- Title: Dragon’s Dogma
- Release Date: May 22nd for US; May 24th for JP; May 25th for EU
- Price: $59.99 US
- Players: 1
- Genre: Action Role-Playing / Open-World
- Developer/Publisher: Capcom
- Ratings: ESRB: M / PEGI: 18 / BBFC: 12 / AU: MA15+ /
- Platforms: PS3; X360
The community pawn-sharing thread:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=38090064#post38090064
The World (click below for the world map)
Dragon’s Dogma takes place in Gransys, a nation that, from what we’ve seen of videos and pictures released before release, consists mainly of grasslands, a single castle, and a barn. However, as the map of the game shows, presumably there will be more grasslands and castles and barns to explore along with underground dungeons and ice-peaks and forests and stormy coastlines. Previews have assured us that the world is indeed quite vast; it perhaps doesn’t have the pure sq.km of some of the other games, but accounting for the size of its underhalls and buildings, it should offer, in the end, a sizable area to explore.
Story
A short and concise guide:
- A dragon kills you and rips out your heart.
- You come back to life. You are now the Arisen.*
- It’s up to you to kill the dragon.
*When the Dragon returns to the world it chooses a person of a certain worth, ripping out their heart and devouring it. Out of some miracle the person that should be dead survives hence making them known as the Arisen. They are chosen by the dragon to go on a journey to seek it out for reasons unknown. The dragon and the arisen connected through the scar left on his or her chest and can communicate with one another through that scar.
Every Arisen has a legion of loyal companions known as pawns that only follow them without question to the most deadly of journeys. When the Arisen first interacts with a rift stone is when they are able to acquire their main pawn, a pawn made from the rift to be their most trustworthy companion. He or she will have the ability to summon pawns from other worlds that best fits their party. The Arisen is said to be the only one that can slay the dragon and with that throughout Dragon's Dogma the Arisen will be given choices that will shape the world.
Capcom also released a few digital comics to flesh out the lore of Gransys:
Combat & Gameplay
There are three primary methods of attack in Dragon’s Dogma: melee, range via bows, and range via magic.
Melee obviously involves going up close and eviscerating the fuck out of your foes with swords, shields, and daggers. The classes that cater to this playstyle are Striders, Fighters, Warriors, Assassins, and Mystic Knights. The combat itself is quite fluid; it’s also important to note that there is no lock-on.
Magic and Bows involve going into a 3rd-person over-the-shoulder viewpoint to aim. Bows act as you’d expect bows to act--with the assumption that an average person would be able to fire off arrows as if they were handling a machinegun--while magic involves casting. The amount of time spent casting (and thus leaving you vulnerable to attack as you prepare) is proportional to the strength of the spell itself. One of the higher-tier magic spells, for example, is called Exequy: it is an instant-kill spell, and against larger, tougher enemies it could take minutes to cast.
One of the more touted features of its gameplay has been the grab/climb system. It’s simple--R2 is grab, and you can grab onto enemies, with you putting them on your shoulder for smaller foes while grabbing onto, and then climbing, bigger enemies such as dragons or giants. The ability to climb seems to be tied to the size and weight of the character in question: apparently, bigger characters will have a harder time climbing, but when they do climb enemies, their weight will be factored in regarding how much the enemy struggles to knock them off (thus, a flying enemy might have trouble flying if a rather heavyset character was to mount its back).
Against smaller, more man-sized enemies, grabbing lets you set-up opportunistic team attacks with your pawns, or you can opt to toss them into ravines or off cliffs or onto spikes or some other dangerous environmental hazard. Feel free to experiment.
Throughout the course of your travelin’, questin’ days, you’ll at times have the misfortune of being caught out in the wild at night. You’ll be constantly assaulted by all sorts of foes, as you dash for safety. Survival is never guaranteed in the world of Dragon’s Dogma, and this is never more true than in the darkness of night.
As for the quests themselves, there seems to be a wide variety of them--from mundane fetch quests to contracts to escort missions and more, it'll be difficult to run out of things to do.
Finally, there is no level scaling.
