Windows Central Verdict
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an enigma of a game.
But it was for me.
moments alongside spectacularly rewarding combat highs.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has a fantastic photo mode too.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 celebrates the patient and committed.
For those looking for a relaxing and straightforward experience, perhaps look elsewhere.
And it’s certainly true that Dragon’s Dogma 2 has flaws particularly with performance on consoles.
Welcome to our Dragon’s Dogma 2 review.
Dragon’s Dogma is something entirely different.
I only hope we’re not waiting another 12 years for more.
We’ll cover that in this review.
Unravel political plots, grow your legend, and defeat the Great Dragon.
This is action RPG gaming at its finest.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has a fantastic photo mode too.
“To do that, we need to reiterate what Dragon’s Dogma actually is.
At its core, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is an action RPG with a heavy emphasis on adventuring.
it’s possible for you to pick up objects, stack them, and so on.
The game’s minimalistic interface fades quickly while idling, making it easy to grab pretty screenshots.
you’re able to also pick up NPCs certain quests are even resolved by doing this.
But for now, let’s get into the meat of this Dragon’s Dogma 2 review.
I primarily conducted this Dragon’s Dogma 2 review onXbox Series X, clocking in around 60 hours.
As usual, you can expect the best performance for Dragon’s Dogma 2 on a higher-end PC. With an RTX 4070, i9-13900KF with 32 GB DDR 5 RAM, you’re looking at around 60 FPS at 4K, with DLSS set to quality mode. The game is pretty kind to past-gen PC GPUs as well. Xbox Series X|S performance hovers around 30 FPS at 4K and 1080p resolution, respectively, and I would argue it’s smooth to play overall. But on Steam Deck and other PC gaming handhelds, Dragon’s Dogma 2 borders on unplayable right now.
Across Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5, Dragon’s Dogma 2 arguably offers some of the worst performance.
PC is a different matter, though.
However, at max tweaks, that frame rate dropped to around 20 FPS.
The game’s trees and grasses react to your abilities, catching fire or swaying violently depending on the abilities you use.
On PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, you’re pretty much stuck at around 2834 FPS at all times.
I wouldn’t even bother trying theSteam Deck, which managed around 10 FPS.
Those draw distances are hugely important during gameplay, too.
There’s no “copy and paste” to speak of here, either.
Dank and dark dungeons that only provide visibility by lantern, complete with RE Engine’s incredible lighting systems.
Another aspect of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s art direction that is absolutely on point is the music.
While in combat, the music gradually becomes more and more intense as the battles draw on.
However, I will say that there’s a downside to all that customization.
Every few decades, a giant dragon appears and begins wreaking havoc on human settlements, seemingly indiscriminately.
This, of course, comes with various problems.
I’m trying to avoid spoilers here as much as possible, of course.
But some of the NPCs, in English at least, suck the gravitas out of certain events.
I think for my second playthrough, I’ll probably play in Japanese.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 reminisces of old-school tabletop role-playing in that context, and you may welcome it.
It wants you to experiment, and it wants you to study the NPCs to discover those hidden outcomes.
I know full well I missed a lot of stuff.
At the same time, it’s a lot less transparent about those things than Skyrim.
Some may love this, and some may hate it.
The story works best when it dovetails directly into some of these epic moments.
Heavily physics-based and restlessly dynamic, Dragon’s Dogma 2’s combat remains the centerpiece of the overall package.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is challenging but not quitesoulsianin its delivery.
You aren’t punished for dying, for example, and the auto-save feature triggers almost constantly.
However, you will be punished for going into a fight unprepared.
As the Arisen, you command the Pawn Legion.
Camping with your Pawns lets you recover lost health, and gain powerful food buffs.
These are player-made companions (or automatically generated ones by Capcom) that can join you in your adventures.
You create one special Pawn, your main companion, who can be used and shared by other players.
You hire two more from other players in the world or those on your friends list.
For my first playthrough, I played primarily as a mage and then a sorcerer.
Although, having multiple sets of gear can get quite expensive on the first play through.
I feel like adding friction to games is an important thing to do to add challenge.
Too many modern games opt to completely forego all challenges, robbing your accomplishments of meaning in the process.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 adeptly balances that line in some ways but trips over itself in others.
I think it’s disappointing that the game only allows for one save file per profile, for example.
Of course, you’re free to be attacked while riding these ox carts.
Just verify you have a bunch of arrows handy.
you’re gonna wanna approach travel with patience, and caution, but also curiosity.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has some of the most incredible “adventure” gameplay ever committed to code.
Alas, you’re free to’t have everything.
Steel yourself, Arisen.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 drops on March 22, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
