I WISH I Liked Dragon’s Dogma 2…

Article at a glance:

• After years of hit after hit following Resident Evil 7, Dragon’s Dogma 2 became one of the first games that made people stop and go, “Wait… what happened?”
• The game has incredible ideas, amazing combat, and a gorgeous world, but strange design choices and technical issues kept it from reaching its true potential.
• For every moment that makes you love Dragon’s Dogma 2, there’s another that reminds you how close it came to being something truly special.

After enjoying the absolute HEAT that was RE9 and Pragmata looking promising, I think it is a good time to look back at one of the few blemishes on Capcom’s track record, post RE7. You see, Capcom had been on a winning spree post-RE7. Every single game, be it a remake or a new one, was. They cooked. For a while, it really did seem like they could do no wrong. I believe it was Dragon’s Dogma 2 that was their first major misstep after RE7, and then, of course, we had Monster Hunter Wilds.

And both of these are not bad, by the way. They are just victims of some baffling choices that didn’t make much sense back then and certainly don’t make a lot of sense looking back. I will save my thoughts on MH Wilds for another day, though. Let’s talk about Dragon’s Dogma 2 today.

What the Game Does Well

Look, I know the game is VERY demanding, even after all the patches, even super high-end PCs struggle with Dragon’s Dogma 2. But at least this game can justify those kinds of requirements because of how insanely good it looks. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is basically a playable fantasy movie. Just the raw graphical fidelity aside, even the art direction for the whole game is immaculate. The world feels very lived-in, and the game does its level best to make you feel immersed and a part of the world itself.

The combat feels like playing a multiplayer game, but you are alone. The Pawn AI is a bit too good at times. The pawns learn from you and even share information amongst themselves. The combat in itself would be very good, but just like the first game, you can climb onto bigger monsters, and you can sever their limbs in combat. If you’re playing a sorcerer, you get a ton of spell variety as well, and because of the pawns acting as your tanks, you never feel punished for playing a mage in single player.

I know the story can feel a bit dragged on at times, but the theme of repeating cycles and breaking free of them is represented so damn well in the game. When you start the game, it just says “Dragon’s Dogma”, no 2 or remake. But then you do some stuff and like 30 hours or so into the game, you find out how to enter the Unmoored world, and THEN they finally hit you with the “Dragon’s Dogma II” title drop. I ADORE how well they hide this whole secret.

Why I don’t like the game

Look, the game COULD have been amazing. But here’s the thing: none of the praises I gave the game come without a caveat. The game looks very good, but the system requirements are just unreasonable. It is made in RE Engine too, which is one of the more optimized game engines, just look at RE9 and how good that game looks despite modest system requirements. The NPC densities in cities will absolutely tank your performance even if you’re running something like 9800X3D. This alone was enough to turn away a lot of players.

The combat is great when it works BUT, the build variety is limited compared to the first game. Dragon’s Dogma 2 doesn’t have nearly as many skills or vocations as the first game, and as a result, many vocations feel very simplified. I know the game is designed around NOT having fast travel, but damn, immersion can turn into tedium real quick, because certain quests require a lot of backtracking. Fast travel crystals are meant to be rare by design, again, for immersion. But then, Capcom thought it would be funny to sell them as microtransactions.

And sure, microtransactions are not the biggest deal. All Capcom games have these small extra purchases you don’t need, and all. But it just leaves a poor taste in your mouth. And when your game is flawed as is, people are going to latch onto more things they don’t like. It is almost as if the more I find things I find to appreciate about this game, I find two more reasons to not like it. Sure, the whole Unmoored stuff is cool, but the narrative feels so overly drawn out at times. You get a great beginning, then nothing for hours on end till you’re suddenly rushing towards the finale.

Wrapping Up

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is… it is a lot of things. It is pretty obvious that Capcom put a lot of effort into this game. And it did have potential. It really could’ve been Capcom’s answer to Elden Ring. But between the baffling financial decision and the absurd system requirements, the game was rendered unattainable for so many people, and rightfully so. Not everyone can afford a top-of-the-line 9800X3D + 7900XTX/4080 Super machine.

If the game were slightly smaller in scale, more focused, and more accessible to normal people, I think it would’ve done very well. Once again, though, Capcom proves that they learn from their failures, if nothing else. After the massive backlash for the performance problems of Dragon’s Dogma 2 and MH Wilds, RE9 launched in a pristine state with little to no bugs or performance problems, AND it has modest system requirements. Let’s see how Pragmata turns out, considering how long it has been in development at this point.

Either way, let me know what you guys think in the comments. I will take my leave here. I am off to play Slay the Spire II. See ya!