October's wave of new releases has begun in earnest now, with Assassin's Creed Mirage launching at the end of last week. It climbed near the top of the UK's boxed games chart, making a number two debut behind the predictably popular EA Sports FC 24.
28.09.2023 - 00:06 / pushsquare.com
Dragon's Dogma 2 sticks with the Dark Arisen template to a pleasant but almost surprising degree. Sequels often walk a fine balancing act as significant departures can alienate existing fans, whereas repeating the established gameplay often feels too safe. Capcom's anticipated sequel easily falls into the latter category but when the original action RPG still feels refreshingly original, we'd argue that's not a bad thing. Following a recent preview, we're excited to see more.
Going hands-on for an hour at Capcom's UK office, we played the same exhibition demo recently presented at the Tokyo Game Show. Character creation wasn't showcased and we could only select three preset builds using the Arisen's starting vocations — a story-focused segment with a level 5 Archer, or hunts for larger threats as either a level 15 Thief or Fighter. The 4th starting class, Mage, was unavailable, so we selected Archer.
We were immediately struck by how similarly Dragon's Dogma 2 compares to its predecessor. Even with a new map split across two nations — Vermund and Bhattal — the demo's starting base looks just like The Encampment. A two-generation gap provides a huge visual leap from the rough PS3-era visuals, which admittedly falls behind other recent RPGs like Final Fantasy XVI, but still adds considerable character to these lovely environments.
Our time was spent exploring Vermund, encountering a village recently wrecked by the dragon. Even without watching the game's introduction, several cutscenes set the tone well and we soon hit the road. We had hoped to test how reactive NPCs are since the original game notably lets you steal directly in front of them without consequence. However, we couldn't find anything to test this with, only spotting the odd treasure chest.
Your travelling party once again consists of Pawns, who remain loyal to the Arisen and mostly use the same vocations. Your main Pawn levels up with you and two additional pawns can be hired within The Rift. Pawns are swapped out via Riftstones, and Dragon's Dogma 2 removes loading screens for a pleasantly seamless transition. Playing in online mode includes Pawns who can pass on quest knowledge if they’ve previously beaten them with another player, adding a nice touch to both combat and exploration.
Pawns are functionally identical to before and combat remains equally familiar. Covering every starting vocation in our four-person party, we fought multiple threats ranging from common goblins to hefty ogres across these dangerous roads. Mages are especially useful since they can provide temporary elemental magical buffs, boosting weapon damage with electricity and fire.
A lock-on option for enemies would be nice, though Archers can auto-target with
October's wave of new releases has begun in earnest now, with Assassin's Creed Mirage launching at the end of last week. It climbed near the top of the UK's boxed games chart, making a number two debut behind the predictably popular EA Sports FC 24.
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If you've been dying to see more of Dragon's Dogma 2 after Capcom's official gameplay presentation, you're in luck — a lot of luck. There's now uncut gameplay footage coming out of Tokyo Game Show, with Japanese publications V Jump and IGN Japan each posting ten-minute captures of the action RPG running on PS5.
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