Dragons Dogma is a great fantasy RPG which, with a few improvements, could be one of the best RPGs available.
I played the adventure demo before playing the main game and was immediately captivated by the battle system and the options at character creation. Now Dragon's Dogma is nowhere near a perfect RPG game (but what is?) but the game has a multitude of ways for you to get dragged in and keep coming back for more. In this review I'll explain why Dragon's Dogma is a great yet flawed game and why Capcom is right in turning it into a franchise.
Right, first off lets state that this game is a Japanese video game and not a western video game. All comments that basically say: "I want this to be more like a western RPG" are void. Still, it's hard to deny that Capcom is trying something which only western RPG's have done before it.
Let's see which game's influence we can find in this game. First up. Skyrim. Sure this game will be compared with Skyrim, but honestly I find very little material to compare. Yes, we got dragons, yes it's open world, yes there's a high fantasy setting and ... no that's where it ends. Oh wait, in both games the main character is a mute. In other reviews the open world adventuring is compared to Skyrim, claiming the lack of fast travel is a burden because the world is just as large as Skyrim. Wrong. You can travel from the complete south of the map to the complete north of the map (longest run) in just over 15 minutes on foot. A common complaint is the Griffin battle where you have to track it down to the north of the map. From where you were that only takes about 8-10 minutes. Skyrims map is many times larger and doesn't offer paths and roads as a main traveling option like Dragons Dogma does.
The second game we need to bring up is of course Shadow of the Colossus. While it's true you can grapple on monsters to attack their weak points, I find that's where the comparison ends. Since SotC's whole system is based on boss fights it's far more intricate and complex and delves deeper than Dragon's Dogma. I found it a lot of fun that grappling larger foes brings satisfying combat, but in most cases grappling really is not necessary. One tip to Capcom is to do more with this. Playing on enemies weaknesses strengthens the game play. Otherwise it's like the game offering you many cool ways to kill a creature which can also be done by button bashing next to the legs just like Skyrim does it's boss battles.
Thirdly it's hard to ignore Devil May Cry and Resident Evil. They are both Capcom games and Dragon's Dogma takes the impressive battle system straight from Devil May Cry. A really good choice since that battle system works well in any type of game. Resident Evil pops up in the many undead you'll find. One particular cut scene in which you uncover more about a group called Salvation could be straight from any Resident Evil game.
Lastly I'm going to have to go with Saints Row. Say what? Yes Saints Row. Layered clothing, sexy chicks and a great array of customization options at character creation all hint to the fact that prior to starting development Capcom was playing Saints Row. Many video game creators underestimate the need for players to customize their characters looks. And not just face, but clothing options as well. This last one is very well implemented in Dragon's Dogma and acts as an in your face to all other RPG's out there. Plus it has capes and cloaks Bethesda. It has capes and cloaks.
In many reviews and comments I read the game is compared also to Dark Souls because of it's difficulty. Now I'm going to have add that the difficulty is one of the flaws of this game. At the games start you have low health and only a handful of abilities. Enemies take considerable effort to kill and well, let's just say that running into a group of bandits at level 8 is a very bad idea. The games character classes each have something to add to the battle system allowing for incredible varied game play. The one problem I have with the game is that after you hit level 20-30 and have gotten some upgraded weaponry the difficulty almost disappears. The problem here is how the game handles stat growth and allows it to impact damage dealt and taken with too much vigor.
Granted that the game is maybe too difficult at the games start about 80% of the game is a breeze. In fact once you've finished the game you'll learn it's possible to obtain high end equipment straight at the start of the game. And with high-end I mean stuff you'll be using at the end of the game. This dive in difficulty also impacts the great boss fights this game offers. Where at game start you'll want to avoid fighting Ogres (one/two hit kill) Chimeras or Cyclops and if you do you'll need to take full advantage of grappling and striking at weak points, a few hours into the game you can take them down by just bashing at them. No skill required. Now this is incredibly stupid for a game that leans on monster battles for about 50% of it's allure. The battles don't become boring, but they do become stock and that is such a shame. Now recently Capcom released a DLC which adds hard mode. Hard Mode can be started from an active game which transfers over all items to a new game or from a completely new game by selecting "New Game" from the menu. Hard Mode doesn't affect the world, it simply affects the player character. Enemies are still as easy to kill at higher levels as they were before, but when they hit you the damage is doubled. Stamina consumption is also doubled. This makes the start of the game much harder, but when leveling up and gaining newer weapons the game becomes easy fast. It's a shame because this game needed a harder mode. The current Hard Mode doesn't add anything new if you can still one hit kill your enemies at level 60.
