Dragon's Dogma

Before purchasing this game I had found that the general consensus on this title was that it was a solid play with quite a few glaring flaws. For some, these flaws break the entire experience, however I find that there's little detail about exactly what makes this fairly unique adventure almost unplayable for some. Now, you'll notice I've given this game 5 stars, and yet I'm simultaneously bashing it, and this is because I want to get all the bad out of the way first, so that I can move on to what about this game makes it the most fun I've had in a while! I hear a lot about the graphics being bad, but I would mostly disagree. The environments and backdrops are breathtakingly gorgeous, along with beautiful landscapes creating appropriate lighting to set the mood for each atmosphere presented. The monsters in this game offer a lot visually as well, borrowing creatures from the collective mythologies of both Greece and Western Europe, and reimagining each in a way that is both horrifying and eye-catching, and in battle they move with a lot of fluidity. The graphics only start to be laughably bad when it comes to the character animations outside of battle. NPC's are definitely varied, and aren't bad looking; however this all falls apart as soon as you talk to, or interact with one of them. Their movements are rigid and robotic, the lip-syncing is completely off for all of them, even in cut-scenes. The story that's presented also receives a lot of flak, and while I cannot comment too heavily on it, since I haven't finished the game yet, I will say that I do like the premise of chasing after a dragon who has literally stolen and eaten your still-beating heart. I will comment on the whole "silent protagonist" thing though: while I understand it has been done well in many games I've never been a big fan of it in RPGs. I like dialogue trees, especially ones that can effectively change your relationship with another character. The old Infinity games did this rather well, you could piss someone off so much that they would either ignore you, or even attack you. It's obvious the developers are going for an old-school feel with this game, so why not an old-school dialogue system? They could have at least had your character react appropriately to certain things: Hydra head falls to ground in front of protagonist, head hisses in their face loudly, protagonist doesn't react. Maybe this has something to do with the whole missing heart thing (Don't tell me if it does) but I'm more prone to believe it's because the story aspect of this game seems to be mostly neglected. Despite how humungous I've made these small nitpicks out to be, I still really am in love with this game. On one of my days off work I sat down at 7 A.M. to start playing and did not stand up to shut it off until about 10 that same night. The actual mechanics and RPG aspects of this game make it highly addictive. A lot of people compare it to the "Souls" series (Dark, Demon, etc.) maybe because it's very rare to have a game that doesn't do a lot of hand-holding in this day and age. However I think a more apt comparison would be with "Shadow of the Colossus" with a blend of the original "Diablo", an action RPG with that whole climbing/hacking mechanic from SotC. There's a great deal of strategy involved when it comes to taking down most boss monsters, and this is where the game truly comes alive. There's also no fast-travel in this game, which means if you're travelling across the map you have to plan your route, as well as stock up on supplies, and be prepared if you get stuck out in the wilderness at night. In the dark you won't be able to see very far in front of you so you'll need your lantern, also the enemies become stronger and more frequent the darker it gets. One of the core mechanics of this game is the "pawn" system. Pawns are these humanoid creatures from beyond the rift who assist the protagonist in battle, as well as with advice, and spells. The pawns are essentially in-party NPC's who offer spells, attacks, and special moves depending on their class. This is where the only multiplayer aspect of the game shows up. toward the beginning you're able to create and customize your own pawn, deciding their appearance, class, every detail of their personality. Now, you create your pawn, and can choose to release it to the online community to let other players recruit in their parties. Likewise you too can recruit other player's pawns (Up to 3 pawns total, including your created pawn). You cannot do too much with other player's pawns though, with the exception of giving them items, and giving basic commands in battle. Pawn A.I. is fairly good though, for the most part they can take care of most enemies without you issuing any commands, and can work together with you and each other to pull off some pretty stylish combos. This game is great fun for anyone who likes a good Hack 'n' Slash RPG every now and again. The challenge is solid, if you find yourself bored with the hand-holding of many modern RPGs, then you may want to give this one a try before any of the Souls games, it definitely makes for a good stepping-stone between those and other modern