Your sandbox in Gransys is large, not as large as Skyrim or Fallout 3 but large enough you will wish there was a fast travel system. Some players may in fact get frustrated with having to traverse the world so frequently. Of course it’s not just the tedium of walking, in Dragon’s Dogma, travel is dangerous and auto-saves can be a ways apart. So, walking a long way to die and then having to do it over again is the real frustration. Much of the combat is difficult and like those Bethesda open-world RPGs, it’s easy to wander somewhere you have no business being at your level. Many times the combat is attacking, running away, regrouping, and then repeat. Luckily, the menu does pause the action.
Dragon’s Dogma is a lengthy adventure, more than doubly long with the side quests and offers some extras besides the new game plus at the end. There are a lot of really cool things about this game but at the same time it feels a little unfinished. NPCs for example, there just aren’t enough of them particularly in the cities. There are also some technical graphics issues and missing animations which is so strange since, other animations are done so well. The story is also a bit weak but stands taller than other open world RPGs that all tend to suffer from a light narrative.
Some people will like the more tactical realism of this game better than Skyrim, its closest competitor but others may find it too tedious. It is easier than Demon Souls due to the more open nature of the game but don’t expect to be led casually along a story. Everything you achieve in Dragon’s Dogma will feel earned and while Gransys never seems quite real, the adventure will leave a stronger impression than most other RPGs.
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| Dragon's Dogma | |
|---|---|
| Story |   |
| For an open world game, there is a fair amount of narrative but some of it is silly and doesn't always contextually mesh. | |
| Sound | |
| The in-game soundtrack is appropriate and the voicework is done well, though some may not appreciate all of the 'ye' and 'thou' language. | |
| Graphics | |
| Graphics are a real mixed bag in this game. The monster are amazingly well animated but everything else is a varied mix of great and terrible. There are some technical glitches but, that is to be expected with the type of game it is. | |
| Gameplay | |
| This game is a lot of fun and pretty lengthy but it isn't easy. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Similar to Demon Souls, this game is hard but the open world tempers that some as you are always able to retreat and regroup. It's not as polished as more linear games but as an open world RPG, it holds its own | |
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