In terms of character advancement and classes the game offers a few neat options. The game has 3 basic vocations (classes) 3 advanced vocations and 3 hybrid vocations. Each vocation has it's own unique skill set that sets it apart from the others. This means that you can safely play as a basic vocation the entire play-through without feeling you're duping your character. Now each vocation has 9 class levels to obtain. New skills become available at every new vocation level that strengthen the character or allow for more attack options, some of which are cross class available making it interesting to simply level up one particular vocation in order to be able to use those specific upgrades. For Example the advanced vocation Warrior's upgrade "Clout" adds 20% strength to the character which is useful for any vocation that deals physical damage.
Vocations can be changed at any time at the inn. So choosing a vocation you're not happy with is not a big deal. In fact the game has so much room in character class development it's possible to try out all vocations in one play-through without really breaking your character. When the character levels up the current active vocation adds stat points to strength, magic and defense. So the only thing you need to be aware off is which vocation has stat progression that fits your character playing style. A Mage or Sorcerer focuses on magick, while Warrior, Fighter or Assassin increase physical damage. Playing with a vocation that lacks the stat progression which doesn't fit your playing style for too long can impact your character ability. But as you can change your vocation at any time this never should become a problem.
The one thing that bothers me about vocations is the lack of advancement at higher levels. If you're fine with playing a fighter you're going to find you won't learn anything new after your character has gained level 20 or so and you're stuck with the same abilities for the rest of the game. The game offers you to change your vocation, but once choosing a particular vocation to play you'll only change it to obtain certain vocation specific upgrades such as the Warriors Clout or the Assassins Bloodlust skills. And at level 60 your character is shaped to anything you want so when you find out you can level your character to level 200 it's kind of a drag that the character is basically going to be the same the next 140 levels. If anything vocations should for instance be level-tied, but still allowing cross leveling options and class level abilities being unlocked at higher levels. This limits cross leveling in a sense, but it does allow for more interesting characters at higher levels. Once you hit level 60 there is absolutely no reason for your character to level up further. If there is a Dragon's Dogma 2, this should be fixed somehow.
Another thing that should probably be removed is the vocation tied stat growth. For instance the vocation Mystic Knight is an incredibly interesting vocation to play, but it's stat growth is awful. This forces you to play most of the game as a different class in order to maximize the characters abilities as a Mystic Knight and that defeats the purpose of choosing Mystic Knight as your go-to vocation. This could be fixed by separating vocation and stat growth. Allowing players to choose stat growth options at level up and still advance as a vocation separately greatly increases the purpose of choosing said vocation. This of course allows players to completely break their character since it adds complexity, but it is a far better way of leveling up than letting the vocation choose your character growth without letting you know how your character is growing in the first place. Now having to choose stats at level up might be a drag for some players. An easy fix would be to let the player preset character growth for each level so it happens automatically, ensuring leveling up doesn't "pause" game play at any point.
Story wise the game offers an interesting premise. When you start the game an enormous dragon rips out your heart, but you refuse to die and become an Arisen. An Arisen's fate is tied to the fate of the dragon and the world. You're challenged to face the dragon and meet your destiny. Before you do so you must travel around the world and uncover the mysteries of the dragon and it's history. Now as story telling isn't Capcom's strong suit I think they've done an admiral job. When you don't take it into account however you'll find that Dragon's Dogma's story telling is bland. The story itself is interesting enough and it has a lot of potential. Especially post game when the game continues you're faced with the results of your choice probably giving you the "holy sh!t" response that I gave. In the course of the story's progression you're far too busy slaying stuff that the few muttered words of impending doom and revelations of distant pasts come off as a side step or inducing a mere shrug before continuing on. This is a real shame because as said the story offers so much potential and it wasn't until my second play-through that I found out more about what was happening. The hints of story telling are too few and to sparse to stick to memory for me. In the end though you have a story that creates a foothold for many more stories to be told about the world and the Arisen.
In terms of side questing this game really falls short. Now side questing is often stale and boring in RPG's. Fetch this, kill that. But Dragons Dogma doesn't even try. There's only a handful of interesting side quests, but none have a story to tell. With this I'd have to look at Skyrim, Dragon Age, Baldurs Gate and the like which offered a great score of story induced side quests. Let's be honest, all those quests ultimately had you kill something or obtain something. But during those quests you uncovered history, backgrounds, new insights or just a fun side story that brings color to an otherwise lifeless world. Dragon's Dogma does none of this. With so much to tell and expand it's truly disappointing to head to a notice board and read: kill x amount of y or escort person a to extremely distant location b each and every time. Okay let's give Capcom a break as they've never done this before, but seriously part 2 better do something about this. Even the DLC noticeboard quests have you simply walk around and pick stuff up. It's almost criminal.
