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Dragon's Dogma |OT| For the night is dark and full of terrors
- Thread starter Dresden
- Start date
I gave up with reviews when the last one I read complained about Dragon's Dogma not having a compelling main character. Some journalists are seriously from another planet.
This game is meant for people who value good combat in an open world ARPG and the spirit of adventure above all else. If you can dismiss jankiness, other underdeveloped elements, and a few questionable/frustrating design choices, you will love the game. It's not for everyone, and it's not as well-crafted as the Souls games. It's its own thing and hard to compare.
Yes.
There's just tons of little details that would have been overlooked in other games, stuff that really makes your experience better. It's no quite up there with the Souls games, and there's a lot of flaws--mostly regarding its presentation and performance along with some gameplay issues--but this is the most fun I've had with a game this year.
slaughterking
Member
My main gripes are:
- unbearable story/writing
- very inconsistent performance
- inconvenient menu system
- lack of fast travel
None of this would be terrible on its own, but with all of this coming together I definitely feel like DD is a worse game than it could have been.
It's still lots of fun for the stuff it gets right, though.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
My impressions at this point...
... are that it is not nearly the 'westernized' game a lot of people probably expected (and to the detriment of many reviewers). It is more like a Dark Souls but slightly less punishing and scary, balanced against a bigger open world and wilder sandbox to play around in.
It's endearing parts are simply that it's got so much game, in its game. It's practically an 8-bit RPG in a philosophical sense in that there's a basic primal story premise, then you're turned loose to explore and battle. It has a very high resolution, 'sticky' world that offers tactile interaction every few meters and has stuff to discover around each corner. It's also laid out and designed in an interesting manner. Rather than being a big open overworld with a more generic layout per square acre.
It's also like an AD&D tabletop come to life as a nuanced action-RPG in a lot of ways.
The pawn system is actually really interesting, and isn't just a stand-in for multiplayer. More a combination of the Souls series asynchronized cooperation and a possibly better way to do AI party members in a game like this.
The gripes largely boil down to technical limitations. I don't think there was any way for this game to come together more cleanly on the current hardware, it's just trying to do too much. The pawn system does sometimes fuck out, which is the downside of such sandbox AI. But that's more a limitation in the current engineering of AI scripting I figure.
Otherwise, honestly I am hard pressed to really say anything about it is just plain bad for the kind of game they were apparently going for. I think it's one of the best action-RPG and/or best open world games I've ever played. It is not merely a carbon copy of a western open world game though, and it doesn't offer all the same things a western game might. Instead it does its own thing with the concept.
Boss Man
Member
The sense of adventure will probably lead me to pick this up eventually, if nothing else. I've been wanting to play an RPG without level scaling for a while, and the night dynamic seems really interesting.
Great post, thank you.
FrenchMovieTheme
Member
i bought the game and it's really good but my only issue so far is at night i get a weird graphical effect in the sky. i'm not really sure what you would call it but this is the best pic i could find to illustrate what i'm talking about:
see in the sky there is kind of a weird effect in the sky because of the torchlight
see in the sky there is kind of a weird effect in the sky because of the torchlight
Nope. Boot up the JP demo, write down the specifics of your characters, recreate in EU game.
EDIT: lol everyone keeps ripping on the main theme.
Completely agree. I hope this does fucking amazing so that we can get a sequel next gen. Imagine what that could be like...
I just want to add that the little details Dresden speaks of really do show how much love was put into this game. There's just a distinctly Japanese quirkiness to Dragon's Dogma that's both endearing and bizarre at the same time. I can understand how a few things would turn people off, but those are the kinds of things that others will love the game for and latch onto.
Hm, basically the videogame equivalent of a durian, then. haha
Hm, basically the videogame equivalent of a durian, then. haha
The_Hitcher89
Member
Here are some fun screenshots from my strider's adventures:
Those particle effects remind me of GoW3 for some reason. Looks brilliant
Auto_aim1
MeisaMcCaffrey
This guy was friendly afaik. Why did you attack it?
lunchtoast
Member
So I've been using the same bow since I became a Ranger. I've found daggers in the world but no bows. Kinda BS. The shops only carry Reinforced Longbow. Has anyone found or bought any stronger ones?
