the fictional kingdom of Vermund as soon as possible, but the last oxcart had already left a few hours ago. Staying at the inn in that small town until the sun came up was not an option, so I decided to travel at night accompanied by three virtual companions. It was a mistake that I regretted when I was already halfway there, in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by wolves, goblins, undead, ghosts, orcs and other bloodthirsty monsters.
After restarting the game a few times I managed to get my group of characters to fulfill their objective, but the path was a succession of catastrophic misfortunes that I will soon forget. In reality, this emergent narrative, that is, the game’s ability for things to happen in dynamic ways and without following a pre-established script, is the main virtue of the new title from the Japanese company. It is something that has been verified by the hundreds of thousands of players who have been touring this virtual world all weekend.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a continuation of everything that the first installment proposed in 2012, but it completely restarts its story so that all those people who did not enjoy the original title can reengage. Its premise is at least original: After creating a character in a sensational character editor – which, by the way, can be tried for free – the player takes on the role of Arisen, the one chosen by the dragon to rule the kingdom and we have the power to invoke the so-called pawns, adventurers from another world who accompany us and follow our orders.
In the words of its director, veteran Japanese designer Hideaki Itsuno, his goal when developing Dragon’s Dogma was to create a single-player game that felt like a multiplayer game, and the truth is that he achieved it. Although they are pre-programmed behaviors, the pawns show their own initiative that contrasts with that of non-playable characters in other video games. During the adventure the user has to change traveling companions, something that forces him to experiment with the different vocations of each of them, from fighters with sword and shield to magicians and sorcerers, without forgetting the always helpful archers.
Unlike other role-playing and action games, the new title from publisher Capcom does not mark the path to follow, but rather leaves the player free to advance in their own story. In reality, this is something that is often said about many games, but in few cases it ends up being true and Dragon’s Dogma 2 is one of them. There are no main and secondary missions, only those that the player wants to carry out—and in the order he wants. We choose how we want to spend our time and there is no problem if we postpone again and again the main plot of the game, which consists of recovering a throne that has been usurped from us.
The freedom that Dragon’s Dogma 2 leaves the player when choosing their path is extrapolated when interacting with the world itself, a huge natural setting that, according to its creators, has been inspired by the wild landscapes of Sicily and Tunisia. Precisely, when it comes to interacting, combat is a very important part and can be approached in a multitude of different ways. Sometimes the player will be able to let his pawns handle the fights, but in most cases he will have to take sides. Once again, the possibility of climbing on top of the most colossal enemies to hit their weak points stands out, something that gives rise to epic scenes.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a unique game. It is true that its physics system makes it very often turn into a crude unintentional adventure comedy, but it is because of the small details and those things that happen that it is a title with a tremendous personality of its own. For that reason, it is a shame that Capcom has tarnished the final result by publishing at the last minute a series of paid items that have not been liked at all by all those people who have checked out thinking they were acquiring a complete experience. Although the game’s micropayments do not affect the gameplay, their very existence since the day of launch has monopolized the debate on networks.
All of this is not to mention the poor visual performance in the PC version – something that a server can attest to – with unbearable performance drops and optimization that could be greatly improved. Capcom has already taken action on the matter and has assured that they will try to improve both the technical problems and the demand from users to create new characters without having to check out. The Japanese company has been on a roll for a few years and Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a solemn game, so it is to be hoped that these complaints will be resolved quickly, since Hideaki Itsuno and his team deserve that the attention falls on the game and not so much on micropayments that don’t contribute anything.