RPGs. *Note: Get the "Dark Arisen" expansion version if you do not own the game. It costs about the same as the vanilla game, and it includes that, along with the expansion. UPDATE: I have effectively finished the game (Not including Bitterblack Isle) and I would like to use this space to give some post-game criticisms/praises. I am extremely lazy however, so I'll be giving them in the form of bullet points: *The Story: This is the one that recieves the most flak, and I don't really think it's the story itself that's bad, but rather the way it's told. Some story elements require you to backtrack to a certain location in order to trigger them without any indication that this is what you have to do. You also have to deal with some lackluster characterization, leaving the characters that we're supposed to be interested in, not too interesting. This whole approach leaves a lot of really cool ideas that go to waste, as plot elements aren't fleshed out extensively. One thing that I admire about the story, is that the slaying of Gregori isn't made out to be too urgent, as his sole purpose seemed to be to seek out an "Arisen" to challenge. This means that if you want to take that quest that has you slaying a specific number of goblins, go ahead, there's no rush. It would seem the dragon's sole purpose in life is to face you whenever you're ready, this achieves a certain level of immersion that not even bad lip synching can destroy. *The Graphics: I remember saying that the game was visually beautiful, and it is assuming you don't look too closely. The in-game textures and semi-robotic character animations make it seem like this game could have been an early PS3 release. There are also some pop-ins here and there, and I have had the framerate drop on me more than once (Nothing too bad, but it's still worth mentioning). Despite all of this, the game is still very colorful, with beautiful lighting and no two characters look identical. *The Pawns: I still feel that the Pawn AI exceeds all expectations (I just read somewhere that they actually will adapt their actions to your play-style). However, I do wish they would just shut the hell up...I've got nothing else to say on that topic. *The Conclusion: Despite the flaws my feelings are still the same. This game is loads of fun, and when I turn it on I still find myself playing for hours at a time. The level of entertainment that this game provides is definitely what gives it a 5-star rating.

I have read many & I mean many reviews on this, from the so called experts & from ordinary gamers like me & you. I have played all rpgs from secret of mana to skyrim & i love then all. This game is more about preference to me, Im more into games that has party members like dragon age, secret of mana, & the final fantasy series. Might I add that I love the lord of the rings in which it takes a group to defeat evil & i loved skyrim as well so im not biased at all. Now to the review: Graphics- The graphics to me are just plain awesome to me, for all the things they have going on, fighting goblins, while a huge beast attacks, then you have your strider shooting arrows, then your warrior goes in for the kill all while the mage unleash awesome magic attacks can be overwhelming but this game pulls it off. The character models look like most rpgs, demon souls & skyrim included, so Im pretty much use to it then the world is simply gorgeous, every environment is brought to life. Customization- The characters & how you can make their appearance from the smallest to the biggest detail is great. Rpgs are all about upgrading & getting better equipment, you can upgrade as far as your socks & underwear,lol. It can be frustrating when you can afford that great armor you want but it feels good that some extra under shirts & socks can help until you can,lol. Gameplay- This is the meat of the game and it is awesome. Why do we play games, for enjoyment & it is soooooo enjoyable. This was lacking in skyrim to me, the mage in skyrim didnt feel to powerful, now this mage feels like Gandaff of the Lord of the Rings with the wonderful spells that can be done. The strider is gracefull & quick, then the warrior can just use brute strength. The combat is so fun, I can just run around & fight enemies without even doing quests to enjoy myself. I purposely left out the story, because every rpg to me has the same basic story, someone or something powerful is attacking so save the world. I see alot of people complain about the story, have any of you played super mario,well the story isnt all the great either but as kids our imagination took place & we just enjoyed the game. That's how i feel with games, I dont let a story make or break a game for me because I use my imagination to bring the story out. I would choose a great game with a bad story over a great story with bad gameplay anyday. Overall, if you love rpgs, you will miss out on something great if you dont play this game. I havent mentioned the pawn system which is awesome because everyone pretty much covered that & i agree 10000% with their assessment. Final Word - Awesome :-)

