- Publisher: Capcom
- Developer: Capcom
- Platform: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 (reviewed), and PC
- Released: May. 22nd (NA) , May. 24th (JP)
- Rated: M for Mature
“A Messy debut from a seasoned team begs to be forgotten, or re-started.”
Story:
With an unknown miracle, you (the arisen) are awoken after a devastating dragon attack on a fishing village. The dragon, in a very terrible cut-scene takes your heart and eats it. Therefor you have no hear. Get it? Good. Seeking revenge on the dragon that stole your heart (literally) you take lead in a world filled with… another world…. filled with Pawns. These pawns are only controllable by you, and they will do whatever it takes to help/protect you.
Through the course of your journey, the plot weaves in and out of contrived and confusing lores that get so lost within their own right that the player has no true ideal on where, when or why they are even playing. I wrapped my head around all of this watermelon amount of water, just in time to decide that it’s a mess
The lore and original universe aren’t rubbish, just the execution. I think that they really have something here and should continue to build it. Just keep this garbage on the dev floor, don’t release it.
Gameplay:
Probably the saving grace for Dragon’s Dogma, the gameplay is a superb step forward in the genre as a whole. Allowing you to have full control over your own character, with a few different sets of hot-keys, is the shining light in a dark damp tunnel. Not only does Capcom accomplish a flurry of combat controls well, but you also have quite a lot of control over your pawns. The three helping hands you have at your side can do a lot of different roles inside a fight and the gameplay lets you access all of their skills to aid you in your fight to … er…. re-acquire your heart.
The gameplay in Dragon’s Dogma isn’t all beautiful. The travel is very lazy and extremely boring, environments are repeated, enemies are repeated, and the distance is just a hope that somehow, sometime this whole running around like a loose puppy will end.
Also, Capcom intended great things with their re-hash of classic RPG classes. However, this is another hole in their VERY Swiss cheese. A lot of the classes don’t differentiate themselves from one another and I hate to say this but none of them felt any good. At all.
Appearance:
At first, you are poisoned by the extremely bad cut-scenes in Dragon’s dogma. This mental focus will have you catching every single graphical break, sync failure, and insecure artistic direction. Even those watching me play said “That looks terrible, is this a new game?”. Which pretty much sums the entire experience.
Althought your opinion is tainted from the get go, there is a few things that Capcom did right; highlight by their boss design. In a nice mix of Dark Souls and Shadows of the Colossus, the big enemies in Dragon’s Dogma have size, detail, and thought provoking battles.
This, is however the biggest highlight. The environments have something to them in an artistic vein, but still leave a little to be desired. Repetition and extremely large Japanese influence makes it generally stale in my tainted North American head-space.
Overall Ruling:
This debut from a seasoned team begs to be forgotten. There are some salvageable ideas and the world may be more inspired over time, maybe a re-start is deserved. In spite of a future sophomore titles, Dragon’s Dogma should not have happened. The graphics look ancient, the cut-scenes are nasty, the classes are broken and the story is beyond twisted.
Dragon’s Dogma is a mess and should be avoided at all costs. I really had high hopes for this new ip, and as an RPG fan-boy I am extremely disappointed in Capcom. I had trusted them to make a new and intriguing game that completely fell short of it’s potential. I pray that they go back to the cutting room and revive some of these visions into a more comprehensive and enjoyable experience.
What worked:
- The Ideas
- Live-action combat mechanics
- Pawns are actually helpful
- Using your friends high level pawns
- Customize options on aesthetics.
What failed:
- Graphical trash
- Extremely terrible cut-scenes
- Cluttered HUD, cluttered is an understatement. It’s HORRENDOUS!
- No multiplayer
- Nothing is flushed out
Verdict:
