Dragon's Dogma

[MizzouRah]

Not a sexy name.. but someone mentioned it on another forum and after the demo I became an instant fan and wanted more. (I posted some info in the 2012 games thread, but this could be somewhat equal to Dark Souls and Skyrim, hence it needs its own thread)

Game is out tomorrow and my copy will be here (x360). The reviews have been very positive and the pawn system and combat seem to be quite excellent.

The idea of going online to enlist pawns from other XBL players is definitely an interesting concept, plus other players can enlist your pawn, gaining them experience. Oh.. and climbing one of the games monsters and stabbing them while they try to fling you off is something I've never really experienced in a game before..

Here are a couple of reviews.. impressions to come tomorrow night or early Wednesday morning..

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/34 ... top_banner

http://beefjack.com/reviews/dragons-dog ... -xbox-360/

[Eaglesfan27]

As soon as I beat kingdoms of amalor, I am trying this out.

[MizzouRah]

Just put in 4 straight hours.. so far it's been quite awesome.

[yeah826]

Just got this game yesterday the combat is awesome you should get the game base on that alone

[MizzouRah]

Never before has an RPG made me run my butt home when it started getting dark out. lol..

The pawns are incredibly smart, it feels like I have 3 other human players by my side.

[yeah826]

I sooo hate ogres right now

[MizzouRah]

I'll say this again, this game is fantastic.

Took me 1.5-2 hours to finish this last quest (the one where you descend 5 levels under Gran Soren) Wow was that hard.

I figured with pawns, the game would be semi-easy, I was definitely wrong. I don't want to spoil anything, but you really have to think in this game, is it going to be dark soon? is my sword having any effect on this enemy? what are my pawns saying to help me? do I even have the right pawns for this type of quest?

Ready for more tonight!

[MizzouRah]

This pretty much hits it spot on in the first paragraph in this review:

Dragon's Dogma is not made for first impressions. The flaws are visible within the first hour—the dated character modeling, minor clipping, lip-synching issues, and party members constantly blurting dialogue over each other. Then there's the chance that you find the combat too challenging, the music too ambient, the NPCs too plain, and the story too vacant. The reasons for prematurely ejecting the disc are numerous, but if you're able to withhold your judgments for little more than three hours, you'll find that Dragon's Dogma is an amazing realization of one of the best new ideas to come from Capcom, let alone Japanese developers, in an excruciatingly long time.

Dragon's Dogma Review

[MizzouRah]

I've put in about 25 hours since I received it.

I don't think I've ever been more into a non-sports game on a console. Everything about this game just grabs me.

[Izulde]

I've seen it on display here in Japan and I thought it looked incredibly cool. Didn't realize it was out in the US already. Glad to hear the great reviews.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Izulde

I've seen it on display here in Japan and I thought it looked incredibly cool. Didn't realize it was out in the US already. Glad to hear the great reviews.

You're in Japan?

[Yellow5]

Loved the demo. Going to pick this up when it hits budget price for sure.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

You're in Japan?

Yep until July 20th.

[MizzouRah]

I'm at the end, so I'm doing a bunch of side quests. Definitely my favorite RPG to date. All time, right behind Wasteland.. at least from memory.

Looking forward to some DLC.

[yeah826]

Yeah im loving this game whats your favorite class mines in the Mystic Knight btw they got some DLC quest series going on that would open up a new part of the map 10 new quests from what I know gonna be 100 total when finished.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by yeah826

Yeah im loving this game whats your favorite class mines in the Mystic Knight btw they got some DLC quest series going on that would open up a new part of the map 10 new quests from what I know gonna be 100 total when finished.

Mystic Knight as well. I saw that DLC.. can't wait to try it out!

[MizzouRah]

Maximum Pixelation - More Dragon’s Dogma Impressions

My thoughts exactly..

[JediKooter]

The game isn't bad so far, but, the Playstation 1 graphics are a bit disappointing for how much the game cost.

[Izulde]

Played this a bit in a 24 hour video game/music store yesterday. Had no idea what was going on of course, but I got fight a few things. Was a lot of fun and the basic combat seemed pretty intuitive.