Capcom, famed developer and publisher that's brought gamers such franchises as Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, and Street Fighter, enters the medieval fantasy foray with Dragon's Dogma, a peculiar take on the Western open-world RPG. (And seemingly brought to us with a lack of typographical errors.) Taking inspiration from Skyrim, Dark Souls, and Capcom's own offerings, Monster Hunter and Devil May Cry, Dragon's Dogma stands out by being derivative of several games and in turn becoming uniquely its own title, and if the sales are promising, hopefully it'll be the start of a new series. Before I get into what's important, the gameplay, let's get the graphics out of the way first ... Dragon's Dogma is a shoddy looking game. The game is letterboxed (black bars are located on the top and bottom of the screen, taking up real estate), and there is no way to disable this; the frame-rate isn't locked at 30 fps, and will frequently dip (though it hasn't turned into a game-breaking slideshow); there's noticeable pop-in; the textures are muddy, clipping is prevalent, and there's a soft focus to the world in general, similar to Devil May Cry 4 on PS3. The good news is the game is devoid of any screen tearing and when it comes to artistic mettle, it can be quite stunning at times, especially with its lighting. The world itself is alive with great wind effects, some lovely day to night transitions (though be wary of the night), and overall, a well realized D&D look. Dragon's Dogma is however a joy to play. Initially allowing three classes to choose from -- Fighter, Mage, and Strider -- DD opens up with additional vocations, the game's preferred nomenclature, and adds Ranger, Warrior, Sorcerer, Mystic Knight, Magick Archer, and Assassin, for a total of nine vocations. Each vocation has its own skills and abilities, and you'll have opportunities to switch it up without having to start over, which allows you to experience the many variants in combat approach DD offers. If that's not enough, DD employs a unique pawn system, essentially party members, but with a twist. You create your initial pawn, and select their vocation, so you can live vicariously through them on the battlefield ... or should I say, they'll live vicariously through you. In addition to your pawn, you can hire two additional pawns created by other users, and these pawns take with them the knowledge they've acquired through questing with others into your game, frequently dropping quest hints and other various anecdotes pertaining to their surroundings; this also means your pawn, so carefully crafted, will be adventuring with others (they stay with you at all times regardless, even if someone "rents" your pawn while you're playing), and they too will come back with things to share, and if the previous master was so kind, with a gift left by whomever took them on their travels. It's an interesting take on the traditional party member, and something I've never come across in a game before. On one hand, I would like the option to just create all three of my pawns and form a bond with them as I adventure on; however, this system encourages the idea of player interaction, since you're swapping pawns frequently (they do not level up, and you can't assign specific skills, so you'll have to swap accordingly). It isn't as profound as Dark Souls online implementation, but it's a refreshing take on single-player RPGs with a community based element. I've typed more than I intended and I' haven't even touched on the games crowning achievement, and that's the gameplay. The combat in this game is fantastic, with each class being awesome enough that no matter what you're doing, you'll see a pawn pull off some crazy **** and think, "I want to do that next!" The game simply feels like the director behind it brought us Devil May Cry 2, 3 and 4. And the best part is that this is an open world RPG! Dark Souls was all about precision, with a very methodical pace to its proceedings; DD is much more action oriented, with some eye-popping skills that are fun to perform and brilliant to look at it. The creatures that get to absorb these amazing attacks are terrific, with a nice variety of classic monsters that animate well and have attack patterns that require you to pay attention and to be on guard. I haven't even mentioned the climbing ability, similar to Shadow of Colossus, which allows you to scale these beasts and plunge whatever weaponry you're housing into their hides. Jeez, I haven't even mentioned the spells yet, either. You should see these spells! You really should, youtube them! It's what sorcery should look and feel like. DD just nails the combat. You'll know it as soon as you nock your first arrow and let it fly into the eye of a cyclops. I could continue, but I feel I've made my point. Dragon's Dogma is a worthwhile entry into the open-world RPG market. It has fantastic combat and a grand sense of adventure, and it is able to encapsulate the feeling of danger that should arouse when you don't know what's down this cave you've stumbled across. It's unfortunate the engine can't keep up with its ideas (time for a new generation of consoles), but don't let that dissuade you if you're in the hunt for a lengthy title with rewarding gameplay.