Classes/Vocations
At the start of the game, you have three choices: mage, strider, and fighter. However, while there are ‘advanced’ options available as you progress through the game, these advanced classes aren’t necessarily upgrades, and the option to stay as one of the three “starter” vocations remains viable. Each class has unique abilities that their advanced counterparts will not be able to access; when you opt to switch to, say, a Warrior from a Fighter, you aren’t advancing along the same class, but rather, switching altogether to a different playstyle with all its strengths and weaknesses.
- It’s important to note that your choices aren’t set in stone. After purchasing a vocation (1,000 discipline points for Starter vocations, 1,500 for advanced), you may switch them at anytime in an inn.
- Stat growth is affected by your choice of vocations.
Strider (Starter Vocation)
The rogue/thief archetype. The class for those who like sticking enemies with pointy objects. This was the class usable in the Griffin fight of the demo.
- Wields: Daggers / Bows
- The Strider moves quickly around the battlefield, darting in and out with his daggers, striking at will.
- With his bow, the Strider can also engage in Ranged combat.
- With his great agility, the Strider can sprint with great speed, and is able to jump and grapple with the kind of grace other classes cannot match.
Skills:
- Ensnare: Casts cords to snare lightweight foes, knocking them to the ground to incapacitate them .
- Scarlet Kisses: Concentrates a flurry of slashes on a single point, easily shredding foes with meager endurance.
- Cloudburst Volley: Sends a wall of arrows skyward to rain down on a broad area.
Mage (Starter Vocation)
Command the elements while wearing funny looking clothes.
- Wields: Staves
- Control the elements to devastate your enemies. Freeze and shatter with the power of ice; strike with lightning; cook chicken with fire.
- Cast healing magic to support your pawns. Do funny looking motions with your stick your pawns do all the work.
- Enchant weapons to deal elemental damage, thus facilitating in the smiting of your enemies.
Skills:
- Ingle: Looses a ball of fire that explodes upon contact, engulfing both the target and the surrounding foes.
- Frazil: Creates a concentrated field of cold around the user that freezes solid whatever enemies it touches .
- Comestion: Generates a towering wall of flame; though only modest in power, it ignites adversaries with ease.
Fighter (Starter Vocation)
Equipped with a sword and shield, the Fighter is capable of advanced melee skills along with the defensive maneuvers provided by the shield.
- Wields: Sword & Shield
- The master of taking a pounding with one’s shield while dishing it out with the sword. Draw aggression away from your party by shouting loudly and pounding said shield. The shield is your friend. The sword is your brother.
- Launch your allies into air by boosting them with your shield. Invaluable against airborne enemies; does not come with star-spangled tights.
- A variety of deadly sword skills complement the fighter’s decidedly headfirst approach to problem-solving.
Skills:
- Shield Strike: Strikes a foe with the shield, causing little damage but forcing the target to drop their guard.
- Flesh Skewer: Thrusts the blade into the target’s body, pinning them in place while raining further blows upon them.
- Blink Strike: Rushes to the target and visits a powerful blow on them.
Ranger (Advanced Vocation)
For those who have mastered the art of running away while plugging things with nice sharp arrows. The Ranger is capable of wielding Longbows, which presumably is more powerful than the regular bows used by Striders.
- A more accomplished archer than the Strider. Go for the eyes.
- A plethora of specialized arrows aid in the destruction of your foes.
Skills:
- Foot Binder: Pins the target to the nearest wall for a time with a wel-placed arrow. Quite effective in cramped quarters.
- Dire Arrow: Focuses the user’s gathered strength into a single, devastating shot that grows in power as it is charged.
- Flying Din: Fires an arrow that produces a deafening blare on impact stunning the target though it deals nearly no damage.
Warrior (Advanced Vocation)
The Warrior wields brutal two-handed weapons with great effect. They cannot block, and must rely on overwhelming damage and positioning to avoid getting killed. A challenging, but rewarding, class to play.
- Massive damage makes the Warrior an extraordinary threat on the battlefield.
- The great reach of his two-handed weapons aid in the lopping off of limbs and the chopping of heads. Also capable of punishing multiple foes with a single strike.
