Dragon's Dogma 2 Review: Arise To a New Era of Freedom

As a follow-up to Capcom's cult classic RPG, Dragon's Dogma 2 has much to live up to. Promising a "truly immersive fantasy world" before release, the developers had a mammoth task, and a week before release, so did I: Playing the game and then sharing my crazy experiences with all the pawns.

Spoiler Warning:Our Dragon's Dogma 2 review contains some minor story spoilers for the first five hours, mentioning just some of the characters that set up the beginning of the story.

Take a Seat, Arisen!

Take a seat; I've got a little tale to tell. Your journey in Dragon's Dogma 2 begins as the Arisen, the chosen one destined to face the dragon and save the world.

But a false Arisen has claimed the throne and hurled the prophecy into disarray. During the game's opening hours, it's up to you to prove your state and convince the inhabitants of Venworth that you are the true Arisen. With Captain Brant's help, I met some very interesting characters, such as a Magistrate with a huge love of books and running tongue-first into a lady of the night outside the royal castle of Queen Regent Disa, a supporter of the false Arisen.

Experiencing the main story for yourself, which alone should take over 50 hours to complete, by my estimations, is a must. There are so many twists and turns, conspiracies, and deceptions that saying any more would risk unwanted and unnecessary spoilers.

What I can talk more about, however, is how I crafted my own story, thanks to an immense focus on player freedom.

Freedom & Player Choice Shines

Dragon's Dogma 2 provided me with a level of freedom that I haven't felt since I first ventured to Balmora in Morrowind. After the initial few hours, the world of Dragon's Dogma 2 opens up, and you are free to explore, crafting out your own experiences.

There are dynamic encounters with a range of enemies, from your standard Goblins to more frightening foes like Minitaur, Cyclopses, or Griffons. Every combat encounter challenges your creativity and allows you to defeat your enemy in any way you see fit. Are goblins chasing you over a bridge?

Destroy it, and let them fall to their death. Is a huge creature stomping on you from above? Climb onto its back and stab it in its eyes. The possibilities are many, and it's up to the player to discover them all.

Thanks to Capcom's RE Engine, all these encounters boast incredible physics. I could throw objects at slimes from a distance or witness my Sorcerer pawn levitate into the air and rain lightning on a group of Saurians.

One of my favorite experiences saw me accidentally ride a Griffon. On my way back from a certain main quest in a village that shall remain "nameless," I saw something in the sky. After climbing a tower for a better look, I confirmed it was a Griffon surveying the area.  Before I could act, one of my pawns took matters into their own hands. 

As the Griffon swooped down, I ran down the tower stairs to meet my party. My attempts to run away were thwarted thanks to a previous fight with some Goblins taking out the nearby bridge. I was blocked in. I turned around to fight, though I wasn't strong enough. Not by a long shot.

Resigning myself to "going down swinging," I wanted to see how far I could take down the Griffon's health. About four minutes into the fight, I jumped off a small hill as the Griffon swooped down, hoping to do some damage to its head.

Instead, I pressed the "Grab" button (R2) on my controller, and my character clung to the Griffon's body. It then flew up into the sky as I hung on for dear life. My poor pawns were left staring in terror as their master was swept away. I rode the Griffon all the way back to Vernworth before I tried to sneak in a cheap shot. Instead, I swiftly slid off the creature, falling to my death, and had to use a rather rare Wakestone shard to revive.

It's dynamic encounters such as these that are part of what makes Dragon's Dogma 2  feel truly alive. NPCs such as merchants and soldiers go about their daily lives, sleep, eat, and have their own motivations. Every character I met, from a story-focused NPC to a lonely traveling merchant or a beggar unrelated to any quest, felt unique, and I could interact with them in any way I saw fit. I could even pick up a merchant and throw them into an Ogre's path if I really wanted to!

The world's day and night cycle also makes a huge impact. As time passes, food gets spoilt, and some quests or personal objectives can only be completed during nighttime or daytime. 

No matter what gameplay style and tactics you want to employ, Dragon's Dogma 2 allows it. RPG fans are truly spoiled for choice, with the ability to take on quests and fights in any manner they see fit or ignore them altogether.

The last part of player choice that helps round out the experience is your chosen Vocation, your class. You pick your class and that of your main pawn, both of which you can change at any time.

Players also have a choice of passives, skills, and bonuses to add to their character and upgrade. There are more focused Vocations to unlock and play around with as you progress, such as a Fighter becoming a Warrior and wielding a big two-handed weapon. You are not locked to your initial class choice, giving you the freedom to change your playstyle whenever you visit a Vocation Guild.

