Dragon’s Dogma was Capcom’s surprise sleeper hit of 2012. I absolutely fell in love with it and have since been patiently waiting for a sequel to be announced. A spiritual successor was announced in 2013 with the moniker of Deep Down, but that game has unfortunately turned into vaporware. E3 keeps coming and going with no mention and my thirst for another fantasy RPG from Capcom remains unquenched. Capcom just loves to tease us, too–Dragon’s Dogma Online exists, but it only exists in Japan at the moment, for whatever reason. The MMO launched in 2015 and us poor Westerners have to wait to see if it succeeds to get it. I wish we could be a part of the player base and make it successful. Somehow I doubt the MMO will come our way–the PlayStation 4 is kicking too much butt, and I’m sure Sony won’t be sinking money into an MMO that only plays on their last console. It would be incredible if they brought it to the PS4 for everyone to enjoy. However, I do have to be happy that I have the original title and the expansion that easily takes 80 or more hours to get through.
The biggest thing that I loved about this game was the fact that I could lose myself completely in it. I remember on one of my days off I sat down and started playing at around ten in the morning, I don’t remember getting up from my chain until I was told dinner was ready. No game has ever been that engrossing to me; I honestly haven’t lost an entire day to a game since Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was released on the GameCube. Back then though I had much less responsibility and could actually devote days to a game. Now my life is wrought with responsibility and being an adult, so having a game draw me in so deeply is a huge deal. One of the problems that is fixed in the expansion version is a fast travel option which is nice. Having to walk everywhere is one of the reasons I lost so many days to this game. I’m sure that if fast travel was an option right off the bat I wouldn’t have felt as immersed. Fast travel actually does kind of ruin that. It may be convenient but going into a menu and traveling across the map certainly pulls one out of a game. At least in the Dark Arisen expansion gamers who had beaten the game previously are rewarded with the materials to fast travel everywhere.
The overarching story in this game could have been much better, but it is the quest stories that make it worth it. The main story of the game has to do with a Dragon that steals your heart in your village, and you become an Arisen who now must confront the Dragon. It is now your destiny to kill that dragon and oh, what an adventure it will be. What I liked the most was the fact that all the side quests actually intertwined with the main story. Someone you befriend here will help you at this pivotal plot point, and if you miss befriending them, you miss some story and possibly some achievements. Capcom also crafted this game to be played more than once, I can’t even count the number of quests I missed due to the fact it was daylight or the fact that I was on another quest. The world that was created by Capcom was truly amazing, and I need to get back into my new game plus and rediscover some quests and achievements I may have missed.
The monster design of this game is top notch as well. I still remember the first time I had to fight a Cyclops. Man, what a battle! Thankfully the game helps you out a bit with Pawns, which I’ll get to later. I’m a big fan of Team Ico and Shadow of Colossus and Capcom looks to be a fan as well. When I discovered that I could climb my Cyclops foe the game changed in scope for me, not only did it remind me of my time with Shadow but it also made for some funny battles. Nothing beats climbing onto a Cyclops’ leg and firmly stabbing it in the groin repeatedly all while your Pawns attack other less personal areas. Every huge monster that you encounter is beautiful, however I’m sure I would crap my pants should I find one in a dark alley. The Griffin is gorgeous, yet deadly as all hell; it made me sad to smite them.
Pawns are something that I’ve never seen before in a game, and will most likely never see again. Basically you are given a Pawn at the onset of your adventure who helps you out immensely. Your Pawn helps you in battle, carries your items and can provide important information to certain lands. Your Pawn can enter your friend’s games and help them, bring them items and level up while there, you can gather them back from Rift Stones which are scattered around the world. You can enter that Rift Stone and grab your original Pawn and two others to help you on your quest. When this game first came out my buddies had some over-powered Pawns that I definitely used to my advantage. What sucks now is the fact that I still need to get through the Dark Arisen add-on of the game, and everyone has pretty much stopped playing. I will go into the deep below alone and with steel in my heart.
If you’ve not tried this game or are looking for a hearty RPG to lose yourself in, please give Dragon’s Dogma a chance. Capcom really tried to do something different with it, and they succeeded, I just wish the game would have taken off more. Those who bought it couldn’t stop talking about it, those who didn’t heard our positive chats about the game. Perhaps in a sequel we could get true co-op; I would be satisfied as playing as my Pawn in my buddies game, and he as his Pawn in mine. That way the world’s don’t mesh since only one person can have their heart torn out, and you get some quality time with your buddies. Add in a built in fast travel option and you have yourselves another major Capcom franchise. Sometimes it was a drag walking all over the map, but you did get to kill interesting beings and would get caught out in the night with nothing but a torch to keep you safe. Just writing this makes me want to pop it back into my PlayStation 3, in fact I may do that for my days off. If you’re still playing it and want to share some Pawns find me on Twitter @SuperJerry13 and we can quasi-co-op!