I saw this game probably a year ago and have been waiting for it since, i forgot about it and saw it was coming out the next week so i was like hey why not preorder? and it was the 2nd preorder ive ever done and 1 of the best RPGs ive played, im a hardcore demons/dark souls player, 2 of my favorite games. if you liked those games youll love this, the gameplay is like DS but with a bit more action too it, and more RPG.People compare this game to skyrim just to give it a bad name in comparison but dont listen to them they're ignorant, these are 2 completely different games, the only thing related to skyrim is the fact its open world, but other than that nothing is alike. the class system used is great, it adds lots of options and gives the game replay value, which is rare these days, the pawn system is great, there is no direct multiplayer but this makes up for it since you get to use the other player created pawns, which is a NPC that fights along side you, you customize them just like you do your main character, you give commands but its all action based live fighting not turn based. There is a challenge with the game with it being open world, its kind of hard to figure out where to go if you dont pay attention, and if you wander too far you're bound to hit a road block of enemies you think you can beat...but turn out to be horribly mistaken, this may sound dumb but it adds to the adventure, there are a ton of side quest to do to keep yourself busy and plenty of places to go, i strongly reccomend anyone who likes RPGs to purchase, not rent, purchase this game, i cant completely describe the gameplay, but its addicting, you hack and slash and use some pretty flashy skills to make it stand out from the rest, the best little thing they did was the grapple system, is something running too fast for you to get in a blow with your two-handed weapon? jump at it and hang on as long as possible while striking blow after blow to its body, tired of the class you're using?go to the inn and change your class for a new take on this game, so for those of you who took the time to read this, i cant tell you how excited i was, and still am about this game, dragons dogma is the way to go, dont pass it up

I've been playing this for about 2 weeks now as a strider with a mage pawn... Pros: -Awesome Battles - Boss battles are actually quite intense. Some of these monsters you face are HUGE. And I do love the aspect of climbing the monster till I reach it's forehead and begin happily jabbing away into its brainpan with my awesome daggers! Very Cool! -Pawn System - I originally bought this for the intriguing aspect of this pawn system. Long story short, you make a henchman - The henchman can be recruited by another player online and gain knowledge, items, and experience. You can do the same for other players online as well. So it's quite interesting and I kind of dig it. The best part is that your henchman (pawn) never leaves your side; however, when you rest at an inn, you get word that apparently your pawn has been breaking heads with other players. Kinda cool! -Big World - Lots of exploring to do - Like I said...I've been playing for 2 weeks, but this thing is like HUGE - likely not Skyrim BIG - but still, a vast world with a lot of stuff to see...should keep you occupied for awhile... -One aspect I like is that when you venture out at night, it is actually a little scary...you can't see very far in front of you - you're only fighting by a torchlight on your belt, and in the dark surrounding you, you can hear whatever monsters gathering...I like it that I'm actually nervous that something may happen to my character... -Character customization - Huge amount of character customization for your character and your pawn. There are some bizarre body type configurations if you like the idea of playing a mutant... Cons: You only have ONE save game - unless of course you want to do some shake and bake and move your character to a thumbdrive or whatever, but I'll be honest...I'm too lazy to do all of that. So the fact that you only have ONE save for your ONE character is kinda BS. No Fast Travel - 'Nuff said. I mean, they got these little token-like things that are hella-expensive, but you don't just find them lying around all over or anything...So anyway, you will be traveling back and forth to a lot to the same places and fighting that same group of goblins over and over again...which is good and bad dependent on how you look at it... The talking from your henchmen...they will repeat many, many things over and over again. I find it's easier if I lower the voice volume and leave everything else as is... Story and quests are pretty lame and unimaginative... In Closing: Overall I like the game, it's difficult which keeps me coming back to it. It angers me often with the little stupid things that's wrong with it, but obviously it doesn't bother me that much because I keep playing it...I only wish I was able to have more than one save file. I feel that detracts from being able to fully explore and appreciate the game such as changing your class. I did learn this the hard way when I upgraded my Strider to an Arcane Archer, and decided I did not want to play an arcane archer yet...I figured, "Okay, no big deal, I'll just go back to my old class and continue to be awesome.." Ho, ho...not so...I had to buy back my old class and I dropped in my ranking for that class to 0. Not cool at all...But despite that harsh learning experience, I still like it, hence my Love/Hate relationship with Dragon's Dogma...