[MizzouRah]

I'm 42 hours in.. still an excellent game.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

As soon as I beat kingdoms of amalor, I am trying this out.

I am far into Kingdoms but I haven't beat it yet. However, I keep reading positive reviews and can't wait, so I'm trying this game today. To become a Mystic Knight, do I start out as a Fighter or Mage?

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I am far into Kingdoms but I haven't beat it yet. However, I keep reading positive reviews and can't wait, so I'm trying this game today. To become a Mystic Knight, do I start out as a Fighter or Mage?

Doesn't matter, you can change your vocation to whatever you want after a bit into the game, although playing as a fighter will allow to use the same weapons.

[MizzouRah]

Ending was fascinating, in fact, the whole game was brilliant.

I'd be hard pressed to find another game I've enjoyed any more than this one.

I don't play many games from start to finish, so for me.. that says a lot about this game.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'll add my praise to Todd's. This game is a great blend of realism but accessibility that I love. The boss battles feel truly epic. There is a level of difficulty early, but the boss battles have been so fun that I don't even mind taking several tries to get through them. I also like that I can download Todd's pawn if I truly get really frustrated and use it to help me with a quest - brilliant mechanic. However, so far I've found the in-game pawns to be a fun group to collect and I like the mechanic for obtaining the Rift Crystals to summon them.

KoA is a fun game, that I still play (and will eventually finish) when I'm tired, but this game has me completely captivated now. I can't wait to see what happens next.

[mckerney]

Capcom Wants To Turn 'Dragon's Dogma' Into A Major Franchise - Forbes

Hoping this means it will come to PC, otherwise I'll look for it on sale on PS3.

[Galaril]

Are their races like elves, dwarves, etc or just humans?

[Eaglesfan27]

No true races for the player character. The main character is a human only. However, you can edit your height/weight, etc and the cool thing is that EVERYTHING matters. For example, a bigger character can carry more without being encumbered, but also lumbers more and is less likely to be able to run away from enemies. Big guys use more stamina and recover it slower, etc. You can have different arm lengths and it affects your swing radius of your weapons. One of the more realistic RPG's I've ever played...

Speaking of which.. I was getting very confident in my flow. Dispatching monsters at a steady rate and saw a group of Brigands. I foolishly charged into their midst.. and one back stabbed me through the heart and I was dead in 1 shot

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

And the Pawn logic is one of the best things about the game. They act almost human like. Very smart AI (aside from the occasional path finding issue.) They use spells/skills intelligently, heal each other, pick up objects, smash crates, etc. At the same time, the game's monsters use intelligent AI to keep it challenging. I was fighting a pack of wolves and they used their speed and superior numbers well to circle around, hit and run tactics, etc. Their speed and agility was very noticable in the fight until my mage finally got an ice spell onto them to slow them down.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Capcom Wants To Turn 'Dragon's Dogma' Into A Major Franchise - Forbes

Hoping this means it will come to PC, otherwise I'll look for it on sale on PS3.

I hope they upgrade the graphics. I do have fun playing it, but, damn the graphics...damn them all to hell!! /Charlton Heston Voice

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I'll add my praise to Todd's. This game is a great blend of realism but accessibility that I love. The boss battles feel truly epic. There is a level of difficulty early, but the boss battles have been so fun that I don't even mind taking several tries to get through them. I also like that I can download Todd's pawn if I truly get really frustrated and use it to help me with a quest - brilliant mechanic. However, so far I've found the in-game pawns to be a fun group to collect and I like the mechanic for obtaining the Rift Crystals to summon them.

KoA is a fun game, that I still play (and will eventually finish) when I'm tired, but this game has me completely captivated now. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Hannah has some wicked spells.. the tornado one (can't think of the name right now) is sweet! Just stand back and enjoy the show.

[thesloppy]

I've been enjoying this one for the last couple days, mostly thanks to this thread. It's a bunch of fun. The graphics do suck, though.

[thesloppy]

...oh, and the ridiculously bad, and out of place title song makes me laugh every time. It sounds like some '90s J-pop from a racing game.

