Graphics

Dragon’s Dogma’s world is a certainly a site to behold. During the daytime, the setting of the world looks beautiful, with the shadows being placed fairly well. However, the game is really only at its most beautiful when you are outside in grassy plain areas, such as the area in the beginning of the game. The other areas are fairly well-designed, but they kind of dull to look at compared to the grassy plain areas. As well, the game’s bestiary is very well designed, and non-player characters are also fairly well designed also. However, the textures on the models are a little bit of poor quality, with it being most noticeable when looking clothing. Another issue is that many NPCs can use the same faces, which is a little irritating. The designs of weapons and armor are also fairly well done, but they are kind of generic to the fantasy setting of the game.

Sound

The music in dragon’s dogma is very epic, with some the tracks having a rock tune to them. At least one of the ambient tracks features a female singer, whose voice is absolutely amazing. However, the variety of musical tracks is very small, so players may tire of hearing the same battle music repeatedly. The voice acting in the game, however, can be fairly hit or miss with many players. While the major characters have fairly well-done voices, the dialogue of some of these characters can be annoying. And being annoyed is something players will be when they have to constantly hear the lines over and over again from NPCs. Worse though is that many NPC share the voice actor/actress with no difference whatsoever in their performance. This can make players think that they’re talking with the same person even though the game says otherwise.

Story

If anyone has seen the film, Dragonheart, then the story of Dragon’s Dogma will be at first very similar. However, unlike the movie, the rules regarding the heart and the dragon are very different. The protagonist is a simple villager whose own heart is stolen and eaten by the dragon, yet somehow still alive. The protagonist is an Arisen, someone who destined to face the dragon, and with them are their loyal companions, the pawns. Together the Arisen and the pawns travel through the country of Gransys to find and face the dragon. Unfortunately, the rather simple story of slaying a dragon becomes a little sidetracked once players reach the capital city. The story quests forces players to deal with a group that honestly does not impact the story. There are a few story quests that connect to the dragon, but even fewer convey information about the dragon. Sadly, even though the dragon serves as the driving force of the game’s story, he is not seen much in the story. However, the cutscenes featuring the dragon are the best in the game, as his appearance and voice give the feeling that the Arisen is truly facing their destiny.

Gameplay

Character Creation

Before players start the actual game they are allowed to customize the appearance of their character and their main pawn. However, character creation is somewhat limited as players are not allowed to fully customize a character’s body and face; instead their customization choices are all preset. Players are allowed to change a character’s voice, but ultimately these choices are nothing but pitch changes. Once they are done with character creation players are put in fairly large world for them to explore.

Travelling

However, players will find it a chore to get anywhere during the first part of the game, as their character will quickly lose stamina and become immobilize for a few seconds. However, later in the game players will able to fast travel through the use of ferry stones and port crystals. Ferry stones are used to transport a party to where a port crystal is placed. Ferry stones can be bought, but port crystals must be found. Now, while this fast travel system may seem limited and annoying compared to other rpgs, but it also prevents players from severely limiting exploration.

Combat

The combat system in Dragon’s Dogma is fairly fluid and impactful, with stronger attacks knocking away enemies. Holding down the shoulder button will grant players access to their primary and secondary weapon skills. Outside of the basic combat though is the ability to grab anything that isn’t bigger than the Arisen. This is both humorous and useful as players can throw objects that may give them an advantage, or they can simple grab a small enemy and throw them off a cliff to their demise. The enemies are not very difficult to kill, if the player knows how to fight them. Now in other rpgs bandits are amongst the easiest enemies to the game, not in the case of Dragon’s Dogma though. Bandits know how to use their skills fairly well, and in later areas of the game, they can tear a player’s party apart. In fact enemies have specific behavior that adheres to their enemy archetypes, such as wolves always fighting in a pack or saurians making use of their camouflage. Some enemies also special requirements that need fulfilled if a player wishes to kill them, such as using magic or enchanted weapons to kill ghosts. One of the biggest challenges in the game is the bosses, which are large monsters that encountered during the course of the game. Bosses require knowledge of their strengths and weakness along with teamwork for the player’s party to successfully kill them. However, if it is night time the game becomes much more dangerous with more deadly and numerous enemies, including fighting two bosses simultaneously. Another aspect of combat that players should be aware of is status effects. Icons will appear above the party’s health bars and the enemy’s health bar to indicate a positive or negative effect. Interestedly enough there are substances found in the game that can give negative effects that boost the damage done by certain types of magic. For example getting wet will give a character or enemy the drenched effect, which will make them more susceptible to lightning magic.

