Dragon's Dogma

I stopped playing this game after the completion of a fetch quest for some flowers. And from what I gathered from others, I think that it was a good idea.

Dark Souls infinitely worse little brother. The graphics (I know the game came out in 2012) is not good. The learning curve is way too significant and there is no genuine feeling of progression like with the Dark Souls games. The pawns are useless for the most part and die far away from where you are. The map system SUCKS. The story is a yawn. Combat is meh. Not sure if this game is worth finishing; I've had little enjoyment from it so far.

Honestly I found this game to be unsatisfying, boring, awkward and somewhat creepy. I never felt very involved in the combat, the extent of my strategy was spamming attacks and healing. None of the characters really stand out, or are really memorable at all. I remember very little of it, other than eventually running up against a wall in some bullshit fight in a cave, whereupon I realized it just wasn't worth it.

It's true that Dragon's Dogma is a mess, and there are many open-world RPGs that outclass it in nearly every metric: graphics, lore, content, variety, story... but not combat. Not really. Dragon's Dogma's combat feels like it belongs in Devil May Cry or one of the later Monster Hunters. It's kinetic, combo-based, visually impressive, and consistently fun no matter which class you choose. They even managed to make the spell-casting class enjoyable, which is a serious feat. Even if you can overlook the game's graphical and narrative deficiencies, though, the lack of enemy variety and unique quests will probably tire even the most avid fans of fantasy violence simulators out there. There's also not a whole lot to do outside of combat, though it's nice how you can use your acrobatic abilities to discover certain secrets in the world as well. There's also an unbridled sense of adventure to Dragon's Dogma that not many fantasy games have, and it's a personal favorite of mine in spite of all its flaws. Here's hoping the eventual sequel taps into this concept's full potential.

Dragon's Dogma initially charms with an interesting premise, ingenious online pawn system and intriguing blend of western and Japanese design, before slowly revealing itself as having little else to offer. Any semblance of story is essentially nonexistent as the game--seemingly confused as to whether it's a single-player RPG or an MMO--sends you on foot and with limited fast travel across a truly depressingly lifeless world undertaking vapid escort, fetch and kill quests entirely unrelated to your character's motivation. Whilst combat is weighty and enjoyable, pawns are next to useless in battle due to poor AI and the enemy-climbing mechanic lifted from Shadow of the Colossus is an embarrassingly clunky imitation. A dated mess of half-baked ideas.

2.0 stars / Poor

Its a great game no doubt, taking a lot of inspiration from Dark Souls and Monster Hunter. Unfortunatly it is also loaded with flaws, so many that they cannot be ignored.

The story is terrible to the point i wish there wasnt any, it has a technical issues like long loadings and texture popping (NPCS appear in front of you) and some of the quests are a bore to get through. The pawn system is a great idea, but poorly executed considering how poor the AI is.

Despite this, its still a great game, simply because its core gameplay mechanics and level design are so good. The world is great outdoors, and since it is filled with secret chests its a pleasure to explore. The dungeons tend to have a very atmospheric tone to them, and since most are non linear they also promote exploration. The gameplay itself fills very visceral, with every sword making an impact when it hits, and it allows a lot of cool things like deciding what abilities to take into the battle and climbing bosses (like Shadow of the Colossus). Even despite the relatively small enemy count (many of which are reskins of the same type), it hardly ever gets old. Which is a bliss since the weapons and armor in the game are improved through the parts that you gather from fallen enemies, whereas the gear itself is either bought or found. They struck the right balanced for the price, as it takes a bit of grind to get there but never too much.

The Dark Arisen expansion features an extra area called Bitterblack Island, which is basically a huge dungeon to explore, filled with extremely high level monsters. Towards the end of the game it somehow gets easier, but Bitterblack Island makes things very hard once again. The lack of poor quests and story are actually what makes Bitterblack island the best section of the game since it focuses the best elements of this game, them being gameplay and crafting gear.

Overal its no doubt a great game, but there is potential here for so much better if they just polish the edges and dont try to make this something its not. Its still second place to the Souls series and even Monster Hunter as far as im concerned, but hey third place still gets a medal.