Another thing the world of Dragon's Dogma could do with is towns and people. There's basically only 2 towns (not counting the 2 thieves dens or the encampment) and even though Gran Soren is well placed and has stuff to do it becomes a drag to keep coming back to the same old place talk to the same old people and hear the same old stuff. Skyrim had arrows to the knee, but Dragon's Dogma has "They're masterworks all, you can't go wrong". I can't decide which is more annoying.
A great new addition in the world of "off-line" RPG's is the Pawn system. When you start the game you create two characters. Your main character which you will be playing yourself and a trusty side kick which is your main "Pawn". Pawns are bound to the Arisen coming from an unknown place called The Rift. You and your main Pawn will always be together and you can add two static level pawns to your party at any time by going up and talk to them on the streets or venturing into The Rift to look for a specific one. Hiring on-line pawns allows you to use other players main Pawn from all over the world. This creates a very flexible hiring system and allows you to play with unique party members each play-through. Since the added pawns are static level, meaning they don't gain experience points like you and your main pawn do, you'll have to exchange them a few times during the course of the game for higher level ones. Hiring pawns above your level costs rift crystals. Rift crystals are obtained by doing quests or when other people use your main Pawn during their play-through. Experience gained by your main pawn in other peoples games increases the number of rift crystals your main pawn gains. When the other player "releases" your pawn (it will not actually leave your side if it is hired by someone else) he/she can offer gifts and the experience gained translates to a certain amount of rift crystals which is added to your rift crystal total. The game checks for released pawns when sleeping at an inn. Now playing off line will not allow other players to hire your pawn, but the game still acts like the pawn was hired adding a few rift crystals at certain points when you rest. Still the amount is nowhere near the amount it would gain by being hired by other players. The most crystals I have received from one use was my level 80 pawn returning with 120.000 rift crystals. Normally the off-line hire of pawns adds somewhere between 200-500 rift crystals. The amount is level based so it will increase as you gain levels.
When you hire someone's pawn that pawn will be wearing the outfit that pawns creator placed on them. This is also why at higher levels, when clothing doesn't impact defense as much as it does at lower levels you'll find many skimpy dressed female pawns walking about. There's been some complaints on-line about the multitude of thong wearing pawns parading the streets. I think it might be a good idea to allow a "sexiness" check to allow for pawn display. Say if a pawn wears nothing but a silk underwear armor option the pawn can be classified as such which should allow players to set an option to not display these pawns. As said you'll only find these types of pawns walking the streets at higher levels so it shouldn't bother most players.
On the downside of the pawn system is a minor issue which ultimately causes a major annoyance. Dragon's Dogma, as many other RPG's before it offers party banter. This banter is limited to pawns commenting on quests, surroundings or generic playing tips. Now at the start of the game this is fine, but about an hour into the game you wish they'd just shut the hell up. After the 100th comment of "Castle walls, or ruins of such" or "Watch out Goblins, Harpies, Chimera... whatever." you might begin to lose your sanity. The game offers to disable on screen display, but it won't stop your pawns from talking. Not only is pawn commenting stale, repetitive and frequent it is done at so many points in the world that when you run from one part of the map to another part of the map pawns interrupt their own comment with another comment nearly constantly.
Lastly is the worlds atmosphere and ambiance. The world of Dragons Dogma is a beautiful collection of hills, mountains, meadows and woods. It offers a day and night system in which night severely impacts game play. Night really means night as it becomes too dark to see anything without the use of a lantern. Having a good stock of oil to replenish your lanterns reserves is a good idea although lanterns do take a long time to run out and they won't do so in one or two night cycles. This adds to a great atmosphere since you don't know you're going to be running into. Night also brings out different creatures, more magical or deadly to deal with. Stumbling into an Ogre in the dead of night at low levels is quite a shock. What is missing here though is change in weather. Dragon's Dogma could use a little wind, rain or snow to change the scenery or feel of the game. Next to that it could a little difference in scenery. Many RPG's have different worlds to travel to that have their own style and experience. Dragon's Dogma does change the scenery in terms of trees, barrenness or lushness of the surroundings, but ultimately it all looks far too similar everywhere you go.
So what do we have in the end? A great fantasy RPG with loads of potential, a great battle system which sets it leagues apart from other action oriented RPG's with a truly interesting story premise. As a first attempt it's really good and with a few changes here and there it could have blown even Skyrim out of the water. As it stands though the game has too many issues to get quite there. Capcom is right to create a franchise out of this game and I'm looking forward to the next installment.