Hi, I bought this game for my 2wks off at Christmas. I had it once and liked it but found it too hard. I decided to give it another shot. First off all you get to pick your character, a pawn you get to keep, and 2 other pawns that you can swap out as your level increases as the two loaner ones levels don't increase. I found for me it works best to have an arrow shooter because their are some airborne enemies and some that are safer to fight from a distance. Later on when you reach a certain level like 15 or 20 you can change two a hybrid class and I picked assasian and was able to wield a one handed sword and arrow. Also I found it best if you keep you party balance. I get 1 two handed wielding warrior, 1 mage, and my pawn is a 1 handed wielding sword person, I think soldier but not sure. Anyway, also you can enhance weapons at the vendors and you use items from fallen foes and found around the world. Also don't forget to upgrade your main support pawn weapons that is always with you. When you go this route. So far I have been able to beat any foes I encounter. Thats not to say that I don't die or have a challenge. But the 1st time I got it I spent a whole day to try and beat a chimera. This way I can beat a chimera and about anything so far in a few minutes. The hardest for me was the drake. But I beat it in a few minutes. Now I haven't faced everything yet I am level 40 with about 33hrs in. Now the game runs pretty flawless. The graphics are great and the combat is really fast and much more fun than any other rpg I have played. The weapons have real weight to them. Also when I am traveling I run most the way and this game doesent slow down and I play for about 5hrs straight. The character customization is great too. You can make your character and pawn male or female. The quests are cool as well as the locations. Some of the quests are a little vague on how to do them, but with a little thought you should be ok. I know a few of them it seemed the map didn't show me where to go and I had to kind of look for a little clue from a particular quest that you get an item that is needed for another quest or the pawns if they have done the quest before with another user will give info. Oh yah the 2 support pawns belong to other as their created support pawn and they are in the rift when you are online. So when you do quests with them they bring back rift crystals and items from quests with other users. Rift crystals are used to buy pawns above your level. Ones at your level are free. Anyway, so far really loving this game. If you are just starting out and have trouble try a different loadout, or you can try it on easy until you get your characters built up and the hang of how to fight the enemies. Thanks, Kevin edit 1/1/2013 Just finished the main story of the game, skipped a lot of side quests and have not done any post game stuff. Took me about 36 hrs level 47. Kevin

Amazing; though, with tweeks, could be perfect. This game has all the elements to surpass The Elder Scrolls and Dark Souls as the RPG to play. I have plunked about 20 or more hours into Dragons Dogma and I feel this is the better of the three games. So, how does it play? Take the fighting elements of Lord of the Rings: War in the North and Two Worlds 2(no dismemberments, though), add the grabbing ability of Shadow of the Colossus (there are huge enemies you can, and need to climb upon--normal battles are really epic), the RPG side of Skyrim (open world) and Monster Hunter series (day/night, farming and creating resources). The voice overs are not perfect, but good. Graphically the game is beautiful. There is a companion system called "pawns" where you hire/recruit other gamers pawns (secondary created toons). These pawns are AI controlled, but using the abilities set by the other gamers. when done with that pawn (only your own pawn levels with your character, so you need to change pawns often), that other gamers pawn returns to its owner with experience and possible gift(s). Companions are actually useful and "learn" the ways of defeating enemies (liquid--or--learning AI). Currency in the game is the usual gold to buy goodies. There is an ability (special moves, passive upgrades) system that comes with experience in order to have your character AND pawn become more deadly with some interesting moves and spells. The leveling system is automatic, so there is no managing that aspect of the game. You choose from three classes (mage, melee/shield warrior, and strider/dual blades), though later in the game you can reclassify your character with added options that "mix" the three classes in multiple ways (one class is a mage/strider mix that can use magic, certain bows, and dual wields weapons). Weapons and armor are unique to certain classes (i.e. Dragon Age 2). Sure, this is a hack-n-slash action RPG, but after playing the game for the first hour or so, you learn very quickly that this game is MUCH more than that. Enemies are unique and has their own strengths and weaknesses (there are lizard-type creatures that can't be damaged until you cut off its tail, rogues and bandits that have a leader that auto-heals his party, etc.). Battles are not your three hit and dead fights and take stratagy or you will die often (ala Dark Souls). Dragons Dogma isn't perfect (camera angles become bad often and your AI companions sometimes don't listen to commands, but that's because of how its owner created it), but it's close to a perfect RPG as you will get. If you liked any of the past years action RPG's (Two Worlds 2, Skyrim, LotR: WitN, Dark Souls, Monster Hunter, SotC) you will truly like this game. Simply amazing.