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
I love that cyclops.
He totally doesn't mind that I like to crawl all over him.
Latest blog post is up:
(Spoilers of course)
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tnl/entries/519-Dragon-s-Logma-Volume-5
He totally doesn't mind that I like to crawl all over him.
Latest blog post is up:
(Spoilers of course)
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tnl/entries/519-Dragon-s-Logma-Volume-5
Enjoying Mystic Knight a lot. Timing blocks feels good, and a mace feels awesome. Blink Strike -> Downward Thrust never gets old.
Pawn party consists of:
a warrior
a ranger (main pawn)
a mage
been working out real well. Didn't want a fighter on the team because the shield summons would draw aggro away from my mystic knight, or so I assumed.
Pawn party consists of:
a warrior
a ranger (main pawn)
a mage
been working out real well. Didn't want a fighter on the team because the shield summons would draw aggro away from my mystic knight, or so I assumed.
slaughterking
Member
Nope, still having the same long bow, too, with level 37.
I've been using the same one, too. Reinforced Longbow +3. I just took a peek at the guide, and there are 8 of them listed, with the Reinforced Longbow being the weakest of all of them. So keep an eye out!
Wow just had another great session. Chose my first Wyrmhunt quest (
) and headed in the general direction of the marker. A pawn who had done the quest said we should go through the Ancient Quary. So I headed there. What a a beautiful dungeon (as have all been up to now). Anyway inside await me
. When I come out at the far end, of course it's darkest night. I stand there thinking: "I don't want to go wandering around the forest in the night" when one of the pawn says "I know a safe haven not far from here" and starts walking. Anyway he led me right into a hobgoblin group of course but we ended up a the fortress not long after.
On a different note about the Watergod's Altar:
[edit] The whole pawn knowledge thing works better than I expected.
Shadow Fort
fucking Ogers! 3 of them my god! After a lot of time (thank god I've hired 2 lvl 30 pawns, I'm still 19 as is my main) I beat them.
On a different note about the Watergod's Altar:
I wandered into there by accident. Is there a back exit? I came to where the cyclopse is but there's no way further. I guess I can lower the water somehow as one of the pawns mentioned it.
[edit] The whole pawn knowledge thing works better than I expected.
I love that cyclops.
He totally doesn't mind that I like to crawl all over him.
Latest blog post is up:
(Spoilers of course)
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tnl/entries/519-Dragon-s-Logma-Volume-5
Where is this bro located at?
Near the area where the bridge is lowered (like the very start) you should see door openings on the left and right that you can jump to. The lever to drain the water is in one of them/
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Northwest.
It's a bit of a trek as you'll have to pass a Chimera, and an (unfriendly) cyclops or two. There's also a fortress you'll have to work your away around to open the front gate(you're also likely to be attacked by thieves if you're male). Once you're past that you should be in a snowy/wasteland area. Follow the roads north to find a campsite so you can rest(you'll probably need it). Then head directly south until you find a fence, work around that and you'll meet the cyclops. He's actually the pet of the leader of the thieves fortress in the area so be nice to him.
If you upgrade the weapon store with the
golden idol
. They do seem to be the hardest weapon to find(at least for me anyway)Thanks, I'll head that way today then.
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
It also pays to check out a couple of the caves that are located really far away. I've found some really nice equipment upgrades in them.
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
Ranger is awesome. I get the skill where you shoot multi arrow and I REALLY fuck up a lot of baddies. Great for mobs and get close to a big boss and you can see the life bar go down.
Yea, for anyone headed to the Bluemoon Tower, take along 5+ skeleton keys for this smuggler hideout you'll find along the side of the canyon cliffs. There's 3-5 large chests in the downstairs portion of one of the rooms: I found a REALLY nice lightning cutlass, a mage staff, and a couple pieces of armor.
lunchtoast
Member
I love that cyclops.
He totally doesn't mind that I like to crawl all over him.
Latest blog post is up:
(Spoilers of course)
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tnl/entries/519-Dragon-s-Logma-Volume-5
That big oaf tried to eat me! I didn't taste good though. He did enjoy a nice goblin.
cleveridea
Member
are your level up stat boosts permanent or do they retro-actively change as you change vocation?