- Bereft of a shield they may be, but their heavy armor and a stout constitution helps them stand tall against the most punishing of beasts.
Skills:
- Savage Lunge: Charges forward with the blade extended, knocking down any caught in its path.
- Savage Lash: Channels the user’s strength into a devastating hit that grows in power with the amount of time spent preparing.
- Spark Slash: Spins the blade in a swift circle, slashing at foes all around the user.
Sorceror (Advanced Vocation)
The Sorceror is the evolved version of the Mage, with bigger and fancier robes. Everything gets bigger; fireballs become meteors, icicles become icebergs, and a gust of wind turns into a tornado. The class for those who prefer to blow shit up from afar.
- Wields ARCHSTAVES
- Cripple your enemies with various status effects.
- Command the elements, but like, these elements are bigger than the kind of elements a mage would command.
- Devastating enchantments soak blades in fire (and other misc. elements) to turn the tide of battle.
Skills:
- Exequy: Invokes a magickal aura capable of destroying outright any foe held within its span for a set length of time.
- Maelstrom: Summons a whirlwind to wreak havoc upon any foes caught in its path.
- Gicel: Conjures a twisting spike of ice that thrusts forward from the ground.
Assassin (Hybrid Vocation)
With the option of using either sword or daggers up close or a shield or bow for his secondary, the Assassin combines the lethal sword attacks of the Fighter with the agility of the Strider. Their skillset reflects this, with a combination of abilities drawn from that of the Fighter and the Strider with a few tricks of their own. Geared for solo play like no other class, they receive special bonuses for traveling alone, and also in the dark.
- Wield a wide variety of weapons.
- A plethora of poisons complements their deadly assault.
Skills:
- Intimate Strike: Delivers a quick stab and withdrawal slash without distancing user and target, allowing for further blows thereafter.
- Clarity: Holds the blade in wait, deflecting and seamlessly countering enemy attacks.
- Powder Charge: Places an explosive on the ground to be detonated from afar.
Mystic Knight (Hybrid Vocation)
Combining the traits of the Fighter and the Mage, the Mystic Knight is capable of wielding shields, swords, and staves. At first glance his skills seem to be geared towards buffing his party while focusing on defense and magical counterattacks.
- The Mystic Knight is the only class capable of buffing the party’s weapons in one spell; the others--Mages and Sorcerors--must individually target before casting their enchants.
- Their large, magical shields, which can then be further enchanted with magic to boost their defense even higher, lets them take the most brutal punishment without faltering.
Skills:
- Firecounter: Unleashes a knockdown wave when the user blocks an attack. A perfect block conjures tongues of enemy-seeking fire.
- Sky Dance: Kicks at the air into a forward charge, delivering a powerful slash in the process.
- Perilous Sigil: Draws a magick sigil that awaits contact with the enemy afore activating to devastating effect.
Magick Archer (Hybrid Vocation)
The magick archer infuses his weapons with the power of magick, letting them fire sorcerous arrows that can track targets, or do other assortment of vaguely magical things. They are also capable of close-range combat, weaving in sorcery to devastate their foes.
- Magick archers have no need of quivers, as all their arrows are generated by sorcery.
Skills:
- Sunburst: Kicks downward and plunges the blades into the earth, channeling magick so that a pillar of flame erupts directly ahead..
- Threefold Bolt: Fires three magickal arrows at a single point.
- Seeker Bolt: Fires magickal arrows that seek out their targets. Up to five foes can be targeted at once.
In lieu of a more traditional multiplayer system, Dragon’s Dogma possesses instead a system wherein you swap “pawns” with other players. They are accessed via a Riftstone in the game:
The player has access to a mix of NPC pawns generated by the game along with pawns created by other characters. You may choose up to two in addition to your main pawn, a character that you can create, outfit, and vocate at your will. This main pawn is your permanent companion throughout the game, and has access to several different classes barring the hybrid vocations, which only the Arisen has access to.
- As pawns go on journey’s and perform quest with different Arisens they gain knowledge of areas, quests, fighting different enemies by their weaknesses and locations of secret paths, which they will all take back to the Arisen that created them.
