There are moments when Dragon’s Dogma 2 feels like the greatest game ever played. Scrambling up the scaly back of a giant beast, daggers piercing into its hide, as down below people hack, slash and leap over its lunging fists. Everywhere, magical fire and lightning explodes in the air. It really is magnificent. And yet…
Director Hideaki Itsuno has come so painfully close to realising his career-long dream of creating an immersive, multiplayer-like RPG for the solo adventurer. The original Dragon’s Dogma for Capcom in 2012 was too ambitious for the tech of the time and overshadowed by Bethesda’s extraordinary Skyrim the year before.
This sequel is a huge improvement, but once more has its potential contained (mostly) by technology and, again, isn’t good enough to overcome an overachieving recent rival. This is not a Baldur’s Gate 3 stone-cold killer. That the same thing should happen twice more than a decade apart is almost unfair.
It's heartbreaking, because this franchise has come so far; Itsuno has clearly taken criticism of the previous game onboard. Where the first had virtually deserted towns in its open world, this one teems with so many people that you can’t get down a cobbled alleyway without bumping into someone complaining about how their back hurts.
This parallel world to the original’s has a much better storyline too, loaded with intrigue and peril, plus the gorgeous looking lands of Vermund and Battahl that beg to be explored.
You are The Arisen, a hero chosen by an evil dragon to be its own mortal enemy. That’s a bonkers start, but the plot parks it for a bit. Through covert meetings in quiet tavern corners, explorations down hidden passageways to secret lairs, and lots of fighting in forests, caves, palaces and deserts, a nefarious wrong will be unearthed that must be corrected.
It’s helped by a great voice cast gamely chewing its way through dialogue lumbered with the same Olde Worlde English that got a battering by critics in 2012. It was such a common complaint back then that every unnecessary “aught” and mispronounced “ne’er” today feels defiant.
It's the kind of epic story that demands that a team of trusty fellow travellers be assembled with which to tackle danger head-on, but there’s no true multi-player option.
Instead, it brings back the ‘Pawn’ system of NPC companions: this means one NPC is created by the player, while two more are pulled in from the realms of other, real, players, to help battle foes throughout the game.
Your own can also be dispatched to other’s games, returning with tales of what they got up to and knowledge of areas you haven’t been to yet.
It sounds great, but they never rise above being AI. They still run into rocks, fall into the sea, and repeat the same ‘witty’ lines over and over. Arguably, that’s probably like a lot of people’s real friends, but we were promised more.
They’re great in a fight, though, and this is where the game excels. Roaming the world are huge monsters making themselves known through terrifying roars and ground-shaking stomps.
A healthy mix of the game’s available vocations (fighter, thief, mage and archer) will be needed to take down a towering cyclops and other beasts. Combat is ferocious but exhilarating. A big scrap may feel exhausting, but that victory will feel earned.
Itsuno will earn his, too. His vision is clear, he’s shown he knows what to improve and how to do it. Right now, he’s got a fun, exciting game with glimpses of something even better. Next time, it may not matter what came out the year before. Play this to hear the dragon rumble so you’re ready for when it roars.