For example, fighter has way more health per level than mage. if you are mage through level 10, then change to say warrior are you still gonna have low health or do you get a huge boost (eg as if your prior 10 levels were as a warrior)?
For example, fighter has way more health per level than mage. if you are mage through level 10, then change to say warrior are you still gonna have low health or do you get a huge boost (eg as if your prior 10 levels were as a warrior)?
Baconsammy
Banned
Haha, as I was doing the grimoire quest the lead bandit said he'd only give it up in a fight, then I hear my hired pawn say
. Went there and got it, then my main pawn said he learned something new. Someone's going to benefit from my pawn's knowledge now. This part of the pawn system is great. Also having double jump is awesome. Found out the hard way that it doesn't save you from falls if you time the second jump right before you hit the ground. Splat.
It's up there in a chest in the tower
Auto_aim1
MeisaMcCaffrey
It's painful to face that as a Mage, too. I just run away when I see bandits with bows; they can whittle down my health in no time with that multi-arrow skill.]
I'm trying to defeat that
Golem
Escort missions are awesome and awful in this game. They're great because they take a while to complete, allowing you to see a lot of the map. However, if you don't abuse the save system your guy could die in 2 hits causing you to lose a ton of progress.
I came across a chimera, picked up the dude and tried to run but the chimera caught up with me and ate my escort in one bite. Kind of funny in a way but still aggravating.
I came across a chimera, picked up the dude and tried to run but the chimera caught up with me and ate my escort in one bite. Kind of funny in a way but still aggravating.
The Last Wizard
Member
Just caught a pawn say something, at first I thought he said "you shall not pass" but then realized it was "you shall not cast" :lol
Yeah, that kinda sucks. You'd think that they wouldn't penalize people who think of creative ways to abuse the animations. It also doesn't work with the mage's floating or dagger plunging attacks like Sunburst.
If we couldn't save, they would just be awful. We can, though, thankfully. They're some of the more interesting (and harrowing) things to do in the game. I find it neat how each person I've escorted thus far has seems to have a different AI. One always ran away and hid until the battle was over, another constantly tried staying close to me, and the most troublesome one actually took up arms and fought.
Augemitbutter
Member
thx. do you create your pawn right at the beginning of the game? cause i just confirmed my main character and i couldn't go back anymore.
Snapshot King
Member
So how do you dragonforge stuff?
lunchtoast
Member
You create it later in the game.
Spazznid
Member
i bought the game and it's really good but my only issue so far is at night i get a weird graphical effect in the sky. i'm not really sure what you would call it but this is the best pic i could find to illustrate what i'm talking about:
see in the sky there is kind of a weird effect in the sky because of the torchlight
I'm on my phone, so I'm not exactly sure, but are you sure it's not your tv's color banding. DD's tones are change pretty drastically at night and some banding is usually inevitable with that,I believe...
Option B: I'm talking out of my ass.
jokingbird
Member
This guy was friendly afaik. Why did you attack it?
The mage that was in there attacked me and the cyclops went berserk. I didn't kill him though as I was doing a quest for the women thieves. I killed the other group of guys instead and completed the quest.
lunchtoast
Member
If you upgrade the weapon store with theyou'll get access to 2? more longbows. I've seen a couple named ones that pawns have had, so there are still some out there in the world somewheregolden idol
I already gave both merchants the bronze idols for that quest. I have a silver idol but they won't take it. Does this mean I can't give them any more idols?
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Go through the quarry.
Head south to the camp. Rest, save, do whatever.
Head just south and then west and there should be a drake wandering around.
Kill him and there's a chance one of your pieces of equipment will become dragon-forged(how many stars it had before shouldn't matter)
Head back to camp and sleep until he appears again.
If you have the guts you can try fighting him naked except for the weapon and/or armor you're trying to forge.
NOTE: Don't do this too often. It will get old, especially if the Drake decides to troll you by flying while you're grappling on its heart. Also the chance exists that you won't get forged at all even after a kill.
Still if you happen to be in the area go ahead and give it a go(Drake's hate ice like a fat kid hates broccoli).
You gave it to them for the
golden idol quest?
golden idol quest