Pro tip: Practice your chosen class before giving up on it too quickly. I've found that each skill has different combat uses, and many can combine with that of pawns. Experiment with your Vocation. If you think something can work in Dragon's Dogma 2, it probably can!

Pawn Stars

Pawns are companions devoted to serving the Arisen, forming a central part of the game's story. In Dragon's Dogma 2, pawns will only serve you, the true Arisen. In more basic terms, pawns are AI companions. You have a "main pawn," which you can customize and level up just like your character, and two other pawns you can hire. 

It was the pawns who stole the show for me. These AI companions were integral in creating a dynamic and unforgettable experience. Let me explain:

• Pawns learn from your actions and adventures. They'll note your likes and dislikes, how you play the game, and how you approach combat situations. Your main pawn will watch, listen, and learn.
• Pawns have their own personalities and inclinations. For example, a straightforward pawn might rush into battle, while a kindhearted pawn might aid their allies and provide healing more efficiently. 
• The pawns you hire in Dragon's Dogma 2 via the Rift come from other players. When you hire a pawn that has been with another player, they bring their experiences over and continue to learn.
• Oftentimes, pawns can combine their efforts in combat or almost anticipate what you want to do. For example, I could use a shield skill, allowing a Thief pawn to jump onto my shield, using it as a boost to fly into the air and land on the head of a minituar. 
• Pawns can learn specializations to make them even more unique. For example, a pawn can learn to help sort out inventories, leaving you with less inventory management to deal with. The Woodland Wordsmith specialization allows your main pawn to translate Elvish to English, which is of great use later on in the game.

The most unique experiences manifested from pawns I hired via the Rift. One pawn guided me to a secret tunnel off the side of the road while also noting how they found a chest nearby with some great loot. Another helped me on a main story quest, as they've learned where to go and what to do from their experience with another player.

Not all pawns left a great impression, however, not because of bad game design but because of their personalities. A handful of pawns I hired from the Rift kept rushing head-first into goblin packs, which I intended to avoid. Others weren't very pleased if I didn't want to follow them to a tower, and some were annoyingly getting stuck. 

A pawn's time in the Rift also doesn't come without any risk, and it's worth mentioning without going into too much detail. If your pawns' eyes start glowing red, they might have contracted Dragonsplague, an additional system functioning as a disease-like condition, infecting pawns as they travel between worlds.

Yes, Dragonsplague is contagious. And yes, your pawns will become stronger and a bit crazier, and the result? Well, that's something you'll have to find out for yourself. It does add a whole new layer, even dozens of hours into a game that has continued to surprise me.

Tis But a Scratch

Now, I'm going to be completely honest with you here — I've never played the original Dragon's Dogma. On the first day of playing this sequel on a tight review schedule, I wanted to delete the game and never touch it again.

It was confusing and chaotic and threw so many interwoven, complex systems at me all at once. From using pawns to combining ingredients, combat options by using the environment, and much more — it felt very overwhelming. Then, I ran into some gameplay issues:

• Lost four (4) hours of progress accidentally loading from last rest at an inn. 
• Frame rate drops on the Xbox Series X.
• Hours of frustration looking for a certain NPC due to missing one line of dialogue early on.
• Pawns getting stuck on objects (rare, but it happens).

Those issues, however, are all easily fixable with patches. It's also important to note that this was all before the game's official launch.

So, instead of rushing through the content, I took a deep breath. I decided to experience Dragon's Dogma 2 like a regular gamer, not someone who had just one week to see as much as they could of one of the biggest and most detailed open-world RPGs.

That's when I fell in love with Dragon's Dogma 2. All the systems started to make sense, and I began exploring the immense player freedom the game provides. Everything just clicked. 

There is one more caveat: for me, it was a positive instead of a negative. There is no chance of save-scumming in Dragon's Dogma 2. The game only has one save, and you must live with all your in-game decisions and their outcomes. We didn't find any way to restart the game with a new character (you can change appearance and class easily in-game), making for an authentic gameplay experience. 

I brought up these issues to make one thing abundantly clear: Dragon's Dogma 2 is one of the best RPGs I've ever played. So much so that despite the minor issues in the review period, I can't bring myself to give the overall experience less than a perfect score.

I'm finishing off this review with a bold statement. Dragon's Dogma 2 is the best RPG I've played in the last two decades (sorry, Baldur's Gate 3).

You can enjoy hundreds of hours in Dragon's Dogma 2 and potentially more if you don't try to rush it. Instead, carve out your journey, take in the sights, and know that no other player has experienced the dynamic, vast world the precise way you have.

Now, excuse me as I end this review to boot up Dragon's Dogma 2 again and spend another hundred hours or so enjoying Capcom's masterpiece.