I’m probably taking a much different approach toDragon’s Dogma 2than most players. Since I double up here at DualShockers as both an editor for written content and a video producer, I’ve been spending huge chunks of the last couple of weeks trekking my way from Vermund to Battahl to Agamen Volcanic Island and back again ad nauseam, all in the name of securing the most informative and visually enticing game clips possible. Through this journey, I’m finding thevery limited fast travel functionality, though a nice touch for immersion, has been absolutely killing my progress. When I can hop on an oxcart, it’s fine, but I can’t keep shelling out 10 grand for a ferrystone every time I don’t feel liketrudging through Drabnir’s Grottofor the umpteenth time.
So that means most of the time, I’m hoofing it. And if I’m honest, that’s really how I prefer to play an open-world game. It just makes me feel more like a part of the world I’m playing in when I’ve got to cut a path through enemies every time I want to get somewhere, and it reminds me why this world needs heroes like The Arisen.
But boy, oh, boy, are there ever a lot of enemies.
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Romance System Needs An Overhaul
The dating pool in Vermund is small.
No matter how powerful I and my party of Pawns get, there never seems to be a lack of people and monsters ready to jump out at me, thirsty for blood, even if it’s going to result in a quick fight that sees me rapidly tapping B as I run around to see if they had any gold on them. (I really need those ferrystones, y’all). Most of the time, it seems like I can’t go ten paces without a new fight. I’ll round one corner and hear wolves howling, have to stop in my tracks to dispatch them, and lo and behold, a few footsteps later, a small horde of goblins jump out of the bushes to die at the end of my duospear. Ten more paces, and harpies will swoop in to sing me a lullaby or attempt an RKO outta nowhere.
The problem’s not in the variety of enemies, but their frequency, which just seems, well, a little much.
Now, don’t get me wrong — I really appreciate the variety of playstyles that these different mobs provide, and their apparent willingness to take their turn attacking me. While thebig, climbable monstersare Dragon’s Dogma 2’s main selling point (twice I’ve had a griffin decide to swoop in for dinner while I was halfway through taking down a golem, and it’s the most fun I’ve had in the game), even the li’l fellas provide a fun mix of experiences and keep me wondering if I should change my vocation. Goblins and their ilk go down easy enough no matter how I’m fighting them, but wolves run around so fast that I can only really nail them when I’m dashing aroundas a mystic spearhand. But that ability doesn’t work so well against the elusive, airborne harpies, and I miss being a thief and tugging the annoying bird ladies to the ground with my grappling hook.
The problem’s not in the variety of enemies, but their frequency, which just seems, well, a little much. Immersion-wise, I can’t understand why anyone without combat experience would ever leave a city, let alone how they’d make it more than a stone’s throw outside the gates. Never mind that even the seemingly intelligent creatures have no preservation instinct even after watching me slaughter the last group, coming in with that foolhardy, Viva La Dirt League “Let’s mug ‘em!” mentality.
Of course, I’ve seen the opposite of this in another game I adore, and it leaves me wondering which of the devils I know is worse.
The Chaotic Opening Hours Of Dragon’s Dogma 2 Convinced Me To Sink Over 80 Hours Into The Game
My friend’s pawns became an integral part of the narrative.
The Desert Is, Well, Deserted
I’ve been a hugeFalloutnerd since the first game, and while I still prefer the old isometric cRPGs to the modern-day, first-person action RPGs in the series, they’re all on my list of all-time favorites. The best of the console-based Fallout games in my (and many other people’s) opinion isFallout: New Vegas. It’s got a faction reputation system that I’ve yet to see duplicated to as great an effect even 13-plus years later, and just like DD2, its enemies are a lot of fun to take down.
That is, when they show up.
I’m not trying to knock Obsidian Entertainment. I love their games, and New Vegas is amongthe best RPGs of all timein my book. Plus, the developers had a well-documented, monumentally short amount of time to finish Fallout: New Vegas, which makes its little quirks a lot more understandable. That being said, one of its biggest criticisms has always been that there’s nothing to do outside of the civilized areas of the Mojave, which includes fighting enemies, as you can easily go several minutes without finding another living thing, and when you do, it’s a unit of NCR solders who keep repeating “Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter.” At least it’s an accurate desert simulator.
Or maybe I’ve just spent too much time wandering around with Craig Boone. If there’s a hostile within 2 miles of that guy, it’s already dead.
Wilhelmina’s Story In Dragon’s Dogma 2 Left Me Hanging
Wilhelmina deserves justice.
Two Opposite Problems, Two Fantastic RPGs
I realize I’m complaining a lot about both Fallout: New Vegas and Dragon’s Dogma 2 here for completely opposite reasons, but I still think they’re both great games, and their developers have earned my praise. Appealing to the best of high fantasy and post-apocalyptic sci-fi, I nitpick them because their overall experiences are top-notch in my book, and ever near-perfection can be perfected.
But seriously, my dudes, please balance your encounter rates.
Dragon’s Dogma 2
WHERE TO PLAY
