Dragon’s Dogma 2 Review – Prime Example Of A Solid Sequel (Xbox Series X/S)

Twelve years ago, A game by Capcom was released to the public. It was a new IP, heavily inspired by other RPGs, but still had its’ own unique spin on things. That game was Dragon’s Dogma. The game had come out to “generally favorable” reviews, but it was one of those games that either hit all the right notes for a gamer or fell completely flat. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it helped to create a community between those who loved the game.

Since then, Dragon’s Dogma news would intermittently pop up here and there. An online game was launched in 2015, a Netflix anime was developed and released in 2020, and in 2022 it was announced the director of the original game, Hideaki Itsuno, would be returning for a sequel. Dragon’s Dogma 2 has come out to more favorable reviews than its predecessor, and I’ll admit I went into the game with some hesitation as I didn’t have the fondest memories of playing the original.

However, Dragon’s Dogma 2 has brought me a ton of joy and I think it’s a great example of what a sequel is supposed to do, satisfy the itch for more of what worked and improve upon the foundation.

Before we get into the details of this game, Dragon’s Dogma 2 standard edition is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam for $69.99 USD and the Deluxe Edition for $79.99 USD. 

NOTE: This review contains minor spoilers

Story – Pretty Much The Same As The First Game

Since Dragon’s Dogma 2 is essentially acting as a soft reboot for the franchise, it would seem they’ve decided to take the premise of the original game and apply it to the story for the sequel. The story revolves around your character, called the Arisen. In this world, dragons are seen as a sign of the end of days, and the only hope there is to defeat it is whoever is chosen as the Arisen. Your character, however, begins their journey in a gaol without any memories.

My Beastren Arisen as she overlooks gaol worksite

As you progress in the plot, it is revealed that when news of the chosen Arisen being found reached the capital, the monarch of one of the warring countries placed a curse upon you. This curse caused your memory loss and you were then sold as a slave to the enemy country. Now your goal is to expose the monarch for her falsehoods, take your place as the rightful Arisen, and save the country by slaying the dragon. It’s a pretty clear-cut story and it’s definitely not the strongest part of the game, but other aspects of Dragon’s Dogma 2 more than make up for it.

Character Creation

Dragon’s Dogma 2 boasts a pretty robust character creator which they smartly released ahead of the game to build up some buzz and let people import those creations into the main game. In this creator you can officially select from two races, Human or Beastren, but with some imagination you can also be an Elf or whatever you can create. I’ve already seen many videos of people recreating characters and creatures from other media. An important thing to note is that not everything you do in the creator is for cosmetic purposes.

My Arisen in the character creator

The larger your created Arisen is, the more weight they will be able to carry in their inventory. Don’t fret though, if you do want to create a smaller character there will be options to help counteract that smaller weight capacity. I chose to be a smaller female beastren, with the foresight of becoming a mystic spearhand, and I’ve only had minor trouble with managing my weight capacity. Most of these troubles were in the early game as well so don’t let the weight system scare you off from smaller characters. 

Gameplay – This Is Why You Buy The Game

Pawn System

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is really interesting because it does a lot of things that other games have done, but it also throws in unique systems that help it to stand out from the crowd. One such system is Pawns, AI-controlled companions that journey along with you and help in multiple aspects of the game. As you create your Arisen, you will also create your main Pawn. This Pawn will join you after you’ve escaped the gaol and you will decide not only how they look but what vocation they will have and what their personality will be like. 

Your main Pawn will also level up with you and progress in their vocation the same way you do. You can also summon two more Pawns using Riftstones for a maximum party size of four, however these Pawns will not level up from the level they are summoned at. It is recommended that you occasionally swap out these Pawns to keep your party strong. The more services a Pawn has to offer, the more Rift Crystals (RC) it will take to hire them. I mentioned there being avenues to avoid a small weight capacity and one of those is hiring a hefty-sized Pawn and giving them a lot of the weight to carry. Pawns can also point out areas of interest in the world and offer advice when it comes to finding items or completing quests.

My main Pawn, Emilia, as she shows her Pawn symbol

Vocations and Combat

In Dragon’s Dogma 2, your character’s class is called a vocation. There are four starting vocations that will eventually branch out into more advanced vocations. These are Fighter, Mage, Archer, and Thief. Each vocation can only use a certain type(s) of weapon, for instance, only the fighter can use a shield while fighting with a sword. This promotes diverse party composition so you can get the most out of your Pawns. If your Arisen is a Fighter, they may struggle to reach flying enemies, so a Pawn who is an Archer will help to shoot them down and you can then finish them off.

Vocations can be changed at any time by visiting a vocation guild so don’t feel like you’re trapped once you’ve chosen a certain vocation. My advice is to try out all the vocations you are interested in during the beginning of the game, because once you’ve grown accustomed to all the extra abilities and augments that come with leveling up it will be a more difficult adjustment to start another vocation from scratch. The advanced vocations are Warrior, Sorcerer, Magick Archer, Mystic Spearhand, Trickster, and Warfarer. These are more difficult to switch back and forth from because most of them require you to gain affinity from a Maister in the respective class.

My Arisen in the vocation selection screen

The combat in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the most enjoyable part of the game for me. Combat is similar in approach to Monster Hunter, but as I said this game loves to add twists to stand out. Depending on your class you’ll have different types of special attacks that will help to stun your enemies or AOE attacks that will help thin large numbers of enemies. Some classes, such as the Mage, instead sacrifice some offensive capabilities to have skills that boosts the capabilities of your party members. You can also climb on monsters to target certain areas (or just climb to their heads and slash away as I did to a Cyclops). 

Quests and Open World 

Quests are extremely open-ended in Dragon’s Dogma 2, besides the general “here is where the objective is” there isn’t much hand-holding when it comes to finding other ways of achieving the goal. For example, there is a quest where you have to choose who to give an item to, but if you go to a certain shop in the game you can have that item duplicated and give it to both NPCs effectively doubling your reward. There are also things in the open world that when interacted with can help you out tremendously. When I was fighting a Cyclops, I blew up a chunk of precarious rock wall and that released a torrent which helped me to defeat the Cyclops.

The world in Dragon’s Dogma 2 can be breathtaking

The open world is also very well designed in order to reward exploration. No matter what direction you go there is bound to be something interesting to find. It’s sort of like Elden Ring where the map is just filled with things to find but not in a way that is overbearing. Monsters also feel like they actually live in this world instead of just occupying a space. You’ll usually find things like Harpies in high areas because their nests are nearby or maybe you’ll run into some Saurians because you waltz into their den while exploring. It’s a very satisfying experience and makes it truly immersive. 

Audio and Visual – Lacking In Some Areas

For the most part, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a stellar looking game. It’s breathtaking when you reach a good vantage point and look out at the amazing vistas before you, grand in sheer scale and beauty. It becomes a little less impressive when you enter cities. The game does a really good job at 30 FPS in the wilderness, But when you enter cities you can see it struggling to keep up at times. It’s nothing severe and, in fact, I’ve had zero problems with bugs and glitches which in today’s gaming landscape is a very impressive thing.

The void where you find other Pawns is called The Rift

With the audio side of the coin, I can’t say there’s been anything severely negative. I do think the score up to the point I’m at is a bit underwhelming, mostly because there’s not much oomph there. It sounds good and does set the scene but when I compare to other games like Elden Ring or Baldur’s Gate 3 it does let me down. Monsters and combat sounds great, you get plenty of roars, screeches, and other various calls that add to the monster’s ferocity. Weapon and Magic effects also give satisfying sound effects and truly help to make you feel awesome when doing your special attacks.