Reviews// Dragon's Dogma

I have briefly touched upon the Pawn system and mentioned the names of two of my hired help; Kari and Olivia Wilde. Your primary pawn is a constant companion to your own personal Arisen, and he or she is exactly what you want them to be. As well as your main Pawn you can hire two more from the realm beyond the various Rift Stones scattered throughout the game world.

These hired Pawns aren’t just randomised characters generated by the game - they are the Pawns of other players and they bring with them experiences garnered from other peoples' games. For example; if there is a hidden entrance to a cave that you do not know about, but a hired Pawn has been there before with another player, it will inform you that it might be wise to look over by the waterfall. They will also pass along information concerning enemy weaknesses.

Every time you sleep in an inn you are told whether or not your own pawn has been used by other players, there is a wealth of information and your pawn is ranked by the people who have played with her. Some of them may even sent her back to you with gifts. Someone must have really loved my Pawn because they sent her back to me with some new equipment that benefited her immensely

Despite some rough edges, Dragon’s Dogma is exactly what I have been wanting from an RPG; it does everything in its power to make you want to play it for the unadulterated pleasure of discovery. It is also incredibly and unapologetically difficult in places.

It can be infuriating to have an hours worth of solid adventuring cut short by a chance meeting with a fiend capable of killing you in a single blow. I have often found myself turning off my console in a fit of fiery rage because I had forgotten to save my game before blundering into a fatal ambush.

A lesser game would be left like that, put disdainfully back in its box and forgotten, left to gather dust as I moved on to bigger and better games. The thing is that this is not a lesser game. After my anger had simmered down I would find myself pressing the power button, setting the disc spinning once more and stepping back into the world that Capcom has crafted. Vowing to save often and to pay attention to the games warnings, I would go in search of the arbiter of my destruction and with fire and blade, arrow and ice I would hunt it down and slay it.

If you can look beyond the threadbare story and listen to the pseudo-arcane English that the characters spout without groaning too much (or in my case bursting out in laughter at the absurd overuse of the terms ‘aught’ and ‘naught’) you will find an absolutely outstanding fantasy world that is well worth your time and patience.

Just try to skip past the title screens music before it kicks into its full-blown Japanese rock glory - it is terribly inappropriate for the kind of game Dragon’s Dogma strives to be.

The rest of the sound design, however, is nigh on perfect. Ambient sound for each locale is good enough to leave playing in the background to help unwind at the end of the day - forest birdsong or the gentle whisper of the oceans waves. Music in the game ranges from soaring and merry to foreboding and haunting and almost always hits the perfect mood for your surroundings.

Pros
+ Deep, intense combat.
+ Accessible crafting with a tonne of potential ingredients and combinations.
+ No fast travel - it is all about the journey and the dangers there-in.
+ Innovative AI companion mechanics.

Cons
- That damnable title song.
- Too much chatter from your Pawns.
- No fast travel - when your bags are full and you are miles from safety.
- No autosave out in the overworld.

SPOnG Score: 8/10