Dragon’s Dogma 2 – Review

12 years ago, Capcom released Dragon’s Dogma. A year later, the game received a re-release with all downloadable content and other new features for seventh generation consoles. Later, in 2016, the PC version of Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen —the relaunch of the original title— hit the market. From that moment on, the community was already speculating about a sequel. However, only until June 2022, Capcom announced—taking advantage of the tenth anniversary of the franchise— which was in development Dragon’s Dogma 2. Almost two years have passed and we have finally been able to see how it looks and plays Dragon’s Dogma 2 with the RE Engine (Reach for the Moon Engine). So in our review of Dragon’s Dogma 2 We will know if the new adventure of our Ascended One (Arisen) has been worth the 12 years of waiting.

A world full of possibilities

The world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 It is a place full of secrets. Here we can find ancient ruins, hidden caves, healing springs, villages, abandoned fortresses and a large number of secrets. Additionally, during our trips on foot we were able to see a wide variety of enemies – some of them colossal in size -, pawns that we can recruit or that will help us defeat the enemies that we encounter on our way, and game characters that will give us missions. high schools. It should be noted that—as in Elden Ring– in Dragon’s Dogma 2 we will not have any type of objective marker. Instead, at our disposal we have a limited number of markers that we can add and remove according to our needs. This makes exploration natural and helps the player not feel taken by the hand during the adventure.

In addition to archipelagos, mountainous regions, deserts full of dunes and lush forests, in Dragon’s Dogma 2 There are quite a few factions. During the time we use to make our review or analysis of Dragon’s Dogma 2 We were also able to participate in various activities. Some of these arise from secondary missions and others are festivals that take place in some villages and even classic fishing, which is ideal for obtaining food and materials. Despite limited fast travel in Dragon’s Dogma 2, is not recommended from our point of view. As it deprives the player of the experience of stumbling upon a secret village inhabited by a mysterious race, waking up on an unknown beach after a storm, or finding a hidden cave housing a legendary treasure. All of this is part of the magic of this world that encourages the player to explore it at all times.

The humor in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is part of the adventure

Something that marked my adventure during the time I spent doing this review or analysis of Dragon’s Dogma 2 It was the humor. Since, during the exploration you can see absurd things such as goblins trying to behave like humans, even some absurd situations thanks to the physics of the game. Additionally, each pawn has its own personality and this can clash with that of our main pawn, bringing to the table conversations that make one stop exploring to stop and laugh a little. These are things that for me—who did not have the opportunity to play the first title—took me pleasantly by surprise and are one of the reasons that encourage me to continue exploring this world. These aren’t the only funny interactions I’ve had. However, telling them all can detract from the adventure each of you can experience.

Pawns are more than just battle companions

In a world as big as that of Dragon’s Dogma 2, which does not have aids or signs every five steps that tell us what to do, it is normal to get lost or find yourself in dead ends at times. However, what makes the player find answers is the behavior and use of the pawns. Since, they collect experiences and if they know the location of a treasure, place or even how to solve a mission they will tell us that they can help us. This is an organic help element that is left up to the player if they decide to use it or simply want to do it on their own. As for our main pawn, we – as with our character – can customize it the way we want, body, face, race and any of the available classes in the game.

Additionally, we can send our main pawn to do missions with other “Ascended”. Thanks to this we can help other players and the pawn collects experience to use in our adventure. We can take up to three laborers with us, one of these being our main assistant and the others rented. Those pawns that we rent can be rated so that other players know if they will be helpful or not. Additionally, pawns give the game an extra layer of depth and strategy. This is because if we have the right group, fighting challenging creatures can be easy or total hell. It’s up to us to find the combination that best suits our part of the world. Dragon´s Dogma 2 that we are exploring.

The combat in Dragon’s Dogma 2 It’s deep and unpredictable.

The combat in Dragon´s Dogma 2 It is one of the aspects of the game that has the most depth. This is because, despite being easy to control, the player can use the environment to overcome some challenging battles. For example, we can defeat enemies by taking them to an area where several pawns or NPCs are or use some of our skills to scale giant enemies or make them lose balance on one of their legs to attack them with forceful blows to the ground.

This sequel to Dragon’s Dogma introduces new classes. Some of these combine magic with melee combat, others specialize in defense and crowd control or specialize in the use of stealth and ranged attacks. We start the game with the classes that were already in the first installment and we will unlock the others as we complete some objectives. It should be noted that with the accumulated experience we can buy each of these classes and customize them.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 It is a monster that seeks to consume the resources of our machine

Our review or analysis of Dragon’s Dogma 2 We did it on PC and we were able to show that – despite having an efficient machine – the game does not have good optimization. Since, it suffers from constant frame drops, which are even more evident in the most populated areas of the game like Vermund.

While in forested or desert areas we managed to reach 60 frames per second, in populated cities or battles with explosions or other effects the game reached drops that made the experience frustrating in some cases. This is because the FPS dropped below 30. Although this can be reduced in battles by trying to use FSR or DLLS technologies, in populated areas it is simply impossible with the current version of the game. So for now, if you want to play Dragon’s dogma 2 on PC and do not have a top-of-the-range computer, we recommend that you wait until Capcom updates the game to improve its performance on mid-range computers.

Other “buts” it has Dragon’s Dogma 2

However, this is not the only drawback that the game has. Since, at the time it was released to the public, Capcom enabled a series of microtransactions that could not be seen during the time we used to make this review or analysis of Dragon’s Dogma 2.

Some of these microtransactions—if not all—are purely optional. However, others allow you to purchase items—such as fast travel—that are extremely rare or difficult to obtain in the game. But the one that gets all the players’ attention is the Camping Kit. This is because it is obviously lighter than the ones we can get without spending more money on a game that at an international price is around 70 dollars or $267,900 COP in Steam.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 review made with a digital copy for Steam provided by Capcom Latin America. This game is also available for Xbox Series S|X and PlayStation 5.