Something new, open and unlike anything I've played in years...
Dragon's Dogma is unlike anything that I have played in years. That is the defining statement I'd like to start out with, simply because I haven't had this much fun since Borderlands, and I haven't been this afraid of dark tunnels since Dark Souls. Also, to be clear, I'm not an overtly hardcore gamer, I put down the controller with Dark Souls after about 3 hours because I knew if I kept playing, my young daughters would learn a slew of phrases I don't want them to use until roughly 16-17 years old, and that my controller would most likely end up in my front yard, via the window, on fire. That being mentioned, I also have logged too many hours of my life playing Borderlands and even wasted 6 hours of my life beating Alundra II, just to get a "You Won" screen.
What makes the game so great is the sense of wonder it cultivates very early in the game, that, so far, hasn't let up. It reminds me of playing the original Dragon Warrior because of how open it is and how it shows you cool places you can go, you'll just probably die along the way. The story is an odd mash-up of Japanese and Western stories together, and much like the rest of the game, but it works fabulously. It's like the greatest Tex-Mex Sushi house you only heard about last month that also has really pretty waitresses, or waiters, if that's your thing. You are tossed into a sandbox with nearly all of the toys you could and just let loose. The quests start off nicely as long as you pay heed to all the warnings that the townsfolk, guards, your pawns, the seagulls, etc. give you. This game gives you an idea where you should be going, just be constantly aware that you may need to save some stamina to run your little rear off if you go against their advice.
The combat is meaty, fun and tactical all without getting bogged down in menus or minutae. You may get tired of constantly monitoring your inventory or not being able to make your pawns take a potion that would very much keep them alive, but that is only because I was the person who made a spreadsheet to map out DPS in my lonely WoW year-and-a-half run, and I want my pawns and myself to be able to run at full speed without getting tired. All the comparisons to Skyrim are only correct if they are talking about the open world. Personally, I've never really loved the leveling system in the Elder Scrolls games and I've always hated the combat. Dragon's Dogma takes that giant world but gives you just enough to keep you on track without having to wander around the wilderness clumsily backing up and aiming.
Difficulty is something that has been bandied about too much with this game, in my opinion. Is it hard? Sort of. The combat comparison to Dark Souls is good in that you usually only get killed when it's your own fault, which is not always true for your pawns, but without "privates in a cheesegrater in acid" level of punishment. Simply said, it just seems fair.
The way they've addressed your party and the pawn system is a giant leap forward from what has come before. You find yourself counting the moments until you get back to the inn, not only because it's dark out, there are zombies chasing you and you have 20% of your health left, but because you can't wait to see what your main pawn has figured out and gotten as gifts over the last bit. I'd equate it a bit to the auction house excitement of WoW, or if you actually liked Fable 2 (I did somewhat), the anticipation of playing another game to log back in and see how much your properties made for you.
Basically, the pawn system works like this, after about an hour or two playing, depending on how thoroughly you loot the starting area, you get to a camp where you can design your very own best friend in what is hand's down the best character creator I've seen in a game. Gone are the days of Elder Scrolls characters with faces that look like a bag of hammers or KoA characters with giant muscles and fat chins. You can make a character look like any nationality/race/creed you want, and it is actually aesthetically correct. Gone are the days of having a dark brown shade you apply slapdash and just settle for the awkward European features with dark skin look, because if you want to make someone that looks like you, you now can, almost no matter what you look like. It's a huge leap forward in equality in games because there is nothing cooler than seeing a character that looks like about an 85% copy of you grab a rabbit and hurl it off a cliff to make a giant red splotch in the water. Apparently rabbits reach terminal velocity quite quickly. I could go on and on about the character creator simply because I want to go to Japan and give those designers a lifetime achievement award, but I won't, for fear of tangential dislocation.
Not everything is absolutely perfect in this game, mainly with some very heavy gravity (think the reverse-gravity from The Dark Knight where Two-Face falls 15' and is killed) and the annoyance of getting a quest right after you've done something. I'm looking at you, Kill 45 Rabbits, right after I just finished attempting exterminatus upon the rabbit population of the greater Cassardis region. However, with all the fantastic leaps this game has made and fun styles it has tied together, I will happily leg it back where the bunny rabbits play for another $50k in gold. The combat is just right, the graphics are very detailed and the advent of the pawn system just ties it all together wonderfully. Cheers and happy hunting all!
P.S. Check out "Victarion" if you're on Xbox360, he's good at smashing what ails you, but be warned, if an ogre throws him off a cliff it won't go well. I guess you have search under the XBL name "pleadthefif"...