Dragon’s Dogma 2 Is So Good That Its Flaws Are Easy To Ignore

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Obaid Ur Rehman

At HI Digital I test and write about different hardware configurations to show other PC users what they can expect from their build. My end goal is to educate the masses to make the right decision when they are looking for new PC parts to buy

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2024 has been a roller coaster so far in the gaming industry. There have been countless layoffs, creating a troubling aura in the industry. However, some releases have shown that not everything is going downhill this year.

Helldivers 2 and Palworld were two of the biggest releases this year. Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Rise of the Ronin followed up on these two, with the former being my favorite so far.

I have been playing the game since its release, and I am blown away by how good it is. Admittedly, the RPG is not without its flaws, but its pros far outweigh the cons.

Why it matters: As soon as Dragon’s Dogma 2 was released, it was showered with negative reviews on Steam due to poor performance and microtransactions. 

Confusion Due To Microtransactions

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is undoubtedly the best game I have played this year, and I highly believe it has the potential to be Game of The Year. There haven’t been that many releases yet, so it is hard to say whether it will win or not, but so far, it certainly deserves a nomination.

However, the game received a negative reception from fans, and I can understand why. It happened mainly due to the confusion after many learned about microtransactions. I had been looking forward to Dragon’s Dogma 2 leading up to launch, so I was excited to finally jump in last week.

However, upon release, it made me furious to see the many microtransactions. Fast travel, character customization, you name it. Capcom has seemingly covered all the bases with paid purchases.

However, it soon became clear to me that microtransactions had no real impact on the gameplay. Everything is already available in the game, and to Capcom’s credit, there is no artificial grinding to make the microtransactions more appealing.

I will also point out that Capcom has used this same tactic in Devil May Cry 5 and Resident Evil 4. The latter is now the fastest-selling Resident Evil game, and nobody seems to care about the microtransactions there.

At the end of the day, all of these games are perfectly playable without a single purchase.

The Open-World Goodness

Whenever I hear the word open-world, my mind instantly goes to non-linearity. I adored every second of Red Dead Redemption 2, but the game’s linear nature made me wish for a different approach to GTA 6.

However, that is not the case with Capcom’s latest RPG. It delivers and lives up to the RPG genre, and it reminds me of Elden Ring’s open world. While, of course, the level design is not perfect, there is just so much to do.

Dragons Dogma 2 is the ultimate open world adventure
byu/Heide____Knight inDragonsDogma2

Do you want to tame a Dragon in-game? You can. Do you want to fight it? You can. Do you want to turn it into a stone? You can.

There are simply many things you can do in-game, and every day, I find more and more stuff to do. Capcom did an amazing job making the main story only 37 hours long since this leaves room for players to pave their own adventures in the open world.

You can even cut off Medusa’s head and use that to turn all enemies to stone. Small details like these kept me engaged at all times as I played for hours upon hours without paying any attention to the performance issues.

Does The Game Deserves Criticism?

No game is exempt from criticism. At the end of the day, I paid $70 for Dragon’s Dogma 2, and so did everyone else who bought it at launch. Therefore, we should be able to demand a better product from Capcom.

The performance issues are a downer, but I hold the opinion that the game’s strongest elements make up for these flaws. Even games like Elden Ring were forgiven for the terrible shader compilation stutter at launch.

Having spent a good 20 hours exploring the RPG, I don’t mind the performance anymore. I don’t mean to defend Capcom here; instead, this sentiment just serves to highlight how good the core elements are.

Just unlock the Mystic Spearhand class, utilize its unique abilities, and defeat the bosses in-game. Tame the dragons, use Cyclops as a bridge, solve the Sphyinx’s riddles, or turn them into stone.

There is plenty of fun to be had in Dragon’s Dogma 2.

If you haven’t tried the RPG yet, I urge you to give it another go. There’s a reason this RPG became Capcom’s biggest Steam release and motivated the publisher to consider DLC. In my opinion, the game deserves all the success it has seen so far.

Obaid Ur Rehman

[How-To Guides Expert]

Laiba, our tech guru at HI Digital, simplifies and crafts How-To Guides with a Google IT Support Certificate. Beyond tech, she captures the city’s aesthetics through her lens. Join her journey where tech meets creativity!

Get In Touch: Laiba@hidgt.com