Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an interesting open-world fantasy role-playing recreation that offers gamers nice freedom to discover and deep customization choices to construct their character and celebration. Dragon’s Dogma 2 can also be extremely restrictive. It doesn’t care a lot about your expectations of it based mostly on different video games you may’ve performed (e.g., Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate 3), nor does it observe many conventions of recent recreation design.
That’s form of the enchantment, although — Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a throwback. It adheres to lots of the guidelines outlined by the unique Dragon’s Dogma greater than a decade in the past.
However as you begin your journey within the kingdom of Vermund, you may end up questioning, Am I doing one thing fallacious? What the hell is occurring on this recreation? Don’t fear. It’s not simply you. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an excellent recreation, nevertheless it’s not attempting to cater to all gamers, significantly these searching for immediate gratification or, like, comfort.
There’s no enemy lock-on
In the event you’re like me and have been taking part in some Elden Ring these days in anticipation of Shadow of the Erdtree’s arrival, chances are you’ll wind up consulting Dragon’s Dogma 2’s management choices early on to determine the best way to target-lock enemies in fight.
Right here’s the factor: You may’t.
![An Arisen warrior slashes at a band of goblins, with splatters of blood emitting from their bodies, in a screenshot from Dragon’s Dogma 2](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DxlmxjAMerDAFOExjJPltWXDjX0=/0x0:3840x2160/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3840x2160):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25348420/DD2_Combat_01_png_jpgcopy.jpg)
Picture: Capcom
Positive, you’ll be able to seize onto enemies to select them up, throw them, or climb on them such as you’re battling a Shadow of the Colossus boss. However you’ll be able to’t, say, click on in one of many analog sticks to lock on to monsters to make fight simpler to wrap your head round.
Happily, your Pawns have fairly good purpose. And the sport could have one thing of a smooth lock to make your assaults join, however don’t anticipate Satan Could Cry-style lock-on throughout fight encounters.
You may have extraordinarily restricted quick journey
There’s actually no straightforward technique of quick journey in Dragon’s Dogma 2. You’ll find and buy consumable gadgets referred to as Ferrystones that may allow you to teleport to different places. However teleporting is extraordinarily restricted — there are just a few Port Crystals within the recreation to teleport to.
As a substitute, you’ll must rely by yourself two ft to get across the recreation’s enormous map. Alternatively, you’ll be able to take oxcarts from city to city, however these are restricted too, each in availability and pace. Whereas using in an oxcart, you’ll be able to nap by means of a lot of the experience, however your journey could also be interrupted by monster assaults or roving bandits, slicing your journey quick.
![A quartet of adventurers looks upon the distant medieval city of Vernworth in a screenshot from Dragon’s Dogma 2](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qHwlp1MXaRo85HB_JWLIxj6MY7E=/0x0:3840x2160/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3840x2160):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25348394/DD2___Vernwerth_png_jpgcopy.jpg)
Picture: Capcom
There are additionally a handful of ropeways that may allow you to journey by means of the skies of this historical land, however ropeway journey is much more perilous than going by oxcart. Count on to be harassed by harpies and griffins whereas using within the recreation’s few obtainable gondolas. (Heads up that you could additionally get round whereas holding on to some flying beasts. Simply don’t anticipate them to take you wherever you wish to go.)
Dragon’s Dogma 2 recreation director Hideaki Itsuno informed IGN in an interview earlier this 12 months that the sport’s lack of quick journey is by design. “We’ve put lots of work into designing a recreation the place you’ll be able to stumble throughout somebody and one thing will occur,” he defined, “so whereas it’s high-quality if it does have quick journey, we determined to design the map in a means that the journey [itself] may very well be loved.”
There aren’t any issue choices
Whereas many fashionable video games attempt to supply an array of issue choices to appease a broad base of gamers, Dragon’s Dogma 2 presents just one. If you wish to make the sport barely simpler, rent some highly effective Pawns. Play as a Trickster to keep away from direct fight. Simply don’t anticipate a “story mode” degree of issue.
See these towers? You may climb them… for some cardio
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s map is peppered with watchtowers that may present an important view of the panorama. Some towers even have ballistae on the high. These highly effective weapons, your Pawns will inform you, may simply offer you a tactical benefit.
However the towers in Dragon’s Dogma 2 don’t operate just like the towers in different open-world video games, significantly these made by Ubisoft. They received’t open up enormous parts of the in-game map. And people ballistae? They’re arduous to purpose, take a very long time to fireside, and don’t really do a lot harm towards the sport’s big flying monsters. The towers do function common resetters of expectations, they usually’re usually crammed with treasure chests. Simply don’t anticipate them to serve a lot of a objective past that.
All of that is to say that no matter expectations you convey to Dragon’s Dogma 2, they’ll be challenged in methods large and small. A few of these upended expectations is perhaps annoying from a quality-of-life perspective — there aren’t any graphics choices to talk of on consoles, for instance — however others are carried out particularly to promote the realism of residing on this medieval fantasy world. Meaning one of the simplest ways to expertise Capcom’s new RPG is to depart your assumptions from different recreation experiences on the door.