...I like it. It doesn't hold a candle to Dark Souls (I'm not even sure why Dark Souls keeps coming up in the conversation), but it's a relaxing adventure which holds little interest beyond a first playthrough for non-trophy-hunters. Dragon's Dogma concerns the adventures of a nameless character (called the Arisen), as he battles to win back his physical heart from a nameless dragon (called, apparently, the Dragon). I have no idea what the dogma of this dragon is. Most likely, a developer/localization team just thought the word "dogma" sounded cool. The game is a 3rd person affair. You have the choice of 3 initial classes, but this later extends to 9 (6 pure classes, and 3 hybrid classes, assuming my memory serves me). You can pretty much switch classes at will. In fact, this is key to creating the best possible character, stat-wise, in the game, but nothing in the game actually tells you this, and truthfully, it's not that important. You also have helper characters, called Pawns. One pawn is your creation, and you have pretty good control over him/her. For example, you can choose his/her class (although I think pawns only have access to 6 classes). In addition, you are allowed to hire 2 more pawns, of which you have little control. Basically, these pawns fill in the gaps for your party. If you have a friend who has played the game, you can hire that pawn for free. This causes severe balancing issues in the game - I advise against it, unless you are looking for a quick path to platinum. You can also send your pawn out for hire. As s/he progresses, she will learn abilities against particular enemies, and knowledge about particular quests, even if you've never seen these enemies/quests before, which is helpful. Battle is...frenetic. Enemies will swarm you, and your pawns will often do much of the work (particularly on an initial playthrough). Later, you will encounter huge, boss-like enemies that are more readily dispatched with special tactics. It's quite fun, but it can be difficult, particularly if you stray off the road and run into an enemy you are not prepared for. The story is laughably stupid. It's not terrible. It's just...stupid. However, you'll probably lose interest, unless you're a fanboy-in-the-making. The single biggest problem in the game is the difficulty of movement in the overworld. While there is a teleport feature, it's horrible. You have access to a very limited number of gate-type stones (I think you have one, in fact, for most of the game), and the warp stones necessary to utilize them also cost money. If you play through a few times, you see why the developers did this. The game is very short if you have warp speed between towns. I think I beat the whole thing in around 7 hours without really trying, and under 5 when I was trying. There are some bonuses as well. I particularly liked the online dragon. If you play him offline, he's a relatively tough enemy who gives you good loot after defeating him. If you fight him while playing online, he is a holy terror who will likely rip you to shreds unless you have gone through serious preparation. The loot he drops in his online form is awesome (including special armor and masks off legendary heroes such as Beowulf and St. George). I beat him twice myself, which I why I know of those two particular masks. However, outside of this, there is little reason to play the game past an initial playthrough. Unlike Dark Souls, whose New Game + is a great experience, there is absolutely no change in the enemies level or power. You will cut through everything the game has to offer, and if you use your money to purchase gate-type stones (I think they were called "Rift Stones"), you will blow through subsequent playthroughs in record time. For twenty bucks, though, it's not a bad game. I think its "sequel" Dark Arisen was a free game on PS+. Happy gaming!