[MizzouRah]

Graphics didn't bother me.. I really don't notice them being any different than any other console game?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Graphics didn't bother me.. I really don't notice them being any different than any other console game?

I am with you. They aren't up to par with Skyrim on my PC, but they aren't bad and do not detract from the game at all for me.

[thesloppy]

I got used to them quickly too, but when I first popped it in, it definitely struck me how dated it looked, though some features look fine. Like, most of the monsters look good, but faces look bad on closeups/cutscenes, and the ground vegetation is all blocky and pixelated looking. It really hasn't hampered my enjoyment in any way though, and I might not have noticed, had I not heard the graphics knocked-on before I bought it.

[Eaglesfan27]

Just had an epic battle with my first ogre in the game. We were fighting on a relatively narrow circular tunnel that had a precipitious ledge. The Ogre was tough as nails, it was a 10 minute battle before I even brought him down 20% of his health. We were hitting and running. Finally, I got my mystic knight on his back, climbed up and struck him in the face. I think this blinded him. He already charges for females which draw him in by their scent. This time, he charges for my female strider. She dodges him, my warrior hits him on the edge of the ledge, and pushes him right off the edge for a LONG drop below where he dies instantly and we get the exp for the kill. It was such a fun battle with an unexpected ending

[MizzouRah]

I love those type of kills EF.

[Eaglesfan27]

Lots of little realistic details. I was carrying around some fish, saving it for when I needed some health restored. I just realized I'm now carrying around some rotten fish. Really enjoying this game.

[yeah826]

Yeah I just beat the game completely loved the ending everything makes since now

[Izulde]

I have a funny feeling I'm not going to do much packing for moving when I get back to the States. I'll be sitting and playing this all day.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by yeah826

Yeah I just beat the game completely loved the ending everything makes since now

By 'completely', did you get to a second finish?

Spoiler

I just made it to the finish of the 'first part' of the game, but I'm a little lost as to what I'm supposed to be doing now, or if there is an additional ending/conclusion to be had.

My ending was awesome. I had rescued/sexed-up the Duchess, and ran across my ex in the abbey, but apparently that wasn't enough manly action, or I had done too many quests for Ser Maximillian (or maybe because I had taken him on an escort mission to the shadow fort), because at the end game, that's who the dragon had waiting for me. And after I killed the dragon me and Ser Max GOT IT ON. Which was doubly ridiculous because I had made my guy, the shortest, skinniest character possible, and he pretty much looked like a kid....so all of the endgame cut scenes were Ser Max staring lovingly down at this 4-foot-tall little boy. I was laughing my ass off through the whole thing.

[Mustang]

The game doesn't play like Demons Souls does it? (That is, I want to throw the console across the room after 'playing' for an hour. And by playing I mean dying repeatedly)

[thesloppy]

Nope. I hated Dark/Demon's souls, but enjoyed this game to death. The combat is similar mechanically, but it's not built upon you dying and repeating the same sections over and over.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

The combat is similar mechanically, but it's not built upon you dying and repeating the same sections over and over.

Guess I'll put it on my list then.

[Eaglesfan27]

There are a few elements of the game I don't like such as having to go back and forth over some of the same areas (although I technically don't have to do so, but I don't like to miss quests.) However, the positives are so much stronger. The combat difficulty balance is just outstanding. I thought it was getting too easy, until I just got into an area where I had to fight 2 cyclops at once while a catapult was shooting balls of fire at me from a distance. It was the most intense 15-20 minute sequence I've had in any video game in a long time and was a very satisfying win

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I thought it was getting too easy, until I just got into an area where I had to fight 2 cyclops at once while a catapult was shooting balls of fire at me from a distance. It was the most intense 15-20 minute sequence I've had in any video game in a long time and was a very satisfying win

That was a doozy. And for your reward.....another cyclops!

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

That was a doozy. And for your reward.....another cyclops!

Yes. I love the missions and the epic battles. This morning, I thought I was just too overpowered for where I was in the game, as I'm doing every side quest and am getting fairly powerful. But, suddenly, I just ran into my first golem. That was another epic battle where I almost died twice including once where he threw me from such a height that it was almost an instant death. I can say enough about how much fun I find the battles to be in this game.