One of the most innovative J-RPG's in over a decade. This game should not be missed by any TRUE RPG fan.
Does that mean that it is a near perfect game, certainly not, but the game is one of the most innovative RPG's to come out of Japan in over a decade. To better explain this, I will tell you of an unofficial rule of RPG's.
S3C...
Now what does this mean? Quite simply, it means "Story, Combat, Crafting and Customization," hence S3C. These are the most important elements of all TRUE RPG's, and any RPG that does not deliver all 4 elements of S3C, does not live up to the modern standards of RPG development. Thankfully, Dragon's Dogma fulfils all these elements, to some degree.
Story:
The story is there, even though it is a bit difficult to get the hang of, it is still interesting and not so deep, that you loose sight of the adventure. Thankfully, the developers of this game have moved far away from the typical cliché's of Japanese RPG's, and no longer features extensive melodrama and teenage main character's.
Combat:
The combat in this game is the highpoint, and it is amazing. The boss battles are a combination of "Shadow of The Colossus" and "Devil May Cry," something that is bound to peak some people's interest. This is something that ALL WESTERN RPG developers could learn from, since they apparently don't know "Jack Sh*t" about good boss battles. This is how it should be done.
Crafting:
As I said before, this game let's you explore all elements of S3C, to some degree. When it comes to crafting, you cannot craft a sword or a piece of armor, but you can craft arrows of different types, small explosive flasks and lots of alchemical items. The lack of large weapon- and armor-crafting might put some people off, but the elements that are present in the game, work really well.
Customization:
Beyond just customizing the look of your main character, you can also completely customize the appearance and class of your main PAWN. This is a nice feature, that removes the need for mods to do this, like so many RPG's are very dependant on. And you also have the ability to equip new weapons and armor to you main pawn, and even your secondary pawn's, though I cannot recommend that, since you will not get it back again. You can also have your pawn's carry items for you, so you won't get over-encumbered.
BAD:
The day/night cycles move way to fast in this game, and at knight time the enemies tend to be almost impossible to see, until they are right up in your face.
much of the items you find, will prove useless in the long run, but no one has the BALLS to leave it behind, so getting over-encumbered is very easy, since there are only a few places you can trade items.
There is no fast-travel, some see this as a good thing, but most see it as VERY BAD, especially because of the very fast day/night cycle.
All-in-all this is a really good game, though the missions won't leave you as satisfied as the missions in Skyrim, the will provide you with lots of loot, provided that you are willing to risk going out at night. This game is a great combination of old and new, eastern and western RPG's. The good things in this game, far outweigh the bad things. Though this is no the new SKYRIM, it is definitely worth checking out.