By Sam Coles:
It is hard to believe that 13 years ago we got Skyrim and nearly 20 years ago we also got the release of Oblivion, where many developers and publishers tried to copy Bethesda’s high fantasy adventure. If you grew up during the Xbox 360 era, there were lots of high fantasy RPGs, with games like Two Worlds, Kingdoms of Amalur The Witcher 1 and 2 and of course Capcom’s stab at the formula Dragon’s Dogma. As the sequel is coming out soon (at the time of writing), which took you 12 years really Capcom I was 19 when the original came out and I will be 31 when the sequel comes out, but I digress. Anyway, digressions aside I thought it would be great to go over the original for those who are unfamiliar with it, let’s get into it.
Dragon’s Dogma’s story is a standard fantasy tale, where you start off in a seaside village as a lowly peasant, where your village is attacked by a dragon that rips your heart out of your chest (yes really) and you become the chosen one in the form of the Arisen. The narrative is something that we are all familiar with when it comes to a fantasy story, a nobody becomes a protector, or an almighty chosen one but that is not the reason why Dragon’s Dogma was fondly remembered it was the unique gameplay.
You start off making your own character, which if you are like many in RPGs, you will spend about 30 to 40 minutes within said creator. Anyway, you have your standard warrior, rogue and mage classes which on the surface look typical of the genre but it is not until you get into gameplay that it differs from other games within the genre.
For one, the combat wasn’t stiff, it was fluid and fast as the combat designers of Devil May Cry were on board for this game, and if you played as the rogue class, you felt the fluidity of that series. Combat was fast, it had impact and coupled with the over-the-top blood effects was fun compared to the stiff action of Skyrim. Not only that, but it was also fun to be a mage for once in an RPG, spells had a massive presence during battles with particles smashing across the screen, instead of the standard fire balls and lightning bolts typical of the time. All the classes felt unique, and honestly it didn’t feel like you were standing in place hitting each other with twigs, which I love The Elder Scrolls, but the combat always lacked impact even Skyrim.
.jpg)
Also, boss fights felt like an epic encounter, bosses where big and grand and for once you were not just hacking away at their ankles. Like Shadow of the Colossus, you can climb on large enemies, aiming for their weak points. These moments were tense, especially if you decide to take on a dragon, because at any point the dragon could take off and then fly across the map dumping you in the middle of nowhere. It added an extra layer of tensity and unpredictability as you could use said climbing ability to your advantage, but so could your enemy.
After the first initial combat encounters you are dubbed the “Arisen”, because you have power over an ancient race called Pawns, who don’t really have autonomy as they need someone to guide them. This is the online feature of the game, you are given the task to create one Pawn, where you then summon two more that others across the globe have created.
These are your party members, which you can swap out at any time, they have different vocations which are the classes in Dragon’s Dogma, and some will have mixed vocations. If an encounter becomes too difficult, it could be that you don’t have the right mix of Pawns in your party. This is what is great about Dragon’s Dogma, it is mixing and matching different party members with Pawns, plus it can be rather hilarious with the different and unique characters that players have made across the world. You can change them out at any time when you find a summoning stone, you will have to give them a star rating out of five as well as sending an item back with them to give to their Arisen. Most of the time though, I would find nine times out of ten they would come back with a carrot or a useless rag as most players aren’t that generous.
The enemy variety was different too, you had your standard Tolkien style monsters like goblins and dragons, but you had cyclopes, chimeras and many more that will jump you when it is dark in the world. The first time I saw a chimera in the darkness, I feared the challenge as they will obliterate you when you first start the game. The game takes more from Roman and Greek mythology with its enemy roster, with the cyclopes mentioned before, but also harpies, it just made encounters feel different compared to the other RPGs on the market at the time.
The only real issues with this game, and which I hope are remedied in the sequel mostly boils down to dialogue and traversal. For one your Pawns don’t shut up, they comment on the obvious to mundane and trivial aspects of the world. You can have a conversation with your Pawn, telling him or her to stop talking, but this does not apply to the ones you recruit from other players. I remember this driving me up the wall back in 2012, so hopefully you can tell all your companions to put a sock in it in Dragon’s Dogma II.
As I said, the other issue comes from travelling the world, now I understand exploration is key to these sorts of games, but this game lacks a traditional fast travel system. What do I mean? Well, you can’t fast travel to discovered locations like other games within the genre, instead you come across rare teleporting crystals, which only takes you to the capital city. It is a pain as traversal is only on foot and your walking speed is slow, and slowly degrades if you are carrying too much, hopefully Capcom adds a proper fast travel system or at least some mounts in Dragon’s Dogma II.
Dragon’s Dogma was an interesting addition to the fantasy genre back in the day from Capcom, and finally 12 years later we are getting a sequel. As one of the few fans over the years, I gave up on the idea of a sequel, but now we are getting one in 2024 I am beyond excited, and I cannot contain myself. Stick around this blog for coverage near release, as I should be reviewing the game so stay tuned.
If you liked what you read support my blog by donating via Ko-fi or PayPal as well as following my Instagram if you want 😊:
Instagram:
Ko-Fi:
PayPal:
No comments:
Post a Comment