Vocations

The type of weapons and even armor that a character can equip is limited to their chosen character class or as it is called in game: vocation. There are three types of vocations: basic, advanced, and hybrid. Basic vocations are chosen at the beginning of the game and consist of Fighter, Strider, and Mage. Fighters are vocations that focused on offensive and defensive combat who have access to swords and shields. Striders are fast-based and are able to use daggers and bows. Mages can only use staff, but they can use offensive spells and curative spells. Later on players can change their basic vocation into an advance vocation, which consist of Warrior, Ranger, and Sorcerer.  Warriors are able to wield two-handed weapons yet cannot hold a shield. Rangers can wield both daggers and a longbow. Sorcerers can wield archistaves, but only possess offensive spells. Players may also change their character’s vocation into a hybrid vocation, which consist of Mystic Knight, Assassin, Magick Archer. Mystic Knights use magic through staves, weapons, and magick shields, but they can only use the magick shield. Assassins are able to wield swords, daggers, shields, and bows. Magick Arches can use magic through staves, daggers, and magick bows. Each vocation offer their own advantage and disadvantages, as well as a set of skills connected to the weapons they may wield. However, only the basic vocations have a purely unique skill set, as advanced and hybrid vocations have both their own skills and skills from basic vocations (except the warrior). Of course, since there is six skill limit, players have to choose carefully what skills they want to have equipped, such as fire spells for wolves and goblins. Vocations also possess core skills, which upgrade basic attack and mobility. Augments are also part of the vocation system, and act as special stat modifiers. However, players can only have a set number of augments equipped at all. Players must pay discipline points at a special vendor to unlock vocation and skills. Discipline points are earned the exact same way as experience point, which will probably confuse players on how discipline points actually work. Earning discipline points will also unlock vocation ranks, which serve as prerequisites for certain skills.

Pawns

Pawns are the servants of the arisen, and just as the player made their own Arisen, they can make their own pawn. There are two types of pawns: main pawn and hired pawn (unofficial name). The main pawn is a pawn that the player created themselves. Players are able to full customize this pawn, from their equipment down to their skills. However, the main pawn can only have access to basic and advanced vocations. Also unlike hired pawns, the main pawn will return from the dead when the player touches a rift stone. Hired pawns are those chosen from the many that reside in the rift. When a player touches they enter the rift, where pawns created from different players reside. Players can examine their name, skills, and the player who create. Players may also use the rift stone to search for pawns based on their gender, vocation, and combat capabilities. This search is very useful as it lets players to easily the pawn they’re looking for to create an efficient party. Pawns are very useful in combat, and they hardly falter in using the right skills, such as using curative spells when injured. They also give excellent tips in how to defeat enemies (ex.: “Send its wings ablaze). Players can also use the directional pad to command their pawns to go, help, or come. Go will make the pawns charge forward at the enemy, or look around the environment for items. Come will command the pawns to follow the player, and help will call the pawns to the player’s aid. The main pawns can also be used by players when sleeping at an inn, though only occasionally. By doing so they may bring back items, or have knowledge about quests or enemies. There are draw-backs to the pawn system. The most prominent draw-back is their constant talking; they will repeat the same subject matter over and over again. They will even repeat the same tip about an enemy, when a player should only have to hear it once or twice.  Now, players can use knowledge chairs to change the quantity of talking that their main pawn does, but this however does not help to make them talk less.

Crafting

Throughout the world are a massive multitude of different items, which include flora, food, and materials.  All of these combined with one another to create new items, such as a bottle of oil and kindle will create oil arrows. However, players can only combine items when they’re speaking to an inn keeper.  While combining items can be relatively useful for the player, it ultimately takes far too much time to find the items to craft new items. However, materials can also be used to upgrade the party’s equipment at an Armourer. Different items of equipment require different materials and can be upgraded three times. But, after the third level though is another level that can only be obtained by killing dragonkin (i.e. drake). 

Quests

Quests in Dragon’s Dogma can be gained by non-player characters and notice boards. Pawns may be spoken to for more information regarding the current quest. Quests are good ways to earn gold and experience points. However, quests are extremely boring to do, and they consist of generic quests that players have seen in MMOs before. The two most common quests are: kill enemy and item retrieval. Kill enemy quests involve either killing X amount of enemies or killing a single boss enemy. Item retrieval quests involve either bring back X amount of items or bring a back a specific item. There is however a quest type that can only be given by notice boards and that is escort quests. Escort quests are just as frustrating as escort quests in other games, with players being forced to travel long distances to get their charge to their destination. Now while quests are, for the most part, irritating to do, they required for players to progress through the story and thus unlock new items at vendors.