Dragon’s Dogma 2 Impressions: Didn’t Play the First One? No Problem, You’ll Love it Anyway

Everyone likes Dragon's Dogma 2, it seems. Except everyone also seems to dislike one specific part of Dragon’s Dogma 2: the fantasy sequel’s microtransactions. But that one dull spot has already been polished out by modders, who are offering more convenient (and less expensive) ways to pick up items that you’ll either need to potentially grind or cough up real money for.

Controversies surrounding microtransactions notwithstanding, Dragon’s Dogma 2 has got off to an impressive start since its release a couple of days ago. The open world action RPG has enjoyed widespread acclaim from critics, currently sitting at an OpenCritic score of 89, and has also attracted players in droves. Immediately upon release, the game became Capcom’s biggest-ever single player launch on Steam, and its numbers have kept on steadily climbing since then.

has just been released, and along with it comes a large, open-world map filled with content. The original, released in 2012, took place on the sprawling island of Gransys, which was quite big in its own regard. That said, ups the ante and features an even larger map, taking place in the two new regions of Vermund and Battahl, with a host of other new locations and towns added to the game.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 has enjoyed near-universal acclaim from critics, though in the immediate aftermath of its release, the open world action RPG has sparked controversy following the emergence of an in-game microtransactions store, on top of technical and performance issues found in the game’s PC version. In an update on Steam, Capcom has addressed a number of these issues, as part of which the developer confirms that it will also be adding the option to start new saves to the game’s Steam version.

Modern video games are a constantly shifting and bracingly ephemeral medium. The steady flow of patches and updates, the fickle nature of licensing and server shutdowns, the state of a given user’s internet connectivity — there are dozens of things that can crater or enrich a given video game experience. This means that games can take on all kinds of unusual narrative arcs: Disappointing games can undergo a renaissance (most famously Final Fantasy 14and No Man’s Sky), forgotten titles can be rediscovered (Among Us), and old favorites can die the death of a thousand cuts (Overwatch 2).

Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma 2, a sequel to the 2012 cult classic, is now available worldwide. While it may be some time before sales are announced, the PC version has peaked at 184,724 concurrent players on Steam, per SteamDB.

Well, the Future Games Show is always full of surprises, but we've not had one quite like this before. We've just had the reveal of a game that's currently codenamed Project Mango, and it's a collaboration between Toukana Interactive - aka the developers behind chill puzzle game Dorfromantik - and kurzgesagt, the hugely popular animated science storytellers of YouTube fame. 

If you choose to upgrade your Science! precon deck from , you can significantly improve your performance at Commander-focused tables. This is especially true considering there is a plethora of cards you can add to the Jeskai-colored deck. Science! is one of the many different EDH decks brought to fruition from a collab between Wizards of the Coast and developer Bethesda. Like the x sets, this is a product of the Universes Beyond line of crossover collaborations. With the set, the card game gets even more references to the post-apocalyptic franchise.

It's taken 12 years, but Dragon's Dogma 2 is finally swooping onto store shelves this week, and judging by the early review scores, the wait has been worth it. 

Former PlayStation executive Connie Booth, one of the chief architects of PlayStation's first-party strategy before her unexpected departure in 2023, is joining EA to help lead its studios amid its ongoing restructure.

is already impressing players with its hyper-detailed character creation system but one fan may have taken the toolkit a little far. Before starting out their adventure to slay all manner of gigantic monsters and collect plenty of powerful weapons, Capcom's fantasy RPG tasks players with the difficult challenge of creating a character that best embodies their playstyle. While many will choose to create something bold and brave to keep with the setting, others like to have a little more fun with the system.

Puzzle Platformer Animal Well now has a confirmed release date of May 9, 2024, on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.