- If you hire a pawn that has already a vast knowledge of areas, creatures and quests, the pawn will be able to help you. For example, if a pawn has knowledge of a particular quest that you are currently doing, they will help direct you and may even go off to find hidden levers to open a path for you.
- Once sent back your pawn will be rated. The rating given would be decided by the player who used your pawn. They’ll be able to rate it based on its appearance and usefulness in combat. You can save the names of the pawns you’ve acquired in the rift directory so that you can always re-hire pawns you’ve enjoyed questing with.
- Other than the main pawn, you will not be able to level up the pawns you hire from the Rift. If a pawn is the main pawn of another Arisen and that Arisen is currently online and playing, you can go back to the Rift to update the pawn's stats.
Unfortunately, the pawns have a tendency to babble on and on during your travels; it is advisable to disable the subtitles for their chatter, unless you are fond of forging onwards with text covering the left half of the screen.
Asides from the pawn system, there is also, apparently, an encounter with an “Ur-Dragon” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8agNJ6aORZ0) which players can participate in. While players won’t be fighting the beast together, the dragon’s health is calculated on the server and through the efforts of many, will eventually be defeated, with the one who slays it receiving valuable prizes.
Character Creation
Character creation in Dragon’s Dogma is handled via a robust creation system wherein the player can change nearly every part of their avatar’s body to their liking. Because size, length, and weight plays an important role in the combat, it is advisable to sit back and consider the ramifications of each choice during the creation process. A large, heavyset character will have trouble climbing trolls and mountains, whereas an small nimble character will struggle to use heavy armor and weaponry.
The identical process will then be used to create your pawn. Feel free to recreate popular characters from other fictional settings or indulge your hideous fetishes, with the note that this pawn will be what other players ‘rent’ in the game’s oddball multiplayer scheme and thus, quite possibly, your deviant creations may come under more public a scrutiny than you may otherwise have wished for.
Performance
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-dragons-dogma-face-off
Link, Videos, Assorted Media
Robert Cram's channel for Dragon's Dogma videos.
The start of OXM UK's preview videos with Matt Lee.
Video of the stream with Hideaki Itsuno, director of Dragon's Dogma.
The start of OXM UK's preview videos with Matt Lee.
Video of the stream with Hideaki Itsuno, director of Dragon's Dogma.
Reviews:
The review thread.
Code:
Reviews:
Pelit - 9.2
PlayStation Magazine FR - 18/20
Game Informer - 8.5
PSM - 8.5
Xbox World - 8.5
Play3 (DE) - 83%
LEVEL - 8
GamesTM - 8
360 Magazine UK - 8
Console + (FR) - 16/20
GamePro (DE) - 79% PS3/78% 360
Edge - 7
OXM - 6
Play - 48%
mkgaming - 3.5/5Pre-order bonuses:
- Pre-ordering Dragon’s Dogma grants you access to an early demo of Resident Evil 6! Unfortunately for whatever reason (cough cough) X360 owners get it a two months before PS3 owners, on July instead of September 4th.
- GameStop is offering the ‘Pawn Upgrade Pack,’ which will give players additional Rift Crystals allowing them to “rent” higher-level Pawns from the game’s outset.
- In addition to the ‘Weapon Upgrade Pack’ mentioned below, Amazon is also offering a ten-dollar credit with a pre-order for the game.
- The ‘Armor Upgrade Pack’ offered through Best Buy and the ‘Weapon Upgrade Pack’ from Amazon.com will deliver higher level armor and weapons respectively giving players a real advantage when tackling the toughest of enemies. Check your local retailers for details.
Capcom’s Unfortunately Japanese Website for Dragon’s Dogma:
http://www.capcom.co.jp/DD/
The official(ly ugly and difficult to navigate) English website for Dragon’s Dogma:
http://www.dragonsdogma.com/
http://www.capcom.co.jp/DD/
The official(ly ugly and difficult to navigate) English website for Dragon’s Dogma:
http://www.dragonsdogma.com/
